Department of Labor July 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and 30 CFR part 44 govern the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for modification. This notice is a summary of petitions for modification filed by the parties listed below to modify the application of existing mandatory safety standards published in Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

This document contains an interim final regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) requiring that certain service providers to employee pension benefit plans disclose information to assist plan fiduciaries in assessing the reasonableness of contracts or arrangements, including the reasonableness of the service providers' compensation and potential conflicts of interest that may affect the service providers' performance. These disclosure requirements are established as part of a statutory exemption from ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions. This regulation will affect employee pension benefit plan sponsors and fiduciaries and certain service providers to such plans. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the interim final regulation for consideration by the Department of Labor.

This document amends PTE 84-14, a class exemption that permits various parties that are related to employee benefit plans to engage in transactions involving plan assets if, among other conditions, the assets are managed by ``qualified professional asset managers'' (QPAMs), which are independent of the parties in interest and which meet specified financial standards. Additional exemptive relief is provided for employers to furnish limited amounts of goods and services to a managed fund in the ordinary course of business. Limited relief is also provided for leases of office or commercial space between managed funds and QPAMs or contributing employers. Finally, relief is provided for transactions involving places of public accommodation owned by a managed fund. The amendment permits a QPAM to manage an investment fund containing the assets of the QPAM's own plan or the plan of an affiliate.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is continuing its efforts to remove or revise outdated, duplicative, unnecessary, and inconsistent requirements in its safety and health standards. This effort builds on the success of Standards Improvement Project (SIP)Phase I published on June 18, 1998, and SIPPhase II published on January 5, 2005. The Agency believes that the proposed revisions will reduce compliance costs, eliminate paperwork burdens, and clarify requirements without diminishing worker protections.

The Department of Labor (DOL) hereby announces the submission of the following public information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, including, among other things, a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the RegInfo.gov Web site at https://www.reginfo.gov/ public/do/PRAMain or by contacting Linda Watts Thomas on 202-693-4223 (this is not a toll-free number) and e-mail mail to: DOL_PRA_ PUBLIC@dol.gov.