[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16831-16832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4852]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

March 29, 2006.
    The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted 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, may be obtained by 
contacting Darrin King on 202-693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number) 
or e-mail: [email protected].
    Comments should be sent to Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Employee Benefits Security 
Administration (EBSA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503, 202-395-7316 (this is not a toll-free number), 
within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal 
Register.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

[[Page 16832]]

     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Title: Definition of Plan Assets--Participant Contributions.
    OMB Number: 1210-0100.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Type of Response: Reporting and Third party disclosure.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit and Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 1.
    Number of Annual Responses: 251.
    Estimated Time Per Respondent: Ranges from 1 hour clerical time to 
prepare a notice for the Secretary of Labor to 4 hours of an attorney's 
time prepare the notice to plan participants and the certification for 
the Secretary of Labor.
    Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Total Annualized capital/startup costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing 
services): $1,007.
    Description: The Department of Labor's (the Department's) 
regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-102 states that monies that a participant 
pays to, or has withheld by, an employer for contribution to an 
employee benefit plan become ``plan assets'' for purposes of Title I of 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the related 
prohibited transaction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code as of 
the earliest date on which such monies can be reasonably segregated 
from the employer's general assets. With respect to employee pension 
benefit plans, the regulation further sets a maximum time limit for 
such contributions: the 15th business day following the end of the 
month in which the participant contribution amounts are received or 
withheld by the employer. Under ERISA, ``plan assets'' cannot be held 
by the employer as part of its general assets, but must be contributed 
to the employee benefit plan to which they belong and, with few 
exceptions, held in trust.
    The regulation includes a procedure through which an employer 
receiving or withholding participant contributions for an employee 
pension benefit plan may obtain a 10-business-day extension of the 15-
day maximum time period if certain requirements, including information 
collection requirements, are met. The regulation requires, among other 
things, that the employer provide written notice to plan participants, 
within 5 business days after the end of the extension period and the 
employer's transfer of the contributions to the plan, that the employer 
elected to take the extension for that month. The notice must explain 
why the employer could not transfer the participant contributions 
within the maximum time period, state that the participant 
contributions in question have in fact been transmitted to the plan, 
and provide the date on which this was done. The employer must also 
provide a copy of the participant notice to the Secretary, along with a 
certification that the notice was distributed to participants and that 
the other requirements under the extension procedure were met, within 5 
business days after the end of the extension period.
    The information collections imposed under the regulation include 
third-party disclosures and disclosures to the government. The 
information collection is intended to protect participants by ensuring 
that they and the Department are aware of an employer's failure to meet 
the regulatory time limits for transferring participant contributions 
to the employee pension benefit plan they are intended to fund. The 
Department and the affected participants can then take appropriate 
action to protect the plan assets. Requiring employers to make the 
disclosures also ensures that they follow the protective requirements 
that are part of the extension procedure.

Ira L Mills,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-4852 Filed 4-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P