[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 116 (Monday, June 18, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33536-33537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11668]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted 
for Public Comment; Final Rule on Plan Loans to Participants and 
Beneficiaries

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This 
helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection 
requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps 
the public understand the Department's information collection 
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The 
Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting comments on the 
proposed extension of the information collection provisions of its 
regulation relating to loans to plan participants and beneficiaries who 
are parties in interest with respect to the plan (29 CFR 2550.408b-1). 
A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained by 
contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 
ICRs also are available at reginfo.gov (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the 
ADDRESSES section on or before August 17, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Joseph S. Piacentini, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 693-4745 (these are not toll-free 
numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 
prohibits a plan fiduciary from causing the plan to engage in a 
transaction if he knows or should know that such transaction 
constitutes direct or indirect loan or extension of credit between the 
plan and a party in interest. ERISA section 408(b)(1) exempts from this 
prohibition loans from a plan to parties in interest who are 
participants and beneficiaries of the plan, provided that certain 
requirements are satisfied. In final regulations published in the 
Federal Register on July 20, 1989 (54 FR 30520), the Department 
provided additional guidance on section 408(b)(1)(C), which requires 
that loans be made in accordance with specific provisions in the plan. 
This ICR therefore relates to the provisions plan documents must 
include in order that a plan may make loans to participants.

II. Current Actions

    This notice requests public comment on the Department's request for 
extension of OMB approval of the information collection contained in 
its final rule at 29 CFR 2550.408b-1. After considering all the 
responses to this notice, the Department intends to submit an ICR to 
OMB for continuing approval. The Department is not proposing any 
changes to the existing ICR at this time. An agency may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information 
collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of 
the ICR and the current burden estimates follows:
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Regulation Relating to Loans to Plan Participants and 
Beneficiaries who are Parties in Interest with Respect to the Plan.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0076.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profit entities; not-for-profit institutions.
    Total Respondents: 1,700.
    Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
    Responses: 1,700.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $428,000.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Department of Labor (Department) is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility;

[[Page 33537]]

     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate in 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
     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 suggestions for appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., by 
permitting responses to be submitted electronically.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and possibly included in the ICR for OMB approval of the extension of 
the information collection; they will also become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: June 8, 2007.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-11668 Filed 6-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P