[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71668-71671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28568]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted 
for Public Comment

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 (EBSA) is soliciting comments 
on the proposed extension of the information collection requests (ICRs) 
contained in the documents described below. A copy of the ICRs 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 January 28, 2014.

ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,

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DC 20210, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 693-4745 (these are not toll-free 
numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I.

    This notice requests public comment on the Department's request for 
extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of 
ICRs contained in the rules and prohibited transactions described 
below. The Department is not proposing any changes to the existing ICRs 
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 ICRs and the current burden 
estimates follows:
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Advance Notice of Rescission.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0141.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 100.
    Responses: 1,600.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 26.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $400.
    Description: Section 2712 of the PHS Act, as added by the 
Affordable Care Act, and the Department's interim final regulation (26 
CFR 54.9815-2712, 29 CFR 2590.715-2712, 45 CFR 147.2712) provides rules 
regarding rescissions of health coverage for group health plans and 
health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance 
coverage. Under the statute and the interim final regulations, a group 
health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering group or individual 
health insurance coverage, generally must not rescind coverage except 
in the case of fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of a material 
fact. This standard applies to all rescissions, whether in the group or 
individual insurance market, or self-insured coverage. The rules also 
apply regardless of any contestability period of the plan or issuer.
    PHS Act section 2712 adds a new advance notice requirement when 
coverage is rescinded where still permissible. Specifically, the second 
sentence in section 2712 provides that coverage may not be cancelled 
unless prior notice is provided, and then only as permitted under PHS 
Act sections 2702(c) and 2742(b). Under the interim final regulations, 
even if prior notice is provided, rescission is only permitted in cases 
of fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact as 
permitted under the cited provisions.
    The interim final regulations provide that a group health plan, or 
a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, 
must provide at least 30 days advance notice to an individual before 
coverage may be rescinded. The notice must be provided regardless of 
whether the rescission is of group or individual coverage; or whether, 
in the case of group coverage, the coverage is insured or self-insured, 
or the rescission applies to an entire group or only to an individual 
within the group. The ICR was approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1210-0141 and is scheduled to 
expire on February 28, 2014.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Patient Protection Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0142.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 261,680.
    Responses: 6,186,404.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 33,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $48,000.
    Description: Section 2719A of the PHS Act, as added by the 
Affordable Care Act, and the Department's interim final regulation (29 
CFR 2590.715-2719A), states that if a group health plan, or a health 
insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance 
coverage, requires or provides for designation by a participant, 
beneficiary, or enrollee of a participating primary care provider, then 
the plan or issuer must permit each participant, beneficiary, or 
enrollee to designate any participating primary care provider who is 
available to accept the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee.
    When applicable, it is important that individuals enrolled in a 
plan or health insurance coverage know of their rights to (1) choose a 
primary care provider or a pediatrician when a plan or issuer requires 
participants or subscribers to designate a primary care physician; or 
(2) obtain obstetrical or gynecological care without prior 
authorization. Accordingly, paragraph (a)(4) of the interim final 
regulations requires such plans and issuers to provide a notice to 
participants (in the individual market, primary subscribers) of these 
rights when applicable. Model language is provided in the interim final 
regulations. The notice must be provided whenever the plan or issuer 
provides a participant with a summary plan description or other similar 
description of benefits under the plan or health insurance coverage, or 
in the individual market, provides a primary subscriber with a policy, 
certificate, or contract of health insurance. The ICR was approved by 
OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0142 and is scheduled to expire on 
February 28, 2014.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Suspension of Pension Benefits Regulation Pursuant to 29 CFR 
2530.203-3.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0048.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 44,222.
    Responses: 173,560.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 147,129.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $58,108.
    Description: Section 203(a)(3)(B) of ERISA governs the 
circumstances under which pension plans may suspend pension benefit 
payments to retirees that return to work or to participants that 
continue to work beyond normal retirement age. Furthermore, section 
203(a)(3)(B) of ERISA authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
    In this regard, the Department issued a regulation which describes 
the circumstances and conditions under which plans may suspend the 
pension benefits of retirees that return to work, or of participants 
that continue to work beyond normal retirement age (29 CFR 2530.203-3). 
In order for a plan to suspend benefits pursuant to the regulation, it 
must notify affected retirees or participants (by first class mail or 
personal delivery) during the first calendar month or payroll period in 
which the plan withholds payment, that benefits are suspended. This 
notice must include the specific reasons for such suspension, a general 
description of the plan provisions authorizing the suspension, a copy 
of the relevant plan provisions, and a statement indicating where the 
applicable regulations may be found (i.e., 29 CFR 2530.203-3). In 
addition, the suspension notification must inform the retiree or 
participant of the plan's procedure for affording a review of the 
suspension of benefits. The ICR was approved by OMB under

[[Page 71670]]

OMB Control Number 1210-0048 and is scheduled to expire on June 30, 
2014.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 81-8 for Investment 
of Plan Assets in Certain Types of Short-Term Investments.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0061.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 61,000.
    Responses: 305,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 76,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $87,000.
    Description: PTE 81-8 permits the investment of plan assets that 
involve the purchase or other acquisition, holding, sale, exchange or 
redemption by or on behalf of an employee benefit plan in certain types 
of short-term investments. These include investments in banker's 
acceptances, commercial paper, repurchase agreements, certificates of 
deposit, and bank securities. Absent the exemption, certain aspects of 
these transactions might be prohibited by section 406 and 407(a) of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
    In order to ensure that the exemption is not abused, that the 
rights of participants and beneficiaries are protected, and that the 
conditions of the exemption have been satisfied, the Department has 
included in the exemption two basic disclosure requirements. Both 
affect only the portion of the exemption dealing with repurchase 
agreements. The first requirement calls for the repurchase agreements 
between the seller and the plan to be in writing. The second 
requirement obliges the seller of such repurchase agreements to agree 
to provide financial statements to the plan at the time of the sale and 
as future statements are issued. The seller must also represent, either 
in the repurchase agreement or prior to the negotiation of each 
repurchase agreement transaction, that there has been no material 
adverse change in the seller's financial condition since the date that 
the most recent financial statement was furnished which has not been 
disclosed to the plan fiduciary with whom the written agreement is 
made.
    Without the recording and disclosure requirements included in this 
ICR, participants and beneficiaries of a plan would not be protected in 
their investments, the Department would be unable to monitor a plan's 
activities for compliance, and plans would be at a disadvantage in 
assessing the value of certain short-term investment activities. The 
ICR was approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0061 and is 
scheduled to expire on June 30, 2014.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 96-62--Process for Expedited Approval of an Exemption 
for Prohibited Transactions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0098.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 33.
    Responses: 15,279.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 295.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $51,000.
    Description: Section 408(a) of ERISA provides that the Secretary of 
Labor may grant exemptions from the prohibited transaction provisions 
of sections 406 and 407(a) of ERISA, and directs the Secretary to 
establish an exemption procedure with respect to such provisions. On 
July 31, 1996, the Department published PTE 96-62, which, pursuant to 
the exemption procedure set forth in 29 CFR 2570, subpart B, permits a 
plan to seek approval on an accelerated basis of otherwise prohibited 
transactions. A PTE will only be granted on the conditions that the 
plan demonstrate to the Department that the transaction is 
substantially similar to those described in at least two prior 
individual exemptions granted by the Department and that it presents 
little, if any, opportunity for abuse or risk of loss to a plan's 
participants and beneficiaries. This ICR is intended to provide the 
Department with sufficient information to support a finding that the 
exemption meets the statutory standards of section 408(a) of ERISA, and 
to provide affected parties with the opportunity to comment on the 
proposed transaction, while at the same time reducing the regulatory 
burden associated with processing individual exemptions for 
transactions prohibited under ERISA. The ICR was approved by OMB under 
OMB Control Number 1210-0098 and is scheduled to expire on June 30, 
2014.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 98-54--Relating to Certain Employee Benefit Plan Foreign 
Exchange Transactions Executed Pursuant to Standing Instructions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0111.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 35.
    Responses: 420,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,200.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 98-54 permits certain foreign exchange 
transactions between employee benefit plans and certain banks, broker-
dealers, and domestic affiliates thereof, that are parties in interest 
with respect to such plans, pursuant to standing instructions. In the 
absence of an exemption, foreign exchange transactions pursuant to 
standing instructions would be prohibited under circumstances where the 
bank or broker-dealer is a party in interest or disqualified person 
with respect to the plan under ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code.
    The class exemption has five basic information collection 
requirements. The first requires the bank or broker-dealer to maintain 
written policies and procedures for handling foreign exchange 
transactions for plans for which it is a party in interest, which 
policies and procedures ensure that the party acting for the bank or 
broker-dealer knows it is dealing with a plan. The second requires the 
transactions to be performed in accordance with a written authorization 
executed in advance by an independent fiduciary of the plan. The third 
requires that the bank or broker-dealer provides the authorizing 
fiduciary with a copy of its written policies and procedures for 
foreign exchange transactions involving income item conversions and de 
minimis purchase and sale transactions prior to the execution of a 
transaction. The fourth requires the bank or broker-dealer to furnish 
the authorizing fiduciary a written confirmation statement with respect 
to each covered transaction within five days after execution. The fifth 
requires the bank or broker-dealer to maintain records necessary for 
plan fiduciaries, participants, the Department, and the Internal 
Revenue Service, to determine whether the conditions of the exemption 
are being met for a period of six years from the date of execution of a 
transaction.
    By requiring that records pertaining to the exempted transaction be 
maintained for six years, this ICR ensures that the exemption is not 
abused, the rights of the participants and beneficiaries are protected, 
and that compliance with the exemption's conditions can be confirmed. 
The exemption affects participants and beneficiaries of the plans that 
are involved in such

[[Page 71671]]

transactions, as well as, certain banks, broker-dealers, and domestic 
affiliates thereof. The ICR was approved by OMB under OMB Control 
Number 1210-0111 and is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2014.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0089.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 12,322.
    Responses: 12,322.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 616.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $676,712.
    Description: The Secretary of Labor has the authority, under 
section 502(c)(2) of ERISA, to assess civil penalties of up to $1,000 a 
day against plan administrators who fail or refuse to file complete and 
timely annual reports (Form 5500 Series Annual Return/Reports) as 
required under section 101(b)(4) of ERISA-related regulations. Pursuant 
to 29 CFR 2560.502c-2 and 2570.60 et seq., EBSA has maintained a 
program for the assessment of civil penalties for noncompliance with 
the annual reporting requirements. Under this program, plan 
administrators filing annual reports after the date on which the report 
was required to be filed may be assessed $50 per day for each day an 
annual report is filed after the date on which the annual report(s) was 
required to be filed, without regard to any extensions for filing.
    Plan administrators who fail to file an annual report may be 
assessed a penalty of $300 per day, up to $30,000 per year, until a 
complete annual report is filed. Penalties are applicable to each 
annual report required to be filed under Title I of ERISA. The 
Department may, in its discretion, waive all or part of a civil penalty 
assessed under section 502(c)(2) upon a showing by the administrator 
that there was reasonable cause for the failure to file a complete and 
timely annual report.
    The Department has determined that the possible assessment of these 
civil penalties may deter certain delinquent filers from voluntarily 
complying with the annual reporting requirements under Title I of 
ERISA. In an effort to encourage annual reporting compliance, 
therefore, the Department implemented the Delinquent Filer Voluntary 
Compliance (DFVC) Program (the Program) on April 27, 1995 (60 FR 
20873). Under the Program, administrators otherwise subject to the 
assessment of higher civil penalties are permitted to pay reduced civil 
penalties for voluntarily complying with the annual reporting 
requirements under Title I of ERISA.
    This ICR covers the requirement of providing data necessary to 
identify the plan along with the penalty payment. This data is the 
means by which each penalty payment is associated with the appropriate 
plan. With respect to most pension plans and welfare plans, the 
requirement is satisfied by sending a photocopy of the delinquent Form 
5500 annual report that has been filed, along with the penalty payment.
    Under current regulations, apprenticeship and training plans may be 
exempted from the reporting and disclosure requirements of Part 1 of 
Title I, and certain pension plans maintained for highly compensated 
employees, commonly called ``top hat'' plans, may comply with these 
reporting and disclosure requirements by using an alternate method by 
filing a one-time identifying statement with the Department. The DFVC 
Program provides that apprenticeship and training plans and top hat 
plans may, in lieu of filing any past due annual reports and paying 
otherwise applicable civil penalties, complete and file specific 
portions of a Form 5500, file the identifying statements that were 
required to be filed, and pay a one-time penalty. The ICR was approved 
by OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0089 and is scheduled to expire on 
July 31, 2014.

II. Focus of Comments

    The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate whether the collections of information are 
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 
collections 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 through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., by 
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the ICRs for OMB approval of the extension of the 
information collection; they will also become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: November 15, 2013.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-28568 Filed 11-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P