[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 225 (Monday, November 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72990-72995]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29746]


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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

[[Page 72991]]

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 22, 2016.

ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5718, 
Washington, DC 20210, [email protected], (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 
693-4745 (these are not toll-free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple 
Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans, PTE 76-1, 
PTE 77-10, PTE 78-6.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0058.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 5,718.
    Responses: 5,718.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,430.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: This ICR covers information collections contained in 
three related prohibited transaction class exemptions: PTE 76-1, PTE 
77-10, and PTE 78-6. All three of these exemptions cover transactions 
that were recognized by the Department as being well-established, 
reasonable, and customary transactions in which collectively bargained 
multiple employer plans (principally, multiemployer plans, but also 
including other collectively bargained multiple employer plans) 
frequently engage in order to carry out their purposes.
    PTE 76-1 provides relief, under specified conditions, for three 
types of transactions: (1) Part A of PTE 76-1 permits collectively 
bargained multiple employer plans to take several types of actions 
regarding delinquent or uncollectible employer contributions; (2) Part 
B of PTE 76-1 permits collectively bargained multiple employer plans, 
under specified conditions, to make construction loans to participating 
employers; and (3) Part C of PTE 76-1 permits collectively bargained 
multiple employer plans to share office space and administrative 
services, and the costs associated with such office space and services, 
with parties in interest. PTE 77-10 complements Part C of PTE 76-1 by 
providing relief from the prohibitions of subsection 406(b)(2) of ERISA 
with respect to collectively bargained multiple employer plans sharing 
office space and administrative services with parties in interest if 
specific conditions are met. PTE 78-6 provides an exemption to 
collectively bargained multiple employer apprenticeship plans for the 
purchase or leasing of personal property from a contributing employer 
(or its wholly owned subsidiary) and for the leasing of real property 
(other than office space within the contemplation of section 408(b)(2) 
of ERISA) from a contributing employer (or its wholly owned subsidiary) 
or an employee organization any of whose members' work results in 
contributions being made to the plan.
    Each of these PTEs requires, as part of its conditions, either 
written agreements, recordkeeping, or both. The Department has combined 
the information collection provisions of the three PTEs into one ICR 
because it believes that the public benefits from having the 
opportunity to collectively review these closely related exemptions and 
their similar information collections. The Department previously 
submitted an ICR to OMB for approval of the information collections in 
PTEs 76-1, 77-10, and 78-6 and received OMB approval under OMB Control 
No. 1210-0058. The current approval is scheduled to expire on February 
29, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: HIPAA Notice of Enrollment Rights.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0101.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 2,283,712.
    Responses: 3,636,426.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $65,000.
    Description: Subsection (c) of 29 CFR 2590.701-6 requires group 
health plans to provide a notice describing the plan's special 
enrollment rules to each employee who is offered an initial opportunity 
to enroll in the group health plan. The special enrollment rules 
described in the notice of special enrollment generally provide 
enrollment rights to employees and their dependents in specified 
circumstances occurring after the employee or dependent initially 
declines to enroll in the plan. EBSA previously submitted an ICR 
concerning the notice of special enrollment to OMB for review under the 
PRA and received approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0101. The current 
ICR approval is scheduled to expire on February 29, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements 
(Form M-1).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0116.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 484.
    Responses: 484.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 130.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $91,996.
    Description: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act of 1996 (HIPAA), codified as Part 7 of Title I of the Employee 
Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), was enacted to improve the 
portability and continuity of health care coverage for participants and 
beneficiaries of group health plans. In the interest of assuring 
compliance with Part 7, section 101(g) of ERISA, added by HIPAA, 
further permits the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to require 
multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs), as defined in

[[Page 72992]]

section 3(40) of ERISA, to report to the Secretary in such form and 
manner as the Secretary might determine. The Department published a 
final rule providing for such reporting on an annual basis, together 
with a form (Form M-1) to be used by MEWAs for the annual report. The 
reporting requirement enables the Secretary to determine whether the 
requirements of Part 7 of ERISA are being carried out.
    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148, 
124 Stat. 119) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 
2010 (Pub. L.111-152, 124 Stat. 1029) (these are collectively known as 
the ``Affordable Care Act'') amended section 101(g) of ERISA. Under 
this amendment, MEWAs providing benefits consisting of medical care 
(within the meaning of section 733(a)(2) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 
1191b(a)(2)), which are not group health plans must now register with 
the Secretary prior to operating in a State.
    EBSA previously submitted an ICR for the information collection in 
Form M-1 to OMB for review under the PRA and received approval under 
OMB control number 1210-0116. This current approval is scheduled to 
expire on February 29, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: MEWA ALJ Administrative Hearing Procedures.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0148.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 10.
    Responses: 10.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $548,900.
    Description: Congress enacted section 6605 of the Affordable Care 
Act, Public Law 111-148, 124 Stat. 119, 780 (2010), which adds section 
521 to ERISA, to give the Secretary additional enforcement authority to 
protect plan participants, beneficiaries, employees or employee 
organizations, or other members of the public against fraudulent, 
abusive, or financially hazardous Multiple Employer Welfare 
Arrangements (MEWAs). This section authorizes the Secretary to issue ex 
parte cease and desist orders when it appears to the Secretary that the 
alleged conduct of a MEWA is ``fraudulent, or creates an immediate 
danger to the public safety or welfare, or is causing or can be 
reasonably expected to cause significant, imminent, and irreparable 
public injury.'' 29 U.S.C. 1151(a). A person that is adversely affected 
by the issuance of a cease and desist order may request an 
administrative hearing regarding the order. This request for an 
administrative hearing is an information collection under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act.
    The Department previously submitted this information collection to 
OMB in an ICR that was approved under OMB Control Number 1210-0148. The 
current approval is scheduled to expire on February 29, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: National Medical Support Notice--Part B.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0113.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 492,000.
    Responses: 12,400,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,000,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$6,800,000.
    Description: Section 609(a) of ERISA, requires each group health 
plan, as defined in ERISA section 607(1), to provide benefits in 
accordance with the applicable requirements of any ``qualified medical 
child support order'' (QMCSO). A QMCSO is, generally, an order issued 
by a state court or other competent state authority that requires a 
group health plan to provide group health coverage to a child or 
children of an employee eligible for coverage under the plan. In 
accordance with Congressional directives contained in the Child Support 
Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA), EBSA and the Federal 
Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS) cooperated in the development of regulations 
to create a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN or Notice). The 
Notice simplifies the issuance and processing of qualified medical 
child support orders issued by state child support enforcement 
agencies, provides for standardized communication between state 
agencies, employers, and plan administrators, and creates a uniform and 
streamlined process for enforcement of medical child support 
obligations ordered by state child support enforcement agencies. The 
NMSN comprises two parts: Part A was promulgated by HHS and pertains to 
state child support enforcement agencies and employers; Part B was 
promulgated by the Department and pertains to plan administrators 
pursuant to ERISA. This solicitation of public comment relates only to 
Part B of the NMSN, which was promulgated by the Department. In 
connection with promulgation of Part B of the NMSN, the Department 
submitted an ICR to OMB for review, and OMB approved the information 
collections contained in Part B under OMB control number 1210-0113. 
OMB's current approval of this ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 
2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Securities Lending by Employee Benefit Plans (PTE 2006-16).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0065.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 85.
    Responses: 850.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 163.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $4,943.
    Description: This ICR covers information collections contained in 
PTE 2006-16. In 1981 and 1982, the Department issued two related 
prohibited transaction class exemptions, PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63, that 
permit employee benefit plans to lend securities owned by the plans as 
investments to banks and broker-dealers and to make compensation 
arrangements for lending services provided by a plan fiduciary in 
connection with securities loans. In 2006, the Department promulgated 
PTE 2006-16, which combines and amends the exemptions previously 
provided under PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63. The new exemption expands the 
categories of exempted transactions to include securities lending to 
foreign banks and broker-dealers that are domiciled in specified 
countries and to allow the use of additional forms of collateral, all 
subject to specified conditions.
    Among other conditions, the class exemption requires a bank or 
broker-dealer that borrows securities from a plan to provide the plan 
with its most recent audited financial statement. The borrower must 
also affirm, when the loan is negotiated, that there has been no 
material adverse change in its financial condition since the previously 
audited statement.
    The exemption also requires the agreements regarding the securities 
loan transaction or transactions and the compensation arrangement for 
the lending fiduciary to be contained in written documents. Individual 
agreements are not required for each transaction; rather the 
compensation agreement may be made in the form of

[[Page 72993]]

a master agreement covering a series of transactions. The ICRs 
contained in PTE 2006-16 were approved by OMB under OMB Control No. 
1210-0065, which currently is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Investment 
Manager Electronic Registration.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0125.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 15.
    Responses: 15.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 18.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,040.
    Description: Section 3(38)(B) of ERISA imposes certain registration 
requirements on an investment adviser that wishes to be considered an 
investment manager under ERISA. In 1997, section 3(38) was amended to 
permit advisers to satisfy the registration requirements by registering 
electronically with the Investment Adviser Registration Depository 
(IARD) established and maintained by the Securities Exchange Commission 
(SEC). The Department promulgated a final regulation (69 FR 52120, Aug. 
24, 2004) to implement the statutory change. The final regulation is 
codified at 29 CFR 2510.3-38. EBSA submitted an ICR requesting OMB 
approval of the information collection contained in 29 CFR 2510.3-38, 
and OMB approved the information collection under OMB control number 
1210-0125. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Access to Multiemployer Plan Information.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0131.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 2,826.
    Responses: 445,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 32,800.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $526,000.
    Description: Section 101(k) of ERISA, as amended by the Pension 
Protection Act of 2006 requires the administrator of a multiemployer 
plan to provide copies of certain actuarial and financial documents 
about the plan to participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives 
and contributing employers upon request. The rule affects plan 
administrators, participants and beneficiaries and contributing 
employers of multiemployer plans. The Department previously submitted 
an ICR to OMB for approval of this information collection and received 
OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0131. The current approval is 
scheduled to expire on May 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Summary Plan Description Requirements Under the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as Amended.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0039.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 2,984,011.
    Responses: 106,376,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 260,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$295,771,000.
    Description: Section 104(b) of ERISA requires the administrator of 
an employee benefit plan to furnish plan participants and certain 
beneficiaries with a Summary Plan Description (SPD) that describes, in 
language understandable to an average plan participant, the benefits, 
rights, and obligations of participants in the plan. The information 
required to be contained in the SPD is set forth in section 102(b) of 
ERISA. To the extent there is a material modification in the terms of 
the plan or a change in the required content of the SPD, section 
104(b)(1) of ERISA requires the plan administrator to furnish 
participants and specified beneficiaries with a summary of material 
modifications (SMM) or summary of material reductions (SMR). The 
Department has issued regulations providing guidance on compliance with 
the requirements to furnish SPDs, SMMs, and SMRs. These regulations, 
which are codified at 29 CFR 2520.102-2, 102-3, and 29 CFR 104b-2 and 
104b-3, contain information collections for which the Department has 
obtained OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0039. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Employee Benefit Plan Claims Procedure Under the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0053.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 5,770,307.
    Responses: 333,612,550.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 523,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$568,700,000.
    Description: Section 503 of ERISA requires each employee benefit 
plan to provide, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
of Labor, notice in writing to any participant or beneficiary whose 
claim for benefits under the plan has been denied. The notice must set 
forth the specific reasons for the denial and must be written in a 
manner calculated to be understood by the claimant. Plans must also 
give a participant or beneficiary whose claim has been denied a 
reasonable opportunity to obtain a full and fair review of any benefit 
claim denial by the appropriate named fiduciary.
    The Department issued a regulation pertaining to benefit claims 
procedures in 1977 and amended that regulation in a Notice of Final 
Rulemaking (NFRM) published on November 21, 2000 (65 FR 70246). The 
regulation pertaining to benefit claims procedures is codified at 29 
CFR 2560.503-1. The regulation requires plans to establish reasonable 
claims procedures that meet specified standards governing the timing 
and content of notices and disclosures. EBSA submitted an ICR for the 
information collections in 29 CFR 2560.503-1 to OMB for review and 
clearance in connection with publication of the NFRM, and OMB approved 
the information collections under OMB control number 1210-0053. That 
current approval is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 80-83--Sale of Securities To Reduce Indebtedness of 
Party in Interest.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0064.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 25.
    Responses: 25.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 15.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 80-83 provides an exemption from certain 
prohibited

[[Page 72994]]

transaction provisions of ERISA and from certain taxes imposed by the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code) for transactions in which an 
employee benefit plan purchases securities when the proceeds from such 
purchase may be used to reduce or retire a debt owed by a party in 
interest with respect to such plan, provided that specified conditions 
are met. Among other conditions, PTE 80-83 requires that adequate 
records pertaining to an exempted transaction be maintained for six 
years. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0064. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on July 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 75-1, Security 
Transactions With Broker-Dealers, Reporting Dealers, and Banks.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0092.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 7,492.
    Responses: 7,492.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,249.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 75-1 provides exemptions from certain prohibited 
transaction provisions of ERISA, and the Code for specified types of 
transactions between employee benefit plans and broker-dealers, 
reporting dealers and banks relating to securities purchases and sales, 
provided specified conditions are met. The exempted transactions 
include an employee benefit plan's purchase of securities from broker-
dealers' inventories of stocks, from underwriting syndicates in which a 
plan fiduciary is a member, from banks, from reporting dealers, and 
from a market-maker even if a market-maker is a plan fiduciary. The 
exempted transactions also include, under certain conditions, a plan's 
accepting an extension of credit from a broker-dealer for the purpose 
of facilitating settlement of a securities transaction. Among other 
conditions, PTE 75-1 requires that a party seeking to rely on the 
exemption with respect to a transaction maintain adequate records of 
the transaction for a period of six years. The Department has obtained 
approval from the OMB for this information collection under OMB Control 
No. 1210-0092. The current approval is scheduled to expire on July 31, 
2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 88-59, Residential 
Mortgage Financing Arrangements Involving Employee Benefit Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0095.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 2,187.
    Responses: 10,936.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 911.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 88-59 provides an exemption from certain 
prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and from certain taxes 
imposed by the Code for transactions in which an employee benefit plan 
provides mortgage financing to purchasers of residential dwelling 
units, provided specified conditions are met. Among other conditions, 
PTE 88-59 requires that adequate records pertaining to exempted 
transactions be maintained for the duration of the pertinent loan. This 
recordkeeping requirement constitutes an information collection within 
the meaning of the PRA, for which the Department has obtained approval 
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No. 
1210-0095. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to expire on July 
31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Petition for Finding Under Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act Section 3(40).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0119.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 10.
    Responses: 10.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 50.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $38,454.
    Description: Rules codified beginning at 29 CFR 2570.150 set forth 
an administrative procedure (``procedural rules'') for obtaining a 
determination by the Department as to whether a particular employee 
benefit plan is established or maintained under or pursuant to one or 
more collective bargaining agreements for purposes of section 3(40) of 
ERISA. These procedural rules concern specific criteria set forth in 29 
CFR 2510.3-40 (``criteria rules''), which, if met, constitute a finding 
by the Department that a plan is collectively bargained. Plans that 
meet the requirements of the criteria rules are not subject to state 
law. Among other requirements, the procedural rules require submission 
of a petition and affidavits by parties seeking a finding. The 
Department has obtained approval from OMB, under OMB Control No. 1210-
0119, for the information collections contained in its rules for a 
finding under section 3(40). The current approval is scheduled to 
expire on July 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by Independent Qualified 
Professional Asset Managers under Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-
14.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0128.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 5,100.
    Responses: 5,151.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 122,438.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$51,000,000.
    Description: 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) 
that are independent of the parties in interest and which meet 
specified financial standards. The exemption provides additional 
exemptive relief for employers to furnish limited amounts of goods and 
services to a managed fund in the ordinary course of business. Limited 
relief also is 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. QPAMs are permitted to manage an 
investment fund containing the assets of the QPAM's own plan or an 
affiliate's plan.
    The Department has obtained approval for the information 
collections from OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-0128. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0130.

[[Page 72995]]

    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 315.
    Responses: 2,834.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,290.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $14,000.
    Description: The Interim Final Rule on Statutory Exemption for 
Cross-Trading of Securities implements the content requirements for the 
written cross-trading policies and procedures required under section 
408(b)(19)(H) of ERISA, as added by section 611(g) of the Pension 
Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280 (PPA). Section 611(g)(1) of 
the PPA created a new statutory exemption, added to section 408(b) of 
ERISA as subsection 408(b)(19), that exempts from the prohibitions of 
sections 406(a)(1)(A) and 406(b)(2) of ERISA those cross-trading 
transactions involving the purchase and sale of a security between an 
account holding assets of a pension plan and any other account managed 
by the same investment manager, provided that certain conditions are 
satisfied. Section 611(g)(3) of the PPA further directed the Secretary 
to issue regulations, within 180 days after enactment, regarding the 
content of the policies and procedures to be adopted by an investment 
manager to satisfy the conditions of the new statutory exemption.
    The Department issued a final cross-trading regulation on October 
7, 2008. The recordkeeping requirement in the regulation constitutes an 
information collection within the meaning of the PRA, for which the 
Department has obtained approval from OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-
0130. The current approval is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2016.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset 
Managers under Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 96-23.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0145.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 40.
    Responses: 20.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 940.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $400,000.
    Description: PTE 96-23, a class exemption, permits various 
transactions involving employee benefit plans whose assets are managed 
by in-house asset managers (INHAMs), provided the conditions of the 
exemption are met. The Department submitted the ICR included in the 
Proposed Amendment to PTE 96-23 for Plan Asset Transactions Determined 
by In-House Asset Managers to OMB for review and clearance at the time 
the Notice of the proposed exemption was published in the Federal 
Register (June 14, 2010, 75 FR 33642). OMB most recently approved the 
amendment under OMB control number 1210-0145, on July 26, 2013. The 
current approval will expire on July 31, 2016.

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.

Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-29746 Filed 11-20-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-29-P