[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33550-33552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12363]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests

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

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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 July 25, 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).

I. 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 Exemption for Certain 
Transactions Between Investment Companies and Employee Benefit Plans 
(PTE 77-4).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0049.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 700.
    Responses: 399,300.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 33,640.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $219,000.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 77-4 provides 
relief from the restrictions of section 406 of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and from the sanctions 
resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), for an employee benefit plan's 
purchase or sale of shares of an open-end investment company registered 
under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (mutual fund) when an 
investment advisor for the mutual fund or its affiliate is: (1) A plan 
fiduciary; and (2) not an employer of employees covered by the plan.
    Section II(d) of PTE 77-4 contains certain conditions for the 
exemptive relief and provides, in pertinent part, that: A second 
fiduciary with respect to the plan, who is independent of and unrelated 
to the fiduciary/investment adviser or any affiliate thereof, receives 
a current prospectus issued by the investment company, and full and 
detailed written disclosure of the investment advisory and other fees 
charged to or paid by the plan and the investment company, including 
the nature and extent of any differential between the rates of such 
fees, the reasons why the fiduciary/investment adviser may consider 
such purchases to be appropriate for the plan, and whether there are 
any limitations on the fiduciary/investment adviser with respect to 
which plan assets may be invested in shares of the investment company 
and, if so, the nature of such limitations.
    Delivery of a ``summary prospectus'' may be used to satisfy the 
condition in section II(d) of PTE 77-4 requiring the delivery of a 
mutual fund's prospectus to the second fiduciary if the summary 
prospectus meets the requirements of the Securities and Exchange 
Commission's (SEC) revised disclosure provisions for mutual funds 
including a summary prospectus rule that were published in 2009. 
Pursuant to the SEC's revised disclosure provisions, mutual funds also 
are required to send the full prospectus to the investor upon an 
investor's request and to provide the full prospectus on-line at a 
specified Internet site. The Department previously submitted an ICR to 
OMB for approval of the information collections in PTE 77-4 and 
received OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0049. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2016.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Notice Requirements of the Health Care Continuation Coverage 
Provisions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0123.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 599,000.
    Responses: 20,712,556.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$26,554,404.
    Description: The continuation coverage provisions of section 601 
through 608 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) (and parallel provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Code)) 
generally require group health plans to offer qualified beneficiaries 
the opportunity to elect continuation coverage following certain events 
that would otherwise result in the loss of coverage. Continuation 
coverage is a temporary extension of the qualified beneficiary's 
previous group health coverage. The right to elect continuation 
coverage allows individuals to maintain group health coverage under 
adverse circumstances and to bridge gaps in health coverage that 
otherwise could limit their access to health care. The Consolidated 
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) provides the 
Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) with authority under section 608 of 
ERISA to carry out the continuation coverage provisions. The Conference 
Report that accompanied COBRA divided interpretive authority over the 
COBRA provisions between the Secretary and the Secretary of the 
Treasury (the Treasury) by providing that the Secretary has the 
authority to issue regulations implementing the notice and disclosure 
requirements of COBRA, while the Treasury is authorized to issue 
regulations defining the required continuation coverage. The ICR 
contained in these rules was approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1210-0123, which is currently 
scheduled to expire on October 31, 2016.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Model Employer Children's Health Insurance Program Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0137.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms, Not-for-
profit institutions.
    Respondents: 5,961,000.
    Responses: 174,347,154.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 900,519.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$21,619,363.
    Description: On February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the 
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 
(CHIPRA, Pub. L. 111-3). Under ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), PHS 
Act section 2701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), and section 9801(f)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the 
Internal Revenue Code, as added by CHIPRA, an

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employer that maintains a group health plan in a State that provides 
medical assistance under a State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the 
Social Security Act (SSA), or child health assistance under a State 
child health plan under title XXI of the SSA, in the form of premium 
assistance for the purchase of coverage under a group health plan, is 
required to make certain disclosures. Specifically, the employer is 
required to notify each employee of potential opportunities currently 
available in the State in which the employee resides for premium 
assistance under Medicaid and CHIP for health coverage of the employee 
or the employee's dependents.
    ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(II) requires the Department of Labor 
to provide employers with model language for the Employer CHIP Notices 
to enable them to timely comply with this requirement. This ICR relates 
to the Model Employer CHIP Notice, which was approved by OMB under OMB 
Control Number 1210-0137 and currently scheduled to expire on October 
31, 2016.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Notice of Medical Necessity Criteria under the Mental Health 
Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0138.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 1,258,000.
    Responses: 629,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$1,494,000.
    Description: MHPAEA includes disclosure provisions for group health 
plans and health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group 
health plan. The criteria for medical necessity determinations made 
under a group health plan with respect to mental health or substance 
use disorder benefits (or health insurance coverage offered in 
connection with the plan with respect to such benefits) must be made 
available in accordance with regulations by the plan administrator (or 
the health insurance issuer offering such coverage) to any current or 
potential participant, beneficiary, or contracting provider upon 
request (``medical necessity disclosure''). The ICR contained in MHPAEA 
was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0138, which currently is scheduled to expire on 
November 30, 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. 2016-12363 Filed 5-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-29-P