[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54642-54644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22126]


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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, 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 December 9, 2019.

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) 219-
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 
transaction exemptions 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: 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: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 5,808,427.
    Responses: 311,790,227.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 516,227.

[[Page 54643]]

    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$814,449,932.
    Description: ERISA Section 503 and accompanying regulations at 29 
CFR 2560.503-1 require employee benefit plans to establish procedures 
for resolving benefit claims under the plan, including initial claims 
and appeal of denied claims. The regulation requires specific 
information to be disclosed at different stages of the claims process. 
It also requires claims denial notices to be provided within specific 
time-frames and to include specific information. The Department has 
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0053. The current approval is scheduled to expire on February 29, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 
Notices.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0138.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households, Businesses or other 
for-profits, Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 1,217,876.
    Responses: 1,217,876.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 27,207.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$3,477,577.
    Description: The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health 
Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) was enacted on October 
3, 2008, as sections 511 and 512 of the Tax Extenders and Alternative 
Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 (Division C of Pub. L. 110-343). MHPAEA 
amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the 
Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), and the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (the Code). In 1996, Congress enacted MHPEA, which required parity 
in aggregate lifetime and annual dollar limits for mental health 
benefits and medical and surgical benefits. Those mental health parity 
provisions were codified in section 712 of ERISA, section 2705 of the 
PHS Act, and section 9812 of the Code. The changes made by MHPAEA are 
codified in these same sections and consist of new requirements as well 
as amendments to several of the existing mental health parity 
provisions applicable to group health plans and health insurance 
coverage offered in connection with a group health plan.
    MHPAEA and the interim final regulations do not apply to small 
employers who have between two and 50 employees. The changes made by 
MHPAEA are generally effective for plan years beginning after October 
3, 2009. MHPAEA and the final regulations, codified at 29 CFR 
2590.712(d), require plan administrators to disclose the criteria for 
medical necessity determinations with respect to mental health and 
substance use disorder benefits. These third-party disclosures are 
information collection requests for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. In response to provisions of the Cures Act which requires the 
Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury 
(collectively, the Departments), to provide a model form that 
participants, enrollees, or their authorized representatives could use 
to request information from their health plan or issuer regarding non-
quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) that may affect their Mental 
Health (MH)/Substance Use Disorder (SUD) benefits, or to obtain 
documentation after an adverse benefit determination involving MH/SUD 
benefits to support an appeal. The Department has received approval 
from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0138. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1992-6: Sale of 
Individual Life Insurance or Annuity Contracts by a Plan.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0063.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 10,877.
    Responses: 10,877.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,175.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $5,656.
    Description: This class exemption exempts from the prohibited 
transaction provisions of ERISA, the sale of individual or annuity 
contracts by a plan to participants, relatives of participants, 
employers, any of whose employees are covered by the plan, other 
employee benefit plans, owner-employees, or shareholder-employees, for 
the cash surrender value of the contracts, provided certain conditions 
set forth in the exemption are met.
    The Department has included in the class exemption a basic 
disclosure requirement. Pension plans are required to inform the 
insured participant of a proposed sale of a life insurance or annuity 
policy to the employer, a relative, another plan, an owner-employee, or 
a shareholder-employee. If the participant elects not to purchase the 
contract, the relative, the employer, another plan, the owner-
employees, or the shareholder-employees may purchase the contract from 
the plan upon the receipt by the plan of written consent of the 
participant. The disclosure requirement of the class exemption does not 
apply if the contract is sold to the plan participant. The Department 
has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0063. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Loans to Plan Participants and Beneficiaries Who Are Parties 
in Interest with Respect to the Plan Regulation.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0076.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 2,556.
    Responses: 2,556.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$1,023,678.
    Description: Section 406(a)(1)(B) of ERISA prohibits the lending of 
money or other extensions of credit between a plan and a party in 
interest. A statutory exemption is provided in ERISA section 408(b)(1), 
which exempts plan loans made to participants and beneficiaries from 
the prohibited transaction provisions of sections 406(a), (b)(1), and 
(b)(2) of ERISA if the loans: (A) Are made available to all 
participants and beneficiaries on a reasonably equivalent basis; (B) 
are not made available to highly compensated employees, officers, or 
shareholders in an amount greater than the amount made available to 
other employees; (C) are made in accordance with specific provisions 
regarding such loans set forth in the plan; (D) bear a reasonable rate 
of interest; and (E) are adequately secured.
    The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2550.408b-1(d) prescribes 
eight specific provisions that must be included in the plan documents, 
including: (1) An explicit authorization for the plan fiduciary 
responsible for investing plan assets to establish such a loan program; 
(2) the identity of the person or position authorized to administer the 
program; (3) a procedure for applying for loans; (4) the basis on which 
loans will be approved or denied; (5) limitations (if any) on the types 
and

[[Page 54644]]

amounts of loans offered; (6) the procedure for determining a 
reasonable rate of interest; (7) types of collateral that may secure a 
participant loan; and (8) the events constituting default and the steps 
that will be taken to preserve plan assets in the event of such 
default. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR 
under OMB Control No. 1210-0076. The current approval is scheduled to 
expire on May 31, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1985-68 to Permit 
Employee Benefit Plans to Invest in Customer Notes of Employers.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0094.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 69.
    Responses: 325.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: This class exemption describes the conditions under 
which a plan is permitted to acquire customer notes accepted by an 
employer of employees covered by the plan in the ordinary course of the 
employer's business activity and thus be exempt from the prohibited 
transaction restrictions, provided that the conditions of the exemption 
are met. The class exemption covers sales as well as contributions of 
customer notes by an employer to its plan. The customer notes must have 
been accepted by the employer in its primary business activity as the 
seller of tangible personal property that is being financed by the 
notes, so that the exemption does not apply to notes of an employer's 
affiliate. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR 
under OMB Control No. 1210-0094. The current approval is scheduled to 
expire on May 31, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Notice to Employees of Coverage Options under Fair Labor 
Standards Act Section 18B.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0149.
    Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Respondents: 7,521,900.
    Responses: 29,165,840.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 117,149.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$4,709,408.
    Description: Section 18B of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as 
added by section 1512 of the Affordable Care Act, generally provides 
that, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of 
Labor, an applicable employer must provide each employee at the time of 
hiring (or with respect to current employees, not later than March 1, 
2013), a written notice: (1) Informing the employee of the existence of 
Exchanges including a description of the services provided by the 
Exchanges, and the manner in which the employee may contact Exchanges 
to request assistance; (2) If the employer plan's share of the total 
allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan is less than 60 
percent of such costs, that the employee may be eligible for a premium 
tax credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) if 
the employee purchases a qualified health plan through an Exchange; and 
(3) If the employee purchases a qualified health plan through an 
Exchange, the employee may lose the employer contribution (if any) to 
any health benefits plan offered by the employer and that all or a 
portion of such contribution may be excludable from income for Federal 
income tax purposes. The model notice is being provided by the 
Department to facilitate compliance with FLSA section 18B. The 
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0149. The current approval is scheduled to expire on 
May 31, 2020.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Default Investment Alternatives under Participant Directed 
Individual Account Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0132.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 276,222.
    Responses: 36,249,796.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 191,640.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$9,959,269.
    Description: The regulation offers guidance on the types of 
investment vehicles that plans may choose as their ``qualified default 
investment alternative'' (QDIA). A QDIA must either be managed by an 
investment manager, plan trustee, plan sponsor or a committee comprised 
primarily of employees of the plan sponsor that is a named fiduciary, 
or be an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act 
of 1940. The regulation also outlines two types of information 
collections. First, it implements the statutory requirement that plans 
provide annual notices to participants and beneficiaries whose account 
assets could be invested in a QDIA. Second, the regulation requires 
plans to pass any pertinent materials they receive from a QDIA to those 
participants and beneficiaries with assets invested in the QDIA as well 
to provide certain information on request. The Department has received 
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0132. The 
current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2020.

    Dated: October 4, 2019.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-22126 Filed 10-9-19; 8:45 am]
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