[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]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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]
BILLING CODE P