[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77140-77141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27334]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

[Application No. D-12022]
Z-RIN 1210 ZA07


Posting of Hearing Transcript Regarding Proposed Amendment to 
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption) and 
Closing of Reopened Comment Period

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of hearing transcript posting and closing of the 
reopened comment period.

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SUMMARY: As discussed in the DATES section below, the Department of 
Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is announcing 
that it has posted the transcript on its website of the virtual public 
hearing regarding the proposed amendment to prohibited transaction 
class exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption) and determined the closing 
date for the proposed amendment's reopened comment period.

DATES: The public hearing transcript was posted to EBSA's website on 
December 12, 2022, and the reopened comment period for the proposed 
amendment will close on January 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please submit all written comments to the Office of 
Exemption Determinations through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA-2022-0008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Scott Hesse, Office of Exemption 
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor. Telephone: (202) 693-8546 (this is not a toll-free 
number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department published a proposed 
amendment to prohibited transaction class exemption 84-14 (the Proposed 
QPAM Exemption Amendment) on July 27, 2022, with a 60-day comment 
period that was set to expire on September 26, 2022.\1\ After the 
publication of the Proposed QPAM Exemption Amendment, the Department 
received two letters requesting an extension of the comment period for 
at least an additional 60 days.\2\ After carefully considering the 
extension request, the Department extended the initial comment period 
for an additional 15 days until October 11, 2022 (for 75-day total 
initial comment period) in a Federal Register notice published on 
September 9, 2022.\3\ The Department received 31 comment letters.
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    \1\ 87 FR 45204.
    \2\ See Public Comment #1 from American Bankers Association et 
al. and Public Comment #2 from American Retirement Association. The 
extension requests can be accessed here: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07/.
    \3\ 87 FR 54715.
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    In the same September 9, 2022, Federal Register notice, the 
Department announced on its own motion that it would hold a virtual 
public hearing on November 17, 2022 (and if necessary, on November 18, 
2022), to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to testify 
on material information and issues regarding the Proposed QPAM 
Amendment.\4\ The Department received 13 requests to testify at the 
hearing.
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    \4\ Id.
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    The notice also indicated the Department would: (1) reopen the 
public comment period from the hearing date until approximately 14 days 
after the Department publishes the hearing transcript on EBSA's 
website; and (2) publish a Federal Register notice announcing that it 
has posted the

[[Page 77141]]

hearing transcript to EBSA's website and the date the reopened comment 
period closes.
    The Department held the virtual public hearing on November 17, 
2022, and reopened the comment period on the hearing date.\5\ The 
Department is hereby providing notice that it posted the hearing 
transcript to EBSA's website on December 12, 2022, and determined that 
the reopened comment period will close on January 6, 2023. The hearing 
transcript may be accessed here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07.
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    \5\ The hearing did not continue on November 18, 2022, because 
the Department was able to schedule all witnesses that requested to 
testify on one day.
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    The Department encourages all interested parties to submit comments 
on the proposed amendment before the reopened comment period closes. 
All written comments should be identified by Z-RIN 1210 ZA07 and sent 
to the Office of Exemption Determinations through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: 
EBSA-2022-0008. Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    All comments on the proposed amendment and requests to testify at 
the hearing are available to the public without charge online at 
https://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA-2022-0008 and 
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07. They also are available for 
public inspection in EBSA's Public Disclosure Room, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N-1513, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of December 2022.
Lisa M. Gomez,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-27334 Filed 12-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P