[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45448-45449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15018]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

[Application Number L-11989]


Proposed Exemption for Certain Prohibited Transactions Involving 
the Association of Washington Business (AWB) HealthChoice Employee 
Benefits Trust Located in Olympia, Washington

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of proposed exemption; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department) is extending the 
comment period for the proposed individual exemption for certain 
prohibited transactions involving the Association

[[Page 45449]]

of Washington Business (AWB) HealthChoice Employee Benefits Trust (the 
proposed exemption). As discussed in the DATES section below, the 
Department is extending the comment period through August 14, 2023.

DATES: Written comments and requests for a public hearing on the 
proposed exemption must be received by the Department by August 14, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: All written comments and requests for a hearing should be 
sent to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Office of 
Exemption Determinations, Attention: Application No. L-11989 via email 
to [email protected] or online through https://www.regulations.gov. Any 
such comments or requests should be sent by the end of the scheduled 
comment period. The application for the exemption and the comments 
received will be available for public inspection in the Public 
Disclosure Room of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Room N-1515, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210. Comments and hearing requests will also be 
available online at https://www.regulations.gov at no charge. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for additional information regarding 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Wilker, Office of Exemption 
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, (202) 693-8557 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 14, 2023, the Department published 
the proposed exemption in the Federal Register (87 FR 14197). The 
proposal established a July 31, 2023, deadline for the public to submit 
comments. The Department has been informed that AWB had to redistribute 
its notice to interested parties package due to an incomplete first 
distribution. Therefore, the Department is extending the proposed 
exemption's comment period until August 14, 2023, to provide additional 
time for interested parties to prepare and submit their comments.
    Persons are encouraged to submit all comments electronically and 
not to send paper copies. Comments should state the nature of the 
person's interest in the proposed exemption and how the person would be 
adversely affected by the exemption, if granted. Any person who may be 
adversely affected by an exemption can request a hearing on the 
exemption. A request for a hearing must state: (1) The name, address, 
telephone number, and email address of the person making the request; 
(2) the nature of the person's interest in the exemption and the manner 
in which the person would be adversely affected by the exemption; and 
(3) a statement of the issues to be addressed and a general description 
of the evidence to be presented at the hearing. The Department will 
grant a request for a hearing made in accordance with the requirements 
above where a hearing is necessary to fully explore material factual 
issues identified by the person requesting the hearing. A notice of 
such hearing shall be published by the Department in the Federal 
Register. The Department may decline to hold a hearing if: (1) the 
request for the hearing does not meet the requirements above; (2) the 
only issues identified for exploration at the hearing are matters of 
law; or (3) the factual issues identified can be fully explored through 
the submission of evidence in written (including electronic) form.
    Warning: All comments received will be included in the public 
record without change and may be made available online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be confidential or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. If you 
submit a comment, EBSA recommends that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment, but DO NOT submit 
information that you consider to be confidential, or otherwise 
protected (such as a Social Security number or an unlisted phone 
number) or confidential business information that you do not want 
publicly disclosed. However, if EBSA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EBSA 
might not be able to consider your comment.
    Additionally, the https://www.regulations.gov website is an 
``anonymous access'' system, which means EBSA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an email directly to EBSA without going 
through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public record and made available on the internet.

    Signed at Washington, DC.
George Christopher Cosby,
Director, Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-15018 Filed 7-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P