[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56416-56422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15030]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), 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 September 9, 2024.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration, Office of Research and Analysis, Attention: PRA 
Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210, 
or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Current Actions

    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. This action is not related to any pending rulemakings 
and 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 burden 
estimates follows:

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Bank Collective Investment Funds, Prohibited Transaction 
Class Exemption 1991-38.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0082.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 9,332.
    Responses: 9,332.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,555.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 91-38 
provides an exemption from the restrictions of sections 406(a), 
406(b)(2) and 407(a) of ERISA and the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) 
and (b) of the Code by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A), (B), (C), or 
(D) of the Code for certain transactions between a bank collective 
investment fund in which an employee benefit plan has invested assets 
and persons who are parties in interest to the employee benefit plan, 
as long as the interest of the plan together with the interests of any 
other plans maintained by the same employer or employee organization in 
the collective investment fund does not exceed 10% of the total assets 
in the collective investment fund. In addition, the bank managing the 
common investment fund must not itself be a party in interest to the 
participating plan, the terms of the transaction must be at least as 
favorable to the collective investment fund as those available in an 
arm's length transaction with an unrelated party, and the bank must 
maintain records of the transactions for six years and make the records 
available for inspection to specified interested persons (including the 
Department and the Internal Revenue Service).
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0082. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 1990-1; Insurance Company Pooled Separate Accounts.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0083.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 108.
    Responses: 1,080.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 108.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 90-1 provides 
an exemption from the restrictions of ERISA section 406 and Code 
section 4975, in part, for certain transactions between insurance 
company pooled separate accounts and parties in interest to plans that 
invest assets in the pooled separate accounts. PTE 90-1 provides an 
exemption for certain transactions between a party in interest with 
respect to a plan and an insurance company pooled separate account in 
which the plan has an interest or any acquisition or holding by the 
pooled separate account of employer securities or employer real 
property, provided that the party in interest is not the insurance 
company (or an affiliate of the insurance company) which holds the plan 
assets in its pooled separate account or any other separate account of 
the insurance company and that the amount of the

[[Page 56417]]

plan's investment in the separate account does not exceed certain 
specified percentages (or that the separate account is a specialized 
account with a policy of investing, and invests, substantially all of 
its assets in certain specified short-term obligations).
    PTE 90-1 also provides specific, additional relief for the 
following types of transactions with a party in interest: (1) 
furnishing goods to an insurance company pooled separate account, (2) 
leasing of real property of the pooled separate account, (3) 
transactions involving persons who are parties in interest to a plan 
solely because they are service providers or provide nondiscretionary 
services to the plan; (4) the insurance company's provision of any 
services provided to an insurance company pooled separate account (in 
which the plan has an interest) by the insurance company or its 
affiliate in connection with the management of the real property 
investments of the pooled separate account, and (5) furnishing of 
services, facilities, and goods incidental to the services and 
facilities by a place of public accommodations owned by the separate 
account.
    In addition to other specified conditions, the insurance company 
intending to rely on the general exemption or any of the specific 
exemptions must maintain records of the transactions to which the 
exemption applies for a period of six years from the date of the 
transaction and make the records available on request to specified 
interested persons (including plan fiduciaries, participant and 
beneficiaries, contributing employers, the Department, and the Internal 
Revenue Service).
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0083. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Foreign Currency Transactions, Prohibited Transaction Class 
Exemption 1994-20.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0085.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 242.
    Responses: 1,210.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 202.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) PTE 94-20 
provides an exemption for banks, broker-dealers, and their affiliates 
that are parties in interest to a plan to engage in foreign currency 
transactions with the plan, provided the transaction is directed by a 
plan fiduciary that is independent of the bank, broker-dealer, and any 
affiliate thereof and that certain other conditions are satisfied. To 
protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries of the employee 
benefit plan, the exemption requires, among other things, that a bank, 
broker-dealer, and any affiliate wishing to rely on the exemption (1) 
maintain written policies and procedures applicable to trading in 
foreign currencies with an employee benefit plan; (2) provide a written 
confirmation statement of each foreign currency transaction to the 
independent plan fiduciary directing the transaction for the plan; and 
(3) maintain records of the transactions for a period of six years from 
the date of the transaction and make them available upon request to 
specified interested persons, including plan fiduciaries, participants 
and beneficiaries, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0085. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Definition of Plan Assets--Participant Contributions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0100.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 251.
    Responses: 251.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 8.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,685.
    Description: The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-102 
states that monies that a participant pays to, or has withheld by, an 
employer for contribution to an employee benefit plan become ``plan 
assets'' for purposes of Title I of ERISA and the related prohibited 
transaction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) as of 
the earliest date on which such monies can be reasonably segregated 
from the employer's general assets.
    The regulation also establishes specific maximum time limits for 
contributions becoming plan assets that apply to employee pension 
benefit plans (with a special rule for SIMPLE IRA plans) and employee 
welfare benefit plans. The regulation sets a maximum time limit of 15 
business days following the end of the month in which the participant 
contribution amounts are received or withheld by the employer. The 
regulation includes a procedure through which an employer receiving or 
withholding participant contributions for an employee pension benefit 
plan may obtain a 10-business-day extension of the 15-day maximum time 
period for contributions received or withheld in a single month if 
certain requirements, including information collection requirements, 
are met.
    The regulation requires, among other things, that the employer 
provide written notice to plan participants within five business days 
after the end of the extension period and the employer's transfer of 
the contributions to the plan, for which the employer elected to take 
the extension that month. The notice must explain why the employer 
could not transfer the participant contributions within the maximum 
time period, state that the participant contributions in question have 
in fact been transmitted to the plan, and provide the date on which 
this was done. The employer must also provide a copy of the participant 
notice to the Secretary, along with a certification that the notice was 
distributed to participants and that the other requirements under the 
extension procedure were met, within five business days after the end 
of the extension period.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0100. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Collective Investment Funds Conversion Transactions, 
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1997-41.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0104.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 50.
    Responses: 105.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,760.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $585,299.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 97-41 permits 
an employee benefit plan to purchase shares of a registered open-end 
investment company (mutual fund) in exchange for plan assets 
transferred in-kind from a collective investment fund (CIF) maintained 
by a bank or plan

[[Page 56418]]

adviser, even though the bank or plan adviser, or an affiliate thereof, 
is the investment adviser for the mutual fund and also serves as a 
fiduciary for the plan, provided that the purchase and transfer is in 
connection with a complete withdrawal of the plan's investment in the 
CIF and certain other conditions are met.
    Among other conditions, the exemption requires the bank or plan 
adviser to provide an independent fiduciary of the plan with advance 
written notice of the proposed transfer and full written disclosure of 
information concerning the mutual fund, including the current 
prospectus; disclosure of the fees to be charged to, or paid by the 
plan and funds to the bank or plan adviser, including the nature and 
extent of any differential between the rates of the fees; the reasons 
why the bank or plan adviser considers the in-kind transfers 
appropriate for the plan; and a statement of whether there are any 
limitations applicable to the bank or plan adviser with respect to 
which plan assets may be invested in shares of the mutual fund and, if 
so, the nature of such limitations; and the identity of securities that 
will have to be valued for the transfer. The independent fiduciary must 
give prior written approval of the transfer (and written approval of 
any electronic transmission of subsequent confirmations from the bank 
or plan adviser, if the independent fiduciary elects to receive such 
statements in that form); and the bank or adviser must send written (or 
electronic, if approved) confirmation of the transfer. Subsequent to a 
transfer, the bank or plan adviser must provide the independent 
fiduciary of the plan with updated prospectuses at least annually for 
mutual funds in which the plan remains invested; the bank or plan 
adviser must also provide, upon the independent fiduciary's request, a 
report or statement of all fees paid by the mutual fund to the bank or 
plan adviser, which may be in the form of the most recent financial 
report.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0104. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Cross-Trades of 
Securities by Index and Model-Driven Funds (PTCE 2002-12).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0115.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 60.
    Responses: 840.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 855.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,290.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2002-12 permits 
private-sector pension plans and the Federal Thrift Savings Plan to buy 
and sell securities between certain types of investment funds that 
participate in passive or model-driven ``cross-trading'' programs 
pursuant to objective criteria specified in the exemption. The 
exemption extends only to crossing-trading conducted according to 
index- or model-driven programs that meet the specific requirements of 
the exemption, which generally seeks to create objective criteria 
sufficient to confine or eliminate the manager's discretion to affect 
the identity or amount of securities to be cross-traded and the timing 
of cross-trades. The exemption also covers cross-trades among such 
funds and certain large accounts that engage managers to carry out a 
specific portfolio restructuring program in order to convert the large 
account into a fund, or to otherwise act as a ``trading adviser'' for 
such a restructuring program.
    The information collection requirements that are conditions for 
reliance on the class exemption include third-party disclosures and 
recordkeeping. The exemption does not require any reporting or filing 
with the Federal government, but the designated records must be made 
available to specified parties, including the Department and the IRS, 
upon request.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0115. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Acquisition and Sale of Trust Real Estate Investment Trust 
Shares by Individual Account Plans Sponsored by Trust Real Estate 
Investment Trusts.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0124.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 67.
    Responses: 140,700.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,046.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $465,717.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2004-07 permits an 
individual account pension plan sponsored by a real estate investment 
trust (REIT) within the meaning of Code section 856 that is organized 
as a trust under applicable law (Trust REIT), or by its affiliates, to 
purchase, hold and sell publicly traded shares of beneficial interest 
in the Trust REIT at the direction of the participant or an independent 
fiduciary. The relief also covers contributions in kind of REIT shares. 
Such purchases, holdings, and sales would otherwise be prohibited under 
ERISA section 406 and Code section 4975.
    The class exemption requires, among other conditions, that the 
Trust REIT (or its agent) provide the person who has authority to 
direct acquisition or sale of REIT shares with the most recent 
prospectus, quarterly report, and annual report concerning the Trust 
REIT prior to or immediately after an initial investment in the Trust 
REIT. The person with such authority may be, under the terms of the 
plan, either an independent fiduciary or a participant exercising 
investment rights pertaining to his or her individual account under the 
plan. Updated versions of the reports must be provided to the directing 
person as published. The exemption further requires the plan to 
maintain records concerning investments in a Trust REIT for a period of 
six years and make them available to interested persons including the 
Department, Internal Revenue Service, fiduciary or authorized 
representative of the plan, and participants and beneficiaries. The 
exemption requires confidentiality procedures, which must be designed 
to protect against the possibility that an employer may exert undue 
influence on participants regarding share-related transactions, and the 
participants and beneficiaries of the plan must be provided with a 
statement describing the confidentiality procedures in place and the 
fiduciary responsible for monitoring these procedures.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0124. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 Research 
Exception Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0136.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions. Respondents: 48.

[[Page 56419]]

    Responses: 48.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 12.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $185.
    Description: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 
(GINA), Public Law 110-233, was enacted on May 21, 2008. Title I of 
GINA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (the Code), and the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit 
discrimination in health coverage based on genetic information. 
Sections 101 through 103 of Title I of GINA prevent employment-based 
group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and 
individual markets from discriminating based on genetic information and 
from collecting such information.
    GINA and the interim final regulations (29 CFR 2590.702-1(c)(5)) 
provide an exception to the limitations on requesting or requiring 
genetic testing that allows a group health plan or group health 
insurance issuer to request, but not require, a participant or 
beneficiary to undergo a genetic test if all of the following 
conditions of the research exception are satisfied.
    First, the request must be made pursuant to research that complies 
with 45 CFR part 46 (or equivalent Federal regulations) and any 
applicable State or local law or regulations for the protection of 
human subjects in research. To comply with the informed consent 
requirements of 45 CFR 46.116(a)(8), a participant must receive a 
disclosure that participation in the research is voluntary, refusal to 
participate cannot involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which the 
participant is otherwise entitled, and the participant may discontinue 
participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which 
the participant is entitled (the Participant Disclosure).
    Second, the plan or issuer must make the request in writing and 
must clearly indicate to each participant or beneficiary (or in the 
case of a minor child, to the legal guardian of such beneficiary) to 
whom the request is made that compliance with the request is voluntary 
and noncompliance will have no effect on eligibility for benefits, 
premium, or contribution amounts.
    Third, none of the genetic information collected or acquired as a 
result of the research may be used for underwriting purposes. Finally, 
the plan or issuer must complete a copy of the ``Notice of Research 
Exception under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act'' and 
provide it to the address specified in its instructions. The Notice and 
instructions are available on the Department's website.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0136. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Opt-in State Balance Bill Process.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0168.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 207.
    Responses: 207.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 311.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $106.
    Description: The No Surprises Act was enacted as part of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260). The final 
rules allow plans to voluntarily opt in to state law that provides for 
a method for determining the cost-sharing amount or total amount 
payable under such a plan, where a state has chosen to expand access to 
such plans, to satisfy their obligations under section 9816(a)-(d) of 
the Code, section 716(a)-(d) of ERISA, and section 2799A-1(a)-(d) of 
the PHS Act. A plan that has chosen to opt into a state law must 
prominently display in its plan materials describing the coverage of 
out-of-network services a statement that the plan has opted into a 
specified state law, identify the state (or states), and include a 
general description of the items and services provided by 
nonparticipating facilities and providers that are covered by the 
specified state law.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0168. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Settlement Agreements Between a Plan and a Party in 
Interest.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0091.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 3.
    Responses: 810.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 16.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $214.
    Description: This information collection request relates to two 
prohibited transaction class exemptions (PTEs) that the Department has 
granted, both of which involve settlement agreements. These two 
exemptions are described below.
    PTE 94-71 exempts from certain restrictions of ERISA and certain 
taxes imposed by the Code, a transaction or activity that is 
authorized, prior to the execution of the transaction or activity, by a 
settlement agreement, to which the Department is a party, resulting 
from an investigation of an employee benefit plan conducted by the 
Department. The following information collections are among the 
conditions for the exemption: (1) A party engaging in a settlement 
agreement arising out of a Department investigation must provide 
written notice to the affected participants and beneficiaries of the 
plan at least 30 days prior to entry into the settlement agreement. The 
notice must contain an objective description of the transaction or 
activity, the approximate date on which the transaction will occur, the 
address of the regional or district office of the Department that 
negotiated the settlement agreement, and a statement informing 
participants and beneficiaries of their right to forward their comments 
to such office. (2) A copy of the notice and a description of the 
method by which it will be distributed must be approved in advance by 
the regional or district office of the Department which negotiated the 
settlement.
    PTE 2003-39 exempts from certain restrictions of ERISA and certain 
taxes imposed by the Code, transactions arising out of the settlement 
of litigation that involve: the release by the plan or a plan fiduciary 
of legal claims against parties in interest in exchange for payment 
given by or on behalf of the party in interest to the plan; an 
extension of credit by a plan to a party interest in connection with a 
settlement; and the plan's acquisition, holding, and disposition of 
employer securities received in settlement of litigation. The relief is 
granted provided certain conditions are met, such as the requirement of 
an independent fiduciary who has no relationship to, or interest in, 
any parties in the litigation to authorize the settlement and the 
settlement terms of the agreement and any extension of credit are 
reasonable and no less favorable than comparable arm's length 
agreement. The other conditions include the following information 
collections: (1) The terms of the settlement must be specifically 
described in a written agreement or consent decree. (2) The fiduciary 
acting on behalf of the plan must acknowledge

[[Page 56420]]

in writing that the person is a fiduciary with respect to the 
settlement of the litigation. (3) The plan fiduciary must maintain 
records of the transaction for six years and must disclose the records 
on request to the Department and other interested persons.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0091. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0118.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.
    Respondents: 3,325.
    Responses: 246,918.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 22,202.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $42,175.
    Description: This information collection arises from two related 
actions: the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (the VFC Program) 
and Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 2002-51 (the 
Exemption). The Department adopted the Program and the Exemption in 
order to encourage members of the public to voluntarily correct 
transactions that violate (or are suspected of violating) the fiduciary 
or prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Both the Program and the Exemption 
incorporate information collection requirements in order to protect 
participants and beneficiaries and enable the Department to oversee the 
appropriate use of the Program and the Exemption. The information 
collection provisions of the Program and the Exemption include third-
party disclosures, recordkeeping, and disclosures to the Federal 
government.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0118. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Grandfathered Health Plan Disclosure, 
Recordkeeping Requirement, and Change in Carrier Disclosure.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0140.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 360,479.
    Responses: 8,868,468.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 655.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $125,533.
    Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public 
Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 
23, 2010. Section 1251 of the Act provides that certain plans and 
health insurance coverage in existence as of March 23, 2010, known as 
grandfathered health plans, are not required to comply with certain 
statutory provisions in the Act. On November 18, 2015, the Departments 
issued final regulations the contain the information collections (80 FR 
72191).
    To maintain its status as a grandfathered health plan, plans must 
maintain records documenting the terms of the plan in effect on March 
23, 2010, and any other documents that are necessary to verify, 
explain, or clarify status as a grandfathered health plan. The plan 
must make such records available for examination upon request by 
participants, beneficiaries, individual policy subscribers, or a State 
or Federal agency official.
    In addition, grandfathered health plans must include a statement in 
plan materials provided to participants or beneficiaries describing the 
benefits provided under the plan or health insurance coverage, that the 
plan or coverage believes it is a grandfathered health plan within the 
meaning of section 1251 of the Affordable Care Act, that being a 
grandfathered health plan means that the plan does not include certain 
consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act, providing contact 
information for participants to direct questions regarding which 
protections apply and which protections do not apply to a grandfathered 
health plan, and what might cause a plan to change from grandfathered 
health plan status and to file complaints. However, grandfathered 
health plans are not required to provide the disclosure statement every 
time they send out a communication, such as an explanation of benefits, 
to a participant or beneficiary. Instead, grandfathered health plans 
will comply with this disclosure requirement if they include the model 
disclosure language provided in the Departments' interim final 
grandfather regulations (or a similar statement) whenever a summary of 
the benefits under the plan is provided to participants and 
beneficiaries.
    Finally, grandfathered group health plans that change health 
insurance issuers must provide the succeeding health insurance issuer 
(and the succeeding health insurance issuer must require) documentation 
of plan terms (including benefits, cost sharing, employer 
contributions, and annual limits) under the prior health insurance 
coverage sufficient to make a determination whether the standards of 
paragraph (g)(1) of the final regulations are exceeded.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0140. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Advance Notice of Rescission.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0141.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 100.
    Responses: 1,744.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $230.
    Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public 
Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 
23, 2010. Section 2712 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), as 
added by the Affordable Care Act, and the Department's final regulation 
(26 CFR 54.9815-2712, 29 CFR 2590.715-2712, 45 CFR 147.2712) provides 
rules regarding rescissions of health coverage for group health plans 
and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health 
insurance coverage (80 FR 72191). Under the statute and final 
regulations, a group health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering 
group or individual health insurance coverage, generally must not 
rescind coverage except in the case of fraud or an intentional 
misrepresentation of a material fact. This standard applies to all 
rescissions, whether in the group, or individual insurance market, or 
for self-insured coverage. These rules also apply regardless of any 
contestability period of the plan or issuer.
    The PHS Act section 2712 mandated a new advance notice requirement 
when coverage is rescinded where still permissible. Specifically, the 
second sentence in section 2712 provides that coverage may not be 
cancelled unless prior notice is provided, and then only as permitted 
under PHS Act sections 2702(c) and 2742(b). Under these final

[[Page 56421]]

regulations, even if prior notice is provided, rescission is only 
permitted in cases of fraud, or an intentional misrepresentation of a 
material fact as permitted under the cited provisions.
    These final regulations provide that a group health plan, or health 
insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, must provide 
at least 30 days advance notice to an individual before coverage may be 
rescinded. The notice must be provided regardless of whether the 
rescission is of group or individual coverage; or whether, in the case 
of group coverage, the coverage is insured or self-insured, or the 
rescission applies to an entire group or only to an individual within 
the group.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0141. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Internal Claims and Appeals and External 
Review Procedures for ERISA Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0144.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 2,007,298.
    Responses: 390,574.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19,047.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $602,026.
    Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public 
Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 
23, 2010. As part of the Act, Congress added Public Health Service Act 
(the PHS Act) section 2719, which provides rules relating to internal 
claims and appeals and external review processes. The Department of 
Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and the Health and Human Services 
Department (the Departments) issued final regulations (80 FR 72191) 
that set forth rules implementing PHS Act section 2719 for internal 
claims and appeals and external review processes. With respect to 
internal claims and appeals processes for group health coverage, PHS 
Act section 2719 and paragraph (b)(2)(i) of the final regulations 
provide that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering 
group health insurance coverage must comply with the internal claims 
and appeals processes set forth in 29 CFR 2560.503-1 (the DOL claims 
procedure regulation) and update such processes in accordance with 
standards established by the Secretary of Labor in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) 
of the regulations.
    The DOL claims procedure regulation requires plans to provide every 
claimant who is denied a claim with a written or electronic notice that 
contains the specific reasons for denial, a reference to the relevant 
plan provisions on which the denial is based, a description of any 
additional information necessary to perfect the claim, and a 
description of steps to be taken if the participant or beneficiary 
wishes to appeal the denial. The regulation also requires that any 
adverse decision upon review be in writing (including electronic means) 
and include specific reasons for the decision, as well as references to 
relevant plan provisions. Paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(C) of the final 
regulations adds a requirement that non-grandfathered ERISA-covered 
group health plans provide to the claimant, free of charge, any new or 
additional evidence considered relied upon, or generated by the plan or 
issuer in connection with the claim.
    In addition, the PHS Act section 2719 and the final regulations 
provide that group health plans and issuers offering group health 
insurance coverage must comply either with a State external review 
process or a Federal review process. The regulations provide a basis 
for determining when plans and issuers must comply with an applicable 
State external review process and when they must comply with the 
Federal external review process.
    The No Surprises Act extends the balance billing protection related 
to external reviews to grandfathered plans. The definitions of group 
health plan and health insurance issuer that are cited in section 110 
of the No Surprises Act include both grandfathered and non-
grandfathered plans and coverage. Accordingly, the practical effect of 
section 110 of the No Surprises Act is that grandfathered health plans 
must provide external review for adverse benefit determinations 
involving benefits subject to these surprise billing protections.
    The claims procedure regulation imposes information collection 
requirements as part of the reasonable procedures that an employee 
benefit plan must establish regarding the handling of a benefit claim. 
These requirements include third-party notice and disclosure 
requirements that the plan must satisfy by providing information to 
participants and beneficiaries of the plan.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0144. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary 
Required Under the Affordable Care Act.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0147.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 2,007,766.
    Responses: 80,182,298.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 313,490.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$7,605,988.
    Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. 
L. 111-148, was signed into law on March 23, 2010, and the Health Care 
and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111-152, was signed 
into law on March 30, 2010 (collectively known as the ``Affordable Care 
Act''). The Affordable Care Act amends the Public Health Service Act 
(PHS Act) by adding section 2715 ``Development and Utilization of 
Uniform Explanation of Coverage Documents and Standardized 
Definitions.''
    Each group health plan and health insurance issuer offering group 
insurance coverage must provide a summary of benefits and coverage to 
plans and participants at specified points in the enrollment process. 
This disclosure must include, among other things, coverage examples 
that illustrate common benefits scenarios and related cost sharing. 
Additionally, plans and issuers must make the uniform glossary 
available in electronic form, with paper upon request, and provide 60 
days advance notice of any material modifications in the plan or 
coverage.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0147. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple 
Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans--PTE 1976-1, 
PTE 1977-10, PTE 1978-6.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0058.

[[Page 56422]]

    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 3,259.
    Responses: 3,409.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 815.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: The three prohibited transaction class exemptions 
(PTEs) included in this ICR, (1) PTE 76-1, (2) PTE 77-10, and (3) PTE 
78-6, exempt certain types of transactions commonly entered into by 
``multiemployer'' plans from certain of the prohibitions contained in 
sections 406 and 407(a) of ERISA. The Department determined that, in 
the absence of these exemptions, the affected plans would not be able 
to operate efficiently or to enter into routine types of transactions 
necessary for their operations. In order to ensure that the class 
exemptions for these necessary transactions meet the statutory 
standards, the Department imposed conditions contained in the 
exemptions that are information collections. The information 
collections consist of recordkeeping and third-party disclosures.
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0058. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on June 30, 2025.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Notice for Health Reimbursement Arrangements Integrated with 
Individual Health Insurance Coverage.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0160.
    Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions, Individuals or Households.
    Respondents: 177,480.
    Responses: 2,140,197.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 53,131.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $24,831.
    Description: On June 21, 2018, the Department published the 
Definition of Employer under Section 3(5) of ERISA--Association Health 
Plans final rule. On August 3, 2018, the Department of Labor, HHS and 
the Treasury Department (the Departments) published the Short-Term, 
Limited-Duration Insurance final rule. These final rules remove the 
prohibition on integrating health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) 
with individual health insurance coverage, if certain conditions are 
met. The final rules also set forth conditions under which certain HRAs 
are as limited excepted benefits. In addition, the Treasury Department 
and the IRS finalized rules regarding premium tax credit (PTC) 
eligibility for individuals offered coverage under an HRA integrated 
with individual health insurance coverage, and DOL finalized a safe 
harbor to provide HRA plan sponsors with assurance that the individual 
health insurance coverage that is integrated with an HRA would not 
become part of an ERISA plan if the conditions of the safe harbor are 
met. Finally, HHS finalized rules that provide a special enrollment 
period in the individual market for individuals who gain access to an 
HRA that is integrated with individual health insurance coverage or who 
are provided a qualified small employer health reimbursement 
arrangement (QSEHRA).
    The following five information Collections are contained in the 
final rules: (1) Verification of Enrollment in Individual Coverage; (2) 
HRA Notice to Participants; (3) Notice to Participants that Individual 
Policy is not Subject to Title I of ERISA; (4) Participant Notification 
of Individual Coverage HRA of Cancelled or Discontinued Coverage; (5) 
Notice for Excepted Benefit HRAs. These information collections notify 
the HRA that participants are enrolled in individual health insurance 
coverage, help individuals understand the impact of enrolling in an HRA 
on their eligibility for the PTC, and help individuals understand that 
coverage is not subject to the rules and consumer protections of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
    The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0160. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on June 30, 2025.

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 ICR for OMB approval of the information 
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of July, 2024.
Lisa M. Gomez,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2024-15030 Filed 7-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P