[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15267-15272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05591]


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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 May 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: James Butikofer, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718, 
Washington, DC 20210, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c0a5a2b3a1eeafb0b280a4afaceea7afb6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6702051406490817152703080b49000811">[email protected]</span></a>.

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. 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.

[[Page 15268]]

    Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Prohibited 
Transaction Exemption 1986-128 For Securities Transactions Involving 
Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0059.
    Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 11,894.
    Responses: 819,448.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19,495.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $661,045.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 86-128, 
which was granted on November 18, 1986, exempts from the prohibited 
transaction restrictions a fiduciary's use of its authority to cause a 
plan (including an individual retirement account) or a pooled 
investment fund to pay a fee to the fiduciary for effecting or 
executing of securities transactions as agent for the plan or fund. It 
also permits a fiduciary to act as an agent in an agency cross 
transaction for both the plan and one or more other parties to the 
transaction, and to receive reasonable compensation for effecting or 
executing the agency cross transaction from one or more of the other 
parties to the transaction.
    Section III of the class exemption imposes the following 
information collection requirements on fiduciaries of employee benefit 
plans that effect or execute securities transactions (``broker-
dealers'') and the independent plan fiduciary authorizing the plan to 
engage in the transactions with the broker-dealer (``authorizing 
fiduciary'') under the conditions contained in the exemption: (1) The 
authorizing plan fiduciary must provide the broker-dealer with an 
advance written authorization for the transactions; (2) The broker-
dealer must provide the authorizing fiduciary with information 
necessary to determine whether an authorization should be made, 
including a copy of the exemption, a form for termination, a 
description of the broker-dealer's brokerage placement practices, and 
any other reasonably available information regarding the matter that 
the authorizing fiduciary requests; (3) The broker-dealer must provide 
the authorizing fiduciary with a termination form, at least annually, 
explaining that the authorization is terminable at will, without 
penalty to the plan, and that failure to return the form will result in 
continued authorization for the broker-dealer to engage in securities 
transactions on behalf of the plan; (4) The broker-dealer must provide 
the authorizing fiduciary with either (a) a confirmation slip for each 
individual securities transaction within 10 days of the transaction 
containing the information described in Rule 10b-10(a)(1-7) under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 17 CFR 240.10b-10 or (b) a quarterly 
report containing certain financial information including the total of 
all transaction-related charges incurred by the plan; (5) The broker-
dealer must provide the authorizing fiduciary with an annual summary of 
the confirmation slips or quarterly reports, containing all security 
transaction-related charges, the brokerage placement practices (if 
changed), and a portfolio turnover ratio; and (6) A broker-dealer who 
is a discretionary plan trustee must provide the authorizing fiduciary 
with an annual report showing separately the commissions paid to 
affiliated brokers and non-affiliated brokers, on both a total dollar 
basis and a cents-per-share basis.
    These requirements are designed as appropriate safeguards to ensure 
the protection of the plan assets involved in the transactions, which, 
in the absence of the class exemption, would not be permitted. These 
safeguards rely on the prior authorization and monitoring of the 
broker-fiduciary's activities by a second plan fiduciary that is 
independent of the first. They are necessary, as required under section 
408(a) of ERISA, to ensure that respondents rely on the exemption only 
in the circumstances protective of plan participants and beneficiaries. 
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0059. The current approval is scheduled to expire on 
August 31, 2022.

    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 75-1, Security 
Transactions with Broker-Dealers, Reporting Dealers, and Banks.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0092.
    Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 6,116.
    Responses: 6,116.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,019.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 75-1 was 
granted on October 24, 1975. It consists of five parts covering, among 
other things, securities transactions between plans and broker-dealers, 
reporting dealers and banks as well as other parties. PTE 75-1 Part I 
covers brokerage commissions and related services as well as advice by 
persons that are not fiduciaries. Part II allows broker-dealers to 
engage in principal purchases or sales of securities with plans and 
permits reporting dealers and banks to do the same with respect to 
Government securities. Part III allows a plan to purchase certain 
securities from underwriting syndicates of which a plan fiduciary is a 
member. Part IV allows a plan to purchase from or sell securities to a 
market maker even if the market maker is a fiduciary. Part V allows a 
broker-dealer to extend credit to a plan in connection with the 
purchase or sale of securities. Each of the five parts of the exemption 
contains its own conditions and limitations.
    In order to ensure that the exemption is not abused, that the 
rights of participants and beneficiaries are protected, and that 
parties comply with the exemption's conditions, the Department requires 
limited information collection pertaining to the affected transactions. 
The information collection requirements that are conditions to reliance 
on the class exemption consist only of recordkeeping. The records must 
generally be maintained to enable plan fiduciaries and certain other 
persons specified in the exemption (e.g., Department representatives 
and employers of participants and beneficiaries) to determine whether 
the conditions of the exemptions have been met. The records must 
demonstrate that the transactions are fair to the plan. For certain 
transactions covered by the exemption, the records must show that 
qualitative standards (e.g., that the securities involved are of a 
certain type) and quantitative standards (e.g., that the amount of 
securities acquired by the plan does not exceed three percent of the 
total amount of such securities being offered) were met. Consistent 
with the other prohibited transaction exemptions granted by the 
Department, the exemptions require that records of transactions entered 
in reliance on the exemptions be maintained for a period of 6 years 
from the date of each transaction. The Department has received approval 
from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0092. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Notice of Special Enrollment Rights under Group Health 
Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0101.

[[Page 15269]]

    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 2,330,305.
    Responses: 8,746,897.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $76,536.
    Description: The Health Insurance Probability and Accountability 
Act (HIPAA) provisions limit the extent to which group health plans and 
their health insurance issuers can restrict health coverage based on 
pre-existing conditions for individuals who previously had health 
coverage. Section 701(f) of ERISA also provides special enrollment 
rights to individuals who have previously declined health coverage 
offered to them to enroll in health coverage upon the occurrence of 
specified events, including when they lose other coverage, when 
employer contributions to the cost of other coverage cease, and when 
they marry, have a child or adopt a child (``special enrollment 
events''). Plans and issuers are required to provide for 30-day special 
enrollment periods following any of these events during which 
individuals who are eligible but not enrolled have a right to enroll 
without being denied enrollment or having to wait for a late enrollment 
opportunity (often called ``open enrollment'').
    Under the HIPAA provisions, a group health plan may require, as a 
pre-condition to having a special enrollment right to enroll in group 
health coverage after losing eligibility under other coverage, that an 
employee or beneficiary who declines coverage provide the plan a 
written statement declaring whether he or she is declining coverage 
because of having other coverage. Failure to provide such a written 
statement can then be treated as eliminating the individual's right to 
special enrollment upon losing eligibility for such other coverage. The 
regulations further establish that the right to special enroll can be 
denied in such circumstances only if employees are given notice of the 
requirement for a written statement and the consequences of failing to 
provide the written statement at the time an employee declines 
enrollment. As part of the special enrollment notice, it must be given 
at or before the time the employee is initially offered the opportunity 
to enroll.
    This information collection request covers the requirement in the 
implementing regulations under section 701(f) for a special enrollment 
notice. This information collection implements the disclosure 
obligation of a plan to inform all employees, at or before the time 
they are initially offered the opportunity to enroll in the plan, of 
the plan's special enrollment rules. The regulations require plans and 
their issuers to provide all employees with a notice describing their 
special enrollment rights, whether or not they enroll. This provision 
is necessary to make sure that employees are informed of their special 
enrollment rights before they take any action that may affect those 
rights, so that they will be aware of and able to exercise their rights 
within any 30-day enrollment period following a special enrollment 
event. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under 
OMB Control No. 1210-0101. The current approval is scheduled to expire 
on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0116.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 572.
    Responses: 572.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 120.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $111,377.
    Description: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act of 1996 (HIPAA), codified as Part 7 of Title I of the Employee 
Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), was enacted to improve the 
portability and continuity of health care coverage for participants and 
beneficiaries of group health plans. HIPAA also added section 101(g) to 
ERISA, providing the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) with authority to 
require, by regulation, multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) 
as defined in section 3(40) of ERISA, that offer or provide coverage 
for medical benefits but which are not group health plans (non-plan 
MEWAs), to report annually for the purpose of determining compliance 
with Part 7 requirements. While the statutory authority was directed at 
non-plan MEWAs, based on the authority in ERISA sections 101(g), 505, 
and 734, the Department of Labor (Department) in 2003 promulgated a 
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.101-2 that required the administrators of 
both plan MEWAs and non-plan MEWAs that offer or provide coverage for 
medical benefits, as well certain entities that claim not to be a MEWA 
solely due to the exception in section 3(40)(A)(i) of ERISA (referred 
to as ``Entities Claiming Exception'' or ``ECEs''), to file the Form M-
1 on an annual basis (Form M-1 annual report).
    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care 
and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (these are collectively known 
as the ``Affordable Care Act'' or ``ACA'') amended section 101(g) of 
ERISA to require non-plan MEWAs that provide benefits consisting of 
medical care to register with the Secretary before operating in a 
State. In 2011, the Department amended the Form M-1 reporting 
regulations to enact the ACA required provisions by requiring all MEWAs 
(plan and non-plan MEWAs) that offer or provide coverage for medical 
benefits and ECEs to register with the Secretary upon occurrence of 
certain registration events, such as prior to operating in a State, in 
addition to continued reporting on an annual basis regarding compliance 
with part 7 of ERISA.
    The primary purpose of the information collection contained in the 
Form M-1 is to provide the Department with a complete and uniform 
source of information that identifies MEWAs and helps the Secretary and 
State regulators evaluate Part 7 compliance by MEWAs. The Department 
has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0116. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Administrative Law 
Judge Administrative Hearing Procedures.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0148.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 10.
    Responses: 10.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $668,900.
    Description: Section 521 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1151, provides that 
the Secretary of Labor may issue ex parte cease and desist orders when 
it appears to the Secretary that the alleged conduct of a multiple 
employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) under section 3(40) of the Act, 29 
U.S.C. 1002(40), is fraudulent, or creates an immediate danger to the 
public safety or welfare, or is causing or can be reasonably expected 
to cause significant, imminent, and irreparable public injury. Section 
521(b) provides that a person that is adversely affected by the 
issuance of a cease and desist order may request an administrative 
hearing regarding the order. The Department has promulgated a final 
regulation that is the subject of this

[[Page 15270]]

information collection request, which describes the procedures before 
an administrative law judge (ALJ) when a person seeks an administrative 
hearing for review of such an order.
    Under section 2571.3 of the rule, the party that is subject to a 
cease and desist order issued under ERISA section 521 has the burden to 
initiate an adjudicatory proceeding before an ALJ. Section 2571.3 
governs the service of documents necessary to initiate ALJ proceedings 
by such a party on the Secretary of Labor and the ALJ. The Department 
expects that MEWAs contesting a cease and desist order will hire 
outside counsel to draft motions, petitions, pleadings, briefs, and 
other documents relating to the case. These are information collection 
requests (ICRs) subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The information 
will be used by a party that is subject to a cease and desist order 
issued under ERISA section 521 to contest the order through an 
adjudicatory proceeding before an ALJ. This section would apply in such 
cases in lieu of 29 CFR 18.3. The Department has received approval from 
OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0148. The current approval 
is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Alternative Reporting Methods for Apprenticeship and 
Training Plans and Top Hat Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0153.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 1,872.
    Responses: 1,872.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 312.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Section 2520.104-22 provides an exemption to the 
reporting and provision of Part 1 of Title I of ERISA for employee 
welfare benefit plans that provide exclusively apprenticeship and 
training benefits if the plan administrator meets the following 
requirements: (1) Files a notice with the Secretary that provides the 
name of the plan, the plan sponsor's Employer Identification Number, 
the plan administrator's name, and the name and location of an office 
or person from whom interested individuals can obtain certain info 
about courses offered by the plan; and (2) take steps reasonably 
designed to ensure that the information required to be contained in the 
notice is disclosed to employees of employers contribution to the plan 
who may be eligible to enroll in any course of study sponsored or 
establish by the plan; (3) and make the notice available to employees 
upon request.
    Under 2520.14-23, the Department provides an alternative method of 
compliance with the reporting and disclosure of Title I of ERISA for 
unfunded or insured plan established for a select group of management 
of highly compensated employees (i.e., top hat plans). In order to 
satisfy the alternative method of compliance, the plan administrator 
must file a statement with the Secretary of Labor that includes the 
name and address of the employer, the employer EIN, a declaration that 
the employer maintains a plan or plans primarily for the purpose of 
providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or 
highly compensated employees, and a statement of the number of such 
plans and the employees covered by each. Plan documents must be made 
available to the Secretary upon request, and only one statement needs 
to be filed for each employer maintaining one or more of the plans.
    The 2019 final rule requires electronic filing with the Secretary 
through EBSA's website in accordance with instructions published by the 
Department. Going forward, EBSA's web-based filing system will be the 
exclusive method for filing these notices and statements; filings by 
mail or personal delivery will no longer be accepted. The new web-based 
system is designed to assist administrators by ensuring that all of the 
information required by the regulations is included in the notice or 
statement before the filing can be completed through the website. Upon 
submission of a completed filing, the new web-based filing system sends 
an electronic confirmation of receipt to the administrator. This 
confirmation is not available through the existing paper-based filing 
system. The design of the new filing system facilitates the requirement 
that plan administrators of apprenticeship and training plans make 
notices available to participants upon request under Sec.  2520.104-
22(a)(3). Filings are now available to the public on the Department's 
website at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa. The Department has received 
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0153. The 
current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Insurance and Annuity Contracts and Mutual Fund Principal 
Underwriters (PTE 1984-24).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0158.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 2,789.
    Responses: 227,068.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 18,948.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $92,377.
    Description: PTE 84-24, as amended, provides an exemption for 
insurance agents, insurance brokers and pension consultants to receive 
a sales commission from an insurance company in connection with the 
purchase, with plan or IRA assets, of an insurance or annuity contract. 
Relief is also provided for a principal underwriter for an investment 
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to receive 
a sales commission in connection with the purchase, with plan or IRA 
assets, of securities issued by the investment company.
    In order to receive commissions in conjunction with the purchase of 
an insurance or annuity contract or of securities issued by the 
investment company, the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension 
consultant, or principal underwriter must obtain written authorization 
from the authorizing fiduciary. Prior to obtaining the written 
authorization, the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension 
consultant, or principal underwriter must provide the authorizing 
fiduciary with sufficient materials and disclosures for the authorizing 
fiduciary to evaluate the appropriateness of the investment. Finally, 
the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension consultant, or principal 
underwriter must maintain sufficient records to demonstrate that the 
conditions of the exemption have been met. In order to ensure that the 
class exemption is not abused, that the rights of the participants and 
beneficiaries are protected, and that the exemption's conditions are 
being complied with, the Department often requires minimal information 
collection pertaining to the affected transactions. The Department has 
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0158. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.

    Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Investment 
Manager Electronic Registration.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0125.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.

[[Page 15271]]

    Respondents: 4.
    Responses: 4.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $270.
    Description: Section 203A(a) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 
(and the implementing SEC regulations) provides that investment 
advisers with less than $25 million in assets under management must 
register with the state regulatory authority in the state where the 
investment adviser maintains its principal office and place of 
business, rather than with the SEC; advisers with more than $30 million 
in assets under management must register with the SEC; and those with 
assets under management between those two dollar values are permitted 
to choose between state registration and registration with the SEC.
    Investment advisers that register with a state, rather than with 
the SEC, must satisfy ERISA's section 3(38) requirement to file a copy 
of the state registration with the Department by electronically 
registering through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository 
(IARD). This is a centralized electronic filing system operated by the 
SEC in conjunction with state securities regulation authorities. 
Because the IARD was established by the SEC and the states, and made 
mandatory for advisers required to file with SEC, and because all 
states permit filing through IARD even for advisers who do not file 
with SEC, the Department determined that use of the IARD would 
eliminate the duplication of filing paper copies of state registration 
forms with the Department and facilitate creation of a uniform and 
efficient ``one-stop'' filing system for state-registered filings by 
advisers who wished to meet the ``investment manager'' definition of 
ERISA section 3(38).
    Previously, state-registered advisers that filed with the states in 
a variety of ways, including paper, electronically through vendor-
provided software, and through IARD were required to file an additional 
paper copy of the filing with the Department in order to meet the 
requirements of section 3(38). This information collection incorporates 
electronic filing as a mandatory element, eliminating the previously 
required duplicative filing of a paper copy of a state registration 
with the Department. The Department has received approval from OMB for 
this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0125. The current approval is 
scheduled to expire on September 30, 2022.

    Title: Securities Lending by Employee Benefit Plans, Prohibited 
Transaction Exemption 2006-16.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0065.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 155.
    Responses: 1,550.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 297.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $12,765.
    Description: In 2006, the Department promulgated a final class 
exemption, PTE 2006-16, which amended and replaced the exemptions 
previously provided under PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63. The final exemption 
incorporates the exemptions into one renumbered exemption and expands 
the categories of exempted transactions to include securities lending 
to foreign banks and broker-dealers that are domiciled in specified 
countries and to allow the use of additional forms of collateral, all 
subject to specified conditions outlined in the exemption.
    Among other conditions, the class exemption requires a bank or 
broker-dealer that borrows securities from a plan to provide the 
lending fiduciary with its most recent audited financial statement. The 
borrower must also affirm, when the loan is negotiated, that there has 
been no material adverse change in its financial condition since the 
previously audited statement. The exemption also requires the 
agreements regarding the securities loan transaction or transactions 
and the compensation arrangement for the lending fiduciary to be 
contained in written documents. Individual agreements are not required 
for each transaction; rather the compensation agreement may be made in 
the form of a master agreement covering a series of transactions. The 
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0065. The current approval is scheduled to expire on 
October 31, 2022.

    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1988-59, Residential 
Mortgage Financing Arrangements Involving Employee Benefit Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0095.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 2,192.
    Responses: 10,960.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 913.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 88-59, 
which amended and replaced PTE 82-87, allows employee benefit plans to 
participate in several different types of residential mortgage 
financing transactions, provided certain conditions are met. Without 
this exemption, these transactions would be prohibited under section 
406 of ERISA and under the prohibited transaction provisions of section 
4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The five categories of 
transactions permitted under the exemption are: (1) Issuance of 
commitments for the provision of mortgage financing to purchasers of 
residential dwelling units; (2) receipt by a plan of a fee for the 
issuance of the commitments; (3) the actual making or purchase of a 
mortgage loan or participation interest therein pursuant to the 
commitment; (4) the actual making or purchase of an mortgage loan or 
participation interest therein without the precondition of a 
commitment; and (5) the sale, exchange or transfer of a mortgage loan 
or participation interest therein prior to the maturity date of the 
instrument, provided that the interest sold, exchanged, or transferred 
represents the plan's entire interest in such investment.
    Among other conditions, the exemption requires a plan to maintain 
for the duration of any loan made pursuant to this exemption all 
records necessary to determine whether conditions of the exemption have 
been met and to make such records available for examination on request 
by any trustee, investment manager, participant or beneficiary of the 
plan, or agents of the Department or the IRS. Such records could 
include, for example, showing the identities of the borrower, lender, 
any developer or builder involved, the qualifications of the lender, 
the written acknowledgment of the fiduciary obligation of any real 
estate manager involved in the transaction, evidence of the type of 
residential dwelling unit involved, and information concerning 
comparable mortgages and expenses offered at the time of the 
commitments. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR 
under OMB Control No. 1210-0095. The current approval is scheduled to 
expire on October 31, 2022.

    Title: National Medical Support Notice-Part B.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0113.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.

[[Page 15272]]

    Respondents: 425,444.
    Responses: 10,546,371.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 878,864.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$3,322,107.
    Description: Pursuant to Section 401(a) of the CSPIA, the 
Department of Labor (the Department) and HHS jointly promulgated the 
National Medical Support Notice Final Rule on December 27, 2000 (65 FR 
82128) (NMSN Regulation). The NMSN Regulation simplifies the issuance 
and processing of medical child support orders; standardizes 
communication between state agencies, employers, and Plan 
Administrators; and creates a uniform and streamlined process for 
enforcement of medical child support to ensure that all eligible 
children receive the health care coverage to which they are entitled.
    The NMSN Regulation, codified at 29 CFR 2590.609-2, includes a 
model National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) that is comprised of two 
parts: Part A is a notice from the state agency to the employer, 
entitled: ``Notice to Withhold for Health Care Coverage;'' and Part B 
is a notice from the employer to the Plan Administrator, entitled: 
``Medical Support Notice to Plan Administrator.'' Both Parts have 
detailed instructions informing the recipient to whom responses are due 
depending on varying circumstances. This ICR addresses the Plan 
Administrator's responsibilities under NMSN Regulation to complete Part 
B of the NMSN, the ``Plan Administrator Response,'' pursuant to the 
CSPIA and section 609(a)(5)(C) of Title I of ERISA.
    The ``Plan Administrator Response'' in Part B of the NMSN requires 
the Plan Administrator to provide information verifying whether the 
child is or will be receiving health care coverage from the group 
health plan. If enrollment has already occurred or can begin 
immediately, the Plan Administrator's response in Part B serves as 
notice to the state agency, the participant (parent), the child (or 
their non-participant parent or guardian) and the employer that the 
child is or will begin receiving dependent health care coverage 
pursuant to the group health plan. When the child is eligible for more 
than one coverage option, the Administrator must first send the Part B 
response to the state agency so that the agency may choose one option. 
The Plan Administrator must also use the Part B response to notify all 
of the above-affected persons of any waiting period before enrollment 
of the child can occur. The Department has received approval from OMB 
for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0113. The current approval is 
scheduled to expire on October 31, 2022.

    Title: Access to Multiemployer Plan Information.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0131.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 2,636.
    Responses: 235,798.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 30,379.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $521,815.
    Description: Section 101(k)(1) of ERISA requires multiemployer plan 
administrators to furnish certain documents to any plan participant, 
beneficiary, employee representative, or any employer that has an 
obligation to contribute to the plan upon written request. The 
Department issued a final rule that implements the disclosure 
requirements of ERISA section 101(k) on March 2, 2010 (75 FR 9334). The 
documents that may be requested are: (1) A copy of any periodic 
actuarial report (including sensitivity testing) received by the plan 
for any plan year which has been in the plan's possession for at least 
30 days; (2) a copy of any quarterly, semi-annual, or annual financial 
report prepared for the plan by any plan investment manager or advisor 
or other fiduciary that has been in the plan's possession for at least 
30 days; and (3) a copy of any application filed with the Secretary of 
the Treasury requesting an extension under section 304 of ERISA (or 
section 431(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and the 
determination of such Secretary pursuant to such application.
    The information collection provisions of this final regulation are 
found in 29 CFR 2520.101-6(a), which requires multiemployer defined 
benefit and defined contribution pension plan administrators to furnish 
copies of certain actuarial and financial documents to plan 
participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives, and contributing 
employers upon request.
    This information constitutes a third-party disclosure from the 
administrator to participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives, 
and contributing employers for purposes of the PRA. Pursuant to Sec.  
2520.101-6(d)(5), the documents required to be disclosed shall not 
contain any information that the plan administrator reasonably 
determines to be either: (i) Individually identifiable information 
regarding any plan participant, beneficiary, employee, fiduciary, or 
contributing employer, except that such limitation shall not apply to 
an investment manager or adviser, or with respect to any other person 
(other than an employee of the plan) preparing a financial report 
described in paragraph Sec.  2520.101-6(c)(2); or (ii) proprietary 
information regarding the plan, any contributing employer, or entity 
providing services to the plan. The plan administrator must inform the 
requester if any such information is withheld. The Department has 
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0131. The current approval is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2022.

II. Focus of Comments

    The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
collections of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used;
    <bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Evaluate the effectiveness of the additional demographic 
questions.
    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 11th day of March, 2022.
Ali Khawar,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-05591 Filed 3-16-22; 8:45 am]
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