Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 214 / Friday, November 5, 2010 / Notices 68383 

1See 75 FR 41600, at 41603, July 16, 2010. 

2Section 3(1) of ERISA defines the term 

‘‘employee welfare plan’’ and ‘‘welfare plan’’ to mean 

any plan, fund, or program which was heretofore 

or is hereafter established or maintained by an 

employer or by an employee organization, or by 

both, to the extent that such plan, fund, or program 

was established or is maintained for the purpose of 

providing for its participants or their beneficiaries, 

through the purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A) 

medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or 

benefits in the event of sickness, accident, 

disability, death or unemployment, or vacation 

benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs, 

or day care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid 

legal services, or (B) any benefit described in 

section 302(c) of the Labor Management Relations, 

1947 (other than pensions on retirement or death, 

and insurance to provide such pensions). 

for this notice is the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 

et seq.) and Secretary of Labor’s Order 

No. 4–2010 (75 FR 55355). 

Signed at Washington, DC, on November 1, 

2010. 

David Michaels, 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27946 Filed 11–4–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

Hearing on Reasonable Contracts or 

Arrangements for Welfare Benefit 

Plans Under Section 408(b)(2)— 

Welfare Plan Fee Disclosure 

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of hearing. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Employee Benefits Security 

Administration will hold a hearing to 

consider issues relating to the disclosure 

of fee, conflict of interest and other 

information by service providers to 

group health, disability, severance and 

other employee welfare benefit plans 

under section 408(b)(2) of the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act. 

DATES: The hearing will be held on 

December 7, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m., 

EST. 

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at 

the U.S. Department of Labor, Room S– 

4215 (A–C), 200 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20210. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fil 

Williams, Office of Regulations and 

Interpretations, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, U.S. 

Department of Labor, at (202) 693–8500. 

This is not a toll-free number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act, as amended 

(ERISA), provides relief from the 

prohibited transaction rules of section 

406 for service contracts or 

arrangements between a plan and a 

party in interest, as defined in ERISA 

section 3(14), if the contract or 

arrangement is reasonable, the services 

are necessary for the establishment or 

operation of the plan, and no more than 

reasonable compensation is paid for the 

services. Regulations, at 29 CFR 

2550.408b–2, clarify the conditions of 

the exemption. On July 16, 2010, the 

Department published an interim final 

regulation amending paragraph (c) of 

§ 2550.408b–2 to require certain service 

providers to employee pension benefit 

plans to disclose information to assist 

plan fiduciaries in assessing the 

reasonableness of contracts or 

arrangements, including the 

reasonableness of the service providers’ 

compensation and potential conflicts of 

interest that may affect the service 

providers’ performance. As proposed, 

paragraph (c) of § 2550.408b–2 would 

have applied to all pension and welfare 

benefit plans. However, in response to 

the invitation for comments on the 

proposal, the Department received a 

number of comments arguing that the 

Department’s rationales for the 

proposed rule apply to pension plans, 

but not to welfare benefit plans. Other 

commenters argued that if the 

Department creates a disclosure regime 

for welfare benefit plan service 

providers, it should be promulgated 

separately. 

Specific concerns raised by 

commenters relating to welfare benefit 

plans included the potential for negative 

effects on the insurance industry, 

which, they assert, is highly regulated 

by State laws. In this regard, 

commenters asserted that, considering 

the high level of State regulation, 

subjecting welfare benefit plans to the 

disclosure regulation would be 

unnecessary and redundant because the 

disclosures contemplated in the 

regulation are already made available to 

plan fiduciaries through State regulatory 

processes. Other commenters noted that 

most State insurance laws do not 

require the types of disclosures 

addressed under the proposed rule and 

even where such State laws exist, they 

are loosely enforced. Certain 

commenters asserted that there are 

‘‘transparency problems’’ in general in 

the health and welfare industry, and 

that these problems should be addressed 

to the extent they affect employee 

welfare benefit plans. At least one 

commenter addressed specific concerns 

of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), 

which are intermediaries between drug 

manufacturers and health insurance 

plans. This commenter stated that PBMs 

believe that the reasons for disclosure 

discussed in the preamble to the 

proposed rule are inapplicable to them. 

Other commenters disputed the idea 

that PBMs should not be subject to the 

regulation, arguing that the discounts 

and rebates they receive from drug 

companies are examples of undisclosed 

indirect compensation. 

As explained in the preamble to the 

interim final regulation, the Department 

continues to believe that fiduciaries and 

service providers to welfare benefit 

plans would benefit from regulatory 

guidance regarding fees and conflicts of 

interest for the same reasons that apply 

to fiduciaries and service providers to 

pension plans. The Department 

acknowledged in the preamble, 

however, that, taking into account the 

pubic comments on the proposal, there 

may be sufficient differences between 

welfare and pension plan arrangements 

to justify separate consideration of 

welfare plan-related disclosures.1 In this 

regard, the Department has decided to 

begin its consideration of welfare planrelated disclosures by holding a public 

hearing on December 7, 2010. The 

purpose of this hearing is to obtain 

information, related data and views 

from interested persons regarding the 

application of the standards set forth in 

interim-final regulation § 2550.408b– 

2(c) to welfare benefit plans. 

Specifically, the Department is 

interested in exploring what particular 

provisions of the interim-final 

regulation should not apply to welfare 

plans and why. The Department also is 

interested in exploring whether, or to 

what extent, disclosure rules under 

section 408(b)(2) should apply to all 

welfare benefit plans, e.g., group health 

plans, severance plans, vacation plans, 

apprenticeship and training plans, etc, 

or to only a subset, or whether different 

disclosure standards are needed for 

different types of welfare benefit plans.2

The hearing will be held on December 

7, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. at the 

Department of Labor, Francis Perkins 

Building, Room S–4215 (A–C), 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210. 

Persons interested in presenting 

testimony and answering questions at 

this public hearing must submit, by 3:30 

p.m., EST, November 17, 2010, the 

following information: (1) A written 

request to be heard; and (2) An outline 

of the topics to be discussed, indicating 

the time allocated to each topic. To 

facilitate the receipt and processing of 

responses, EBSA encourages interested 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

68384 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 214 / Friday, November 5, 2010 / Notices 

persons to submit their requests and 

outlines electronically by e-mail to 

e-ORI@dol.gov. Persons submitting 

requests and outlines electronically are 

encouraged not to submit paper copies. 

It should be noted that, while 

reasonable efforts will be made to 

accommodate requests to testify on the 

specified issues, it may be necessary to 

limit the number of those testifying in 

order to adhere to the hearing’s format. 

Any persons not afforded an 

opportunity to testify will nonetheless 

have an opportunity to submit a written 

statement on the specified issues for the 

record. The hearing will be open to the 

general public. 

Persons submitting requests and 

outlines on paper should send or deliver 

their requests and outlines to the Office 

of Regulations and Interpretations, 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, Attn: 408(b)(2) Hearing 

on Fee Disclosures to Welfare Benefit 

Plans, Rooms N–5655, U.S. Department 

of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20210. All 

requests and outlines submitted to the 

Department will be available to the 

public, without charge, online at 

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa and at the 

Public Disclosure Room, N–1513, 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20210. 

The Department will prepare an 

agenda indicating the order of 

presentation of oral comments and 

testimony. In the absence of special 

circumstances, each presenter will be 

allotted ten (10) minutes in which to 

complete his or her presentation. Any 

individuals with disabilities who may 

need special accommodations should 

notify Fil Williams on or before 

November 17, 2010. 

Information about the agenda will be 

posted on http://www.dol.gov/ebsa on 

or after November 17, 2010, or may be 

obtained by contacting Fil Williams, 

Office of Regulations and 

Interpretations, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, U.S. 

Department of Labor, telephone (202) 

693–8500 (this is not a toll-free 

number). Those individuals who make 

oral comments and testimonies at the 

hearing should be prepared to answer 

questions regarding their information 

and/or comments. The hearing will be 

transcribed. 

Notice of Public Hearing 

Notice is hereby given that a public 

hearing will be held on December 7, 

2010, concerning issues related to the 

transparency of service provider 

compensation and potential conflicts of 

interest in the welfare benefit plan 

industry. The hearing will be held 

beginning at 9 a.m. at the U.S. 

Department of Labor, Frances Perkins 

Building, Room S–4215 (A–C), 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210. 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 1st day of 

November 2010. 

Phyllis C. Borzi, 

Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, Department of 

Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27994 Filed 11–4–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS 

ADMINISTRATION 

Nixon Presidential Historical Materials: 

Opening of Materials 

AGENCY: National Archives and Records 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of Opening of Additional 

Materials. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

opening of additional Nixon 

Presidential Historical Materials by the 

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and 

Museum, a division of the National 

Archives and Records Administration. 

Notice is hereby given that, in 

accordance with section 104 of Title I of 

the Presidential Recordings and 

Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA, 44 

U.S.C. 2111 note) and 1275.42(b) of the 

PRMPA Regulations implementing the 

Act (36 CFR part 1275), the Agency has 

identified, inventoried, and prepared for 

public access approximately 265 hours 

of Nixon White House tape recordings 

and additional textual materials from 

among the Nixon Presidential Historical 

Materials. 

DATES: The Richard Nixon Presidential 

Library and Museum intends to make 

the materials described in this notice 

available to the public on Thursday, 

December 9, 2010 at the Richard Nixon 

Presidential Library and Museum’s 

primary location in Yorba Linda, CA, 

beginning at 9 a.m. (PDT). The newly 

released Nixon White House tapes will 

also be available on the Web at http:// 

www.nixonlibrary.gov at the same time 

(9 a.m. PDT; Noon, EDT). In accordance 

with 36 CFR 1275.44, any person who 

believes it necessary to file a claim of 

legal right or privilege concerning 

access to these materials must notify the 

Archivist of the United States in writing 

of the claimed right, privilege, or 

defense within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice. These claims 

should be sent to the Office of the 

Archivist of the United States, National 

Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi 

Road, College Park, MD 20740–6001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy Naftali, Director, Richard 

Nixon Presidential Library and 

Museum, 714–983–9120. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

following materials will be made 

available in accordance with this notice: 

1. NARA’s Nixon Library is proposing 

to open approximately 1,802 

conversations which were recorded 

between February and early April 1973. 

These conversations total approximately 

265 hours of listening time. This is the 

fourteenth opening of Nixon White 

House tapes since 1980. There are no 

transcripts for these tapes. Tape subject 

logs, prepared by the Nixon Library, are 

offered for public access as a finding aid 

to the tape segments and a guide for the 

listener. There is a separate tape log 

entry for each conversation. Each tape 

log entry includes the names of 

participants; date and inclusive times of 

each conversation; location of the 

conversation; and an outline of the 

content of the conversation. Listening 

stations will be available on a first 

come, first served basis at the Library in 

Yorba Linda. The newly released tapes 

will also be available on December 9 on 

the Web at http://www.nixonlibrary.gov. 

The Nixon Library reserves the right to 

limit listening time in response to heavy 

demand. 

2. Previously restricted textual 

materials. Volume: 0.8 cubic foot. A 

number of textual materials previously 

withheld from public access have been 

reviewed for release and/or declassified 

under the systematic declassification 

review provisions and under the 

mandatory review provisions of 

Executive Order 13526, the Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), or in 

accordance with 36 CFR 1275.56 (Public 

Access regulations). The materials are 

from integral file segments for the White 

House Special Files, Staff Member and 

Office Files; National Security Council 

(NSC Files); National Security Council 

Institutional Files; and the Henry A. 

Kissinger (HAK) Office Files, including 

HAK telephone conversation 

transcripts. 

3. White House Central Files, Staff 

Member and Office Files. Volume: 56 

cubic feet. The White House Central 

Files Unit was a permanent organization 

within the White House complex that 

maintained a central filing and retrieval 

system for the records of the President 

and his staff. The Staff Member and 

Office Files consist of materials that 

were transferred to the Central Files but 

were not incorporated into the Subject 

Files. The following file groups will be 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES