4978 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically to ebsa.opr@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Prohibited Transaction Class 

Exemption 94–71, entitled Class 

Exemption to Permit Certain 

Transactions Authorized Pursuant to 

Settlement Agreements Between the 

U.S. Department of Labor and Plans, 

which was published in final form on 

October 7, 1994 (59 FR 60837), exempts 

from the prohibitions of sections 406 

and 407(a) of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 

transactions that are specifically 

authorized by a settlement agreement 

resulting from an investigation of an 

employee benefit plan by the 

Department pursuant to the authority of 

section 504(a) of ERISA. The availability 

of the exemption is conditioned on 

providing certain notices and 

disclosures. Specifically, the person 

seeking to rely on the exemption must 

provide notice to the affected 

participants and beneficiaries, at least 

30 days prior to entering into the 

settlement agreement with the 

Department, in a manner approved by 

the Department that is reasonably 

calculated to result in actual receipt. 

The notice must include an objective 

description of the transaction, the 

approximate date on which it will 

occur, the address of the office of the 

Department that negotiated the 

settlement, and a statement apprising 

participants and beneficiaries of their 

right to provide comments to that office. 

Prohibited Transaction Class 

Exemption 03–39, entitled Class 

Exemption For Release of Claims and 

Extensions of Credit in Connection With 

Litigation, which was published in final 

form on December 31, 2003 (68 FR 

75632), exempts from the prohibitions 

of sections 406 and 407(a) of ERISA 

certain transactions engaged in by a 

plan in connection with the settlement 

of litigation. Exempted transactions 

must involve either release by the plan 

or by a plan fiduciary of a legal or 

equitable claim against a party in 

interest in exchange for consideration 

given by, or on behalf of, a party in 

interest to the plan in partial or 

complete settlement of the plan’s or the 

fiduciary’s claim, or an extension of 

credit by the plan or by a plan fiduciary 

to a party in interest in connection with 

a settlement whereby the party in 

interest agrees to repay, over time, an 

amount owed to the plan in settlement 

of a legal or equitable claim by the plan 

or a plan fiduciary against the party in 

interest. Among other conditions, the 

exemption requires that the terms of the 

settlement be specifically described in a 

written agreement or consent degree and 

that the fiduciary entering into the 

settlement on behalf of the plan 

acknowledge in writing its fiduciary 

status. The exemption also requires the 

plan to maintain, for a period of six 

years, the records necessary to enable 

specified interested person to determine 

whether the exemption’s conditions 

were met. 

Because of the similarity of these two 

exemptions, the Department submitted a 

combined ICR for the information 

collections in both exemptions to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and clearance at the 

time that PTE 03–39 was published as 

a proposal in the Federal Register 

(February 11, 2003, 68 FR 6953). The 

ICR for the information collections in 

both class exemptions was approved 

under OMB control number 1210–0091. 

The approval for the ICRs included in 

the two exemptions will expire on May 

31, 2009. 

II. Desired 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 burden 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 submission 

of responses. 

III. Current Action 

The Department is requesting an 

extension of the currently approved ICR 

for Settlement Agreements Between a 

Plan and Party in Interest. The 

Department is not proposing or 

implementing changes to the two 

exemptions or to the existing ICR. A 

summary of the ICR and the current 

burden estimates follows: 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection of 

information. 

Agency: Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, Department of Labor. 

Title: Settlement Agreements Between 

a Plan and Party in Interest. 

OMB Number: 1210–0091. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; Business or other for-profit; 

Not-for-profit institutions. 

Respondents: 4. 

Frequency of Response: One-time. 

Responses: 1,080. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 28. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of the information collection 

request; they will also become a matter 

of public record. 

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

Joseph S. Piacentini, 

Director, Office of Policy and Research, 

Employee Benefits Security Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–1784 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

Proposed Extension of Information 

Collection; Comment Request; Final 

Rule Relating to Notice of Blackout 

Periods to Participants and 

Beneficiaries 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 

95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), the 

Department of Labor (the Department) 

conducts a preclearance consultation 

program to provide the general public 

and Federal agencies with an 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

and continuing collections of 

information. This program helps to 

ensure that the data the Department 

gathers can be provided in the desired 

format, that the reporting burden on the 

public (time and financial resources) is 

minimized, that the public understands 

the Department’s collection 

instruments, and that the Department 

can accurately assess the impact of 

collection requirements on respondents. 

By this notice, the Department is 

soliciting comments concerning the 

information collection provisions of the 

regulation under section 101(i) of the 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the SOA), 

which requires written notice to be 

provided to affected participants and 

beneficiaries of individual account 

plans of any ‘‘blackout period’’ during 

which their right to direct or diversify 

investments, obtain a loan, or obtain a 

distribution under the plan may be 

temporarily suspended. A copy of the 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 4979 

ICR may be obtained by contacting the 

office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office shown in the 

ADDRESSES section below on or before 

March 30, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

invited to submit written comments 

regarding the information collection 

request and burden estimates to: G. 

Christopher Cosby, Office of Policy and 

Research, U.S. Department of Labor, 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Room N–5647, 

Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 

(202) 693–8410; Fax: (202) 219–4745. 

These are not toll-free numbers. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically to ebsa.opr@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 306(b)(1) of the SOA amended 

section 101 of ERISA to add a new 

subsection (i), requiring that 

administrators of individual account 

plans provide notice to affected 

participants and beneficiaries in 

advance of the commencement of any 

blackout period. For purposes of this 

notice requirement, a blackout period 

generally includes any period during 

which the ability of participants or 

beneficiaries to direct or diversify assets 

credited to their accounts, to obtain 

loans from the plan or to obtain 

distributions from the plan will be 

temporarily suspended, limited or 

restricted. As required by section 

306(b)(2) of SOA, the Department of 

Labor (Department) issued rules 

necessary to implement the SOA 

amendments. The Department’s 

regulation at 29 CFR 2520.101–3 

specifies when, how, and to whom a 

blackout notice must be provided and 

provides model notices to meet the 

requirements of the regulation. 

The Department submitted the 

information collection provisions of 

§ 2520.101–3 in an ICR to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance at the time of 

publication of the interim final rule, 

which was published in the Federal 

Register on October 21, 2002 (67 FR 

64766). OMB approved the ICR under 

OMB control number 1210–0122. This 

approval is scheduled to expire on May 

31, 2009. 

II. Desired 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 burden 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 submission 

of responses. 

III. Current Action 

The Department is requesting an 

extension of the currently approved ICR 

for the Final Rule Relating to Notice of 

Blackout Periods to Participants and 

Beneficiaries. The Department is not 

proposing or implementing changes to 

the regulation or to the existing ICR. A 

summary of the ICR and the current 

burden estimates follows: 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection of 

information. 

Agency: Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, Department of Labor. 

Title: Final Rule Relating to Blackout 

Notices to Participants and 

Beneficiaries. 

OMB Number: 1210–0122. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; business or other for-profit; 

not-for-profit institutions. 

Respondents: 85,150. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Responses: 5,400,000. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 

187,686. 

Total Annual Cost (Operating and 

Maintenance): $1,407,000. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of the information collection 

request; they will also become a matter 

of public record. 

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

Joseph S. Piacentini, 

Director, Office of Policy and Research, 

Employee Benefits Security Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–1785 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

Proposed Extension of Information 

Collection; Comment Request; 

Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance 

Program 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the 

Department), as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, conducts a 

preclearance consultation program to 

provide the general public and Federal 

agencies with an opportunity to 

comment on proposed and continuing 

collections of information in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

This helps to ensure that requested data 

can be provided in the desired format, 

reporting burden (time and financial 

resources) is minimized, collection 

instruments are clearly understood, and 

the impact of collection requirements on 

respondents can be properly assessed. 

Currently, the Employee Benefits 

Security Administration is soliciting 

comments concerning the information 

collection request (ICR) incorporated in 

the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction 

Program (the VFC Program) and the 

Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 

(the Exemption) that is used in 

connection with the VFC Program. The 

ICR is currently approved under OMB 

Number 1210–0118 and is scheduled to 

expire on May 31, 2009. A copy of the 

ICR may be obtained by contacting the 

office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office shown in the 

ADDRESSES section below on or before 

March 30, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, 

Office of Policy and Research, U.S. 

Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N– 

5647, Washington, DC 20210. 

Telephone: (202) 693–8410; Fax: (202) 

219–5333. These are not toll-free 

numbers. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The VFC Program is an enforcement 

program intended to encourage the full 

correction of certain breaches of 

fiduciary responsibility and the 

restoration of losses resulting from those 

breaches to participants and 

beneficiaries in employee benefit plans. 

For certain eligible breaches that have 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES