[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 83 (Wednesday, April 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23856-23858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09026]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted
for Public Comment
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, 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 June 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Anja Decressin, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718,
Washington, DC 20210, [email protected], (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 219-
4745 (these are not toll-free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.
Title: Process for Expedited Approval of an Exemption for
Prohibited Transaction, Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1996-62.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0098.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 5.
Responses: 3,515.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 88.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $20,457.
Description: On April 28, 1975, the Department Published ERISA
Procedure 75-1 in the Federal Register, which provided the public with
information regarding the procedure to follow when requesting an
exemption. On August 10, 1990, the Department issued a regulation which
replaced ERISA
[[Page 23857]]
Procedure 75-1 for applications for prohibited transaction exemptions
filed on or after September 10, 1990 (29 CFR 2570.30 et seq.).
On July 31, 1996, the Department published in the Federal Register,
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 96-62 that provides for
accelerated approval of an exemption permitting a plan to engage in a
transaction which might otherwise be prohibited following a
demonstration to the Department that the transaction: (1) Is
substantially similar in all material respects to at least two other
transactions for which the Department recently granted administrative
relief from the same restriction; and (2) presents little, if any,
opportunity for abuse or risk of loss to a plan's participants and
beneficiaries. Under the class exemption, a party may proceed with a
transaction in as little as 78 days from the acknowledgment of receipt
by the Department of a written submission filed in accordance with the
terms of the class exemption.
In 2002, the DOL amended the exemption to clarify that it covers
``plans'' as described in Code Section 4975(e)(1), such as IRAs and
Keogh Plans, and that the scope of the exemption is not limited to
Title I ERISA covered plans.
Additionally, in 2003 the DOL amended the exemption to permit
parties to base their submissions on substantially similar transactions
described either in two individual exemptions granted within the past
60 months, or in one individual exemption granted within the last 120
months and one transaction that received final authorization under the
exemption within the past 60 months. The Department has received
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0098. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2020.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Suspension of Pension Benefits Pursuant to Regulations 29
CFR 2530.203-3.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0048.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 39,457.
Responses: 171,221.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 132,639.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $46,773.
Description: Section 203(a)(3)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) governs the circumstances under which
pension plans may suspend pension benefit payments to retirees who
return to work or to participants who continue to work beyond normal
retirement age. This section sets forth the circumstances and
conditions under which such benefit payments may be suspended.
This regulation, which was issued on January 27, 1981, amended on
December 4, 1981, and corrected on December 11, 1981, generally
describes the manner and circumstances under which retirement benefits
may be suspended during periods of employment subsequent to retirement.
The rule also clarifies that the normal retirement benefit of a
participant who continues working beyond the plan's normal retirement
age may also be considered to be suspended even though no act of
retirement has occurred.
In order for a plan to suspend benefits pursuant to the regulation,
it must notify the affected retiree or participant during the first
calendar month or payroll period in which the plan withholds payment
that benefits are suspended. Requests for such reviews may be
considered in accordance with the claims procedure adopted by the plan
pursuant to Section 503 of the Act and applicable regulations. The
notice must include the specific reasons for such suspension, a general
description of the plan provisions authorizing the suspension, a copy
of the relevant plan provisions, and a statement indicating where the
applicable regulations may be found, i.e., 29 CFR 2530.203-3. In
addition, the suspension notification must inform the retiree or
participant of the plan's procedure for affording a review of the
suspension of benefits. The Department has received approval from OMB
for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0048. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on December 31, 2020.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Prohibited
Transaction Class Exemption 1981-8, Investment of Plan Assets in
Certain Types of Short-Term Investment.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0061.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 82,664.
Responses: 413,320.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 103,330.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $93,770.
Description: This class exemption (PTE 81-8), which was granted on
January 23, 1981, exempts from the prohibited transaction restrictions
the investment of plan assets in certain short-term investments in debt
obligations issued by certain persons who provide services to the plan
or are affiliated with such service providers. PTE 81-8 covers four
types of short-term investments: banker's acceptances, commercial
paper, repurchase agreements and certificates of deposit and contains
specific conditions for each type of investment. PTE 81-8 was amended
on April 9, 1985, to add a new category of permissible investments-
securities issued by banks or their affiliates in cases where the bank
is a party in interest only by reason of the furnishing of a checking
account or related services (such as clearing and recordkeeping
services) to the list of acceptable short-term investments in the
existing class exemption. In addition, PTE 81-8 was amended to expand
the category of sellers with whom the plan may enter into repurchase
agreements to include dealers in bank acceptances who report their
security positions on a daily basis to the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0061. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on December 31, 2020.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1998-54 Relating to
Certain Employee Benefit Plan Foreign Exchange Transactions Executed
Pursuant to Standing Instructions.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0111.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 35.
Responses: 420,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,200.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: The class exemption that is the subject of this
submission would permit certain foreign exchange transactions between
employee benefit plans and certain banks and broker-dealers that are
parties in interest with respect to such plans. For purposes of this
exemption, a foreign exchange transaction is the exchange of currency
of one nation for the currency of another nation. Although the
Department previously granted an exemption for certain foreign exchange
transactions (PTE 94-20, 59 FR 8022 (OMB Control Number 1210-0085)),
that exemption
[[Page 23858]]
did not include relief for those foreign exchange transactions executed
pursuant to the advance written authorization of a plan fiduciary who
is independent of the bank or broker-dealer engaging in the transaction
(a ``standing instruction''). This submission covers the information
collection included in the exemption for foreign exchange transactions
executed pursuant to standing instructions, which was granted on
November 13, 1998. The Department has received approval from OMB for
this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0111. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on December 31, 2020.
Dated: April 23, 2020.
Anja Decressin,
Acting Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-09026 Filed 4-28-20; 8:45 am]
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