Notice2023-02621
Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public Comment
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentEmployee Benefits Security Administration
Abstract
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).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8317-8321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02621]
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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 <a href="http://reginfo.gov">reginfo.gov</a> (<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>).
[[Page 8318]]
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
Addresses section on or before April 10, 2023.
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#75101706145b1a050735111a195b121a03"><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
burden estimates follows:
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Loans to Plan Participants and Beneficiaries Who Are Parties
in Interest with Respect to The Plan Regulation.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0076.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,576.
Responses: 2,576.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$1,069,632.
Description: Section 408(b)(1)(C) of ERISA requires plan loans to
be made in accordance with specific provisions set forth in the plan
document. The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2550.408b-1(d)
prescribes eight specific provisions that must be included in the plan
documents, including: (1) an explicit authorization for the plan
fiduciary responsible for investing plan assets to establish such a
loan program; (2) the identity of the person or position authorized to
administer the program; (3) a procedure for applying for loans; (4) the
basis on which loans will be approved or denied; (5) limitations (if
any) on the types and amounts of loans offered; (6) the procedure for
determining a reasonable rate of interest; (7) types of collateral that
may secure a participant loan; and (8) the events constituting default
and the steps that will be taken to preserve plan assets in the event
of such default.
The information will be used by plan participants and beneficiaries
wishing to obtain plan loans. It also will be used by plan
administrators in administering their plans' loan program. The
Department also will use the information in any enforcement proceedings
regarding plan loans. The Department has received approval from OMB for
this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0076. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on July 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1985-68 to Permit
Employee Benefit Plans to Invest in Customer Notes of Employers.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0094.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 69.
Responses: 325.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption 85-68 provides that a
plan is exempt from ERISA sections 406(a), 406(b)(1) and (2), and
407(a) with respect to the acquisition, holding, or resale of customer
notes, executed along with a security agreement for tangible personal
property, from an employer of employees covered by the plan in the
ordinary course of the employer's business activity, provided that the
conditions of the exemption are met The customer notes must have been
accepted by the employer in its primary business activity as the seller
of tangible personal property that is being financed by the notes. The
exemption does not apply to notes of an employer's affiliate.
The Department has included in the class exemption a recordkeeping
provision, whereby plans are required to maintain the records,
information, and data which relate to plan investments in customer
notes that is otherwise required to be maintained. The class exemption
requires that those records be made available to certain persons on
request. Without this recordkeeping requirement, the Department would
be unable to effectively enforce the terms of the exemption and ensure
user compliance. The Department has received approval from OMB for this
ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0094. The current approval is scheduled
to expire on July 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Summary Plan Description Requirements Under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as Amended.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0039.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 3,033,000.
Responses: 112,733,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 162,956.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$235,556,141.
Description: The Department has promulgated regulations governing
the content and furnishing of SPDs, SMMs, and SMRs at 29 CFR 102-2
(Style and Format of Summary Plan Descriptions); 29 CFR 2520.102-3
(Contents of Summary Plan Descriptions); 29 CFR 2520.102-4 (Option for
Different Summary Plan Descriptions); 29 CFR 2520.2520.104b-1
(Disclosure); 29 CFR 2520.104b-2 (Summary Plan Descriptions); 29 CFR
104b-3 (Summary of Material Modifications to the Plan and Changes in
the Information Required to be Included in the Summary Plan
Description); and 29 CFR 104(b)-(4) (Alternative Methods of Compliance
for Furnishing the Summary Plan Description and Summaries of Material
Modifications of a Pension Plan to a Retired Participant, a Separated
Participant, and a Beneficiary Receiving Benefits). These regulations
set standards for the content of these disclosure documents, the
methods of furnishing that will satisfy the statutory disclosure
requirements, and alternative methods of compliance. In particular,
regulations at 29 CFR 2520.104b-1(c) specifically describe the
circumstances under which the administrator of an employee benefit plan
may furnish required disclosure documents, including the SPD/SMM/SMR,
through electronic media.
The Department's regulations contain information collections that
constitute mandatory third-party disclosure requirements applicable to
the majority of ERISA-covered pension and welfare benefit plans. The
Department has determined that these information collections are
necessary in order to ensure the participants and beneficiaries in
employee benefit plans covered under ERISA receive adequate information
about the benefits due to them and their rights under the plans. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0039. The current
[[Page 8319]]
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Disclosures for Participant Directed Individual Account
Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0090.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 569,969.
Responses: 769,693,310.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,914,334.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$223,980,233.
Description: The Department published a final regulation under
ERISA section 404(a), with conforming amendments to the regulations
under ERISA section 404(c) that requires plan fiduciaries to disclose
plan- and investment-related fee and expense information to
participants and beneficiaries in all participant directed individual
account plans (e.g., 401(k)-type plans) for plan years that began on or
after January 1, 2010 and at least annually thereafter (defined by
regulation as at least once in any 14-month period, without regard to
whether the plan operates on a calendar or fiscal year basis).
The final rule, 29 CFR 2550.404a-5(c), requires three sub-
categories of Plan-related information to be provided to participants
and beneficiaries. The first sub-category is General Plan Information,
which includes how participants may give investment instructions or
exercise proxy voting or tendering rights, restrictions on transferring
account assets among investment alternatives, and identification of the
plan's designated investment alternatives and designated investment
managers (29 CFR 2550.404a-5(c)(1)). The second sub-category of Plan-
related information is Administrative Expense Information, which refers
to explanations of any fees and expenses for general plan
administrative services (e.g., legal, accounting, recordkeeping)
charged to individual accounts and the basis for allocating such
charges among the accounts (e.g., pro-rata, per capita). (29 CFR
2550.404a-5(c)(2)). The third sub-category of Plan-related information
is Individual Expense Information, which describes expenses assessed
against accounts based on the actions taken by individual participants
or beneficiaries. This would include charges for processing participant
loans and qualified domestic relations orders. (29 CFR 2550.404a-
5(c)(3)).
The rule also requires plan administrators to disclose three sub-
categories of investment-related information to participants and
beneficiaries on or before their date of eligibility, which relates to
the plans designated investment alternatives. The first sub-category of
information is information required to be provided automatically. (29
CFR 2550.404a-5(d)(1)). For each designated investment alternative, the
plan must disclose specified identifying information, past performance
data, comparable benchmark returns, fee and expense information, and an
internet website address that is sufficiently specific to lead
participants and beneficiaries to specified supplemental information
for each investment alternative. The latest information available to
the plan must be furnished annually. Material changes to this
information must be disclosed at least 30 days but no more than 90 days
before the effective date of the change except for unforeseen events or
circumstances beyond the plan administrator's control. Investment-
related information must be furnished in a chart or similar format
designed to help participants compare the plan's investment
alternatives across each category of information. (29 CFR 2550.404a-
5(d)(2)). To facilitate compliance, the rule includes a model chart
that may be used by plan fiduciaries to satisfy this requirement. The
second sub-category of investment-related information is Post-
Investment Information. Following a participant's investment in an
alternative, the plan administrator must provide any materials it
receives regarding voting, tender or similar rights in the alternative
(``pass-through materials'') to the extent such rights are passed
through to the participant or beneficiary. (29 CFR 2550.404a-5(d)(3)).
The third sub-category of investment-related information is Information
to be provided upon Request (29 CFR 2550.404a-5(d)(4)). Participants
may request the plan to provide prospectuses, financial reports, as
well as statements of valuation and a list of assets held by an
investment alternative.
The information collection describes the timeframes and acceptable
format for providing the disclosures. The Department has received
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0090. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Electronic Disclosure by Employee Benefit Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0121.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 757,635.
Responses: 82,853,832.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,567,541.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$21,441,854.
Description: On January 28, 1999, the Department published a notice
of proposed rulemaking on electronic disclosure and recordkeeping
issues (64 FR 4506). Where, previously, only group health plans had
specifically been provided with a safe harbor for electronic
disclosure, the proposal expanded the use of electronic disclosure to
include all pension and welfare benefit plans covered by Title I of
ERISA. In addition, the proposal added summary annual reports to the
list of disclosure documents included in the safe harbor provisions. On
April 9, 2002, the Department published a notice of final rulemaking on
electronic disclosure and recordkeeping issues (67 FR 17264) to
establish a ``safe harbor'' for the use of electronic media to satisfy
the general furnishing requirement. In 2020, the Department issued a
final rule providing a new safe harbor (Notice-and-Access Safe Harbor)
for plan administrators who wish to satisfy ERISA's delivery
requirements for retirement plan documents by posting them on a website
and notifying workers of the online availability of such documents (85
FR 31884).
The information collection contains a third-party disclosure. The
consent serves to demonstrate to the plan administrator that an
individual has the ability to access information in the electronic form
that will be used for disclosure purposes. Such confirmation will
ensure the compatibility of the hardware and software between the
individual and the plan, and will also serve to demonstrate that the
administrator has taken appropriate and necessary measures reasonably
calculated to ensure that the system for furnishing documents results
in actual receipt, as required under ERISA. Lastly, where applicable,
the consent provides a means for the individual to provide the plan
with the correct email address to facilitate the efficiencies that may
arise from the use of electronic technologies where appropriate.
Retirement plan administrators may satisfy their obligation to
furnish ERISA-required disclosures by making the information accessible
online and
[[Page 8320]]
furnishing a notice of internet availability of these disclosures to
covered individuals. The notice of internet availability must be sent
to the electronic address of the participant, for example to the
participant's email address and include, among other things, a brief
description of the document being posted online, a website address
where the document is posted, and instructions for requesting a free
paper copy or electing paper delivery in the future. It must be sent
each time a retirement plan disclosure is posted to the internet
website. To prevent ``email overload,'' the 2019 final rule allows a
notice of internet availability to incorporate or combine other notices
of internet availability in limited circumstances. The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0121. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding Notice.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0126.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 32,165.
Responses: 65,526,626.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 197,336.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$7,080,504.
Description: In 2012, Congress enacted the Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The law provides funding
interest rate stabilization for single employer defined benefit (DB)
plans, effective for plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2012.
MAP-21 set a floor (or ceiling) for the interest rates that single
employer defined benefit plan administrators generally are required to
use to calculate contributions. Under the rules, the generally required
interest rates are limited to rates that are within a specified range,
or corridor, above or below a 25-year average for the rates.
Section 40211(b)(2)(A) of MAP-21 amended ERISA section 101(f)(2) by
adding a new subparagraph (D), which requires single-employer defined
benefit plan administrators to disclose additional information in the
annual funding notice for a plan year beginning after December 31,
2011, regarding the effect of the MAP-21 segment rate stabilization
rules on plan liabilities and the plan sponsor's minimum required
contributions to the plan. Section 40211(b)(2)(B) of MAP-21 directed
the Department to modify the model annual funding notice required under
section 501(c) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), to
prominently include the supplemental information required under ERISA
section 101(f)(2)(D). The Department issued Field Assistance Bulletin
(FAB) 2013-01 to address issues related to the disclosures required by
section 101(f)(2)(D) and to provide a model segment rate stabilization
supplement for the annual funding notices of single-employer plans. The
Department subsequently issued FAB 2015-01 to address changes made to
the segment stabilization rules and the supplement required by section
101(f)(2)(D) by the Highway and Transportation and Funding Act of 2014.
The segment rate stabilization rules and section 101(f)(2)(D) of ERISA
were further modified by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act extending the requirement to furnish the segment rate
stabilization requirement-through the 2034
The Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act,
Public Law 113-97 (2014) added a new subparagraph (E) to section
101(f)(2) of ERISA which required CSEC plans to include additional
information in their annual funding notices. The Department reserved
section 2520.101-5(m) of the final regulation for CSEC plans.
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA), Public Law
113-235 (2014), added new disclosure requirements to section
101(f)(2)(B) of ERISA relating to the new multiemployer funding
classification of ``critical and declining status.'' A plan is in
critical and declining status if it is in critical status and is
projected to become insolvent with 15 years (or within 20 years if a
special rule applies). MPRA requires the annual funding notice of
critical and declining status plans to include the projected date of
insolvency; a clear statement that such insolvency may result in
benefit reductions; and a statement describing whether the plan sponsor
has taken legally permitted actions to prevent insolvency. These
requirements were added to the final regulation and the multiemployer
plan model notice to reflect the MPRA amendments to ERISA section
101(f) and are included in the hour burden to complete that notice.
MPRA requires the annual funding notice of critical and declining
status plans to include the projected date of insolvency; a clear
statement that such insolvency may result in benefit reductions; and a
statement describing whether the plan sponsor has taken legally
permitted actions to prevent insolvency. These requirements were added
to the final regulation and the multiemployer plan model notice to
reflect the MPRA amendments to ERISA section 101(f).
On February 2, 2015, the Department published final rules
implementing ERISA section 101(f). As required by statute, the final
rule requires the plan administrator of a defined benefit pension plan
that is subject to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Insurance
Program to furnish a funding notice annually to participants,
beneficiaries, labor organizations representing such participants or
beneficiaries, employers obligated to make contributions to a
multiemployer plan, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(PBGC). Large plans must furnish the notice by the 120th day following
the end of the plan year to which the notice relates. A small plan may
furnish a funding notice on or before the due date, with extensions, of
the plan's Form 5500 Annual Return/Report filed with the Department.
The final rule provides guidance and model annual funding notices.
Administrators of single and multiemployer defined benefit plans can
use the guidance provided in the final rule (and the included model
notices) to furnish an annual notice of the plan's funded status to the
plan's participants and beneficiaries and other specified interested
parties (each labor organization representing such participants or
beneficiaries, each employer that has an obligation to contribute under
the plan, and the PBGC) as required by ERISA 101(f). The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0126. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Default Investment Alternatives under Participant Directed
Individual Account Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0132.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 296,568.
Responses: 39,548,933.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 76,011.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$2,073,509.
Description: The Department of Labor finalized a regulation under
ERISA section 404(c)(5)(A). The regulation
[[Page 8321]]
offers guidance on the types of investment vehicles that plans may
choose as their ``qualified default investment alternative'' (QDIA).
The regulation also outlines two types of information collections.
First, it implements the statutory requirement that plans provide
annual notices to participants and beneficiaries whose account assets
could be invested in a QDIA. Second, the regulation requires plans to
pass any pertinent materials they receive from a QDIA to those
participants and beneficiaries with assets invested in the QDIA as well
to provide certain information on request. These two information
collections are necessary to inform participants and beneficiaries, who
do not make investment elections, of the consequences of their failure
to elect investments, the ways in which their account assets will be
invested through the QDIA, and of their continuing opportunity to make
other investment elections, including options available under the plan.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0132. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
August 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Registration Requirements to Serve as a Pooled Plan Provider
to Pooled Employer Plans--Form PR.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0164.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 1,660.
Responses: 2,813.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,676.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Section 101 of The Setting Every Community Up for
Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the SECURE Act) amended ERISA
section 3(2) and added new sections 3(43) and 3(44) to establish a new
type of ERISA-covered retirement savings plan called a ``pooled
employer plan.'' Among other requirements, pooled employer plans must
be operated by a designated ``pooled plan provider.'' The SECURE Act
provides that pooled plan provider'' can begin offering pooled employer
plans'' on January 1, 2021, as long as pooled plan providers register
with the Labor Department (the Department) and the Treasury Department
(Treasury) before beginning operations as a pooled plan provider.
The final rule requires an initial registration filing and
supplemental filings to report changes in the information in the
initial filing, information about each specific pooled employer plan at
its inception, and information on specified reportable events, time-
sensitive knowledge of which will allow the Agencies to carry out their
joint oversight responsibilities and for participating employers to be
able to exercise their fiduciary duties to select and monitor pooled
plan providers. The final rule requires a final filing once the
provider's last pooled employer plan has been terminated and ceased
operations.
The initial registration, supplemental filing, and final filing
requirements will provide the Agencies with timely access to
information needed to help them protect plan participants and
beneficiaries and conduct effective monitoring and oversight of pooled
employer plans and pooled plan providers as required by the SECURE Act.
Without this kind of timely information, the Agencies would typically
not learn of risks to a pooled employer plan until the plan files a
Form 5500, possibly many months after the event (assuming the
information was even required to be reported on the Form 5500), and
when opportunities for protecting plan participants from financial
injury have been missed. The Department has received approval from OMB
for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0164. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on November 30, 2023.
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.
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 1st day of February 2023.
Lisa M. Gomez,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-02621 Filed 2-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.