Notice2026-03145
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 18, 2026
Issuing agencies
Labor Department
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 91 Issue 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7528-7532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03145]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Agency Information Collection Activities; Request 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 <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>).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
ADDRESSES section on or before April 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Office of Research and Analysis, Attention: PRA
Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210,
or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fd989f8e9cd3928d8fbd999291d39a928b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0a6f68796b24657a784a6e6566246d657c">[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. This action is not related to any pending rulemakings
and 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.
[[Page 7529]]
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits,
Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 2,606.
Responses: 2,606.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,818.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Section 406(a)(1)(B) of ERISA prohibits the lending of
money or other extensions of credit between a plan and a party in
interest. A statutory exemption is provided in ERISA section 408(b)(1),
which exempts plan loans made to participants and beneficiaries from
the prohibited transaction provisions of sections 406(a), (b)(1), and
(b)(2) of ERISA if the loans: (A) are made available to all
participants and beneficiaries on a reasonably equivalent basis; (B)
are not made available to highly compensated employees, officers, or
shareholders in an amount greater than the amount made available to
other employees; (C) are made in accordance with specific provisions
regarding such loans set forth in the plan; (D) bear a reasonable rate
of interest; and (E) are adequately secured.
For purposes of this information collection, 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 Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0076. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on August 31, 2026.
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits,
Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 1.
Responses: 1.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption 85-68 provides that
the prohibitions of ERISA sections 406(a), 406(b)(1) and (2), and
407(a) and the taxes imposed by Code section 4975(a) and (b) by reason
of Code section 4975(c)(1)(A) through (E) shall not apply to the
acquisition of customer notes by a plan from an employer with respect
to the plan, and holding of the customer notes by the plan, or the
repurchase of those notes by the employer. For the purpose of this
exemption, a customer note is a two-party instrument, executed along
with a security agreement for tangible personal property, which is
accepted in connection with, and in the normal course of, an employer's
primary business activity as a seller of such property. The exemption
does not apply to notes of an employer's affiliate.
This exemption includes a recordkeeping provision, whereby plans
are required to maintain all records, information, and data which
relate to plan investments in customer notes covered by this exemption.
The class exemption requires that those records be made unconditionally
available to certain persons on request.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0094. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on August 31, 2026
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits,
Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 3,214,973.
Responses: 117,968,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,397,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$88,872,000.
Description: The Department has promulgated regulations governing
the content, style, and format, and furnishing of Summary Plan
Descriptions (SPDs), Summary of Material Modifications (SMMs), and
Summary of Material Reductions (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, style, and format
of these disclosure documents, the methods of furnishing that will
satisfy the statutory disclosure requirements, and alternative methods
of compliance.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0039. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on September 30, 2026.
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 619,650.
Responses: 1,039,819,787.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,204,349.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$221,557,106.
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
[[Page 7530]]
or after November 1, 2011, 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)). 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.
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. 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 Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0090. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on September 30, 2026.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Consent to Receive Employee Benefit Plan Disclosures
Electronically.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0121.
Affected Public: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 760,585.
Responses: 55,055,864.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 982,079.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$3,101,381.
Description:
The Department's 2002 regulatory safe harbor at 29 CFR 2520.104b-
1(c) describes the circumstances under which the administrator of an
employee benefit plan may furnish required disclosure documents through
electronic media. The information collection contains a disclosure
requirement and a requirement that participants affirmatively consent
to electronic disclosure or confirm consent electronically. 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.
In 2020, the Department issued a final rule providing a 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 (29 CFR 2520.104b-31). Retirement plan
administrators may satisfy their obligation to furnish ERISA-required
disclosures by making the information accessible online and 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 2020 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 September 30, 2026.
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits,
Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 32,209.
Responses: 58,201,069.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 166,067.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$5,758,314.
Description:
In 2012, Congress enacted the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st
Century
[[Page 7531]]
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.
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 Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0126. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on September 30, 2026.
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: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits,
Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 384,183.
Responses: 49,546,060.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 87,978.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$2,183,990.
Description:
The Department of Labor finalized a regulation under ERISA section
404(c)(5)(A). The regulation offers guidance on the types of investment
vehicles that plans may choose as their ``qualified default investment
alternative'' (QDIA) and receive fiduciary relief. 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 disclose certain information
regarding 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 September 30, 2026.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Notice to Employees of Coverage Options Under Fair Labor
Standards Act Section 18B.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0149.
Affected Public: Private sector, Farm, Businesses or other for-
profits, Not-for-profit institutions. State, Local, and Tribal
Governments.
Respondents: 10,909,076.
Responses: 31,595,244.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 263,294.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$5,480,827.
Description:
Since January 1, 2014, individuals and employees of small
businesses have had access to affordable coverage through a competitive
private health insurance market--Health Insurance Marketplace. The
Marketplace offers ``one-stop shopping'' to find and compare private
health insurance options. Section 1512 of the Affordable Care Act
created a new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) section 18B [29 U.S.C.
218b] requiring a notice to employees of coverage options available
through the Marketplace.\1\
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\1\ The Secretary of Labor has delegated responsibility for FLSA
section 18B rulemaking to the Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA), within the Department of Labor. See Q2 in ACA
Implementation FAQ Part V, available at: <a href="http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca5.html">http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca5.html</a>.
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Section 18B of the FLSA, as added by section 1512 of the Affordable
Care Act, generally provides that, in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, an applicable employer must
provide each employee at the time of hiring a written notice: (1)
Informing the employee of the existence of the Marketplace (referred to
in the statute as the Exchange) including a description of the services
provided by the Marketplace, and the manner in which the employee may
contact the Marketplace to request assistance; (2) If the employer
plan's share of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under the
plan is less than 60 percent of such costs, then the employee may be
eligible for a premium tax credit under section 36B of the Internal
Revenue Code (the Code) if the employee purchases a qualified health
plan through the Marketplace; and (3) If the employee purchases a
qualified health plan through the Marketplace, the employee may lose
the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered
by the employer and that all or a portion of such contribution may be
excludable from
[[Page 7532]]
income for Federal income tax purposes.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0149. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on September 30, 2026.
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.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))
Signed at Washington, DC, this 10th day of February 2026.
Daniel Aronowitz,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2026-03145 Filed 2-17-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
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