Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Nominations for Vacancies

Section 512 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 895, 29 U.S.C. 1142, provides for the establishment of an Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (the Council), which is to consist of 15 members to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) as follows: Three representatives of employee organizations (at least one of whom shall be representative of an organization whose members are participants in a multiemployer plan); three representatives of employers (at least one of whom shall be representative of employers maintaining or contributing to multiemployer plans); one representative each from the fields of insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management and accounting; and three representatives from the general public (one of whom shall be a person representing those receiving benefits from a pension plan). No more than eight members of the Council shall be members of the same political party.

Members shall be persons qualified to appraise the programs instituted under ERISA. Appointments are for terms of three years. The prescribed duties of the Council are to advise the Secretary with respect to the carrying out of his or her functions under ERISA, and to submit to the Secretary, or his or her designee, recommendations with respect thereto. The Council will meet at least four times each year.

The terms of five members of the Council expire on November 14, 2004. The groups or fields they represent are as follows: (1) Employee organizations (representing an organization whose members participate in a multiemployer plan); (2) the insurance profession; (3) the accounting profession; (4) employers; and (5) the general public (representing persons actually receiving benefits from a private-sector plan). The Department of Labor is committed to equal opportunity in the workplace and seeks a broad-based and diverse ERISA Advisory Council.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given that any person or organization desiring to recommend one or more individuals for appointment to the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to represent any of the groups or fields specified in the preceding paragraph, may submit recommendations to Debra Golding, ERISA Advisory Council, Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Suite N-5656, Washington, DC 20210. Recommendations must be delivered or mailed on or before October 1, 2004. Recommendations may be in the form of a letter, resolution or petition, signed by the person making the recommendation or, in the case of a recommendation by an organization, by an authorized representative of the organization.