Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests

AGENCY:

Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 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 July 25, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210, cosby.chris@dol.gov, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 693-4745 (these are not toll-free numbers).

I. 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 transactions 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: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Certain Transactions Between Investment Companies and Employee Benefit Plans (PTE 77-4).

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0049.

Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other for-profits.

Respondents: 700.

Responses: 399,300.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 33,640.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $219,000.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 77-4 provides relief from the restrictions of section 406 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and from the sanctions resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), for an employee benefit plan's purchase or sale of shares of an open-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (mutual fund) when an investment advisor for the mutual fund or its affiliate is: (1) A plan fiduciary; and (2) not an employer of employees covered by the plan.

Section II(d) of PTE 77-4 contains certain conditions for the exemptive relief and provides, in pertinent part, that: A second fiduciary with respect to the plan, who is independent of and unrelated to the fiduciary/investment adviser or any affiliate thereof, receives a current prospectus issued by the investment company, and full and detailed written disclosure of the investment advisory and other fees charged to or paid by the plan and the investment company, including the nature and extent of any differential between the rates of such fees, the reasons why the fiduciary/investment adviser may consider such purchases to be appropriate for the plan, and whether there are any limitations on the fiduciary/investment adviser with respect to which plan assets may be invested in shares of the investment company and, if so, the nature of such limitations.

Delivery of a “summary prospectus” may be used to satisfy the condition in section II(d) of PTE 77-4 requiring the delivery of a mutual fund's prospectus to the second fiduciary if the summary prospectus meets the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) revised disclosure provisions for mutual funds including a summary prospectus rule that were published in 2009. Pursuant to the SEC's revised disclosure provisions, mutual funds also are required to send the full prospectus to the investor upon an investor's request and to provide the full prospectus on-line at a specified Internet site. The Department previously submitted an ICR to OMB for approval of the information collections in PTE 77-4 and received OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0049. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2016.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Notice Requirements of the Health Care Continuation Coverage Provisions.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information collection.

OMB Number: 1210-0123.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.

Respondents: 599,000.

Responses: 20,712,556.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $26,554,404.

Description: The continuation coverage provisions of section 601 through 608 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (and parallel provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Code)) generally require group health plans to offer qualified beneficiaries the opportunity to elect continuation coverage following certain events that would otherwise result in the loss of coverage. Continuation coverage is a temporary extension of the qualified beneficiary's previous group health coverage. The right to elect continuation coverage allows individuals to maintain group health coverage under adverse circumstances and to bridge gaps in health coverage that otherwise could limit their access to health care. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) provides the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) with authority under section 608 of ERISA to carry out the continuation coverage provisions. The Conference Report that accompanied COBRA divided interpretive authority over the COBRA provisions between the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury (the Treasury) by providing that the Secretary has the authority to issue regulations implementing the notice and disclosure requirements of COBRA, while the Treasury is authorized to issue regulations defining the required continuation coverage. The ICR contained in these rules was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1210-0123, which is currently scheduled to expire on October 31, 2016.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Model Employer Children's Health Insurance Program Notice.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0137.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 5,961,000.

Responses: 174,347,154.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 900,519.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $21,619,363.

Description: On February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA, Pub. L. 111-3). Under ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), PHS Act section 2701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), and section 9801(f)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by CHIPRA, an employer that maintains a group health plan in a State that provides medical assistance under a State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA), or child health assistance under a State child health plan under title XXI of the SSA, in the form of premium assistance for the purchase of coverage under a group health plan, is required to make certain disclosures. Specifically, the employer is required to notify each employee of potential opportunities currently available in the State in which the employee resides for premium assistance under Medicaid and CHIP for health coverage of the employee or the employee's dependents.

ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(II) requires the Department of Labor to provide employers with model language for the Employer CHIP Notices to enable them to timely comply with this requirement. This ICR relates to the Model Employer CHIP Notice, which was approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0137 and currently scheduled to expire on October 31, 2016.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Notice of Medical Necessity Criteria under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0138.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 1,258,000.

Responses: 629,000.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6,000.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,494,000.

Description: MHPAEA includes disclosure provisions for group health plans and health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group health plan. The criteria for medical necessity determinations made under a group health plan with respect to mental health or substance use disorder benefits (or health insurance coverage offered in connection with the plan with respect to such benefits) must be made available in accordance with regulations by the plan administrator (or the health insurance issuer offering such coverage) to any current or potential participant, beneficiary, or contracting provider upon request (“medical necessity disclosure”). The ICR contained in MHPAEA was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No. 1210-0138, which currently is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2016.

II. 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 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 submissions of responses.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the ICRs for OMB approval of the extension of the information collection; they will also become a matter of public record.