2022-09025. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES:

The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency receives on or before May 31, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mara Blumenthal by telephone at 202-693-8538, or by email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 408(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) gives the Secretary of Labor the authority to “grant a conditional or unconditional exemption of any fiduciary or transaction, or class of fiduciaries or transactions, from all or part of the restrictions imposed by sections 406 and 407(a).” In order to grant an exemption under section 408, the Department must determine that the exemption is: (1) Administratively feasible; (2) in the interests of the plan and its participants and beneficiaries; and, (3) protective of the rights of the participants and beneficiaries of such plan. The three prohibited transaction class exemptions (PTEs) included in this ICR, (1) PTE 76-1, (2) PTE 77-10, and (3) PTE 78-6, exempt certain types of transactions commonly entered into by “multiemployer” plans from certain of the prohibitions contained in sections 406(a) and 407(a) of ERISA. The Department determined that, in the absence of these exemptions, the affected plans would not be able to operate efficiently or to enter into routine types of transactions necessary for their operations. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on December 13, 2021 (86 FR 70866).

This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.

Agency: DOL-EBSA.

Title of Collection: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans—PTE 1976-1, PTE 1977-10, PTE 1978-6.

OMB Control Number: 1210-0058.

Affected Public: Private Sector—Businesses or other for-profits and not-for-profit institutions.

Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,259.

Total Estimated Number of Responses: 3,409.

Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 815 hours.

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))

Dated: April 22, 2022.

Mara Blumenthal,

Senior PRA Analyst.