Summary Plan Descriptions; Claims Procedures; Notice of Extension
of Comment Period [10/30/1998]
Volume 63, Number 210, Page
58335-58336=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
29 CFR Parts 2520 and 2560
RIN 1210-AA69
RIN 1210-AA61
Summary Plan Descriptions; Claims Procedures; Notice of Extension
of Comment Period
AGENCY: Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of extension of comment periods.
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SUMMARY: This document extends the comment period regarding the
proposed regulations under section 102(b) of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (relating to the content
of the Summary Plan Description required to be furnished to employee
benefit plan participants and beneficiaries covered under ERISA) and
under section 503 of ERISA (relating to claims procedures of employee
benefit plans covered under ERISA). The proposed regulations were set
forth in separate notices of proposed rulemaking published in the
Federal Register on September 9, 1998.
DATES: The comment periods are extended through December 9, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted with a signed original
and three copies to the Office of Regulations and interpretations,
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue
N.W., Room N-5669, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210, and
marked ATTENTION: Proposed SPD Content Regulations or Benefit Claims
Regulation, whichever is appropriate. All submissions will be available
for public inspection in the Public Documents Room, Pension and Welfare
Benefits Administration, Room N-5507, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeffrey J. Turner, Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Pension
and Welfare Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Labor,
telephone (202) 219-8671. This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 9, 1998, the Department of
Labor (the Department) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the
Federal Register (63 FR 48376) containing proposed amendments to the
regulations governing the content of the Summary Plan Description (SPD)
required to be furnished to employee benefit plan participants and
beneficiaries covered under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA). On that same date, the Department also published
a notice of proposed rulemaking revising the minimum requirements for
benefit claims procedures of employee benefit plans covered by ERISA
(63 FR 48390). In those notices, the Department invited all interested
persons to submit written comments concerning the proposed regulations
on or before November 9, 1998.
The Department has received requests from some members of the
public for additional time to prepare comments on the proposed claims
procedure regulation due to the complexity of the issues involved in
that proposed regulation, and the Department believes that it is
appropriate to grant such additional time. Accordingly, this notice
extends the comment period during which comments on the proposed claims
procedure regulation will received through December 9, 1998. Moreover,
although no requests for extensions have been received regarding the
proposed SPD content regulation, this notice also extends through
December 9, 1998, the comment period for that rulemaking in order to
ensure that persons interested in both proposed regulations, which are
related in content, will have sufficient time to prepare comments.
Notice of Extension of Public Comment Periods
Notice is hereby given that the period of time for the submission
of public comments on the proposed regulation relating to the content
of the SPD required to be furnished to employee benefit plan
participants and beneficiaries covered under ERISA (proposed at 63 FR
48376) and the proposed regulation relating to the claims procedures of
employee benefit plans covered under ERISA (proposed at 63 FR 48390),
is hereby extended through December 9, 1998.
[[Page 58336]]
Signed at Washington, DC, this 27th day of October, 1998.
Meredith Miller,
Deputy Assistant Secretary For Policy, Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 98-29173 Filed 10-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-M
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