Summary Plan Descriptions; Claims Procedures; Notice of Extension of Comment Period

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]

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