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Amendment to Exemption for Certain Prohibited Transactions Involving AT&T Inc. (Together With AT&T Inc.'s Affiliates, AT&T or the Applicant) Located in Dallas, Texas

Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2014-06 provided an exemption for AT&T to contribute approximately $9.21 billion of employer securities (the Preferred Interests) and other assets to the AT&T Pension Benefit Plan (the Plan). This notice amends PTE 2014-06 to permit certain modifications (the Modifications) that were made with respect to the terms and provisions governing the Plan's holding and disposition of the Preferred Interests. Absent this amendment to PTE 2014-06 (Exemption Amendment), the Modifications would have resulted in violations of the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans; Interest Assumptions for Valuing Benefits

Electronic Disclosure by Group Health Plans Under ERISA

This proposed rule sets forth a new, additional safe harbor for group health plan administrators to use electronic media (e.g., email or web portal) to furnish documents and information to participants and beneficiaries of plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This proposal, if finalized, would allow plan administrators who satisfy specified conditions to provide participants and beneficiaries with a notice that certain disclosures will be made available electronically on a website. Individuals who prefer to receive these disclosures on paper will be able to request paper copies and to opt out of electronic delivery entirely. The Department expects that the proposal, if finalized, would improve the effectiveness of the disclosures and significantly reduce the costs and burden to group health plans associated with furnishing many of the recurring disclosures.

Penalties for Failure To Provide Certain Notices or Other Material Information

This proposed rule would provide the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's policies for calculating, imposing, and waiving monetary penalties to pension plans for failure to provide certain required notices or other material information timely to PBGC and plan participants.

Improvements to Rules on Recoupment of Benefit Overpayments

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is proposing to improve its rules on recoupment of benefit overpayments under PBGC's insurance program for single-employer terminated plans trusteed by PBGC. These proposed improvements include changing the recoupment methodology to a flat rate of 5 percent of a participant's monthly benefit and eliminating recoupment from a participant's surviving beneficiary.

Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans; Interest Assumptions for Valuing Benefits

This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans to prescribe the spreads component of the interest assumption under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates of July 31, 2026-October 30, 2026. These interest assumptions are used for valuing benefits under terminating single-employer plans and for other purposes.

Submission of Information Collections for OMB Review; Comment Request; Direct Express Enrollment Form

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, a new collection of information. The purpose of the information collection is to obtain information necessary to enroll individuals in the Direct Express debit card program. This notice informs the public of PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collections of information.

Technical Amendments: Special Financial Assistance

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is proposing technical corrections, clarifications, and improvements to the restrictions and conditions in its regulation on special financial assistance. These changes would clarify (a) the permissibility of investing special financial assistance in certain securities and (b) the condition requiring PBGC approval for settling withdrawal liability claims. The amendments also would repeal a provision that enabled plans that received special financial assistance to request the reallocation of employer contributions to pay for health benefit costs.

Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative and Quantitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of the collection of information on qualitative and quantitative feedback on PBGC's service delivery (OMB Control Number 1212-0066; expires October 31, 2026). This notice informs the public of PBGC's intent and solicits comments on the proposed information collection. This collection of information was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on service delivery.

Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations

This document sets forth these final rules related to certain provisions of the No Surprises Act regarding the Federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, which was established as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). These rules finalize new requirements relating to the disclosure of information that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage must include along with the initial payment or notice of denial of payment for certain items and services subject to the surprise billing protections in the No Surprises Act. These final rules also require plans and issuers to communicate information by using claim adjustment reason codes (CARCs) and remittance advice remark codes (RARCs), as specified in guidance, when providing any paper or electronic remittance advice (ERA) to an entity that does not have a contractual relationship with the plan or issuer. This document also finalizes amendments to certain requirements related to the open negotiation period preceding the Federal IDR process, the initiation of the Federal IDR process, the Federal IDR dispute eligibility review process, and the payment and collection of administrative fees and certified IDR entity fees. This document also finalizes the definition of bundled payment arrangements, amends requirements related to batched items and services and amends the rules for extensions of timeframes due to extenuating circumstances. Additionally, this document finalizes provisions that require plans and issuers to register in the Federal IDR portal. In accordance with Federal law, a summary of these rules may be found at https://www.regulations.gov/.

Exemption for Certain Prohibited Transactions Involving the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman) Located in New York, New York

This exemption allows current and future Goldman-related asset managers to continue to rely on Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14 (PTE 84-14), notwithstanding the GS Malaysia FCPA Conviction, if certain conditions are met.

Proposed Exemption Involving the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 99 Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee Fund (the Fund) Located in Cranston, Rhode Island

This proposed exemption would allow the Fund to purchase property from Local Union 99 Realty Corporation. Absent an exemption, the purchase would violate certain provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The purchase is expected to save the Fund approximately $45,000 per year.