216th Meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Notice of Meeting

Pursuant to the authority contained in Section 512 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1142, the 216th open meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (also known as the ERISA Advisory Council) will be held on July 17–19, 2023.

On Monday, July 17, 2023, the meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. and end at approximately 4:30 p.m. (ET). On Tuesday, July 18, 2023, the meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 5:00 p.m. (ET), with a one-hour break for lunch. On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 3:00 p.m. (ET), with a one-hour break for lunch.

The three-day meeting will take place at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210 in Room 6, C5320. The meeting will also be accessible via teleconference and some participants, as well as members of the public, may elect to attend virtually. Instructions for public teleconference access will be available on the ERISA Advisory Council's web page at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/about-us/erisa-advisory-council approximately one week prior to the meeting.

On July 17 and July 19, the purpose of the open meeting is for Advisory Council members to hear testimony from invited witnesses on the following topics: (1) Long-Term Disability Benefits and Mental Health Disparity, and (2) Recordkeeping in the Electronic Age. Descriptions of these topics, once finalized, will be available on the ERISA Advisory Council's web page at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/about-us/erisa-advisory-council.

On July 18, the purpose of the open meeting is for the Department of Labor to consult with the Advisory Council on section 2509.95–1 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to the fiduciary standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 when selecting an annuity provider for a defined benefit pension plan), as required by Section 321 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, signed into law on December 29, 2022, as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, H.R. 2617, as amended.

Organizations or members of the public wishing to submit a written statement on any of the matters before the Advisory Council may do so on or before Monday, July 10, 2023, to Christine Donahue, Executive Secretary, ERISA Advisory Council. Statements should be transmitted electronically as an email attachment in text or pdf format to donahue.christine@dol.gov. Statements transmitted electronically that are included in the body of the email will not be accepted. Relevant statements received on or before Monday, July 10, 2023, will be included in the record of the meeting and made available through the EBSA Public Disclosure Room. No deletions, modifications, or redactions will be made to the statements received as they are public records. Warning: Do not include any personally identifiable or confidential business information that you do not want publicly disclosed.

Individuals or representatives of organizations interested in addressing the ERISA Advisory Council at the public meeting must submit a written request to the Executive Secretary on or before Monday, July 10, 2023, via email to donahue.christine@dol.gov. Requests to address the Council must include: (1) the name, title, organization, address, email address, and telephone number of the individual who would appear; (2) if applicable, the name of the organization(s) whose views would be represented; and (3) a concise summary of the statement that would be presented. Each individual or organization will be given 10 minutes to address the Council and should be prepared to answer questions regarding their written and oral statements. An agenda for the meeting, including a schedule of testimony from invited witnesses and a schedule of members of the public who will address the Council, will be posted on the ERISA Advisory Council's web page at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/about-us/erisa-advisory-council no later than July 13, 2023. The number of public commenters that address the Council may be limited based on the number of requests that are received. In that event, the broadest array of viewpoints on all aspects of the matters under consideration by the Advisory Council will be represented and all written statements received will be included in the public record.

Individuals who need special accommodations should contact the Executive Secretary on or before Monday, July 10, 2023, via email to donahue.christine@dol.gov or by telephoning (202) 693–8641.

For more information about the meeting, contact the Executive Secretary at the address or telephone number above.