Emergency Justification Memo

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220

TO:

Alex Goodenough, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

FROM:

Ryan Law, Deputy Assistant Secretary
Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records

SUBJECT: Justification for Emergency Processing: Funding relief for multiemployer defined
benefit pension plans under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are requesting approval
of a new OMB Control Number under emergency procedures in connection with provisions of
Public Law 117-2, Sections 9701, 9702, and 9703 (March 11, 2021), commonly referred to as
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
In response to this unprecedented public health emergency and its economic impact, the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) plans to issue a new Notice, “Notice 2021-57: Funding relief for
multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021”
This notice will allow sponsors of multiemployer defined benefit pensions access to plan funding
relief granted by §§ 9701, 9702 and 9703 of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) in response to the
financial difficulties suffered by plan sponsors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emergency approval of this collection is essential to the mission of the IRS. Plan sponsors will
be able to determine when and how the relief will be taken, and in the event of an examination,
the IRS can obtain documentation of their elections. Use of the normal clearance procedures
would create a delay that will be disruptive to operations of pension plans, since they will not be
able to document their elections and could delay the plans’ statutorily required reporting to the
IRS.
The IRS plans to release Notice 2021-21 on October 8, 2021, and thus requests approval of the
control number by that date. Given the inability to seek public comment during such a short
timeframe, IRS respectfully requests a waiver from the requirement to publish notice in the
Federal Register seeking public comment during the period of Office of Management and
Budget review.