(a) The Department may not grant an exemption under ERISA section 408(a), Code section 4975(c)(2), or 5 U.S.C. 8477(c)(3)(C) unless, following evaluation of the facts and representations comprising the administrative record of the proposed exemption (including any comments received in response to a notice of proposed exemption and the record of any hearing held in connection with the proposed exemption), it finds that the exemption meets the statutory requirements by being:

(1) Administratively feasible for the Department;

(2) In the interests of the plan (or the Thrift Savings Fund in the case of FERSA) and of its participants and beneficiaries; and

(3) Protective of the rights of participants and beneficiaries of such plan (or the Thrift Savings Fund in the case of FERSA).

(b) In each instance where the Department determines to grant an exemption, it shall publish a notice in the Federal Register which summarizes the transaction or transactions for which exemptive relief has been granted and specifies the conditions under which such exemptive relief is available.