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Release Date: March 24, 2008
Release Number: 08-368-NAT
Contact Name: Gloria Della/Richard Manning
Phone Number: 202.693.8664/202.693.4676
Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor
today announced a proposed regulation providing a model notice for use
by multiemployer defined benefit pension plans to notify plan
participants and others that their plan is in critical funding status.
The proposed regulation is the result of the Pension Protection Act of
2006 (PPA) signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 17,
2006.
The PPA amended the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to require that
sponsors of multiemployer defined benefit pension plans in critical
status for a plan year provide notice of this status to participants,
beneficiaries, the bargaining parties, the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corp. (PBGC) and the Department of Labor. PBGC, created under ERISA to
insure defined benefit pension plans, guarantees payment of basic
pension benefits of affected workers and retirees.
The notice must inform participants that their plan
is in critical status and of the possibility that adjustable benefits
may be reduced or even eliminated. The proposed regulation contains a
model notice that may be used by plans to satisfy the notice
requirement.
The public may submit comments to the Labor
Department at e-ORI@dol.gov or through the federal e-rulemaking portal
at www.regulations.gov. Paper-based comments should be sent to the
Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Room N-5655, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210, Attention: Notice of Critical Status.
The proposed regulation is to be published in the March 25 edition of
the Federal Register.
U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the
Department's Newsroom
page. The information in this news release will be made available
in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or
disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when
placing your request at 202.693.7828 or TTY 202.693.7755. The U.S.
Department of Labor is committed to providing America's employers and
employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply
with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the
Department's Compliance
Assistance page.
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