Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans; Interest Assumptions for Valuing Benefits, 76730-76731 [2024-21359]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 182 / Thursday, September 19, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
(2) Inform the government astronaut
being trained of the differences between
the training device and the vehicle’s
configuration and mission.
(d) An operator must update the
government astronaut training to ensure
that the training incorporates lessons
learned from training and operational
missions including—
(1) Providing traceability to revisions
or changes; and
(2) Documenting the completed
training for each government astronaut
and maintaining the documentation for
each active government astronaut.
(e) An operator must establish a
recurrent training schedule and ensure
that all training of government
astronauts performing safety-critical
roles is current before launch or reentry.
(f) For licensed missions supporting
U.S. Government contracts, operators
may meet the training requirements of
this section through U.S. Government’s
contractual requirements.
§ 460.61 Environmental control and life
support systems.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
(a) An operator must provide
atmospheric conditions adequate to
sustain life and consciousness for all
inhabited areas within a vehicle that
house a government astronaut. The
operator must monitor and control the
following atmospheric conditions in the
inhabited areas or demonstrate through
the license or permit process that an
alternate means provides an equivalent
level of safety—
(1) Composition of the atmosphere,
which includes oxygen and carbon
dioxide, and any revitalization;
(2) Pressure, temperature and
humidity;
(3) Contaminants that include
particulates and any harmful or
hazardous concentrations of gases, or
vapors; and
(4) Ventilation and circulation.
(b) An operator must provide an
adequate redundant or secondary
oxygen supply for any government
astronaut with a safety-critical role.
(c) An operator must provide a
redundant means of preventing cabin
depressurization; or prevent
incapacitation of any government
astronaut with a safety-critical role in
the event of loss of cabin pressure.
■ 39. Add subpart D to read as follows:
Subpart D—Launch and Reentry with a
Government Astronaut Without a SafetyCritical Role
Sec.
460.63 Scope.
460.65 Applicability.
460.67 Training of government astronauts
without a safety-critical role.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:57 Sep 18, 2024
Jkt 262001
Subpart D—Launch and Reentry with a
Government Astronaut Without a
Safety-Critical Role
§ 460.63
Scope.
This subpart establishes requirements
for operators and applicants whose
licensed or permitted operations involve
government astronauts on board a
vehicle without a safety-critical role.
§ 460.65
Applicability.
This subpart applies to:
(a) An applicant for a license or
permit under this chapter who proposes
to have a government astronaut without
a safety-critical role on board a vehicle.
(b) An operator licensed or permitted
under this chapter who has a
government astronaut without a safetycritical role on board a vehicle.
§ 460.67 Training of government
astronauts without a safety-critical role.
An operator must ensure that each
government astronaut without a safetycritical role is trained on how to
respond to emergency situations,
including smoke, fire, loss of cabin
pressure, and emergency exit.
Issued under authority provided by 49
U.S.C. 106(f) and 51 U.S.C. 509 in
Washington, DC.
Michael Gordon Whitaker,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024–20900 Filed 9–18–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY
CORPORATION
29 CFR Part 4044
Allocation of Assets in SingleEmployer Plans; Interest Assumptions
for Valuing Benefits
Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
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 October 31, 2024–January 30, 2025.
These interest assumptions are used for
valuing benefits under terminating
single-employer plans and for other
purposes.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
Effective October 31, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Monica O’Donnell (odonnell.monica@
pbgc.gov), Attorney, Office of the
General Counsel, Pension Benefit
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street
SW, Washington, DC 20024–2101, 202–
229–8706. If you are deaf or hard of
hearing or have a speech disability,
please dial 7–1–1 to access
telecommunications relay services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PBGC’s
regulation on Allocation of Assets in
Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part
4044) prescribes actuarial
assumptions—including an interest
assumption—for valuing benefits under
terminating single-employer plans
covered by title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA). The interest assumption is also
posted on PBGC’s website
(www.pbgc.gov).
PBGC uses the interest assumption in
§ 4044.54 to determine the present value
of annuities in an involuntary or
distress termination of a singleemployer plan under the asset
allocation regulation. The assumptions
in part 4044 of PBGC’s regulations are
also used in other situations where it is
appropriate for liabilities to align with
private sector group annuity prices. For
example, PBGC’s regulations on Notice,
Collection, and Redetermination of
Withdrawal Liability (29 CFR part 4219)
and Duties of Plan Sponsor Following
Mass Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281)
provide that these assumptions are used
to value liabilities for purposes of
determining withdrawn employers’
reallocation liability in the event of a
mass withdrawal from a multiemployer
plan. Multiemployer plans that receive
special financial assistance under the
regulation on Special Financial
Assistance by PBGC (29 CFR part 4262)
must, as a condition of receiving special
financial assistance, use the interest
assumption to determine withdrawal
liability for a prescribed period.
Additionally, plan sponsors are required
to use some, or all of these assumptions
for specified purposes (e.g., reporting
benefit liabilities in filings required
under PBGC’s regulation on Annual
Financial and Actuarial Information
Reporting (29 CFR part 4010) or
determining certain amounts to transfer
to PBGC’s Missing Participants Program
on behalf of a missing participant of a
terminating defined benefit plan under
PBGC’s regulation on Missing
Participants (29 CFR part 4050)) and
may use them for other purposes (e.g.,
to ensure that plan spinoffs comply with
section 414(l) of the Internal Revenue
Code (the Code)).
On June 6, 2024, PBGC issued a final
rule at 89 FR 48291 that changes the
structure of the interest assumption for
valuation dates on or after July 31, 2024,
from the select and ultimate approach to
E:\FR\FM\19SER1.SGM
19SER1
76731
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 182 / Thursday, September 19, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
a yield curve approach. As described in
the June 6 final rule, this ‘‘4044 yield
curve,’’ is based on a blend of two
publicly available bond yield curves
that is adjusted to the extent necessary
so that the resulting liabilities align with
group annuity prices. The adjustments
are referred to as ‘‘spreads.’’ PBGC
determines and publishes spreads
quarterly based on survey data on
pricing of private-sector group
annuities. As noted in the preamble to
the June 6 rule, PBGC will post the 4044
yield curve on its website at
www.pbgc.gov each month shortly after
its underlying data become available. In
addition, practitioners are able to
determine the 4044 yield curve as of the
end of any month using the publicly
available bond yield curves and the
spreads specified in the regulation.
This rule amends the regulation to
specify the spreads used to determine
the 4044 yield curve as of the last days
of October, November, and December of
2024, (i.e., the ‘‘fourth quarter 2024
spreads’’).
1. The authority citation for part 4044
continues to read as follows:
■
§ 4044.54
*
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
*
*
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (e)—
SPREADS
Maturity point
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4044
Employee benefit plans, Pension
insurance, Pensions.
In consideration of the foregoing, 29
CFR part 4044 is amended as follows:
Jkt 262001
Interest assumptions.
*
*
(e) * * *
PO 00000
Third
quarter
2024
spreads
(percent)
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
11.5
12.0
12.5
13.0
13.5
14.0
14.5
15.0
15.5
16.0
16.5
17.0
17.5
18.0
18.5
19.0
19.5
20.0
20.5
21.0
21.5
22.0
22.5
23.0
23.5
24.0
24.5
25.0
Frm 00019
0.38
0.38
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.34
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
Third
quarter
2024
spreads
(percent)
25.5
26.0
26.5
27.0
27.5
28.0
29.0
29.5
30.0
2. In § 4044.54, revise table 1 to
paragraph (e) to read as follows:
■
PBGC has determined that notice of,
and public comment on, this rule are
impracticable, unnecessary, and
contrary to the public interest. PBGC
routinely updates the spreads
component of the interest assumption in
the asset allocation regulation so that
the 4044 yield curve may be determined
as soon as the underlying bond yield
curves become available. These
amendments are merely technical; they
ensure that use of PBGC’s interest
assumption continues to yield liabilities
in line with group annuity prices.
Accordingly, PBGC finds that the public
interest is best served by issuing this
rule expeditiously, without an
opportunity for notice and comment,
and that good cause exists for making
the assumptions set forth in this
amendment effective less than 30 days
after publication.
PBGC has determined that this action
is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’
under the criteria set forth in Executive
Order 12866.
Because no general notice of proposed
rulemaking is required for this
amendment, the Regulatory Flexibility
Act of 1980 does not apply. See 5 U.S.C.
601(2).
15:57 Sep 18, 2024
Maturity point
Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1301(a), 1302(b)(3),
1341, 1344, 1362.
Need for Immediate Guidance
VerDate Sep<11>2014
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (e)—
SPREADS—Continued
PART 4044—ALLOCATION OF
ASSETS IN SINGLE–EMPLOYER
PLANS
Fourth
quarter
2024
spreads
(percent)
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
Fourth
quarter
2024
spreads
(percent)
0.33
0.33
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
Issued in Washington, DC.
Hilary Duke,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory
Affairs, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024–21359 Filed 9–18–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 165
[Docket Number USCG–2024–0276]
RIN 1625–AA00
Safety Zone; Severe Weather, Natural
and Other Disasters in Southeast
Texas
Coast Guard, DHS.
Temporary final rule.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Coast Guard is
establishing a temporary safety zone for
all navigable waters within the Captain
of the Port Sector Houston-Galveston
(COTP) zone to be enforced in the event
of severe weather or natural and other
disasters in southeast Texas. This action
is necessary for the safety of life on
these navigable waters within the COTP
zone.
DATES: This rule is effective without
actual notice from September 19, 2024
through 11:59 p.m. on November 30,
2024. For the purposes of enforcement,
actual notice will be used from
September 11, 2024 until September 19,
2024.
ADDRESSES: To view documents
mentioned in this preamble as being
available in the docket, go to https://
www.regulations.gov, type USCG–2024–
0276 in the search box and click
‘‘Search.’’ Next, in the Document Type
column, select ‘‘Supporting & Related
Material.’’
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\19SER1.SGM
19SER1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76730-76731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21359]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
29 CFR Part 4044
Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans; Interest
Assumptions for Valuing Benefits
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 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
October 31, 2024-January 30, 2025. These interest assumptions are used
for valuing benefits under terminating single-employer plans and for
other purposes.
DATES: Effective October 31, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monica O'Donnell
([email protected]), Attorney, Office of the General Counsel,
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington,
DC 20024-2101, 202-229-8706. If you are deaf or hard of hearing or have
a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications
relay services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PBGC's regulation on Allocation of Assets in
Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 4044) prescribes actuarial
assumptions--including an interest assumption--for valuing benefits
under terminating single-employer plans covered by title IV of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The interest
assumption is also posted on PBGC's website (www.pbgc.gov).
PBGC uses the interest assumption in Sec. 4044.54 to determine the
present value of annuities in an involuntary or distress termination of
a single-employer plan under the asset allocation regulation. The
assumptions in part 4044 of PBGC's regulations are also used in other
situations where it is appropriate for liabilities to align with
private sector group annuity prices. For example, PBGC's regulations on
Notice, Collection, and Redetermination of Withdrawal Liability (29 CFR
part 4219) and Duties of Plan Sponsor Following Mass Withdrawal (29 CFR
part 4281) provide that these assumptions are used to value liabilities
for purposes of determining withdrawn employers' reallocation liability
in the event of a mass withdrawal from a multiemployer plan.
Multiemployer plans that receive special financial assistance under the
regulation on Special Financial Assistance by PBGC (29 CFR part 4262)
must, as a condition of receiving special financial assistance, use the
interest assumption to determine withdrawal liability for a prescribed
period. Additionally, plan sponsors are required to use some, or all of
these assumptions for specified purposes (e.g., reporting benefit
liabilities in filings required under PBGC's regulation on Annual
Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting (29 CFR part 4010) or
determining certain amounts to transfer to PBGC's Missing Participants
Program on behalf of a missing participant of a terminating defined
benefit plan under PBGC's regulation on Missing Participants (29 CFR
part 4050)) and may use them for other purposes (e.g., to ensure that
plan spinoffs comply with section 414(l) of the Internal Revenue Code
(the Code)).
On June 6, 2024, PBGC issued a final rule at 89 FR 48291 that
changes the structure of the interest assumption for valuation dates on
or after July 31, 2024, from the select and ultimate approach to
[[Page 76731]]
a yield curve approach. As described in the June 6 final rule, this
``4044 yield curve,'' is based on a blend of two publicly available
bond yield curves that is adjusted to the extent necessary so that the
resulting liabilities align with group annuity prices. The adjustments
are referred to as ``spreads.'' PBGC determines and publishes spreads
quarterly based on survey data on pricing of private-sector group
annuities. As noted in the preamble to the June 6 rule, PBGC will post
the 4044 yield curve on its website at www.pbgc.gov each month shortly
after its underlying data become available. In addition, practitioners
are able to determine the 4044 yield curve as of the end of any month
using the publicly available bond yield curves and the spreads
specified in the regulation.
This rule amends the regulation to specify the spreads used to
determine the 4044 yield curve as of the last days of October,
November, and December of 2024, (i.e., the ``fourth quarter 2024
spreads'').
Need for Immediate Guidance
PBGC has determined that notice of, and public comment on, this
rule are impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public
interest. PBGC routinely updates the spreads component of the interest
assumption in the asset allocation regulation so that the 4044 yield
curve may be determined as soon as the underlying bond yield curves
become available. These amendments are merely technical; they ensure
that use of PBGC's interest assumption continues to yield liabilities
in line with group annuity prices. Accordingly, PBGC finds that the
public interest is best served by issuing this rule expeditiously,
without an opportunity for notice and comment, and that good cause
exists for making the assumptions set forth in this amendment effective
less than 30 days after publication.
PBGC has determined that this action is not a ``significant
regulatory action'' under the criteria set forth in Executive Order
12866.
Because no general notice of proposed rulemaking is required for
this amendment, the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 does not apply.
See 5 U.S.C. 601(2).
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4044
Employee benefit plans, Pension insurance, Pensions.
In consideration of the foregoing, 29 CFR part 4044 is amended as
follows:
PART 4044--ALLOCATION OF ASSETS IN SINGLE-EMPLOYER PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 4044 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1301(a), 1302(b)(3), 1341, 1344, 1362.
0
2. In Sec. 4044.54, revise table 1 to paragraph (e) to read as
follows:
Sec. 4044.54 Interest assumptions.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
Table 1 to Paragraph (e)--Spreads
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third quarter 2024 Fourth quarter 2024
Maturity point spreads (percent) spreads (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 0.38 0.33
1.0 0.38 0.33
1.5 0.37 0.33
2.0 0.37 0.33
2.5 0.37 0.33
3.0 0.37 0.33
3.5 0.37 0.33
4.0 0.37 0.33
4.5 0.37 0.33
5.0 0.37 0.33
5.5 0.37 0.32
6.0 0.37 0.32
6.5 0.37 0.32
7.0 0.37 0.32
7.5 0.37 0.32
8.0 0.37 0.32
8.5 0.37 0.32
9.0 0.37 0.32
9.5 0.36 0.32
10.0 0.36 0.32
10.5 0.36 0.32
11.0 0.36 0.32
11.5 0.36 0.32
12.0 0.36 0.32
12.5 0.36 0.32
13.0 0.36 0.32
13.5 0.35 0.31
14.0 0.35 0.31
14.5 0.35 0.31
15.0 0.35 0.31
15.5 0.35 0.31
16.0 0.35 0.31
16.5 0.34 0.31
17.0 0.34 0.31
17.5 0.34 0.31
18.0 0.34 0.31
18.5 0.34 0.31
19.0 0.34 0.31
19.5 0.34 0.30
20.0 0.34 0.30
20.5 0.33 0.30
21.0 0.33 0.30
21.5 0.33 0.30
22.0 0.33 0.30
22.5 0.33 0.30
23.0 0.33 0.30
23.5 0.33 0.30
24.0 0.33 0.30
24.5 0.33 0.30
25.0 0.33 0.30
25.5 0.33 0.30
26.0 0.33 0.30
26.5 0.32 0.30
27.0 0.32 0.30
27.5 0.32 0.30
28.0 0.32 0.30
29.0 0.32 0.30
29.5 0.32 0.30
30.0 0.32 0.30
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issued in Washington, DC.
Hilary Duke,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-21359 Filed 9-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P
