Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation April 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises interested persons that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') has received a request from the Freight Drivers and Helpers Local Union No. 557 Pension Fund for a determination of substantial damage under section 4203(d)(4) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as amended (``ERISA''), with respect to the cessation of covered operations under the plan by USF Red Star, Inc. Section 4203(d) provides a special withdrawal rule for cessations of the obligation to contribute or the cessation of operations involving plans and employers in the trucking industry. Under that special rule, an employer ceasing covered operations is considered not to have withdrawn from the plan if certain conditions are met. One of these conditions is the employer must furnish a bond or deposit money in escrow with a bank or financial institution satisfactory to the plan. After the bond/escrow requirement has been satisfied, the PBGC may make a determination under section 4203(d)(4) that the cessation has caused substantial damage to the plan's contribution base, in which case the employer will be treated as having withdrawn from the plan and the bond/escrow will be paid to the plan. In making a determination, PBGC will consider the cessation of the obligation to contribute or cessation of covered operations by other employers. Thus, a determination in any one case may affect other cases involving the same plan. The purpose of this notice is to advise interested persons of this request for such a determination and to solicit their views on it.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans prescribes interest assumptions for valuing and paying certain benefits under terminating single-employer plans. This final rule amends the benefit payments regulation to adopt interest assumptions for plans with valuation dates in May 2009. Interest assumptions are also published on PBGC's Web site (https://www.pbgc.gov).