Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 30459 

1Under 29 CFR § 4041A.2, ‘‘insolvent’’ means 

that a plan is unable to pay benefits when due 

during the plan year. 

2See http://www.pbgc.gov/documents/plan-forregulatory-review.pdf. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–11047 Filed 5–27–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Parts 4041A, 4231, and 4281 

RIN 1212–AB13 

Multiemployer Plans; Valuation and 

Notice Requirements 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s 

(PBGC) multiemployer regulations to 

make the provision of information to 

PBGC and plan participants more 

efficient and effective and to reduce 

burden on plans and sponsors. The 

amendments reduce the number of 

actuarial valuations required for certain 

small terminated but not insolvent 

plans, shorten the advance notice filing 

requirements for mergers in situations 

that do not involve a compliance 

determination, and remove certain 

insolvency notice and update 

requirements. The amendments are a 

result of PBGC’s regulatory review 

under Executive Order 13563 

(Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review). 

DATES: Effective June 27, 2014. See 

Applicability in SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine B. Klion 

(klion.catherine@pbgc.gov), Assistant 

General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, 

or Daniel Liebman 

(liebman.daniel@pbgc.gov), Attorney, 

Office of the General Counsel, Pension 

Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20005– 

4026; 202–326–4024. (TTY/TDD users 

may call the Federal relay service tollfree at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be 

connected to 202–326–4024.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary—Purpose of the 

Regulatory Action 

This final rule amends certain 

regulations governing PBGC’s 

multiemployer program to make the 

provision of information to PBGC and 

plan participants more efficient and 

effective. This rule is needed to reduce 

burden on multiemployer plans and 

sponsors and to facilitate potentially 

beneficial plan merger transactions. The 

rule reduces burden by allowing certain 

small terminated but not insolvent plans 

to provide valuations less frequently, 

easing reporting requirements for plan 

sponsors contemplating a merger 

transaction, and streamlining and 

removing certain notice requirements 

for insolvent plans.1 This will reduce 

administrative costs and preserve plan 

assets that could otherwise have been 

used to fund plan benefits. 

PBGC’s legal authority for this 

regulatory action comes from section 

4002(b)(3) of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 

which authorizes PBGC to issue 

regulations to carry out the purposes of 

title IV of ERISA; section 4041A(f)(2), 

which gives PBGC authority to prescribe 

reporting requirements for terminated 

plans; section 4231(a), which gives 

PBGC authority to prescribe regulations 

setting the requirements for one or more 

multiemployer plans to merge; and 

section 4281(d), which directs PBGC to 

prescribe by regulation the notice 

requirements to plan participants and 

beneficiaries in the event of a benefit 

suspension. 

Executive Summary—Major Provisions 

of the Regulatory Action 

Annual Valuations 

When a multiemployer plan 

terminates, the plan must perform an 

annual valuation of the plan’s assets and 

benefits. This final rule allows 

valuations for plans that were 

terminated by mass withdrawal but are 

not insolvent and where the value of 

nonforfeitable benefits is $25 million or 

less to be performed every three years 

instead of annually as required under 

the current regulations. 

Filing Requirements for Mergers 

Under PBGC’s regulations, a merger or 

a transfer of assets and liabilities 

between multiemployer plans must 

satisfy certain requirements, including a 

requirement that plan sponsors of all 

plans involved in a merger or transfer 

must jointly file a notice with PBGC 

before the transaction. This final rule 

shortens the notice period from 120 

days to 45 days where no compliance 

determination is requested. 

Insolvency Notices and Updates 

Terminated multiemployer plans that 

determine that they will be insolvent for 

a plan year must provide a series of 

notices and updates to notices to PBGC 

and participants and beneficiaries, 

including a notice of insolvency. The 

final rule eliminates the requirement to 

provide annual updates to the notice of 

insolvency. 

Background 

PBGC administers two insurance 

programs for private-sector defined 

benefit plans under title IV of the 

Employee Retirement Income Security 

Act of 1974 (ERISA): A single-employer 

plan termination insurance program and 

a multiemployer plan insolvency 

insurance program. 

A multiemployer plan is a collectively 

bargained pension arrangement 

involving several employers that are not 

within the same controlled group, 

usually in a common industry, such as 

construction, trucking, textiles, or coal 

mining. By contrast, a single-employer 

plan may be sponsored by either one 

employer (pursuant or not pursuant to 

a collective bargaining agreement) or by 

several unrelated employers (but not 

pursuant to a collective bargaining 

agreement). 

ERISA section 4041A provides for two 

types of multiemployer plan 

terminations: Mass withdrawal and plan 

amendment. A mass withdrawal 

termination occurs when all employers 

withdraw or cease to be obligated to 

contribute to the plan. A plan 

amendment termination occurs when 

the plan adopts an amendment that 

provides that participants will receive 

no credit for service with any employer 

after a specified date, or an amendment 

that makes it no longer a covered plan. 

Unlike terminated single-employer 

plans, terminated multiemployer plans 

continue to pay all vested benefits out 

of existing plan assets and withdrawal 

liability payments. PBGC’s guarantee of 

the benefits in a multiemployer plan— 

payable as financial assistance to the 

plan—starts only if and when the plan 

is unable to make payments at the 

statutorily guaranteed level. 

This final rule reduces certain 

requirements for multiemployer plans 

that are terminated by mass withdrawal 

and mergers and transfers among 

multiemployer plans. 

On January 18, 2011, the President 

issued Executive Order 13563 

‘‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review,’’ to ensure that Federal 

regulations seek more affordable, less 

intrusive means to achieve policy goals, 

and that agencies give careful 

consideration to the benefits and costs 

of those regulations. PBGC’s Plan for 

Regulatory Review,2 identifies several 

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30460 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

3Once a plan terminates, professional and 

administrative costs of paying plan benefits and 

continuing regulatory compliance come out of plan 

assets without additional contributions being made 

by the former employers as would be the case prior 

to termination. Thus, with the exception of the 

potential inflow of some funds from withdrawal 

liability recoveries, plan assets continue to decrease 

in a wasting trust. 

4There are two other exceptions to the 

requirement that a valuation be performed annually 

that are preserved from the unamended regulation. 

No valuation is required for a plan year (1) for 

which the plan receives financial assistance from 

PBGC under section 4261 of ERISA, or (2) in which 

the plan is closed out in accordance with subpart 

D of Part 4041A. 

5The four criteria under ERISA section 4231(b) 

are: 

(1) The 120-day notice requirement is met. 

(2) No accrued benefits will be lower immediately 

after the transaction’s effective date than 

immediately before that date. 

(3) Benefits are not reasonably expected to be 

subject to suspension under ERISA section 4245. 

(4) The applicable actuarial valuation of assets 

and liabilities of each affected plan has been 

performed. 

6See § 4231.3(b). Plan sponsors requesting a 

compliance determination must submit the 

information required by § 4231.9 in addition to the 

information required by § 4231.8. 

7 In 1998, PBGC amended its regulations to 

expand the applicability of the waiver of this notice 

under § 4231.8(f). Prior to that amendment, the 

requirement for 120 days’ notice could be waived 

only if PBGC was satisfied that failure to complete 

the transaction in a shorter time would harm 

participants or beneficiaries. However, at the time 

regulatory areas for review, including 

the multiemployer regulations referred 

to above. PBGC will continue to review 

its regulations with a view to 

developing more ideas for improvement. 

Public comment on specific proposals 

will help PBGC determine whether its 

regulatory review process is moving in 

the right direction. 

On January 29, 2014 (at 79 FR 4642), 

PBGC published a proposed rule to 

amend these regulations to reduce 

burden on plan sponsors. PBGC 

received one comment (from a business 

federation) on the proposed rule. This 

commenter applauded PBGC for the 

proposal and encouraged PBGC to 

finalize the proposed changes, 

remarking that the proposed rule would 

noticeably reduce certain reporting 

burdens associated with multiemployer 

defined benefit plan administration. 

The final regulation is unchanged 

from the proposed regulation. 

Regulatory Changes 

Annual Valuation Requirement 

ERISA section 4281(b) provides that 

the value of nonforfeitable benefits 

under a terminated plan to which 

section 4041A(d) applies, and the value 

of the plan’s assets shall be determined 

in writing as of the end of the plan year 

during which section 4041A(d) becomes 

applicable, and each plan year 

thereafter. Part 4041A of PBGC’s 

regulations establishes rules for 

notifying PBGC of the termination of a 

multiemployer plan and rules for the 

administration of multiemployer plans 

that have terminated by mass 

withdrawal. Subpart C prescribes basic 

duties of plan sponsors of plans 

terminated by mass withdrawal, 

including the annual valuation 

requirement at § 4041A.24. Section 

4281.11(a) states that the valuation dates 

for the annual valuation required under 

section 4281(b) of ERISA is the last day 

of the plan year in which the plan 

terminates and the last day of each plan 

year thereafter. The details of the annual 

valuation requirement are set forth in 

the remainder of Subpart B of Part 4281, 

Duties of Plan Sponsor Following Mass 

Withdrawal. 

The annual valuation requirement 

serves the statutory purpose of allowing 

the terminated plan to determine 

whether it needs to eliminate benefits 

that are not eligible for PBGC’s 

guarantee. However, once the plan has 

reached the point where it has 

eliminated all nonguaranteed benefits, 

further valuations serve only to help 

PBGC estimate the liabilities it will 

incur when the plan becomes insolvent. 

While measuring PBGC’s liabilities 

annually provides PBGC with 

information needed to understand its 

potential exposure, the requirement to 

do so results in the plan using scarce 

resources, at a potentially significant 

cost, for a limited purpose.3 This may 

result in a faster diminution of assets 

that could lead to a reduced ability to 

pay plan benefits, an earlier insolvency, 

and an earlier elimination of any 

nonforfeitable benefits that exceed 

PBGC’s statutory guarantee. 

The final rule amends § 4041A.24 to 

ensure that PBGC has reasonably 

reliable data to measure its liabilities 

without significantly depleting plan 

assets. Under the amendment, 

terminated plans that are not insolvent 

and where the value of nonforfeitable 

benefits is $25 million or less (as of the 

valuation date of the most recent 

required valuation), are required to 

perform the next valuation in 

accordance with Subpart B of Part 4281 

within three years instead of within one 

year as under the unamended 

regulation. To comply with the statutory 

requirement that there be a written 

determination of the value of 

nonforfeitable benefits each year, such 

plans may use the most recently 

performed valuation for the next two 

plan years. 

All other plans will continue to be 

required to perform valuations in 

accordance with Subpart B of Part 4281 

annually.4 Plans can move in and out of 

the three-year or annual valuation cycle, 

as applicable, as the value of 

nonforfeitable benefits changes. Thus, a 

plan that has been performing new 

valuations every three years will be 

required to perform valuations annually 

if the next valuation indicates that the 

value of nonforfeitable benefits exceeds 

$25 million. Similarly, a plan that has 

been performing the valuation annually 

will have three years to do the next 

valuation in accordance with Subpart B 

of Part 4281 if the most recent valuation 

shows the value of nonforfeitable 

benefits to be $25 million or less. 

This amendment targets the plans that 

expose PBGC to larger liability, while 

reducing burden on plans that present 

smaller exposure. PBGC believes that 

this amendment appropriately balances 

PBGC’s need to fairly measure its 

exposure with minimizing the cost to 

plans and potentially to participants. 

Advance Notice of Multiemployer 

Mergers 

ERISA section 4231 sets forth the 

statutory requirements for mergers of 

two or more multiemployer plans and 

transfers of plan assets or benefit 

liabilities among two or more 

multiemployer plans, including a 

requirement that a plan must give 120 

days’ advance notice of a merger or 

transfer to PBGC. Part 4231 of PBGC 

regulations implements this statutory 

requirement. 

29 CFR § 4231.8 provides that plan 

sponsors of all plans involved in a 

merger or transfer, or their duly 

authorized representatives, must jointly 

file a notice with PBGC in advance of 

the transaction. Before the amendment, 

this notice was due to PBGC 120 days 

prior to the transaction. The notice must 

include information about the plans, the 

plan sponsors, the transaction, the 

proposed effective date, a copy of each 

provision stating that no participant’s or 

beneficiary’s accrued benefit will be 

lower immediately after the effective 

date of the transaction than the benefit 

immediately before that date, and 

various actuarial and plan asset and 

benefit valuation information. 

The purpose of the notice provision is 

to confirm that plan sponsors have met 

the four criteria listed in section 4231(b) 

for a statutory transaction.5 Plan 

sponsors may request a determination 

from PBGC that a merger or transfer that 

may otherwise be prohibited by sections 

406(a) or (b)(2) of ERISA satisfies the 

requirements of ERISA section 4231.6

Under § 4231.8(f), PBGC may waive the 

statutory notice requirement.7

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 30461 

PBGC was typically completing its reviews in 60 to 

90 days, and there was usually no reason to wait 

the full 120 days. Thus, the regulation was 

amended to also permit a merger or transfer to be 

consummated if PBGC determined that the 

transaction complied with ERISA section 4231, or 

PBGC completed its review of the transaction. See 

63 FR 24421 (May 4, 1998). 

8Transfers take more time for PBGC to analyze 

than mergers, primarily because of the need to 

perform a rigorous solvency test that is not needed 

for merger transactions. Because assets are leaving 

a plan, PBGC analyzes a transfer to make sure there 

are adequate assets available to fund the remaining 

benefit obligations and the receiving plan can 

adequately fund its obligations. In a merger, the 

assets and liabilities are combined and therefore the 

same types of concerns are not present. 

9The floor benefit is set for each participant at the 

participant’s retirement. 

10See footnote 2 above. 

11The final rule also makes a minor change to the 

insolvency notice’s content by deleting an outdated 

reference to IRS Key District offices. 

However, PBGC now believes that the 

interests of PBGC and plan participants 

involved in such transactions are 

adequately protected by other parts of 

ERISA, particularly Title I, and there is 

little benefit to having such a long 

period to merely confirm that the notice 

requirements have been met. 

Thus, to reduce burden, the final rule 

shortens the advance notice period to 45 

days for transactions that do not involve 

a compliance determination under 

§ 4231.9. PBGC’s experience has been 

that many merger requests are received 

by PBGC with less than 120 days’ notice 

and ask for a waiver of the notice 

requirement so that the merger can 

proceed as of the end of the plan year. 

The change to 45 days avoids the need 

for a waiver and still allows PBGC 

enough time to review these later-filed 

requests. PBGC believes the change to 

45 days strikes the appropriate balance 

to better accommodate work flows and 

end-of-year rushes for both plan 

sponsors and PBGC staff. The current 

reporting requirements will remain in 

effect where a compliance 

determination is requested, as well as 

for transactions involving a transfer of 

plan assets or benefit liabilities, because 

those transactions may require a 

substantive investigation by PBGC that 

may well require more than 45 days to 

complete.8

Annual Notice Updates Following Mass 

Withdrawal 

When a multiemployer plan 

terminates by mass withdrawal under 

ERISA section 4041A(a)(2), the plan’s 

assets and benefits are required to be 

valued annually and plan benefits may 

have to be reduced or suspended to the 

extent provided in ERISA section 

4281(c) or (d). Before being amended, 

part 4281 of PBGC’s regulations 

required a terminated multiemployer 

plan that determines that it will be 

insolvent for a plan year to provide a 

series of notices and updates to notices 

to PBGC and participants and 

beneficiaries. 

Once the plan projects that it can only 

pay benefits at the PBGC guarantee 

level, ERISA section 4281.43(b) requires 

the plan to issue a notice of insolvency 

and annual updates to PBGC and plan 

participants and beneficiaries. Subpart 

D of Part 4281 of PBGC’s regulations 

sets forth the notice requirements for a 

terminated plan when plan assets are 

sufficient to pay PBGC guaranteed 

benefits, but not sufficient to pay at the 

promised plan level. In such situations, 

the plan sponsor must determine what 

benefits the assets will cover, and 

suspend benefits above that amount. At 

all times, however, the plan has a 

‘‘floor’’ benefit set at the PBGC 

guarantee level (i.e., benefits cannot be 

suspended to an amount that would pay 

less than the guarantee).9

When PBGC first issued this 

regulation, PBGC anticipated that a 

plan’s insolvency would be short in 

duration and that it could financially 

recover. However, PBGC’s experience 

has been that once a multiemployer 

plan becomes insolvent, it will remain 

so. Thus, once a plan has made the 

initial notices, there is little need to 

require similar subsequent notices. After 

reviewing the regulation, PBGC now 

believes that eliminating such annual 

updates will not pose any increase in 

the risk of loss to PBGC or to plan 

participants. 

These notice requirements can be 

detrimental to plan participants because 

the costs of compliance may deplete 

assets that otherwise would be available 

to pay plan benefits. PBGC’s experience 

is that the rules for annual updates to a 

notice of insolvency can be confusing to 

practitioners. While the incremental 

cost to the plan is small, PBGC believes 

that the professional time spent 

understanding the rules and other costs 

in the actual compliance would be 

better spent on benefits.10

Consequently, for these reasons this 

final rule eliminates the annual updates 

to the notice of insolvency.11

Applicability 

The amendment to § 4041A.24 that 

changes the annual valuation 

requirement for terminated but not 

insolvent plans where the value of 

nonforfeitable benefits is $25 million or 

less is applicable to the first posttermination valuation after June 27, 

2014. 

The amendment to § 4231.8 that 

changes the notification requirements 

for a proposed merger is applicable to 

mergers planned to be consummated on 

or after the 45th day after June 27, 2014. 

The amendment to § 4281.43 that 

eliminates the annual update notices to 

PBGC and participants and beneficiaries 

is applicable as of June 27, 2014. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

PBGC has determined that this rule is 

not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under Executive Order 12866. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. This rule is 

associated with retrospective review 

and analysis in PBGC’s Plan for 

Regulatory Review issued in accordance 

with Executive Order 13563. 

Under Section 3(f)(1) of Executive 

Order 12866, a regulatory action is 

economically significant if ‘‘it is likely 

to result in a rule that may . . . [h]ave 

an annual effect on the economy of $100 

million or more or adversely affect in a 

material way the economy, a sector of 

the economy, productivity, competition, 

jobs, the environment, public health or 

safety, or State, local, or tribal 

governments or communities.’’ PBGC 

has determined that this final rule does 

not cross the $100 million threshold for 

economic significance and is not 

otherwise economically significant. 

As explained below, PBGC estimates 

that aggregate annual savings from the 

combined regulatory changes will be 

about $460,000. 

Annual Valuation Requirement 

PBGC has estimated the value of this 

final rule on the annual valuation 

requirement for plans terminated by 

mass withdrawal. As of the end of its 

2012 fiscal year, PBGC’s total estimated 

liability for nonforfeitable benefits of the 

61 mass withdrawal-terminated plans 

that were not insolvent was $1.7 billion. 

Of that total, there were 23 plans in the 

over $25 million category; such plans 

constituted nearly 80 percent of such 

liabilities in all 61 terminated plans, 

thus preserving a high degree of 

exactitude for PBGC’s measurement of 

its financial contingencies. At the same 

time, each year that the 38 plans where 

the value of nonforfeitable benefits was 

$25 million or less will not have to do 

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30462 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

12 In the proposed rule, PBGC requested 

comments on this size standard. No comments were 

received on this issue. 

13Although PBGC does not have data on 

multiemployer plans with fewer than 100 

participants, approximately 165 multiemployer 

plans have 250 participants or fewer. See http://

www.pbgc.gov/documents/pension-insurance-datatables-2011.pdf. 

an annual valuation, there will be an 

annual aggregate savings of 

approximately $399,000 (assuming an 

annual valuation cost of $10,500 per 

plan) to these plans. These savings will 

grow as the terminated plan universe 

grows. 

Advance Notice of Multiemployer 

Mergers 

PBGC believes that reducing the 

required notice period in advance of a 

proposed merger transaction from 120 

days to 45 days prior to the effectiveness 

of the merger will result in a small 

decrease in administrative burden on 

plan sponsors. By reducing the notice 

period, PBGC expects that there will be 

less interaction between plan sponsors, 

their representatives, and PBGC staff to 

address timing and approval issues. 

PBGC estimates that 18 plans submit 

advance notice of a merger in a given 

year. PBGC further estimates that an 

affected plan will save about onequarter hour of professional time, at 

$350 per hour, and one-quarter hour 

managerial time, at $115 per hour, 

resulting in an aggregate annual savings 

of $2,093, as a result of the reduced 

length of the notice period. 

Annual Notice Updates Following Mass 

Withdrawal 

PBGC estimates that the annual 

aggregate cost of conducting the annual 

insolvency update is $61,425. This 

estimate is based on an estimated 54 

plans required to issue the update 

annually at 12.5 hours of combined 

professional, clerical, and managerial 

time at an average rate of $91 per hour. 

Eliminating the annual update will save 

plan sponsors approximately $1,138 

each per year and $61,425 in the 

aggregate. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

imposes certain requirements with 

respect to rules that are subject to the 

notice and comment requirements of 

section 553(b) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act and that are likely to 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Unless an agency determines that a 

proposed rule is not likely to have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, 

section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act requires that the agency present an 

initial regulatory flexibility analysis at 

the time of the publication of the 

proposed rule describing the impact of 

the rule on small entities and seeking 

public comment on such impact. Small 

entities include small businesses, 

organizations and governmental 

jurisdictions. 

For purposes of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act requirements with 

respect to this final rule, PBGC 

considers a small entity to be a plan 

with fewer than 100 participants. This 

is the same criterion PBGC uses in other 

aspects of its regulations involving 

small plans, and is consistent with 

certain requirements in Title I of ERISA 

and the Internal Revenue Code, as well 

as the definition of a small entity that 

the Department of Labor (DOL) has used 

for purposes of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act.12 Using this definition, 

less than one percent of the 27,000 of 

plans covered by Title IV of ERISA in 

2011 were small multiemployer plans.13

Generally, it is only after a plan 

terminates and employers withdraw 

from the plan that a plan might reduce 

in size to fewer than 100 participants. 

Thus, PBGC believes that assessing the 

impact of the proposal on small plans is 

an appropriate substitute for evaluating 

the effect on small entities. The 

definition of small entity considered 

appropriate for this purpose differs, 

however, from a definition of small 

business based on size standards 

promulgated by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201) 

pursuant to the Small Business Act. 

On the basis of its definition of small 

entity, PBGC certifies under section 

605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) that the 

amendments in this rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Based on data for the 2012 fiscal year, 

PBGC estimates that 61 plans, very few 

of which are considered a small plan, 

will be required to do the valuation 

requirement (19 will be required to 

perform the valuation annually while 42 

will do so every three years). Seventeen 

plans, very few of which are considered 

a small plan, will be required to submit 

a notice of proposed merger. Fifty-four 

plans, very few of which are considered 

a small plan, will be relieved of the 

burden to issue an annual insolvency 

update. Accordingly, as provided in 

section 605 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), sections 603 

and 604 do not apply. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

PBGC is submitting the information 

requirements under this final rule to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act. An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. 

The collection of information in Part 

4231 is approved under control number 

1212–0022 (expires May 31, 2014). 

PBGC estimates that there will be 21 

respondents each year and that the total 

annual burden of the collection of 

information will be about 5 hours and 

$6,900. 

The collection of information in Part 

4281 is approved under control number 

1212–0032 (expires May 31, 2014). 

PBGC estimates that there will be 378 

respondents each year and that the total 

annual burden of the collection of 

information will be about 6,160 hours 

and $43,050. 

The collection of information in Part 

4041A is not affected by this final rule. 

List of Subjects 

29 CFR Part 4041A 

Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

29 CFR Part 4231 

Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

29 CFR Part 4281 

Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons given above, PBGC is 

amending 29 CFR parts 4041A, 4231, 

and 4281 as follows: 

PART 4041A—TERMINATION OF 

MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 

4041A continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3), 1341a, 

1441. 

■ 2. Amend § 4041A.24 by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading; 

■ b. Revising paragraph (a); and 

■ c. In the first sentence of paragraph (b) 

introductory text, removing the word 

‘‘annual’’. 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 4041A.24 Plan valuations and 

monitoring. 

(a) Annual valuation. The plan 

sponsor shall determine or cause to be 

determined in writing the value of 

nonforfeitable benefits under the plan 

and the value of the plan’s assets, in 

accordance with part 4281, subpart B. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 30463 

This valuation shall be done not later 

than 150 days after the end of the plan 

year in which the plan terminates and 

each plan year thereafter except as 

provided in this paragraph. A plan year 

for which a valuation is performed is 

called a valuation year. 

(1) If the value of nonforfeitable 

benefits for the plan is $25 million or 

less as determined for a valuation year, 

the plan sponsor may use the valuation 

for the next two plan years and, subject 

to paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) of this 

section, perform a new valuation 

pursuant to this paragraph for the third 

plan year after the previous valuation 

year. 

(2) No valuation is required for a plan 

year for which the plan receives 

financial assistance from PBGC under 

section 4261 of ERISA. 

(3) No valuation is required for the 

plan year in which the plan is closed 

out in accordance with subpart D of this 

part. 

* * * * * 

PART 4231—MERGERS AND 

TRANSFERS BETWEEN 

MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 4231 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3), 1411. 

■ 4. Amend § 4231.8 by: 

■ a. Revising the first sentence of 

paragraph (a)(1) introductory text; and 

■ b. In paragraph (f)(1) by removing the 

words ‘‘120 days after filing the notice’’ 

and adding in their place the words ‘‘the 

applicable notice period set forth in 

paragraph (a) of this section’’. 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 4231.8 Notice of merger or transfer. 

(a) Filing of request—(1) When to file. 

Except as provided in paragraph (f) of 

this section, a notice of a proposed 

merger or transfer must be filed not less 

than 120 days, or not less than 45 days 

in the case of a merger for which a 

compliance determination under 

§ 4231.9 is not requested, before the 

effective date of the transaction. * * * 

* * * * * 

PART 4281—DUTIES OF PLAN 

SPONSOR FOLLOWING MASS 

WITHDRAWAL 

■ 5. The authority citation for part 4281 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3), 1341(a), 

1399(c)(1)(D), and 1441. 

■ 6. Amend § 4281.43 by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading; and 

■ b. Removing paragraphs (b), (d), and 

(f) and redesignating paragraphs (c) and 

(e) as paragraphs (b) and (c), 

respectively. 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 4281.43 Notices of insolvency. 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Amend § 4281.44 by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading; 

■ b. Removing paragraph (a)(4) and 

redesignating paragraphs (a)(5) through 

(13) as paragraphs (a)(4) through (12), 

respectively; and 

■ c. Removing paragraphs (c) and (d). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 4281.44 Contents of notices of 

insolvency. 

* * * * * 

§ 4281.46 [Amended] 

■ 8. In § 4281.46, paragraph (a) 

introductory text is amended by 

removing the words ‘‘§ 4281.44(a)(1) 

through (a)(5) and (a)(7) through (a)(11)’’ 

and adding in their place the words 

‘‘§ 4281.44(a)(1) through (4) and (a)(6) 

through (10)’’. 

§ 4281.47 [Amended] 

■ 9. In § 4281.47, paragraph (c) 

introductory text is amended by 

removing the reference ‘‘(a)(5)’’ and 

adding in its place the reference 

‘‘(a)(4)’’. 

Issued in Washington, DC, this 19th day of 

May, 2014. 

Joshua Gotbaum, 

Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2014–12154 Filed 5–27–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7709–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

32 CFR Part 300 

Defense Logistics Agency 

32 CFR Part 1285 

[Docket ID: DOD–2012–OS–0019] 

RIN 0790–AI87 

Defense Logistics Agency Freedom of 

Information Act Program 

AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, DoD. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Defense Logistics Agency 

(DLA) is revising and updating its 

existing rule concerning the DLA 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

Program. This rule implements changes 

to conform to the requirements of the 

Electronic Freedom of Information Act 

Amendments of 1996, and the OPEN 

Government Act of 2007. In addition, 

part 1285 will be redesignated as part 

300. 

DATES: Effective Date: This rule is 

effective June 27, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Deborah Teer, (703) 767–5247. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule 

supplements 32 CFR part 286 to 

accommodate specific requirements of 

DLA’s FOIA Program. 

Executive Summary 

I. Purpose of This Regulatory Action 

a. This rule assigns responsibilities and 

establishes policies and procedures for a 

uniform DLA Freedom of Information 

Act program pursuant to the provisions 

of the Freedom of Information Act. 

b. Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552 

II. Summary of the Major Provisions of This 

Regulatory Action 

This rule implements changes to conform 

to the requirements of the Electronic 

Freedom of Information Act 

Amendments of 1996, Public Law 104– 

231, and the OPEN Government Act of 

2007, Public Law 110–175. 

III. Costs and Benefits of This Regulatory 

Action 

This regulatory action imposes no 

monetary costs to the Agency or public. 

The benefit to the public is the accurate 

reflection of the Agency’s FOIA Program 

to ensure that policies and procedures 

are known to the public. 

REGULATORY PROCEDURES 

Executive Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory 

Planning and Review’’ and Executive 

Order 13563, ‘‘Improving Regulation 

and Regulatory Review’’ 

It has been certified that 32 CFR part 

300 does not: (1) Have an annual effect 

on the economy of $100 million or more 

or adversely affect in a material way the 

economy; a sector of the economy; 

productivity; competition; jobs; the 

environment; public health or safety; or 

State, local, or tribal governments or 

communities; (2) Create a serious 

inconsistency or otherwise interfere 

with an action taken or planned by 

another Agency; (3) Materially alter the 

budgetary impact of entitlements, 

grants, user fees, or loan programs, or 

the rights and obligations of recipients 

thereof; or (4) Raise novel legal or policy 

issues arising out of legal mandates, the 

President’s priorities, or the principles 

set forth in these Executive orders. 

Public Law 96–354, ‘‘Regulatory 

Flexibility Act’’ (5 U.S.C. Chapter 6) 

It has been determined that 32 CFR 

part 300 is not subject to the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act because it would not, if 

promulgated, have significant economic 

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