Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 157 / Friday, August 14, 1998 / Notices 43733

The NRC staff will prepare a safety

evaluation on the DOE topical report to

address, on a preliminary basis, the

acceptability of irradiation of the

proposed load of TPBARs in a CLWR.

Upon completion of its evaluation, the

staff will provide its conclusions to the

Commission prior to issuance.

The staff plans to hold a public

meeting to provide for public comment

regarding the use of any particular

facility for irradiation of TPBARs as

proposed by DOE in the TPC topical

report. The date and location of the

meeting(s) will be announced later.

For Further Information Contact: J.H.

Wilson at (301) 415–1108 or e-mail

JHW1@nrc.gov.

For further details with respect to this

action, see the DOE topical report

submitted by letter dated July 30, 1998,

which is available for public inspection

at the Commission’s Public Document

Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20555.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day

of August, 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Melinda Malloy,

Acting Chief, Generic Issues and

Environmental Projects Branch, Division of

Reactor Program Management, Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–21851 Filed 8–13–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Interest Assumption for Determining

Variable-Rate Premium; Interest

Assumptions for Multiemployer Plan

Valuations Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and

assumptions.

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public

of the interest rates and assumptions to

be used under certain Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation regulations. These

rates and assumptions are published

elsewhere (or are derivable from rates

published elsewhere), but are collected

and published in this notice for the

convenience of the public. Interest rates

are also published on the PBGC’s web

site (http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The interest rate for determining

the variable-rate premium under part

4006 applies to premium payment years

beginning in August 1998. The interest

assumptions for performing

multiemployer plan valuations

following mass withdrawal under part

4281 apply to valuation dates occurring

in September 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005, 202–326–4024. (For TTY/TDD

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

connected to 202–326–4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (ERISA) and § 4006.4(b)(1)

of the PBGC’s regulation on Premium

Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use

of an assumed interest rate in

determining a single-employer plan’s

variable-rate premium. The rate is the

‘‘applicable percentage’’ (described in

the statute and the regulation) of the

annual yield on 30-year Treasury

securities for the month preceding the

beginning of the plan year for which

premiums are being paid (the ‘‘premium

payment year’’). The yield figure is

reported in Federal Reserve Statistical

Releases G.13 and H.15.

For plan years beginning before July

1, 1997, the applicable percentage of the

30-year Treasury yield was 80 percent.

The Retirement Protection Act of 1994

(RPA) amended ERISA section

4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) to change the

applicable percentage to 85 percent,

effective for plan years beginning on or

after July 1, 1997. (The amendment also

provides for a further increase in the

applicable percentage—to 100 percent—

when the Internal Revenue Service

adopts new mortality tables for

determining current liability.)

The assumed interest rate to be used

in determining variable-rate premiums

for premium payment years beginning

in August 1998 is 4.83 percent (i.e., 85

percent of the 5.68 percent yield figure

for July 1998).

(Under section 774(c) of the RPA, the

amendment to the applicable percentage

was deferred for certain regulated public

utility (RPU) plans for as long as six

months. The applicable percentage for

RPU plans has therefore remained 80

percent for plan years beginning before

January 1, 1998. For ‘‘partial’’ RPU

plans, the assumed interest rates to be

used in determining variable-rate

premiums can be computed by applying

the rules in § 4006.5(g) of the premium

rates regulation. The PBGC’s 1997

premium payment instruction booklet

also describes these rules and provides

a worksheet for computing the assumed

rate.)

The following table lists the assumed

interest rates to be used in determining

variable-rate premiums for premium

payment years beginning between

September 1997 and August 1998. The

rates for September through December

1997 in the table (which reflect an

applicable percentage of 85 percent)

apply only to non-RPU plans. However,

the rates for months after December

1997 apply to RPU (and ‘‘partial’’ RPU)

plans as well as to non-RPU plans.

For premium payment years beginning in:

The assumed interest

rate is:

September 1997 ........................... 5.59

October 1997 ................................ 5.53

November 1997 ............................ 5.38

December 1997 ............................ 5.19

January 1998 ................................ 5.09

February 1998 .............................. 4.94

March 1998 ................................... 5.01

April 1998 ...................................... 5.06

May 1998 ...................................... 5.03

June 1998 ..................................... 5.04

July 1998 ...................................... 4.85

August 1998 .................................. 4.83

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

The PBGC’s regulation on Duties of

Plan Sponsor Following Mass

Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281)

prescribes the use of interest

assumptions under the PBGC’s

regulation on Allocation of Assets in

Single-employer Plans (29 CFR part

4044). The interest assumptions

applicable to valuation dates in

September 1998 under part 4044 are

contained in an amendment to part 4044

published elsewhere in today’s Federal

Register. Tables showing the

assumptions applicable to prior periods

are codified in appendix B to 29 CFR

part 4044.

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 11th day

of August, 1998.

John Seal,

Acting Executive Director, Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–21850 Filed 8–13–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

Issuer Delisting; Notice of Application

To Withdraw From Listing and

Registration; (Alpha Industries, Inc.,

Common Stock, $.25 par Value) File

No. 1–5560

August 10, 1998.

Alpha Industries, Inc. (‘‘Company’’)

has filed an application with the