48038 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

1Appendix B to PBGC’s regulation on Allocation 

of Assets in Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR Part 

4044) prescribes interest assumptions for valuing 

benefits under terminating covered single-employer 

plans for purposes of allocation of assets under 

ERISA section 4044. Those assumptions are 

updated quarterly. 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Part 4022 

Benefits Payable in Terminated SingleEmployer Plans; Interest Assumptions 

for Paying Benefits 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s 

regulation on Benefits Payable in 

Terminated Single-Employer Plans to 

prescribe interest assumptions under 

the regulation for valuation dates in 

September 2014. The interest 

assumptions are used for paying 

benefits under terminating singleemployer plans covered by the pension 

insurance system administered by 

PBGC. 

DATES: Effective Date: September 1, 

2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine B. Klion 

(Klion.Catherine@pbgc.gov), Assistant 

General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 

1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 

20005, 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: PBGC’s 

regulation on Benefits Payable in 

Terminated Single-Employer Plans (29 

CFR Part 4022) prescribes actuarial 

assumptions — including interest 

assumptions — for paying plan benefits 

under terminating single-employer 

plans covered by title IV of the 

Employee Retirement Income Security 

Act of 1974. The interest assumptions in 

the regulation are also published on 

PBGC’s Web site (http://www.pbgc.gov). 

PBGC uses the interest assumptions in 

Appendix B to Part 4022 to determine 

whether a benefit is payable as a lump 

sum and to determine the amount to 

pay. Appendix C to Part 4022 contains 

interest assumptions for private-sector 

pension practitioners to refer to if they 

wish to use lump-sum interest rates 

determined using PBGC’s historical 

methodology. Currently, the rates in 

Appendices B and C of the benefit 

payment regulation are the same. 

The interest assumptions are intended 

to reflect current conditions in the 

financial and annuity markets. 

Assumptions under the benefit 

payments regulation are updated 

monthly. This final rule updates the 

benefit payments interest assumptions 

for September 2014.1

The September 2014 interest 

assumptions under the benefit payments 

regulation will be 1.25 percent for the 

period during which a benefit is in pay 

status and 4.00 percent during any years 

preceding the benefit’s placement in pay 

status. In comparison with the interest 

assumptions in effect for August 2014, 

these interest assumptions are 

unchanged. 

PBGC has determined that notice and 

public comment on this amendment are 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. This finding is based on the 

need to determine and issue new 

interest assumptions promptly so that 

the assumptions can reflect current 

market conditions as accurately as 

possible. 

Because of the need to provide 

immediate guidance for the payment of 

benefits under plans with valuation 

dates during September 2014, PBGC 

finds 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 4022 

Employee benefit plans, Pension 

insurance, Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

In consideration of the foregoing, 29 

CFR part 4022 is amended as follows: 

PART 4022—BENEFITS PAYABLE IN 

TERMINATED SINGLE-EMPLOYER 

PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 4022 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302, 1322, 1322b, 

1341(c)(3)(D), and 1344. 

■ 2. In appendix B to part 4022, Rate Set 

251, as set forth below, is added to the 

table. 

Appendix B to Part 4022—Lump Sum 

Interest Rates for PBGC Payments 

* * * * * 

Rate set 

For plans with a valuation date Immediate 

annuity rate 

(percent) 

Deferred annuities 

(percent) 

On or after Before i1 i2 i3 n1 n2

*******

251 ........................ 9–1–14 10–1–14 1.25 4.00 4.00 4.00 7 8 

■ 3. In appendix C to part 4022, Rate Set 

251, as set forth below, is added to the 

table. 

Appendix C to Part 4022—Lump Sum 

Interest Rates for Private-Sector 

Payments 

* * * * * 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 48039 

Rate set 

For plans with a valuation date Immediate 

annuity rate 

(percent) 

Deferred annuities 

(percent) 

On or after Before i1 i2 i3 n1 n2

*******

251 ........................ 9–1–14 10–1–14 1.25 4.00 4.00 4.00 7 8 

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 12th day 

of August 2014. 

Philip Hertz, 

Deputy General Counsel, Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation. 

*[FR Doc. 2014–19381 Filed 8–14–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7709–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

31 CFR Part 34 

RIN 1505–AC44 

Department of the Treasury 

Regulations for the Gulf Coast 

Restoration Trust Fund 

AGENCY: Office of the Fiscal Assistant 

Secretary, Treasury. 

ACTION: Interim Final Rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury is issuing regulations 

concerning the investment and use of 

amounts deposited in the Gulf Coast 

Restoration Trust Fund, which was 

established in the Treasury of the 

United States by the Resources and 

Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist 

Opportunities, and Revived Economies 

of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 

(RESTORE Act). 

DATES: Effective date for the Interim 

Final Rule: October 14, 2014. Comments 

on the Interim Final Rule are due: 

September 15, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Treasury invites comments 

on the topics addressed in this Interim 

Final Rule. Comments may be submitted 

through one of these methods: 

Electronic Submission of Comments: 

Interested persons may submit 

comments electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. Electronic 

submission of comments allows the 

commenter maximum time to prepare 

and submit a comment, ensures timely 

receipt, and enables the Department to 

make them available to the public. 

Comments submitted electronically 

through the http://www.regulations.gov 

Web site can be viewed by other 

commenters and interested members of 

the public. 

Mail: Send to Department of the 

Treasury, Attention: Janet Vail, Room 

1132; 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.; 

Washington, DC 20220. 

Email: Send to RESTORErule@

treasury.gov. 

In general, Treasury will post all 

comments to www.regulations.gov 

without change, including any business 

or personal information provided, such 

as names, addresses, email addresses, or 

telephone numbers. Treasury will also 

make such comments available for 

public inspection and copying in 

Treasury’s Library, Department of the 

Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20220, on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

You can make an appointment to 

inspect comments by telephoning (202) 

622–0990. All comments received, 

including attachments and other 

supporting materials, will be part of the 

public record and subject to public 

disclosure. You should only submit 

information that you wish to make 

publicly available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Please send questions by email to 

RESTORErule@treasury.gov or contact 

Janet Vail, 202–622–6873. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The RESTORE Act makes funds 

available for the restoration and 

protection of the Gulf Coast region 

through a new trust fund in the 

Treasury of the United States, known as 

the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. 

The trust fund will contain 80 percent 

of the administrative and civil penalties 

paid after July 6, 2012, under the 

Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 

connection with the Deepwater Horizon 

oil spill. These funds will be invested 

and made available through five 

components of the Act described below. 

The Direct Component sets aside 35 

percent of the penalties paid into the 

trust fund for eligible activities 

proposed by the State of Alabama, the 

State of Mississippi, the State of Texas, 

the State of Louisiana and 20 Louisiana 

parishes, and 23 Florida counties. The 

Comprehensive Plan Component sets 

aside 30 percent of the penalties, plus 

half of all interest earned on trust fund 

investments, to be managed by a new 

independent Federal entity called the 

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration 

Council (Council). The Council includes 

members from six Federal agencies or 

departments and the five Gulf Coast 

States. One of the Federal members, the 

Secretary of Commerce, at this time 

serves as Chairperson of the Council. 

The Council will direct those funds to 

projects and programs for the restoration 

of the Gulf Coast region, pursuant to a 

comprehensive plan that will be 

developed by the Council. Under the 

Spill Impact Component, entities 

representing the Gulf Coast States can 

use an additional 30 percent of penalties 

in the trust fund for eligible activities 

pursuant to State Expenditure Plans 

approved by the Council. The remaining 

five percent of penalties, plus one-half 

of all interest earned on trust fund 

investments, will be divided equally 

between the NOAA RESTORE Act 

Science Program established by the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), an operating 

unit of the Department of Commerce, 

and the Centers of Excellence Research 

Grants Program. 

Treasury has several roles in 

administering the trust fund. One role is 

to establish procedures, in consultation 

with the Departments of the Interior and 

Commerce, concerning the deposit and 

expenditure of amounts from the trust 

fund. The procedures must include 

compliance measures for the programs 

and activities carried out under the Act, 

as well as auditing requirements to 

determine whether amounts are 

expended as intended. Treasury will 

also administer grants for the Direct 

Component and Centers of Excellence 

Research Grants Program. The Treasury 

Inspector General is authorized to 

conduct, supervise, and coordinate 

audits and investigations of projects, 

programs, and activities funded under 

the Act. In addition, the Act requires 

Treasury to withhold funds from a Gulf 

Coast State, Florida county, or Louisiana 

parish if Treasury determines that trust 

fund monies have been used for an 

unauthorized purpose, or if a condition 

on the use of funds has been violated. 

Treasury published a proposed rule 

on September 6, 2013, containing 

procedures regarding trust fund 

investments, as well as procedures to 

implement the five components of the 


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