Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2010 / Notices 81677 

request would not significantly increase 

the risk of financial loss to the Plan.’’ 

Based on the facts of this case and the 

representations and statements made in 

connection with the request for an 

exemption, the PBGC has determined 

that an exemption from the bond/ 

escrow requirement is warranted, in that 

it would more effectively carry out the 

purposes of Title IV of ERISA and 

would not significantly increase the risk 

of financial loss to the Plan. Therefore, 

the PBGC hereby grants the request for 

an exemption for the bond/escrow 

requirement. The granting of an 

exemption or variance from the bond/ 

escrow requirement of section 

4204(a)(1)(B) does not constitute a 

finding by the PBGC that the transaction 

satisfies the other requirements of 

section 4204(a)(1). The determination of 

whether the transaction satisfies such 

other requirements is a determination to 

be made by the Plan sponsor. 

Issued at Washington, DC, December 12, 

2010. 

Joshua Gotbaum, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32528 Filed 12–27–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

Pendency of Request for Exemption 

From the Bond/Escrow Requirement 

Relating to the Sale of Assets by an 

Employer Who Contributes to a 

Multiemployer Plan: Rangers Baseball 

Express, LLC, and Texas Rangers 

Baseball Partners 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice of pendency of request. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises interested 

persons that the Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation (‘‘PBGC’’) has 

received a request from Rangers 

Baseball Express, LLC, for an exemption 

from the bond/escrow requirement of 

section 4204(a)(1)(B) of the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 

as amended, with respect to the Major 

League Baseball Players Pension Plan. 

Section 4204(a)(1) provides that the sale 

of assets by an employer that 

contributes to a multiemployer pension 

plan will not constitute a complete or 

partial withdrawal from the plan if the 

transaction meets certain conditions. 

One of these conditions is that the 

purchaser post a bond or deposit money 

in escrow for the five-plan-year period 

beginning after the sale. PBGC is 

authorized to grant individual and class 

exemptions from this requirement. 

Before granting an exemption, the 

statute and PBGC regulations require 

PBGC to give interested persons an 

opportunity to comment on the 

exemption request. The purpose of this 

notice is to advise interested persons of 

the exemption request and solicit their 

views on it. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before February 11, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by any off the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the Web 

site instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: reg.comments@pbgc.gov. 

• Fax: 202–326–4224. 

• Mail or Hand Delivery: Legislative 

and Regulatory Department, Pension 

Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005– 

4026. Comments received, including 

personal information provided, will be 

posted to http://www.pbgc.gov. Copies 

of comments may also be obtained by 

writing to Disclosure Division, Office of 

General Counsel, Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20005–4026, or 

calling 202–326–4040 during normal 

business hours. (TTY and TDD users 

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

connected to 202–326–4040.) 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Theresa Anderson, Attorney, Office of 

the Chief Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005– 

4026, 202–326–4020. (For TTY/TTD 

users, call the Federal relay service toll 

free at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be 

connected to 202–326–4020.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 4204 of the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 

as amended by the Multiemployer 

Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 

(‘‘ERISA’’ or the ‘‘Act’’), provides that a 

bona fide arm’s length sale of assets of 

a contributing employer to an unrelated 

party will not be considered a 

withdrawal if three conditions are met. 

These conditions, enumerated in section 

4204(a)(1)(A)–(C) are that: 

(A) The purchaser has an obligation to 

contribute to the plan with respect to 

covered operations for substantially the 

same number of contribution base units 

for which the seller was obligated to 

contribute; 

(B) The purchaser obtains a bond or 

places an amount in escrow, for a period 

of five plan years after the sale, equal to 

the greater of the seller’s average 

required annual contribution to the plan 

for the three plan years preceding the 

year in which the sale occurred or the 

seller’s required annual contribution for 

the plan year preceding the year in 

which the sale occurred (the amount of 

the bond or escrow is doubled if the 

plan is in reorganization in the year in 

which the sale occurred); and 

(C) The contract of sale provides that 

if the purchaser withdraws from the 

plan within the first five plan years 

beginning after the sale and fails to pay 

any of its liability to the plan, the seller 

shall be secondarily liable for the 

liability it (the seller) would have had 

but for the relief afforded under section 

4204. 

The bond or escrow described above 

would be paid to the plan if the 

purchaser withdraws from the plan or 

fails to make any required contributions 

to the plan within the first five plan 

years beginning after the sale. 

Additionally, section 4204(b)(1) 

provides that if a sale of assets is 

covered by section 4204, the purchaser 

assumes by operation of law the 

contribution record of the seller for the 

plan year in which the sale occurred 

and the preceding four plan years. 

Section 4204(c) of ERISA authorizes 

the PBGC to grant individual or class 

variances or exemptions from the 

purchaser’s bond/escrow requirement of 

section 4204(a)(1)(B) when warranted. 

The legislative history of section 4204 

indicates a Congressional intent that the 

statute be administered in a manner that 

assures protection of the plan with the 

least intrusion into normal business 

transactions practicable. Senate 

Committee on Labor and Human 

Resources, 96th Cong., 2nd Sess., S. 

1076, The Multiemployer Pension Plan 

Amendments Act of 1980: Summary 

and Analysis of Considerations 16 

(Comm. Print, April 1980); 128 Cong. 

Rec. S10117 (July 29, 1980). The 

granting of a variance or exemption 

from the bond/escrow requirement does 

not constitute a finding by PBGC that a 

particular transaction satisfies the other 

requirements of section 4204(a)(1). 

Under PBGC’s regulation on variances 

for sales of assets (29 CFR part 4204), a 

request for a variance or exemption from 

the bond/escrow requirement under any 

of the tests established in the regulation 

(§§ 4204.12 and 4204.13) is to be made 

to the plan in question. PBGC will 

consider variance or exemption requests 

only when the request is not based on 

satisfaction of one of the four regulatory 

tests under regulation §§ 4204.12 and 

4204.13, or when the parties assert that 

the financial information necessary to 

show satisfaction of one of the 

regulatory tests is privileged or 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
81678 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2010 / Notices 

confidential financial information 

within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) 

(Freedom of Information Act). See 29 

CFR 4204.21. 

Under § 4204.22 of the regulation, 

PBGC shall approve a request for a 

variance or exemption if it determines 

that approval of the request is 

warranted, in that it: 

(1) Would more effectively or 

equitably carry out the purposes of Title 

IV of the Act; and 

(2) Would not significantly increase 

the risk of financial loss to the plan. 

Section 4204(c) of ERISA and 

§ 4204.22(b) of the regulation requires 

PBGC to publish a notice of the 

pendency of a request for a variance or 

exemption in the Federal Register, and 

to provide interested parties with an 

opportunity to comment on the 

proposed variance or exemption. 

The Request 

PBGC has received a request, dated 

September 9, 2010, from Rangers 

Baseball Express, LLC (the ‘‘Purchaser’’) 

for an exemption from the bond/escrow 

requirement of section 4204(a)(1)(B) 

with respect to its purchase of Texas 

Rangers Baseball Partners (the ‘‘Seller’’). 

In the request, the Purchaser represents, 

among other things, that: 

1. The Seller was obligated to 

contribute to the Major League Baseball 

Players Pension Plan (the ‘‘Plan’’) for 

certain employees of the purchased 

operations. 

2. The Purchaser has agreed to assume 

the obligation to contribute to the Plan 

for substantially the same number of 

contribution base units as the Seller. 

3. The Seller has agreed to be 

secondarily liable for any withdrawal 

liability it would have had with respect 

to the purchased operations (if not for 

section 4204) should the Purchaser 

withdraw from the Plan and fail to pay 

its withdrawal liability. 

4. The estimated amount of the 

withdrawal liability of the Seller with 

respect to the operations subject to the 

sale is $34,030,359. 

5. The amount of the bond/escrow 

established under section 4204(a)(1)(B) 

is $4,068,868, which is to be posted if 

PBGC has not acted on the request by 

the end of the plan year of the request. 

6. The Major League Baseball Clubs 

(the ‘‘Clubs’’) have established the Major 

League Central Fund (the ‘‘Central 

Fund’’) pursuant to the Major League 

Baseball Constitution. Under this 

Constitution, the Office of the 

Commissioner of Baseball pays 

contributions to the Plan from the 

Central Fund on behalf of each 

participating employer in satisfaction of 

the employer’s pension liability under 

the Plan’s funding agreement. The 

monies in the Central Fund are derived 

directly from (i) gate receipts from AllStar games; (ii) radio and television 

revenue from World Series, League 

Championship Series, Division Series, 

All-Star Games, and (iii) certain other 

radio and television revenue, including 

revenues from foreign broadcasts, 

regular, spring training, and exhibition 

games (‘‘Revenues’’). 

7. In support of the exemption 

request, the Purchaser asserts that ‘‘[t]he 

Plan is funded from the Revenues which 

are paid from the Central Fund directly 

to the Plan without passing through the 

hands of any of the Clubs. Therefore, the 

Plan enjoys a substantial degree of 

security with respect to contributions on 

behalf of the Clubs. A change in 

ownership of a particular Club does not 

affect the obligation of the Central Fund 

to fund the Plan out of the Revenues. As 

such, approval of this exemption 

request would not significantly increase 

the risk of financial loss to the Plan.’’ 

8. A complete copy of the request was 

sent to the Plan and to the Major League 

Baseball Players Association by certified 

mail, return receipt requested. 

Issued at Washington, DC on December 17, 

2010. 

Joshua Gotbaum, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32532 Filed 12–27–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

National Council on Federal LaborManagement Relations Meeting 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The National Council on 

Federal Labor-Management Relations 

plans to meet on the following dates— 

Wednesday, January 19, 2011. 

Wednesday, February 16, 2011. 

The meetings will start at 10 a.m. and 

will be held in the AIA Gallery Room at 

the American Institute of Architects, 

1735 New York Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20006. Interested 

parties should consult the Council Web 

site at http://www.lmrcouncil.gov for the 

latest information on Council activities, 

including changes in meeting dates. 

The Council is an advisory body 

composed of representatives of Federal 

employee organizations, Federal 

management organizations, and senior 

government officials. The Council was 

established by Executive Order 13522, 

entitled, ‘‘Creating Labor-Management 

Forums to Improve Delivery of 

Government Services,’’ which was 

signed by the President on December 9, 

2009. Along with its other 

responsibilities, the Council assists in 

the implementation of Labor 

Management Forums throughout the 

government and makes 

recommendations to the President on 

innovative ways to improve delivery of 

services and products to the public 

while cutting costs and advancing 

employee interests. The Council is cochaired by the Director of the Office of 

Personnel Management and the Deputy 

Director for Management of the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

At its meetings, the Council will 

continue its work in promoting 

cooperative and productive 

relationships between labor and 

management in the executive branch, by 

carrying out the responsibilities and 

functions listed in Section 1(b) of the 

Executive Order. The meetings are open 

to the public. Please contact the Office 

of Personnel Management at the address 

shown below if you wish to present 

material to the Council at the meeting. 

The manner and time prescribed for 

presentations may be limited, 

depending upon the number of parties 

that express interest in presenting 

information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim 

Curry, Deputy Associate Director for 

Partnership and Labor Relations, Office 

of Personnel Management, 1900 E 

Street, NW., Room 7H28–E, 

Washington, DC 20415. Phone (202) 

606–2930; FAX (202) 606–2613; or 

e-mail at PLR@opm.gov. 

For the National Council. 

John Berry, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32625 Filed 12–27–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND 

TECHNOLOGY POLICY 

Aeronautics Science and Technology 

Subcommittee; Committee on 

Technology; National Science and 

Technology Council 

ACTION: Notice of Meeting—Public input 

is requested on the National 

Aeronautics Research, Development, 

Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) 

Infrastructure Plan. 

SUMMARY: The Aeronautics Science and 

Technology Subcommittee (ASTS) of 

the National Science and Technology 

Council’s (NSTC) Committee on 

Technology will hold a public meeting 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES