II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1105 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 

transfer certain funds to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America 

Pension Plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WARNER, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. NELSON, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. DONNELLY, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. PORTMAN, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BURR, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to transfer certain funds to the 1974 United 

Mine Workers of America Pension Plan, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Miners Pension Protec5 tion Act’’. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1105 IS

1 SEC. 2. TRANSFERS TO 1974 UMWA PENSION PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (i) of section 402 of 

3 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

4 (30 U.S.C. 1232), as amended by the Further Continuing 

5 and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, 2017, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para8 graph (5); and 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—If the dollar limita13 tion specified in paragraph (3)(A) exceeds the 

14 aggregate amount required to be transferred 

15 under paragraphs (1) and (2) for a fiscal year, 

16 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer an 

17 additional amount equal to the difference be18 tween such dollar limitation and such aggregate 

19 amount to the trustees of the 1974 UMWA 

20 Pension Plan to pay benefits required under 

21 that plan. 

22 ‘‘(B) CESSATION OF TRANSFERS.—The 

23 transfers described in subparagraph (A) shall 

24 cease as of the first fiscal year beginning after 

25 the first plan year for which the funded per26 centage (as defined in section 432(i)(2) of the 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1105 IS

1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 1974 

2 UMWA Pension Plan is at least 100 percent. 

3 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON BENEFIT IN4 CREASES, ETC.—During a fiscal year in which 

5 the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan is receiving 

6 transfers under subparagraph (A), no amend7 ment of such plan which increases the liabilities 

8 of the plan by reason of any increase in bene9 fits, any change in the accrual of benefits, or 

10 any change in the rate at which benefits become 

11 nonforfeitable under the plan may be adopted 

12 unless the amendment is required as a condi13 tion of qualification under part I of subchapter 

14 D of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986. 

16 ‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS FOR

17 PURPOSES OF WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY UNDER

18 ERISA.—The amount of any transfer made 

19 under subparagraph (A) (and any earnings at20 tributable thereto) shall be disregarded in deter21 mining the unfunded vested benefits of the 

22 1974 UMWA Pension Plan and the allocation 

23 of such unfunded vested benefits to an employer 

24 for purposes of determining the employer’s 

25 withdrawal liability under section 4201 of the 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1105 IS

1 Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 

2 1974. 

3 ‘‘(E) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN CON4 TRIBUTION RATE.—A transfer under subpara5 graph (A) shall not be made for a fiscal year 

6 unless the persons that are obligated to con7 tribute to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan on 

8 the date of the transfer are obligated to make 

9 the contributions at rates that are no less than 

10 those in effect on the date which is 30 days be11 fore the date of enactment of the Miners Pen12 sion Protection Act. 

13 ‘‘(F) ENHANCED ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

15 90th day of each plan year beginning after 

16 the date of enactment of the Miners Pen17 sion Protection Act, the trustees of the 

18 1974 UMWA Pension Plan shall file with 

19 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Sec20 retary’s delegate and the Pension Benefit 

21 Guaranty Corporation a report (including 

22 appropriate documentation and actuarial 

23 certifications from the plan actuary, as re24 quired by the Secretary of the Treasury or 

25 the Secretary’s delegate) that contains— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1105 IS

1 ‘‘(I) whether the plan is in en2 dangered or critical status under sec3 tion 305 of the Employee Retirement 

4 Income Security Act of 1974 and sec5 tion 432 of the Internal Revenue Code 

6 of 1986 as of the first day of such 

7 plan year; 

8 ‘‘(II) the funded percentage (as 

9 defined in section 432(i)(2) of such 

10 Code) as of the first day of such plan 

11 year, and the underlying actuarial 

12 value of assets and liabilities taken 

13 into account in determining such per14 centage; 

15 ‘‘(III) the market value of the as16 sets of the plan as of the last day of 

17 the plan year preceding such plan 

18 year; 

19 ‘‘(IV) the total value of all con20 tributions made during the plan year 

21 preceding such plan year; 

22 ‘‘(V) the total value of all bene23 fits paid during the plan year pre24 ceding such plan year; 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1105 IS

1 ‘‘(VI) cash flow projections for 

2 such plan year and either the 6 or 10 

3 succeeding plan years, at the election 

4 of the trustees, and the assumptions 

5 relied upon in making such projec6 tions; 

7 ‘‘(VII) funding standard account 

8 projections for such plan year and the 

9 9 succeeding plan years, and the as10 sumptions relied upon in making such 

11 projections; 

12 ‘‘(VIII) the total value of all in13 vestment gains or losses during the 

14 plan year preceding such plan year; 

15 ‘‘(IX) any significant reduction 

16 in the number of active participants 

17 during the plan year preceding such 

18 plan year, and the reason for such re19 duction; 

20 ‘‘(X) a list of employers that 

21 withdrew from the plan in the plan 

22 year preceding such plan year, and 

23 the resulting reduction in contribu24 tions; 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1105 IS

1 ‘‘(XI) a list of employers that 

2 paid withdrawal liability to the plan 

3 during the plan year preceding such 

4 plan year and, for each employer, a 

5 total assessment of the withdrawal li6 ability paid, the annual payment 

7 amount, and the number of years re8 maining in the payment schedule with 

9 respect to such withdrawal liability; 

10 ‘‘(XII) any material changes to 

11 benefits, accrual rates, or contribution 

12 rates during the plan year preceding 

13 such plan year; 

14 ‘‘(XIII) any scheduled benefit in15 crease or decrease in the plan year 

16 preceding such plan year having a 

17 material effect on liabilities of the 

18 plan; 

19 ‘‘(XIV) details regarding any 

20 funding improvement plan or rehabili21 tation plan and updates to such plan; 

22 ‘‘(XV) the number of partici23 pants and beneficiaries during the 

24 plan year preceding such plan year 

25 who are active participants, the numVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 May 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1105 IS

1 ber of participants and beneficiaries in 

2 pay status, and the number of termi3 nated vested participants and bene4 ficiaries; 

5 ‘‘(XVI) the information contained 

6 on the most recent annual funding no7 tice submitted by the plan under sec8 tion 101(f) of the Employee Retire9 ment Income Security Act of 1974; 

10 ‘‘(XVII) the information con11 tained on the most recent Department 

12 of Labor Form 5500 of the plan; and 

13 ‘‘(XVIII) copies of the plan docu14 ment and amendments, other retire15 ment benefit or ancillary benefit plans 

16 relating to the plan and contribution 

17 obligations under such plans, a break18 down of administrative expenses of 

19 the plan, participant census data and 

20 distribution of benefits, the most re21 cent actuarial valuation report as of 

22 the plan year, copies of collective bar23 gaining agreements, and financial re24 ports, and such other information as 

25 the Secretary of the Treasury or the 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1105 IS

1 Secretary’s delegate, in consultation 

2 with the Secretary of Labor and the 

3 Director of the Pension Benefit Guar4 anty Corporation, may require. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION.—The 

6 report required under clause (i) shall be 

7 submitted electronically. 

8 ‘‘(iii) INFORMATION SHARING.—The 

9 Secretary of the Treasury or the Sec10 retary’s delegate shall share the informa11 tion in the report under clause (i) with the 

12 Secretary of Labor. 

13 ‘‘(iv) PENALTY.—Any failure to file 

14 the report required under clause (i) on or 

15 before the date described in such clause 

16 shall be treated as a failure to file a report 

17 required to be filed under section 6058(a) 

18 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, ex19 cept that section 6652(e) of such Code 

20 shall be applied with respect to any such 

21 failure by substituting ‘$100’ for ‘$25’. 

22 The preceding sentence shall not apply if 

23 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Sec24 retary’s delegate determines that reason25 able diligence has been exercised by the 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1105 IS

1 trustees of such plan in attempting to 

2 timely file such report. 

3 ‘‘(G) 1974 UMWA PENSION PLAN DE4 FINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

5 term ‘1974 UMWA Pension Plan’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 9701(a)(3) 

7 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, but 

8 without regard to the limitation on participation 

9 to individuals who retired in 1976 and there10 after.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to fiscal years beginning 

14 after September 30, 2016. 

15 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

16 402(i)(4)(F) of the Surface Mining Control and Rec17 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(i)(4)(F)), as 

18 added by this section, shall apply to plan years be19 ginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. CUSTOMS USER FEES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13031(j)(3)(A) of the 

22 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 

23 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)(A)), as amended by section 105(a) 

24 of the Health Benefits for Miners Act of 2017, is amended 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1105 IS

1 by striking ‘‘January 14, 2026’’ and inserting ‘‘May 13, 

2 2026’’. 

3 (b) RATE FOR MERCHANDISE PROCESSING FEES.— 

4 Section 503 of the United States–Korea Free Trade 

5 Agreement Implementation Act (Public Law 112–41; 19 

6 U.S.C. 3805 note), as amended by section 105(b) of the 

7 Health Benefits for Miners Act of 2017, is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘January 14, 2026’’ and inserting ‘‘May 13, 

9 2026’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS