II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1714 

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

transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan and 

the 1974 United Mine Workers of America Pension Plan, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 7, 2015 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

KAINE, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer 

Health Benefit Plan and 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 Protection Act 

5 of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN RETIREES IN THE MULTI2 EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN. 

3 Section 402 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec4 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (h)(2)(C)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘A transfer’’ and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) TRANSFER TO THE PLAN.—A 

9 transfer’’; 

10 (B) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 

11 subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and mov12 ing such subclauses 2 ems to the right; and 

13 (C) by striking the matter following such 

14 subclause (II) (as so redesignated) and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION OF EXCESS.—The 

17 excess determined under clause (i) shall be 

18 calculated by taking into account only— 

19 ‘‘(I) those beneficiaries actually 

20 enrolled in the Plan as of the date of 

21 the enactment of the Miners Protec22 tion Act of 2015, who are eligible to 

23 receive health benefits under the Plan 

24 on the first day of the calendar year 

25 for which the transfer is made; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) those beneficiaries whose 

2 health benefits, defined as those bene3 fits payable directly following death or 

4 retirement or upon a finding of dis5 ability by an employer in the bitu6 minous coal industry under a coal 

7 wage agreement (defined in section 

8 9701(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986), would be denied or re10 duced as a result of a bankruptcy pro11 ceeding commenced in 2012. 

12 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN RETIR13 EES.—Individuals referred to in clause 

14 (ii)(II) shall be treated as eligible to re15 ceive health benefits under the Plan. 

16 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANS17 FER.—The amount of the transfer other18 wise determined under this subparagraph 

19 for a fiscal year shall be reduced by any 

20 amount transferred for the fiscal year to 

21 the Plan, to pay benefits required under 

22 the Plan, from a voluntary employees’ ben23 eficiary association established as a result 

24 of the bankruptcy proceeding described in 

25 clause (ii). 


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1 ‘‘(v) VEBA TRANSFER.—The admin2 istrator of such voluntary employees’ bene3 ficiary association shall transfer to the 

4 Plan any amounts received as a result of 

5 such bankruptcy proceeding, reduced by an 

6 amount for administrative costs of such as7 sociation.’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (i)— 

9 (A) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

10 paragraph (5); and 

11 (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—If the dollar limita15 tion specified in paragraph (3)(A) exceeds the 

16 aggregate amount required to be transferred 

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

18 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer an 

19 additional amount equal to the difference be20 tween such dollar limitation and such aggregate 

21 amount to the trustees of the 1974 UMWA 

22 Pension Plan to pay benefits required under 

23 that plan. 

24 ‘‘(B) CESSATION OF TRANSFERS.—The 

25 transfers described in subparagraph (A) shall 


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1 cease as of the first fiscal year beginning after 

2 the first plan year for which the funded per3 centage (as defined in section 432(i)(2) of the 

4 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 1974 

5 UMWA Pension Plan is at least 100 percent. 

6 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON BENEFIT IN7 CREASES, ETC.—During a fiscal year in which 

8 the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan is receiving 

9 transfers under subparagraph (A), no amend10 ment of such plan which increases the liabilities 

11 of the plan by reason of any increase in bene12 fits, any change in the accrual of benefits, or 

13 any change in the rate at which benefits become 

14 nonforfeitable under the plan may be adopted 

15 unless the amendment is required as a condi16 tion of qualification under part I of subchapter 

17 D of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986. 

19 ‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS FOR

20 PURPOSES OF WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY UNDER

21 ERISA.—The amount of any transfer made 

22 under subparagraph (A) (and any earnings at23 tributable thereto) shall be disregarded in deter24 mining the unfunded vested benefits of the 

25 1974 UMWA Pension Plan and the allocation 


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1 of such unfunded vested benefits to an employer 

2 for purposes of determining the employer’s 

3 withdrawal liability under section 4201. 

4 ‘‘(E) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN CON5 TRIBUTION RATE.—A transfer under subpara6 graph (A) shall not be made for a fiscal year 

7 unless the persons that are obligated to con8 tribute to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan on 

9 the date of the transfer are obligated to make 

10 the contributions at rates that are no less than 

11 those in effect on the date which is 30 days be12 fore the date of enactment of the Miners Pro13 tection Act of 2015. 

14 ‘‘(F) ENHANCED ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

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

16 90th day of each plan year beginning after 

17 the date of enactment of the Miners Pro18 tection Act of 2015, the trustees of the 

19 1974 UMWA Pension Plan shall file with 

20 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

21 a report (including appropriate documenta22 tion and actuarial certifications from the 

23 plan actuary, as required by the Secretary 

24 of Labor) that contains— 


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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; 


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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; 


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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 01:45 Jul 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714

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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 Labor or the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jul 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714

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1 retary of the Treasury may require by 

2 request to such Corporation. 

3 ‘‘(ii) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION.—The 

4 report required under clause (i) shall be 

5 submitted electronically. 

6 ‘‘(iii) INFORMATION SHARING.—The 

7 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

8 shall share the information in the report 

9 under clause (i) with the Secretary of the 

10 Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. 

11 ‘‘(iv) EXCISE TAX.—If the report re12 quired under clause (i) is not filed as of 

13 the date described in such clause, there 

14 shall be a tax on the 1974 UMWA Pension 

15 Plan in the amount of $100 for each day 

16 occurring after such date and before the 

17 date on which such report is actually filed. 

18 The preceding sentence shall not apply if 

19 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

20 determines that reasonable diligence has 

21 been exercised by the trustees of such plan 

22 in attempting to timely file such report. 

23 ‘‘(G) 1974 UMWA PENSION PLAN DE24 FINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

25 term ‘1974 UMWA Pension Plan’ has the 


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

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, but 

3 without regard to the limitation on participation 

4 to individuals who retired in 1976 and there5 after.’’. 

Æ 


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