II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1105

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a sound budgetary

mechanism for financing health and death benefits of retired coal miners

while ensuring the long-term fiscal health and solvency of such benefits,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 31, 1997

Mr. COCHRAN (for himself and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide

a sound budgetary mechanism for financing health and

death benefits of retired coal miners while ensuring the

long-term fiscal health and solvency of such benefits,

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; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Comprehensive Coal Act Reform Act’’.

6 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other7 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
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1 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

2 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

3 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi4 sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

5 TITLE I—ASSIGNMENT OF

6 LIABILITY TO COAL OPERATORS

7 SEC. 101. GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF COAL OPERATORS.

8 (a) EXEMPTION OF SUPER REACHBACK OPERA9 TORS.—Section 9701(c)(1) (defining signatory operator)

10 is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(1) SIGNATORY OPERATOR.—The term ‘signa12 tory operator’ means a person which is or was a sig13 natory to—

14 ‘‘(A) the 1978 National Bituminous Coal

15 Wage Agreement, or

16 ‘‘(B) any subsequent coal wage agree17 ment.’’

18 (b) REACHBACK SIGNATORY OPERATOR.—Section

19 9701(c) (relating to operators) is amended by adding at

20 the end the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(8) REACHBACK SIGNATORY OPERATOR.—The

22 term ‘reachback signatory operator’ means a signa23 tory operator other than a 1988 agreement opera24 tor.’’

25 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall apply to plan years of the Com3 bined Fund beginning on and after October 1, 1996.

4 (2) WAIVER OF PENALTY.—For waiver of pen5 alty for super reachback operators, see section

6 202(c)(3).

7 SEC. 102. MODIFICATIONS OF ASSIGNMENTS OF BENE8 FICIARIES TO COAL OPERATORS.

9 (a) MODIFICATIONS TO REFLECT EXEMPTION FOR

10 SUPER REACHBACK OPERATORS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9706(a) (relating to

12 assignment of eligible beneficiaries) is amended by

13 striking all that follows the matter preceding para14 graph (1) and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(1) First, to the signatory operator which was

16 the most recent signatory operator to employ the

17 coal industry retiree in the coal industry for at least

18 2 years.

19 ‘‘(2) Second, if the retiree is not assigned under

20 paragraph (1), to the signatory operator which was

21 the most recent signatory operator to employ the

22 coal industry retiree in the coal industry.’’

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made

25 by paragraph (1) shall apply to plan years of
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1 the Combined Fund beginning on and after Oc2 tober 1, 1996.

3 (B) TREATMENT OF ELIGIBLE BENE4 FICIARIES.—The Commissioner of Social Secu5 rity shall revoke the assignment of any eligible

6 beneficiary to any person who ceases to be a

7 signatory operator for plan years beginning on

8 and after October 1, 1996, by reason of the

9 amendment made by section 101(a) of this Act.

10 The Commissioner shall not reassign such bene11 ficiary under section 9706 of the Internal Reve12 nue Code of 1986, but shall treat such bene13 ficiary as an unassigned eligible beneficiary for

14 purposes of applying chapter 99 of such Code.

15 (b) TERMINATION OF ASSIGNMENT OF ELIGIBLE

16 BENEFICIARIES.—Section 9706 (relating to assignment of

17 eligible beneficiaries) is amended by adding at the end the

18 following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION OF ASSIGNMENT.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So21 cial Security shall not assign or reassign an eligible

22 beneficiary to a signatory operator on or after the

23 date of the enactment of this subsection.

24 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARIES.—If, after

25 the date under paragraph (1), the Commissioner of
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1 Social Security determines under subsection (f) that

2 an eligible beneficiary was incorrectly assigned, such

3 beneficiary shall be treated as an unassigned eligible

4 beneficiary for purposes of this title.’’

5 (c) CLARIFICATION THAT ASSIGNMENTS EXCLU6 SIVELY CARRIED OUT BY COMMISSIONER.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9706, as amended

8 by subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end

9 the following new subsection:

10 ‘‘(i) COMMISSIONER HAS EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY TO

11 ASSIGN BENEFICIARIES.—Nothing in this chapter shall be

12 construed to authorize the Combined Fund to assign any

13 eligible beneficiary to any signatory operator for purposes

14 of this subchapter.’’

15 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

16 by this subsection shall take effect as if included in

17 the amendments made by the Coal Industry Retiree

18 Health Benefit Act of 1992.

19 TITLE II—ADJUSTMENTS TO

20 PREMIUM COMPUTATIONS

21 SEC. 201. ADJUSTMENTS TO HEALTH BENEFIT PREMIUMS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9704(b)(2) (defining per

23 beneficiary premium) is amended to read as follows:

24 ‘‘(2) PER BENEFICIARY PREMIUM.—

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—
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1 ‘‘(i) YEARS ENDING BEFORE 1997.—In

2 the case of any plan year ending before

3 1997, the per beneficiary premium shall be

4 determined in accordance with the follow5 ing table:

‘‘For the plan year ending in: The premium is:

1993 ......................................................................................... $1,130.72

1994 ......................................................................................... $2,245.83

1995 ......................................................................................... $2,349.38

1996 ......................................................................................... $2,454.05.

6 ‘‘(ii) 1997 PLAN YEAR.—In the case

7 of the plan year beginning October 1,

8 1996, the per beneficiary premium shall

9 be—

10 ‘‘(I) $3,530 for 1988 agreement

11 operators not described in subclause

12 (II),

13 ‘‘(II) $2,279.41 for captive coal

14 producing operators, and

15 ‘‘(III) $750 for reachback signa16 tory operators.

17 ‘‘(iii) PLAN YEARS AFTER 1997.—In

18 the case of any plan year beginning on or

19 after October 1, 1997, the per beneficiary

20 premium shall be equal to the sum of—

21 ‘‘(I) the per beneficiary premium

22 in effect for the preceding plan year,

23 plus
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1 ‘‘(II) the product of the amount

2 determined under subclause (I) and

3 the medical cost factor.

4 ‘‘(B) MEDICAL COST FACTOR.—For pur5 poses of this paragraph—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘medical

7 cost factor’ means, with respect to any

8 plan year, a percentage equal to the lesser

9 of—

10 ‘‘(I) the percentage (if any) by

11 which the per beneficiary expenditures

12 for the preceding plan year for health

13 benefits described in section 9703(b)

14 exceeds such expenditures for the sec15 ond preceding plan year, or

16 ‘‘(II) the sum of 3 percentage

17 points, plus the percentage (if any) by

18 which the medical component of the

19 Consumer Price Index for the cal20 endar year in which the plan year be21 gins exceeds such component for the

22 preceding calendar year.

23 ‘‘(ii) CAPTIVE COAL PRODUCING OP24 ERATORS.—In the case of a captive coal

25 producing operator, the medical cost factor
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1 for any plan year shall be the percentage

2 (if any) by which the medical component of

3 the Consumer Price Index for the calendar

4 year in which the plan year begins exceeds

5 such component for the preceding calendar

6 year.

7 ‘‘(C) CAPTIVE COAL PRODUCING OPERA8 TOR.—For purposes of this paragraph, the term

9 ‘captive coal producing operator’ means a 1988

10 agreement operator if—

11 ‘‘(i) such operator produced bitu12 minous coal during the period from Janu13 ary 1, 1990, to December 31, 1994, and

14 ‘‘(ii) such operator (or a related per15 son to such operator) consumed annually

16 at least 30 percent of such coal in connec17 tion with the operator’s (or related per18 son’s) steelmaking operations.’’

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by

21 this section shall apply to plan years of the Com22 bined Fund beginning on and after October 1, 1996.

23 (2) PRIOR PLAN YEARS.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section

25 9704(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code
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1 of 1986 (as amended by subsection (a)) shall

2 apply to plan years of the Combined Fund be3 ginning before October 1, 1996.

4 (B) PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS.—If any as5 signed operator owes any additional premiums

6 for any plan year ending on or before Septem7 ber 30, 1996, by reason of the amendment

8 made by subsection (a), the assigned operator

9 shall pay such additional premiums to the Com10 bined Fund within 90 days after the date of the

11 enactment of this Act. Such premiums shall be

12 treated as paid for the year to which they relate

13 and not to the year in which paid, except that

14 no penalties or interest shall be assessed for

15 any period beginning before the close of the 90-

16 day period.

17 (3) CREDIT OR REFUND OF OVERPAYMENT.—

18 If, for the plan year beginning on October 1, 1996,

19 an assigned operator paid premiums in excess of the

20 premiums owed after the application of the amend21 ment made by subsection (a)—

22 (A) such excess shall be treated as a credit

23 against the premiums payable by the operator

24 for the following plan year, and
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1 (B) to the extent such excess is greater

2 than such premiums, such excess shall be re3 funded to the operator.

4 SEC. 202. CAP ON PREMIUM PAYMENTS FOR SMALL

5 REACHBACKS; ADJUSTMENT TO PREMIUMS

6 TO REFLECT SURPLUS OR DEFICIT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of subchapter B of chap8 ter 99 (relating to financing of Combined Benefit Fund)

9 is amended by inserting after section 9704 the following

10 new section:

11 ‘‘SEC. 9704A. ADJUSTMENTS IN ANNUAL PREMIUMS OF CER12 TAIN OPERATORS.

13 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—The annual premium of an

14 assigned operator under section 9704(a) shall—

15 ‘‘(1) in the case of a small reachback signatory

16 operator, be reduced as provided in subsection (b),

17 and

18 ‘‘(2) in any case in which there is a surplus or

19 deficit in the Combined Fund to which subsection

20 (c) applies, be adjusted as provided in subsection (c).

21 ‘‘(b) REDUCTIONS FOR SMALL REACHBACK SIGNA22 TORY OPERATORS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any plan

24 year beginning on or after February 1, 1993, the

25 annual premium under section 9704(a) for any small
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1 reachback signatory operator for such plan year

2 shall not exceed 5 percent of the operator’s average

3 annual taxable income for purposes of chapter 1 for

4 the 5-taxable year period ending with the operator’s

5 most recent taxable year ending before the beginning

6 of the plan year.

7 ‘‘(2) SMALL REACHBACK SIGNATORY OPERA8 TORS.—For purposes of this section—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small

10 reachback signatory operator’ means any signa11 tory operator other than a 1988 agreement op12 erator—

13 ‘‘(i) the average annual gross income

14 of which for purposes of chapter 1 for the

15 5-taxable year period ending with the oper16 ator’s most recent taxable year ending be17 fore October 1, 1993, did not exceed

18 $25,000,000, and

19 ‘‘(ii) which was not engaged in the

20 production of bituminous coal on or after

21 October 1, 1993.

22 For purposes of this subparagraph, production

23 by a related person shall be treated as produc24 tion by the assigned operator.
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1 ‘‘(B) PRODUCTION OF COAL.—For pur2 poses of subparagraph (A), an assigned opera3 tor or related person shall be treated as en4 gaged in the production of bituminous coal if it

5 has employed employees in—

6 ‘‘(i) the extraction of bituminous coal,

7 or

8 ‘‘(ii) the preparation, processing, or

9 changing of bituminous coal for sale.

10 ‘‘(3) AGGREGATION RULES.—In determining

11 gross income or taxable income for purposes of this

12 section, an assigned operator and any related per13 sons shall be treated as 1 person.

14 ‘‘(4) BURDEN OF PROOF.—A person seeking to

15 have this subsection apply shall have the burden of

16 establishing to the satisfaction of the Commissioner

17 of Social Security—

18 ‘‘(A) that this subsection applies to such

19 person, and

20 ‘‘(B) the amount of the gross or taxable

21 income of such person or any related person to

22 be used in applying this subsection.

23 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS BASED UPON FUND SURPLUS

24 OR DEFICIT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT OF SURPLUS.—If, as of the

2 close of any plan year ending on or after September

3 30, 1997, the Combined Fund has a surplus in net

4 assets in excess of 100 percent of the net expenses

5 of the Combined Fund for the plan year, the annual

6 premium under section 9704(a) for the succeeding

7 plan year of any assigned operator other than a

8 small reachback signatory operator shall be reduced

9 by an amount which bears the same ratio to the sur10 plus in excess of 100 percent of such net expenses

11 as—

12 ‘‘(A) such assigned operator’s aggregate

13 premiums for the plan year of such surplus for

14 beneficiaries assigned to such operator (deter15 mined without regard to this section), bears to

16 ‘‘(B) the sum of the amounts determined

17 under subparagraph (A) for all assigned opera18 tors other than small reachback signatory oper19 ators.

20 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF DEFICIT.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, as of the close of

22 any plan year ending on or after September 30,

23 1997, the Combined Fund has a deficit, the an24 nual premium under section 9704(a) for the

25 succeeding plan year of any assigned operator
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1 shall be increased by an amount which bears

2 the same ratio to the amount of the deficit as—

3 ‘‘(i) such assigned operator’s aggre4 gate premiums for the plan year of such

5 deficit for beneficiaries assigned to such

6 operator (determined without regard to

7 this section), bears to

8 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the amounts deter9 mined under subparagraph (A) for all as10 signed operators.

11 ‘‘(B) CAP ON PREMIUM INCREASE.—In no

12 event shall this paragraph result in the annual

13 premiums of a small reachback signatory opera14 tor exceeding the amount determined under

15 subsection (b) for the plan year. Any increase

16 under subparagraph (A) not so allowed shall,

17 subject to this subparagraph, be allocated rat18 ably among the other assigned operators.

19 ‘‘(d) COMPUTATION OF SURPLUS OR DEFICIT.—For

20 purposes of this section, any determination of a surplus

21 or deficit in the Combined Fund—

22 ‘‘(1) shall be calculated on a cash receipts and

23 disbursements basis,

24 ‘‘(2) shall be calculated without regard to any

25 premiums, expenditures, or other items in any sub-
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1 account of the death benefits premium account es2 tablished under section 9704(e)(4),

3 ‘‘(3) shall be made and certified by an inde4 pendent auditor retained by the trustees, and

5 ‘‘(4) once so certified, shall be reviewable by a

6 court of law only to determine if such determination

7 is reasonable.

8 A determination shall be considered reasonable for pur9 poses of paragraph (3) if it is made in accordance with

10 generally accepted accounting principles and is based on

11 assumptions which, in the aggregate, are reasonable.’’

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

13 (1) Section 9704(a) (relating to annual pre14 miums) is amended by striking ‘‘Each’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘Subject to section 9704A, each’’.

16 (2) The table of sections for part II of sub17 chapter B of chapter 99 is amended by inserting

18 after the item relating to section 9704 the following

19 new item:

‘‘Sec. 9704A. Adjustments in annual premiums of certain operators.’’

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

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

22 this section shall apply to plan years of the Com23 bined Fund beginning after January 31, 1993.

24 (2) REFUND OF EXCESS PAYMENTS.—If a small

25 reachback signatory operator (as defined in section
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1 9704A(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

2 as added by this section) has paid premiums in ex3 cess of the amount owed for any plan year ending

4 on or before September 30, 1996, by reason of the

5 amendment made by subsection (a), the Combined

6 Fund shall refund such excess to the operator within

7 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

8 (3) WAIVER OF PENALTIES.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an appli10 cable operator, no penalty shall be imposed

11 under section 9707 of such Code on any failure

12 of such operator to pay any installment of a

13 premium due under section 9704 of such Code

14 before the 90th day after the enactment of this

15 Act if the operator pays such installment before

16 such date. For purposes of this subsection, the

17 amount of the installment shall be determined

18 after application of the amendments made by

19 this Act.

20 (B) COMPLIANCE.—An operator shall not

21 be treated as failing to meet the requirements

22 of subparagraph (A) with respect to any install23 ment if—

24 (i) the failure to pay the installment

25 before the 90th day after the date of the
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1 enactment of this Act was due to reason2 able cause, and

3 (ii) the failure is corrected within 90

4 days of the later of—

5 (I) notice of the failure, or

6 (II) a final administrative or ju7 dicial determination of the amount of

8 the installment which is not

9 reviewable or appealable.

10 (C) APPLICABLE OPERATOR.—For pur11 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘‘applicable

12 operator’’ means any—

13 (i) small reachback signatory operator

14 (as defined in section 9704A(b)(2) of the

15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added

16 by this section), or

17 (ii) any assigned operator not de18 scribed in clause (i) that was not a signa19 tory to the 1978 National Bituminous Coal

20 Wage Agreement or any subsequent coal

21 wage agreement.
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1 SEC. 203. ADJUSTMENTS TO DEATH BENEFIT AND UNAS2 SIGNED BENEFICIARIES PREMIUMS.

3 (a) DEATH BENEFIT PREMIUM.—Section 9704(c)

4 (relating to death benefit premium) is amended to read

5 as follows:

6 ‘‘(c) DEATH BENEFIT PREMIUMS.—The death bene7 fit premium for any plan year for any assigned operator

8 shall be equal to—

9 ‘‘(1) in the case of a reachback signatory opera10 tor, the amount which the Combined Fund was re11 quired to pay during the preceding plan year for

12 death benefits coverage described in section 9703(c)

13 for eligible beneficiaries assigned to such operator,

14 and

15 ‘‘(2) in the case of any other assigned operator,

16 the applicable percentage of the amount, actuarially

17 determined, which the Combined Fund will be re18 quired to pay during the plan year for death benefits

19 coverage described in section 9703(c) for eligible

20 beneficiaries assigned to operators other than

21 reachback signatory operators.’’

22 (b) UNASSIGNED BENEFICIARIES PREMIUM.—

23 (1) PREMIUM ONLY TO APPLY TO 1988 AGREE24 MENT OPERATORS.—Section 9704(a)(3) (relating to

25 annual premiums) is amended by inserting ‘‘in the

26 case of an assigned operator which is a 1988 agree-
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1 ment operator,’’ before ‘‘the unassigned beneficiaries

2 premium’’.

3 (2) COMPUTATION OF PREMIUM.—Section

4 9704(d) (relating to unassigned beneficiaries pre5 mium) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(d) UNASSIGNED BENEFICIARIES PREMIUM.—The

7 unassigned beneficiaries premium for any 1988 agreement

8 operator for any plan year shall be the applicable percent9 age of the sum of—

10 ‘‘(1) the product of the per beneficiary premium

11 for the plan year under subsection (b)(2) for 1988

12 agreement operators (other than captive coal produc13 ing operators) and the number of eligible bene14 ficiaries who are not assigned under section 9706 to

15 any person for such plan year, plus

16 ‘‘(2) the amount, actuarially determined, which

17 the Combined Fund will be required to pay during

18 the plan year for death benefits coverage for such

19 unassigned beneficiaries.’’

20 (c) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—

21 (1) REACHBACK OPERATORS DISREGARDED.—

22 Section 9704(f)(1) (defining applicable percentage)

23 is amended by striking ‘‘all such operators’’ and in24 serting ‘‘all 1988 agreement operators’’.
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1 (2) ADJUSTMENTS FOR STATUTORY

2 CHANGES.—Section 9704(f)(2)(A) (relating to an3 nual adjustments) is amended by inserting ‘‘and to

4 changes in the provisions of this chapter after Octo5 ber 24, 1992’’ before the period at the end.

6 (d) COORDINATION WITH PREMIUM ACCOUNT AD7 JUSTMENTS.—Section 9704(e) (relating to premium ac8 counts; adjustments) is amended by adding at the end the

9 following new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES FOR DEATH BENEFIT

11 PREMIUMS.—In the case of plan years of the Com12 bined Fund beginning on and after October 1, 1996,

13 the trustees of the Combined Fund shall establish

14 and maintain a separate subaccount in the death

15 benefits premium account for each of the following:

16 ‘‘(A) Death benefit premiums of reachback

17 signatory operators.

18 ‘‘(B) Death benefit premiums of other as19 signed operators.

20 ‘‘(C) The portion of the unassigned bene21 ficiaries premiums attributable to death benefits

22 coverage of unassigned beneficiaries.

23 Each such subaccount shall be treated as a separate

24 death benefit premium account for purposes of ap25 plying this subsection. Any item taken into account
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1 under subparagraph (C) shall not be taken into ac2 count for purposes of the unassigned beneficiaries

3 premium account.’’

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall apply to plan years of the Combined

6 Fund beginning on and after October 1, 1996.

7 SEC. 204. CALCULATION OF PREMIUMS PAID BY RELATED

8 PERSONS.

9 Section 9704(g) (relating to payment of premiums)

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new para11 graph:

12 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR RELATED PERSONS.—

13 If any related person of an assigned operator is re14 quired under subsection (a) to pay the annual pre15 mium of that operator, the amount of such premium

16 shall be the same as the amount assessed the as17 signed operator.’’

18 TITLE III—OTHER PROVISIONS

19 SEC. 301. COVERAGE OF BENEFICIARIES OF 1988 AGREE20 MENT OPERATORS PAYING WITHDRAWAL LI21 ABILITY.

22 (a) TERMINATION OF OBLIGATIONS UNDER INDIVID23 UAL EMPLOYER PLANS.—Section 9711 (relating to con24 tinued obligation of individual employer plans) is amended

25 by adding at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1988 AGREEMENT OPERA2 TORS WITH CONTRACTUAL WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a) and (b)

4 shall not apply to an applicable last signatory opera5 tor.

6 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE LAST SIGNATORY OPERA7 TOR.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘ap8 plicable last signatory operator’ means a 1988

9 agreement operator which—

10 ‘‘(A) was assessed and paid contractual

11 withdrawal liability to the 1950 UMWA Benefit

12 Plan, the 1974 UMWA Benefit Plan, or the

13 Combined Fund, or

14 ‘‘(B) has a contingent liability for any con15 tractual withdrawal liability payment described

16 in subparagraph (A).’’

17 (b) COVERAGE OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER 1992

18 PLAN.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9712(b)(2) (defining

20 eligible beneficiary) is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub23 paragraph (B), and by inserting after subpara24 graph (B) the following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(C) with respect to whom coverage would

2 be required to be provided under section 9711

3 but for subsection (h) thereof,’’, and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘,

5 (B), or (C)’’.

6 (2) FINANCING.—Section 9712(d) (relating to

7 guarantee of benefits) is amended by adding at the

8 end the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(7) SPECIAL RULES FOR BENEFICIARIES OF

10 1988 WITHDRAWAL OPERATORS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any amount payable

12 under this subsection with respect to an eligible

13 beneficiary or potentially eligible beneficiary at14 tributable to a 1988 last signatory operator

15 which is an applicable last signatory operator—

16 ‘‘(i) shall first be paid by the Com17 bined Fund from amounts segregated for

18 such purpose with respect to the operator

19 under subparagraph (B), and

20 ‘‘(ii) if the amounts described in

21 clause (i) are exhausted, shall then be paid

22 by the operator.

23 ‘‘(B) SEGREGATION OF FUNDS.—The

24 trustees of the Combined Fund shall establish

25 a separate segregated account for each applica-
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1 ble last signatory operator. The trustees shall

2 transfer to each such account the amount of

3 withdrawal liability described in section 9711

4 (h)(2)(A) paid by such operator or any prede5 cessor. Any assets in such accounts (and any li6 abilities arising therefrom) shall not be taken

7 into account for purposes of subchapter A.

8 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE LAST SIGNATORY OPER9 ATOR.—For purposes of this paragraph, the

10 term ‘applicable last signatory operator’ has the

11 meaning given such term by section

12 9711(h)(2).’’

13 (3) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OR ASSESS14 MENT OF WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY.—Section 9708

15 (relating to effect on pending claims or obligations)

16 is amended—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘All liability’’ and insert18 ing:

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—All liability’’,

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in

21 subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘However’’, and

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new

23 subsection:

24 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN WITHDRAWAL LI25 ABILITY.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the trustees of
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1 the Combined Fund shall, on and after the date of the

2 enactment of this subsection, cease to assess, collect, or

3 attempt to collect any contractual withdrawal liability

4 under Section (i) or (j) of Article XX of the 1988 National

5 Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement.’’

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

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

8 this section shall apply to benefits provided to eligi9 ble beneficiaries for months beginning after the 60th

10 day after the date of the enactment of this Act.

11 (2) PROHIBITION.—The amendment made by

12 subsection (b)(3) shall take effect on the date of the

13 enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 302. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9704(h) (relating to infor16 mation) is amended by adding at the end the following

17 new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO CONTRIBUTORS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The trustees of the

20 Combined Fund shall, within 30 days of a writ21 ten request, make available to any person re22 quired to make contributions to the Combined

23 Fund or their agent—

24 ‘‘(i) all documents which reflect the

25 Combined Fund’s financial and operational
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1 status, including documents under which it

2 is operated, and

3 ‘‘(ii) all documents prepared at the re4 quest of the trustees or staff of the Com5 bined Fund which form the basis for any

6 of its actions or reports, including the eli7 gibility of participants in predecessor

8 plans.

9 ‘‘(B) FEES.—The trustees may charge rea10 sonable fees (not in excess of actual expenses)

11 for providing documents under this paragraph.’’

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9704(h) is

13 amended by striking ‘‘(h) INFORMATION.—The’’ and in14 serting:

15 ‘‘(h) INFORMATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION TO SECRETARY.—The’’.

Æ