I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2403 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2015 

Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia, 

Mr. CLAY, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. 

BROWNLEY of California, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, 

Mr. BOST, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. WHITFIELD, 

Ms. SINEMA, Ms. KAPTUR, and Ms. FUDGE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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. 

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 ‘‘Coal Healthcare and 

5 Pensions Protection Act 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.— 

17 Such excess shall be calculated by taking 

18 into account only— 

19 ‘‘(I) those beneficiaries actually 

20 enrolled in the Plan as of the date of 

21 enactment of the Coal Healthcare and 

22 Pensions Protection Act of 2015, who 

23 are eligible to receive health benefits 

24 under the Plan on the first day of the 

25 calendar year for which the transfer is 

26 made; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) those beneficiaries whose 

2 health benefits, defined as those bene3 fits payable directly by an employer in 

4 the bituminous coal industry under a 

5 coal wage agreement (defined in sec6 tion 9701(b)(1) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986) as a result of a 

8 bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 

9 2012, would be denied or reduced. 

10 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual re11 ferred to in clause (ii)(II) shall be consid12 ered eligible to receive health benefits 

13 under the Plan. 

14 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANS15 FER.—A transfer under this subparagraph 

16 shall be in an amount equal to the excess 

17 calculated under clause (i), and reduced by 

18 any amount transferred from a voluntary 

19 employees’ beneficiary association estab20 lished as a result of such bankruptcy pro21 ceeding to the Plan to pay benefits re22 quired under the Plan. 

23 ‘‘(v) VEBA TRANSFER.—The admin24 istrator of such voluntary employees’ bene25 ficiary association shall transfer to the 


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1 Plan any amounts received as a result of 

2 such bankruptcy proceeding, reduced by an 

3 amount for administrative costs of such as4 sociation.’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (i)— 

6 (A) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

7 paragraph (5); and 

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

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—If the dollar limita12 tion specified in paragraph (3)(A) exceeds the 

13 aggregate amount required to be transferred 

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

15 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer an 

16 additional amount, not to exceed the difference 

17 between such dollar limitation and such aggre18 gate amount, to the trustees of the 1974 

19 UMWA Pension Plan to pay benefits required 

20 under that plan. 

21 ‘‘(B) 1974 UMWA PENSION PLAN DE22 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘1974 

23 UMWA Pension Plan’ has the meaning given 

24 the term in section 9701(a)(3) of the Internal 

25 Revenue Code of 1986, but without regard to 


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1 the limitation on participation to individuals 

2 who retired in 1976 and thereafter.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN SUPPLEMENTAL BEN4 EFIT PLANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(p) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN SUPPLEMENTAL

9 BENEFIT PLANS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If contributions are paid by 

11 an employer under a plan that provides supple12 mental benefits solely to participants in a plan de13 scribed in subsection (c) (or a continuation thereof) 

14 that provides pension benefits, such contributions 

15 shall not be deductible under this section nor be 

16 made nondeductible by this section, but the deduct17 ibility thereof shall be governed solely by section 162 

18 (relating to trade or business expenses). 

19 ‘‘(2) TAX TREATMENT OF PLAN.—For purposes 

20 of this title, the trust holding the assets of a plan 

21 to which paragraph (1) applies shall be treated as an 

22 organization exempt from tax under section 501(a). 

23 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS OTHER

24 THAN TO OR FROM A TRUST.—For purposes of this 

25 subsection, payments made by an employer to the 


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1 trustees of a plan described in paragraph (1), and 

2 benefits paid by the trustees of such plan, shall be 

3 treated as contributions paid to, and benefits paid 

4 from, such plan without regard to whether the con5 tributions are paid into, or benefits paid from, the 

6 trust holding the assets of such plan.’’. 

7 (b) EXCLUSION FROM WAGES.— 

8 (1) PAYROLL TAXES.—Section 3121(a)(5) of 

9 such Code is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara11 graph (H); 

12 (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara13 graph (I); and 

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

15 subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(J) under a plan to which section 

17 404(p)(1) applies;’’. 

18 (2) COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT SOURCE.— 

19 Section 3401(a)(12) of such Code is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(F) under a plan to which section 

22 404(p)(1) applies, or’’. 

23 (3) UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES.—Section 3306(b) 

24 of such Code is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para2 graph (19); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 paragraph (20) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(21) any payment made to or for the benefit 

8 of an individual under a plan to which section 

9 404(p)(1) applies.’’. 

Æ 


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