320
than six months under regulations prescribed by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(d) EXTENSION OF AMORTIZATION PERIODS FOR 
MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS.—
‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC
EXTENSION
UPON
APPLICA-
TION BY CERTAIN PLANS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the plan sponsor of 
a multiemployer plan—
‘‘(i) submits to the Secretary an appli-
cation for an extension of the period of 
years required to amortize any unfunded 
liability described in any clause of sub-
section (b)(2)(B) or described in subsection 
(b)(4), and 
‘‘(ii) includes with the application a 
certification by the plan’s actuary de-
scribed in subparagraph (B), 
the Secretary shall extend the amortization pe-
riod for the period of time (not in excess of 5 
years) specified in the application. Such exten-
sion shall be in addition to any extension under 
paragraph (2). 
‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—A certification with re-
spect to a multiemployer plan is described in
321
this subparagraph if the plan’s actuary certifies 
that, based on reasonable assumptions—
‘‘(i) absent the extension under sub-
paragraph (A), the plan would have an ac-
cumulated funding deficiency in the cur-
rent plan year or any of the 9 succeeding 
plan years, 
‘‘(ii) the plan sponsor has adopted a 
plan to improve the plan’s funding status, 
‘‘(iii) the plan is projected to have suf-
ficient assets to timely pay expected bene-
fits and anticipated expenditures over the 
amortization period as extended, and 
‘‘(iv) the notice required under para-
graph (3)(A) has been provided. 
‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—The preceding provi-
sions of this paragraph shall not apply with re-
spect to any application submitted after Decem-
ber 31, 2014. 
‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE EXTENSION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the plan sponsor of 
a multiemployer plan submits to the Secretary 
an application for an extension of the period of 
years required to amortize any unfunded liabil-
ity described in any clause of subsection
322
(b)(2)(B) or described in subsection (b)(4), the 
Secretary may extend the amortization period 
for a period of time (not in excess of 10 years 
reduced by the number of years of any exten-
sion under paragraph (1) with respect to such 
unfunded liability) if the Secretary makes the 
determination described in subparagraph (B). 
Such extension shall be in addition to any ex-
tension under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) 
DETERMINATION.—The 
Secretary 
may grant an extension under subparagraph 
(A) if the Secretary determines that—
‘‘(i) such extension would carry out 
the purposes of this Act and would provide 
adequate protection for participants under 
the plan and their beneficiaries, and 
‘‘(ii) the failure to permit such exten-
sion would—
‘‘(I) result in a substantial risk 
to the voluntary continuation of the 
plan, or a substantial curtailment of 
pension benefit levels or employee 
compensation, and 
‘‘(II) be adverse to the interests 
of plan participants in the aggregate.
323
‘‘(C) ACTION
BY
SECRETARY.—The Sec-
retary shall act upon any application for an ex-
tension under this paragraph within 180 days 
of the submission of such application. If the 
Secretary rejects the application for an exten-
sion under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 
provide notice to the plan detailing the specific 
reasons for the rejection, including references to 
the criteria set forth above. 
‘‘(3) ADVANCE NOTICE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 
before granting an extension under this sub-
section, require each applicant to provide evi-
dence satisfactory to such Secretary that the 
applicant has provided notice of the filing of the 
application for such extension to each affected 
party (as defined in section 4001(a)(21) of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974) with respect to the affected plan. Such 
notice shall include a description of the extent 
to which the plan is funded for benefits which 
are guaranteed under title IV of such Act and 
for benefit liabilities. 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION
OF
RELEVANT
IN-
FORMATION.—The Secretary shall consider any
324
relevant information provided by a person to 
whom notice was given under paragraph (1).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to plan years beginning after 
2007. 
(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN AMORTIZATION 
EXTENSIONS.—If the Secretary of the Treasury 
grants an extension under section 304 of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and 
section 412(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
with respect to any application filed with the Sec-
retary of the Treasury on or before June 30, 2005, 
the extension (and any modification thereof) shall be 
applied and administered under the rules of such 
sections as in effect before the enactment of this 
Act, including the use of the rate of interest deter-
mined under section 6621(b) of such Code. 
SEC. 212. ADDITIONAL FUNDING RULES FOR MULTIEM-
PLOYER PLANS IN ENDANGERED OR CRIT-
ICAL STATUS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part III of sub-
chapter D of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (as amended by this Act) is amended by inserting 
after section 431 the following new section: