SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Older Workers Pension
Protection Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. NOTICE AND ELECTION TO CONTINUE BENEFIT AC-
CRUALS UNDER FORMER DEFINED BENEFIT
PLAN INSTEAD OF UNDER CASH BALANCE
PLAN.
(a) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—
Paragraph (6) of section 411(d) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (relating to accrued benefit may not be de-
creased by amendment) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF PLAN AMENDMENTS
WEARING AWAY ACCRUED BENEFIT.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of
subparagraph (A), a plan amendment
adopted by a large defined benefit plan
shall be treated as reducing accrued bene-
fits of a participant if, under the terms of
the plan after the adoption of the amend-
ment, the accrued benefit of the partici-
pant may at any time be less than the sum
of—
‘‘(I) the participant’s accrued
benefit for years of service before the
effective date of the amendment, de-
termined under the terms of the plan
as in effect immediately before the ef-
fective date, plus
‘‘(II) the participant’s accrued
benefit determined under the formula
applicable to benefit accruals under
the current plan as applied to years of
service after such effective date.
‘‘(ii) ELECTION
TO
CONTINUE
BEN-
EFIT ACCRUALS UNDER FORMER DEFINED
BENEFIT PLAN INSTEAD OF UNDER CASH
BALANCE PLAN.—
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes
of subparagraph (A), in the case of a
plan amendment adopted by a defined
benefit plan that reduces accrued ben-
efits of a participant (determined
without regard to clause (i)), such de-
fined benefit plan shall be treated as
not satisfying the requirements of this
section unless such plan provides each
participant who has a nonforfeitable
right to 100 percent of his accrued
benefits with notice which meets the
requirements of subclause (II) and an
election to continue to accrue benefits
under such plan, determined under
the terms of such plan as in effect im-
mediately before the effective date of
such plan amendment.
‘‘(II) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—
For purposes of subclause (I), a no-
tice meets the requirements of this
subclause if the notice is written in a
manner calculated to be understood
by the average plan participant, pro-
vides sufficient information (as deter-
mined in accordance with regulations
prescribed by the Secretary) to allow
applicable individuals to understand
the effect of the plan amendment, and
is provided within a reasonable time
before the effective date of the plan
amendment. Notice shall not be treat-
ed as failing to meet the requirements
of the preceding sentence merely be-
cause notice is provided before the
adoption of the plan amendment if no
material modification of the amend-
ment occurs before the amendment is
adopted.
‘‘(iii) 
LARGE
DEFINED
BENEFIT
PLAN.—For purposes of this subpara-
graph, the term ‘large defined benefit plan’
means any defined benefit plan which had
100 or more participants who had accrued
a benefit under the plan (whether or not
vested) as of the last day of the plan year
preceding the plan year in which the plan
amendment becomes effective.
‘‘(iv) PROTECTED
ACCRUED
BEN-
EFIT.—For purposes of this subparagraph,
an accrued benefit shall include any early
retirement benefit or retirement-type sub-
sidy (within the meaning of subparagraph
(B)(i)), but only with respect to a partici-
pant who satisfies (either before or after
the effective date of the amendment) the
conditions for the benefit or subsidy under
the terms of the plan as in effect imme-
diately before such date.’’
(b) AMENDMENT OF ERISA.—Section 204(g) of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(4)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1), a plan
amendment adopted by a large defined benefit plan shall
be treated as reducing accrued benefits of a participant
if, under the terms of the plan after the adoption of the
amendment, the accrued benefit of the participant may at
any time be less than the sum of—
‘‘(i) the participant’s accrued benefit for years
of service before the effective date of the amend-
ment, determined under the terms of the plan as in
effect immediately before the effective date, plus
‘‘(ii) the participant’s accrued benefit deter-
mined under the formula applicable to benefit accru-
als under the current plan as applied to years of
service after such effective date.
‘‘(B)(i) For purposes of paragraph (1), in the case
of a plan amendment adopted by a defined benefit plan
that reduces accrued benefits of a participant (determined
without regard to subparagraph (A)), such defined benefit
plan shall be treated as not satisfying the requirements
of this section unless such plan provides each participant
who has a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of his ac-
crued benefits with notice which meets the requirements
of clause (ii) and an election to continue to accrue benefits
under such plan, determined under the terms of such plan
as in effect immediately before the effective date of such
plan amendment.
‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), a notice meets the
requirements of this clause if the notice is written in a
manner calculated to be understood by the average plan
participant, provides sufficient information (as determined
in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Sec-
retary) to allow applicable individuals to understand the
effect of the plan amendment, and is provided within a
reasonable time before the effective date of the plan
amendment. Notice shall not be treated as failing to meet
the requirements of the preceding sentence merely because
notice is provided before the adoption of the plan amend-
ment if no material modification of the amendment occurs
before the amendment is adopted.
‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘large
defined benefit plan’ means any defined benefit plan which
had 100 or more participants who had accrued a benefit
under the plan (whether or not vested) as of the last day
of the plan year preceding the plan year in which the plan
amendment becomes effective.
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, an accrued ben-
efit shall include any early retirement benefit or retire-
ment-type subsidy (within the meaning of paragraph
(2)(A)), but only with respect to a participant who satis-
fies (either before or after the effective date of the amend-
ment) the conditions for the benefit or subsidy under the
terms of the plan as in effect immediately before such
date.’’
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to plan amendments adopted after
June 29, 1999.
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