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retary has requested information from the
plan sponsor and such information has not
been provided.
‘‘(D) SEPARATE
MORTALITY
TABLES
FOR
THE DISABLED.—Notwithstanding subparagraph
(A)—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall
establish mortality tables which may be
used (in lieu of the tables under subpara-
graph (A)) under this subsection for indi-
viduals who are entitled to benefits under
the plan on account of disability. The Sec-
retary shall establish separate tables for in-
dividuals whose disabilities occur in plan
years beginning before January 1, 1995,
and for individuals whose disabilities occur
in plan years beginning on or after such
date.
‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR DISABILITIES
OCCURRING AFTER 1994.—In the case of dis-
abilities occurring in plan years beginning
after December 31, 1994, the tables under
clause (i) shall apply only with respect to
individuals described in such subclause who
are disabled within the meaning of title II
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of the Social Security Act and the regula-
tions thereunder.
‘‘(iii) PERIODIC REVISION.—The Sec-
retary shall (at least every 10 years) make
revisions in any table in effect under clause
(i) to reflect the actual experience of pension
plans and projected trends in such experi-
ence.
‘‘(E) TRANSITION
RULE.—Under regula-
tions of the Secretary, any difference in present
value resulting from any differences in assump-
tions as set forth in the mortality table specified
in subparagraph (A) and assumptions as set
forth in the mortality table described in section
412(l)(7)(C)(ii) (as in effect for plan years be-
ginning in 2006) shall be phased in ratably over
the first period of 5 plan years beginning in or
after 2007 so as to be fully effective for the fifth
plan year.
‘‘(4) PROBABILITY
OF
BENEFIT
PAYMENTS
IN
THE
FORM
OF
LUMP
SUMS
OR
OTHER
OPTIONAL
FORMS.—For purposes of determining any present
value or making any computation under this section,
there shall be taken into account—
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‘‘(A) the probability that future benefit pay-
ments under the plan will be made in the form
of optional forms of benefits provided under the
plan (including lump sum distributions, deter-
mined on the basis of the plan’s experience and
other related assumptions), and
‘‘(B) any difference in the present value of
such future benefit payments resulting from the
use of actuarial assumptions, in determining
benefit payments in any such optional form of
benefits, which are different from those specified
in this subsection.
‘‘(5) APPROVAL OF LARGE CHANGES IN ACTU-
ARIAL ASSUMPTIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No actuarial assump-
tion used to determine the funding target for a
plan to which this paragraph applies may be
changed without the approval of the Secretary.
‘‘(B) PLANS
TO
WHICH
PARAGRAPH
AP-
PLIES.—This paragraph shall apply to a plan
only if—
‘‘(i) the aggregate unfunded benefits as
of the close of the preceding plan year (as
determined under section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)
of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
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rity Act of 1974) of such plan and all other
plans maintained by the contributing spon-
sors (as defined in section 4001(a)(13) of
such Act) and members of such sponsors’
controlled groups (as defined in section
4001(a)(14) of such Act) which are covered
by title IV of such Act (disregarding plans
with 
no 
unfunded 
benefits) 
exceed
$50,000,000; and
‘‘(ii) the change in assumptions (deter-
mined after taking into account any
changes in interest rate and mortality
table) results in a decrease in the funding
shortfall of the plan for the current plan
year that exceeds $50,000,000, or that ex-
ceeds $5,000,000 and that is 5 percent or
more of the funding target of the plan before
such change.
‘‘(i) SPECIAL RULES FOR AT-RISK PLANS.—
‘‘(1) FUNDING TARGET FOR PLANS IN AT-RISK
STATUS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a plan to
which this subsection applies for a plan year, the
funding target of the plan for the plan year is
equal to the present value of all liabilities to par-
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ticipants and their beneficiaries under the plan
for the plan year, as determined by using the ad-
ditional actuarial assumptions described in sub-
paragraph (B).
‘‘(B) 
ADDITIONAL
ACTUARIAL
ASSUMP-
TIONS.—The actuarial assumptions described in
this subparagraph are as follows:
‘‘(i) All employees who are not other-
wise assumed to retire as of the valuation
date but who will be eligible to elect benefits
during the plan year and the 7 succeeding
plan years shall be assumed to retire at the
earliest retirement date under the plan but
not before the end of the plan year for which
the at-risk target liability and at-risk target
normal cost are being determined.
‘‘(ii) All employees shall be assumed to
elect the retirement benefit available under
the plan at the assumed retirement age (de-
termined after application of clause (i))
which would result in the highest present
value of liabilities.
‘‘(2) 
TARGET
NORMAL
COST
OF
AT-RISK
PLANS.—In the case of a plan to which this subsection
applies for a plan year, the target normal cost of the
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plan for such plan year shall be equal to the present
value of all benefits which are expected to accrue or
be earned under the plan during the plan year, deter-
mined using the additional actuarial assumptions de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(B).
‘‘(3) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—In no event shall—
‘‘(A) the at-risk target liability be less than
the target liability, as determined without regard
to this subsection, or
‘‘(B) the at-risk target normal cost be less
than the target normal cost, as determined with-
out regard to this subsection.
‘‘(4) DETERMINATION OF AT-RISK STATUS.—For
purposes of this subsection, a plan is in at-risk status
for a plan year if—
‘‘(A) the plan is maintained by a finan-
cially-weak employer, and
‘‘(B) the funding target attainment percent-
age for the plan year is less than 93 percent.
‘‘(5) FINANCIALLY-WEAK EMPLOYER.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘financially-weak employer’
means any employer if—
‘‘(i) as of the valuation date for each
of the years during a period of at least 3
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consecutive plan years ending with the plan
year—
‘‘(I) the employer has an out-
standing senior unsecured debt instru-
ment which is rated lower than invest-
ment grade by each of the nationally
recognized statistical rating organiza-
tions for corporate bonds that has
issued a credit rating for such instru-
ment, or
‘‘(II) if no such debt instrument
has been rated by such an organization
but 1 or more of such organizations
has made an issuer credit rating for
such employer, all such organizations
which have so rated the employer have
rated such employer lower than invest-
ment grade, and
‘‘(ii) at least 2 of the years during such
period are deterioration years.
If an employer is treated as a financially-weak
employer for any plan year, clause (ii) shall not
apply in determining whether the employer is so
treated for any succeeding plan year in any con-
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tinuous period of plan years for which the em-
ployer is treated as a financially-weak employer.
‘‘(B) CONTROLLED GROUP EXCEPTION.—If
an employer treated as a financially-weak em-
ployer under subparagraph (A) is a member of
a controlled group (as defined in section
412(e)(4)), the employer shall not be treated as
a financially-weak employer if a significant
member (as determined under regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary) of such group has an
outstanding senior unsecured debt instrument
that is rated as being investment grade by an or-
ganization described in subparagraph (A).
‘‘(C) EMPLOYERS WITH NO RATINGS.—If—
‘‘(i) an employer has no debt instru-
ment described in subparagraph (A)(i)
which was rated by an organization de-
scribed in such subparagraph, and
‘‘(ii) no such organization has made
an issuer credit rating for such employer,
then such employer shall only be treated as a fi-
nancially-weak employer to the extent provided
in regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
‘‘(6) 
DETERMINATION
OF
DETERIORATION
YEAR.—For purposes of paragraph (5), the term ‘de-
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terioration year’ means any year during the period
described in paragraph (5)(A)(i) for which the rating
described in subclause (I) or (II) of paragraph
(5)(A)(i) by each organization is either—
‘‘(A) lower than the lowest rating of the em-
ployer by such organization for a preceding year
in such period, or
‘‘(B) the lowest rating used by such organi-
zation.
‘‘(7) YEARS
BEFORE
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—For
purposes of paragraphs (5) and (6), plan years begin-
ning before 2007 shall not be taken into account.
‘‘(8) TRANSITION BETWEEN APPLICABLE FUND-
ING
TARGETS
AND
BETWEEN
APPLICABLE
TARGET
NORMAL COSTS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which a
plan which is in at-risk status for a plan year
has been in such status for a consecutive period
of fewer than 5 plan years, the applicable
amount of the funding target and of the target
normal cost shall be, in lieu of the amount deter-
mined without regard to this paragraph, the sum
of—
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‘‘(i) the amount determined under this
section without regard to this subsection,
plus
‘‘(ii) the transition percentage for such
plan year of the excess of the amount deter-
mined under this subsection (without regard
to this paragraph) over the amount deter-
mined under this section without regard to
this subsection.
‘‘(B) IMPROVEMENT YEARS NOT TAKEN INTO
ACCOUNT.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—An improvement
year shall not be taken into account in de-
termining any consecutive period of plan
years for purposes of subparagraph (A).
‘‘(ii) APPLICATION
OF
SUBSECTION
AFTER
IMPROVEMENT
YEAR
ENDS.—Plan
years immediately before and after an im-
provement year (or consecutive period of
improvement years) shall be treated as con-
secutive for purposes of subparagraph (A).
‘‘(iii) IMPROVEMENT YEAR.—For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘im-
provement year’ means any plan year for
which any rating described in subclause (I)
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or (II) of paragraph (5)(A)(i) is higher
than such rating for the preceding plan
year.
‘‘(C) TRANSITION PERCENTAGE.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), the transition per-
centage shall be determined in accordance with
the following table:
‘‘If the consecutive number of
years (including the plan year)
The transition
the plan is in at-risk status is—
percentage is—
1 ......................................................................................................
2 ......................................................................................................
3 ......................................................................................................
4 ......................................................................................................
80.
‘‘(D) YEARS
BEFORE
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—
For purposes of this paragraph, plan years be-
ginning before 2007 shall not be taken into ac-
count.
‘‘(9) PLANS TO WHICH SUBSECTION APPLIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
this paragraph, this subsection shall apply to
any plan to which this section applies and which
is in at-risk status for the plan year.
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR SMALL PLANS.—This
subsection shall not apply to a plan for a plan
year if the plan was described in subsection
(g)(2)(B) for the preceding plan year, deter-
mined by substituting ‘500’ for ‘100’.
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‘‘(C) EXCEPTION
FOR
PLANS
MAINTAINED
BY
CERTAIN
COOPERATIVES.—This subsection
shall not apply to an eligible cooperative plan
described in subparagraph (D).
‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE
COOPERATIVE
PLAN
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of subparagraph (C), a
plan shall be treated as an eligible cooperative
plan for a plan year if the plan is maintained
by more than 1 employer and at least 85 percent
of the employers are—
‘‘(i) rural cooperatives (as defined in
section 401(k)(7)(B) without regard to
clause (iv) thereof), or
‘‘(ii) organizations which are—
‘‘(I) cooperative organizations de-
scribed in section 1381(a) which are
more than 50-percent owned by agri-
cultural producers or by cooperatives
owned by agricultural producers, or
‘‘(II) more than 50-percent owned,
or controlled by, one or more coopera-
tive organizations described in sub-
clause (I).
A plan shall also be treated as an eligible cooper-
ative plan for any plan year for which it is de-
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scribed in section 210(a) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 and is main-
tained by a rural telephone cooperative associa-
tion described in section 3(40)(B)(v) of such Act.
‘‘(E) EXCEPTION FOR PLANS SECURED BY
THIRD PARTIES BOUND BY PBGC AGREEMENTS.—
This subsection shall not apply to any plan if—
‘‘(i) a person other than the employer
obligated to contribute under the plan is,
under the terms of an agreement with the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, lia-
ble for any failure of the employer to meet
its obligation to pay any minimum re-
quired contribution or termination liability
with respect to the plan; and
‘‘(ii) such person is not a financially-
weak employer under paragraph (5).
‘‘(j) PAYMENT
OF MINIMUM REQUIRED CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section,
the due date for any payment of any minimum re-
quired contribution for any plan year shall be 81⁄2
months after the close of the plan year.
‘‘(2) INTEREST.—Any payment required under
paragraph (1) for a plan year made after the valu-
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ation date for such plan year shall be increased by in-
terest for the period from the valuation date to the
payment date, determined by using the effective rate
of interest for the plan for such plan year.
‘‘(3) ACCELERATED QUARTERLY CONTRIBUTION
SCHEDULE FOR UNDERFUNDED PLANS.—
‘‘(A) INTEREST PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO
MEET
ACCELERATED
QUARTERLY
PAYMENT
SCHEDULE.—A plan shall make the required in-
stallments under this paragraph for a plan year
if the plan had a funding shortfall for the pre-
ceding plan year. If the required installment is
not paid in full, then the minimum required
contribution for the plan year (as increased
under paragraph (2)) shall be further increased
by an amount equal to the interest on the
amount of the underpayment for the period of
the underpayment, using an interest rate equal
to the excess of—
‘‘(i) 175 percent of the Federal mid-
term rate (as in effect under section 1274
for the 1st month of such plan year), over
‘‘(ii) the effective rate of interest for the
plan for the plan year.
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‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF UNDERPAYMENT, PERIOD
OF UNDERPAYMENT.—For purposes of subpara-
graph (A)—
‘‘(i) AMOUNT.—The amount of the un-
derpayment shall be the excess of—
‘‘(I) the required installment, over
‘‘(II) the amount (if any) of the
installment contributed to or under the
plan on or before the due date for the
installment.
‘‘(ii) PERIOD
OF
UNDERPAYMENT.—
The period for which any interest is charged
under this paragraph with respect to any
portion of the underpayment shall run from
the due date for the installment to the date
on which such portion is contributed to or
under the plan.
‘‘(iii) ORDER
OF
CREDITING
CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—For 
purposes 
of 
clause
(i)(II), contributions shall be credited
against unpaid required installments in the
order in which such installments are re-
quired to be paid.