SEC. 412. CIVIL PENALTY FOR BREACH OF FIDUCIARY RE-
SPONSIBILITY.
(a) IMPOSITION AND AMOUNT OF PENALTY MADE
DISCRETIONARY.—Section 502(l)(1) of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132(l))
is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘may’’,
and
(2) by striking ‘‘equal to’’ and inserting ‘‘not
greater than’’.
(b) 
APPLICABLE
RECOVERY
AMOUNT.—Section
502(l)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132(l)(2)) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘appli-
cable recovery amount’ means any amount which is recov-
ered from (or on behalf of) any fiduciary or other person
with respect to a breach or violation described in para-
graph (1) on or after the 30th day following receipt by
the fiduciary or other person of written notice from the
Secretary of the violation, whether paid voluntarily or by
order of a court in a judicial proceeding instituted by the
Secretary under subsection (a)(2) or (a)(5). The Secretary
may, in the Secretary’s sole discretion, extend the 30-day
period described in the preceding sentence.’’.
(c) OTHER RULES.—Section 502(l) of such Act (29
U.S.C. 1132(l)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraphs:
‘‘(5) A person shall be jointly and severally liable for
the penalty described in paragraph (1) to the same extent
that the person is jointly and severally liable for the appli-
cable recovery amount on which the penalty is based.
‘‘(6) No penalty shall be assessed under this sub-
section unless the person against whom the penalty is as-
sessed is given notice and opportunity for a hearing with
respect to the violation and applicable recovery amount.
‘‘(7) The Secretary, in his or her discretion, may pro-
vide for payment of some or all of any penalty assessed
under this subsection to the individual or individuals ag-
grieved by the violation giving rise to the penalty.’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to any breach of fiduciary re-
sponsibility or other violation of part 4 of title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 occurring on or after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(2) 
TRANSITION
RULE.—In 
applying 
the
amendment made by subsection (b) (relating to ap-
plicable recovery amount), a breach or other viola-
tion occurring before the date of the enactment of
this Act which continues after the 180th day after
that date (and which may be discontinued at any
time during its existence) shall be treated as having
occurred after the date of enactment.
SEC. 413. ASSESSMENT BY SECRETARY OF LABOR OF PEN-
ALTIES FOR FAILURES TO MEET DISCLOSURE
REQUIREMENTS.
(a) FAILURES BY PLAN ADMINISTRATOR.—Section
502(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132(c)(1)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(c)(1)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(B) In addition to any remedy provided under sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary may assess against any plan
administrator a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 a
day from the date of any failure or refusal by such plan
administrator described in subparagraph (A).’’.
(b) FAILURES BY EMPLOYERS.—Section 502(c)(3) of
such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132(c)(3)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(3)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(B) In addition to any remedy provided under sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary may assess against any em-
ployer a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 a day from
the date of any failure by such employer described in sub-
paragraph (A).’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply with respect to failures and refus-
als occurring on or after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 414. MISSING PARTICIPANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4050 of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1350)
is amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection
(e) and by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsections:
‘‘(c) MULTIEMPLOYER
PLANS.—The corporation
shall prescribe rules similar to the rules in subsection (a)
for multiemployer plans covered by this title that termi-
nate under section 4041A.
‘‘(d) PLANS NOT OTHERWISE SUBJECT TO TITLE.—
‘‘(1) TRANSFER TO CORPORATION.—The plan
administrator of a plan described in paragraph (4)
may elect to transfer a missing participant’s benefits
to the corporation upon termination of the plan.
‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO THE CORPORATION.—To
the extent provided in regulations, the plan adminis-
trator of a plan described in paragraph (4) shall,
upon termination of the plan, provide the corpora-
tion information with respect to benefits of a miss-
ing participant if the plan transfers such benefits—
‘‘(A) to the corporation, or
‘‘(B) to an entity other than the corpora-
tion or a plan described in paragraph (4)(B)(ii).
‘‘(3) PAYMENT BY THE CORPORATION.—If ben-
efits of a missing participant were transferred to the
corporation under paragraph (1), the corporation
shall, upon location of the participant or beneficiary,
pay to the participant or beneficiary the amount
transferred (or the appropriate survivor benefit)
either—
‘‘(A) in a single sum (plus interest), or
‘‘(B) in such other form as is specified in
regulations of the corporation.
‘‘(4) PLANS DESCRIBED.—A plan is described
in this paragraph if—
‘‘(A) the plan is a pension plan (within the
meaning of section 3(2))—
‘‘(i) to which the provisions of this
section do not apply (without regard to
this subsection), and
‘‘(ii) which is not a plan described in
paragraphs (2) through (11) of section
4021(b), and
‘‘(B) at the time the assets are to be dis-
tributed upon termination, the plan—
‘‘(i) has missing participants, and
‘‘(ii) has not provided for the transfer
of assets to pay the benefits of all missing
participants to another pension plan (with-
in the meaning of section 3(2)).
‘‘(5) CERTAIN PROVISIONS NOT TO APPLY.—
Subsections (a)(1) and (a)(3) shall not apply to a
plan described in paragraph (4).’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 206(f) of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(29 U.S.C. 1056(f)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘title IV’’ and inserting ‘‘section
4050’’, and
(2) by striking ‘‘the plan shall provide that,’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to distributions made after 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 415. INCREASE IN GUARANTEED BENEFIT LEVEL FOR
MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4022A(c) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1322a(c)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘$5’’ each place it appears in
paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘$11’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘$15’’ in paragraph (1) and in-
serting ‘‘$33’’;
(3) by striking paragraphs (2), (5), and (6);
and
(4) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as
paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to any multiemployer plan that has
not received financial assistance (within the meaning of
section 4261 of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974) within the 1-year period ending on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE 
V—IMPROVED 
PENSION
PROTECTIONS 
FOR 
THE
CHANGING WORKFORCE
SEC. 501. LOANS FROM RETIREMENT PLANS FOR HEALTH
INSURANCE AND JOB TRAINING EXPENSES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056)
(as amended by sections 201 and 308) is amended further
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(i) LOANS FROM RETIREMENT PLANS FOR HEALTH
INSURANCE AND JOB TRAINING EXPENSES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subsection, a pension plan shall
provide that a participant or beneficiary who is in-
voluntarily separated from employment may, on the
date of such separation, obtain a loan from the plan
the proceeds of which are to be used within 6
months after the date of such loan—
‘‘(A) for payments for insurance which
constitutes medical care for the participant and
the participant’s spouse and dependents, or
‘‘(B) for job training expenses.
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED LOAN.—For purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘qualified loan’ means a loan—
‘‘(A) which by its terms requires interest
on the loan to accrue not less frequently than
monthly,
‘‘(B) which by its terms requires—
‘‘(i) repayment to begin not later than
18 months after the date of the loan, and
‘‘(ii) repayment in full not later the
date which is 36 months after the date of
the loan, and
‘‘(C) which bears interest from the date of
the loan at a rate not less than 2 percentage
points below, and not more than 2 percentage
points above, the rate for comparable United
States Treasury obligations on such date.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF LOANS.—The
aggregate amount of borrowings for a plan year
shall not exceed the sum of the amount of accruals
(other than contributions) during the plan year prior
to the plan year in which the loan is made.
‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF LOANS.—Not
more than 3 loans to an individual under this sub-
section may be outstanding at any time.
‘‘(5) DELINQUENCIES TREATED AS DISTRIBU-
TION.—Any amount required to be paid by a partici-
pant or beneficiary under paragraph (2)(B) during
any plan year which is not paid at the time required
to be paid, and any amount remaining unpaid as of
the beginning of the plan year beginning after the
period described in paragraph (2)(B)(ii), shall be
treated as distributed during such plan year to the
participant or beneficiary.’’.
(b) PROHIBITED TRANSACTION EXEMPTION.—Sec-
tion 408(b) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1108(b)) is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(14) Any loan made by the plan to a disquali-
fied person who is a participant or beneficiary of the
plan if such loan—
‘‘(A) is for the payment of health insur-
ance premiums or job training expenses, and
‘‘(B) meets the requirements of section
206(i).’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to loans made after the effective
date specified in section 601.
SEC. 502. IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTIONS PERMITTED ONLY IF
DISTRIBUTION ROLLED TO A QUALIFIED
PLAN.
(a) VESTING.—Subsection (e) of section 203 of Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); and
(2) by striking all that precedes paragraph (4)
(as redesignated) and inserting the following:
‘‘(e)(1) A pension plan shall provide that the non-
forfeitable benefit with respect to a participant in the plan
(to the extent the distribution of such benefit is otherwise
includible in gross income) may be immediately distributed
only in a trustee-to-trustee transfer to a qualified plan of
such individual which is specified by such individual.
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘quali-
fied plan’ means a plan, contract, pension, or trust de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 219(g)(5)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(3) This subsection shall not apply in any case in
which the present value of the nonforfeitable benefit with
respect to the participant (calculated in accordance with
section 205(g)(3)) does not exceed $500.’’.
(b) JOINT
AND
SURVIVOR
ANNUITIES.—Section
205(g) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1055(g)) is amended by
striking so much as precedes paragraph (3) and inserting
the following:
‘‘(g) RESTRICTIONS
ON
IMMEDIATE
DISTRIBU-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A pension plan may pro-
vide that the present value of a qualified joint and
survivor annuity under the plan or a qualified pre-
retirement survivor annuity under the plan (to the
extent the distribution of such value is otherwise in-
cludible in gross income) will be immediately distrib-
uted, but only if (in any case in which such value
exceeds $500)—
‘‘(A) the participant and the spouse of the
participant (or where the participant has died,
the surviving spouse) do not elect payment of
the distribution to themselves, and
‘‘(B) such distribution is made in a trust-
ee-to-trustee transfer to 1 or more qualified
plans in accordance with paragraph (2).
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED PLAN.—An
immediate distribution described in paragraph (1)
may be made only to 1 or more qualified plans of
the participant or spouse designated by the partici-
pant and spouse (or where the participant has died,
the surviving spouse) or (if no such qualified plan is
so designated) to a qualified plan designated by the
administrator of such pension plan.
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PLAN.—For purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘qualified plan’ means a plan,
contract, pension, or trust described in subpara-
graph (A) or (B) of section 219(g)(5) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.’’.
SEC. 503. PROMPT DISTRIBUTION FROM DEFINED CON-
TRIBUTION PLANS UPON TERMINATION OF
PARTICIPANT’S COVERED EMPLOYMENT.
Section 206(a) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively,
and by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’;
(2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘pension
plan’’ and inserting ‘‘defined benefit plan’’;
(3) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘In the
case of a plan’’ and inserting ‘‘In the case of a de-
fined benefit plan’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
each defined contribution plan shall provide that, unless
the participant otherwise elects—
‘‘(i) the payment of benefits under the plan to
the participant will begin not later than the 60th
day after the close of the plan year in which occurs
the date on which the participant attains the earlier
of age 65 or the normal retirement age specified
under the plan, and
‘‘(ii) in any case in which the participant termi-
nates his service with the employer prior to the date
described in clause (i), the participant’s accrued ben-
efit shall be distributed, in the form of one or more
rollover 
contributions 
under 
section 
402(c),
403(a)(4), or 403(b)(8) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of section
408(d)(3)(A) of such Code, section 411(a)(12) of
such Code, or section 457(e)(16) of such Code, not
later than the 60th day after the date of the partici-
pant’s termination of such service.
‘‘(B) In any case in which immediate valuation of the
participant’s accrued benefit is not practicable, the plan
may provide for a period of more than 60 days in lieu
of the 60-day period described in clauses (i) and (ii) of
subparagraph (A), except that any such longer period pro-
vided by the plan may not extend beyond 60 days after
the applicable valuation date under the plan.’’.
SEC. 504. EXTENDED PERIOD FOR RECOUPMENT OF OVER-
PAYMENTS.
Section 206 of the Employee Retirement Income Se-
curity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056) (as amended by sec-
tions 201, 308, and 501(a)) is amended further by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(j) RECOUPMENT OF BENEFIT OVERPAYMENTS.—
‘‘(1) MINIMUM
PERIOD
FOR
RECOUPMENT.—
Any minimum period specified by an employee pen-
sion benefit plan during which an overpayment of
benefits under the plan must be repaid to the plan
may not be less than the 5-year period beginning on
the date of the overpayment.
‘‘(2) WAIVER
PERMITTED.—Nothing in this
title shall be construed to preclude the waiver by any
fiduciary on behalf of the plan of any overpayment
of benefits to a participant or beneficiary in any case
in which such participant or beneficiary is without
fault if recovery of the overpayment would defeat the
purpose of this title or would be against equity and
good conscience, and any such waiver may not be
precluded under the terms of the plan. In making
for purposes of this subsection any determination of
whether any participant or beneficiary is without
fault, the fiduciary shall specifically take into ac-
count any physical, mental, educational, or linguistic
limitation such participant or beneficiary may have
(including any lack of facility with the English lan-
guage).’’.
TITLE VI—GENERAL
PROVISIONS
SEC. 601. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
this Act, and subject to subsection (b), the amendments
made by this Act shall apply with respect to plan years
beginning on or after January 1, 2001.
(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR COLLECTIVELY BARGAINED
PLANS.—In the case of a plan maintained pursuant to 1
or more collective bargaining agreements between em-
ployee representatives and 1 or more employers ratified
on or before the date of the enactment of this Act, sub-
section (a) shall be applied to benefits pursuant to, and
individuals covered by, any such agreement by substituting
for ‘‘January 1, 2001’’ the date of the commencement of
the first plan year beginning on or after the earlier of—
(1) the later of—
(A) January 1, 2002, or
(B) the date on which the last of such col-
lective bargaining agreements terminates (de-
termined without regard to any extension there-
of after the date of the enactment of this Act),
or
(2) January 1, 2003.
SEC. 602. PLAN AMENDMENTS.
If any amendment made by this Act requires an
amendment to any plan, such plan amendment shall not
be required to be made before the first plan year beginning
on or after January 1, 2003, if—
(1) during the period after such amendment
made by this Act takes effect and before such first
plan year, the plan is operated in accordance with
the requirements of such amendment made by this
Act, and
(2) such plan amendment applies retroactively
to the period after such amendment made by this
Act takes effect and such first plan year.
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