not be treated as a significant change in 
coverage under section 410(b)(6)(C)(i)(II). 
‘‘(ii) Two or more plans shall not fail 
to be eligible to be aggregated and treated 
as a single plan solely by reason of having 
different plan years. 
‘‘(iii) Changes in the employee popu-
lation shall be disregarded to the extent at-
tributable to individuals who become em-
ployees or cease to be employees, after the 
date the class is closed, by reason of a 
merger, acquisition, divestiture, or similar 
event. 
‘‘(iv) Aggregation and all other testing 
methodologies otherwise applicable under 
subsection (a)(4) and section 410(b) may 
be taken into account. 
The rule of clause (ii) shall also apply for pur-
poses of determining whether plans to which 
subparagraph (B)(i) applies may be aggregated 
and treated as 1 plan for purposes of deter-
mining whether such plans meet the require-
ments of subsection (a)(4) and section 410(b). 
‘‘(J) SPUN-OFF PLANS.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, if a portion of a defined benefit 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
plan described in subparagraph (A) or (B)(iii) 
is spun off to another employer and the spun- 
off plan continues to satisfy the requirements 
of— 
‘‘(i) 
subparagraph 
(A)(i) 
or 
(B)(iii)(II), whichever is applicable, if the 
original plan was still within the 3-year pe-
riod described in such subparagraph at the 
time of the spin off, and 
‘‘(ii) 
subparagraph 
(A)(ii) 
or 
(B)(iii)(III), whichever is applicable, 
the treatment under subparagraph (A) or (B) 
of the spun-off plan shall continue with respect 
to such other employer. 
‘‘(2) TESTING
OF
DEFINED
CONTRIBUTION 
PLANS.— 
‘‘(A) TESTING ON A BENEFITS BASIS.—A 
defined contribution plan shall be permitted to 
be tested on a benefits basis if— 
‘‘(i) such defined contribution plan 
provides make-whole contributions to a 
closed class of participants whose accruals 
under a defined benefit plan have been re-
duced or eliminated, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(ii) for the plan year of the defined 
contribution plan as of which the class eli-
gible to receive such make-whole contribu-
tions closes and the 2 succeeding plan 
years, such closed class of participants sat-
isfies 
the 
requirements 
of 
section 
410(b)(2)(A)(i) (determined by applying 
the rules of paragraph (1)(I)), 
‘‘(iii) after the date as of which the 
class was closed, any plan amendment to 
the defined contribution plan which modi-
fies the closed class or the allocations, ben-
efits, rights, and features provided to such 
closed class does not discriminate signifi-
cantly in favor of highly compensated em-
ployees (determined as of the effective date 
of the amendment), and 
‘‘(iv) the class was closed before April 
5, 2017, or the defined benefit plan under 
clause (i) is described in paragraph (1)(C) 
(as applied for purposes of paragraph 
(1)(B)(iii)(IV)). 
‘‘(B) AGGREGATION WITH PLANS INCLUD-
ING MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to 1 
or more defined contribution plans de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), for purposes 
of determining compliance with subsection 
(a)(4) and section 410(b), the portion of 
such plans which provides make-whole con-
tributions or other nonelective contribu-
tions may be aggregated and tested on a 
benefits basis with the portion of 1 or 
more other defined contribution plans 
which— 
‘‘(I) provides matching contribu-
tions 
(as 
defined 
in 
subsection 
(m)(4)(A)), 
‘‘(II) provides annuity contracts 
described in section 403(b) which are 
purchased with matching contribu-
tions or nonelective contributions, or 
‘‘(III) consists of an employee 
stock ownership plan (within the 
meaning of section 4975(e)(7)) or a 
tax credit employee stock ownership 
plan (within the meaning of section 
409(a)). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULES FOR MATCHING 
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Rules similar to the 
rules of paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall apply 
for purposes of clause (i). 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL
RULES
FOR
TESTING
DE-
FINED
CONTRIBUTION
PLAN
FEATURES
PRO-
VIDING MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN 
OLDER, LONGER
SERVICE
PARTICIPANTS.—In 
the case of a defined contribution plan which 
provides benefits, rights, or features to a closed 
class of participants whose accruals under a de-
fined benefit plan have been reduced or elimi-
nated, the plan shall not fail to satisfy the re-
quirements of subsection (a)(4) solely by reason 
of the composition of the closed class or the 
benefits, rights, or features provided to such 
closed class if the defined contribution plan and 
defined benefit plan otherwise meet the require-
ments of subparagraph (A) but for the fact that 
the make-whole contributions under the defined 
contribution plan are made in whole or in part 
through matching contributions. 
‘‘(D) SPUN-OFF PLANS.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, if a portion of a defined con-
tribution plan described in subparagraph (A) or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(C) is spun off to another employer, the treat-
ment under subparagraph (A) or (C) of the 
spun-off plan shall continue with respect to the 
other employer if such plan continues to comply 
with the requirements of clauses (ii) (if the 
original plan was still within the 3-year period 
described in such clause at the time of the spin 
off) and (iii) of subparagraph (A), as deter-
mined for purposes of subparagraph (A) or (C), 
whichever is applicable. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section— 
‘‘(A) MAKE-WHOLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Ex-
cept as otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(C), 
the term ‘make-whole contributions’ means non-
elective allocations for each employee in the 
class which are reasonably calculated, in a con-
sistent manner, to replace some or all of the re-
tirement benefits which the employee would 
have received under the defined benefit plan 
and any other plan or qualified cash or deferred 
arrangement under subsection (k)(2) if no 
change had been made to such defined benefit 
plan and such other plan or arrangement. For 
purposes of the preceding sentence, consistency 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
shall not be required with respect to employees 
who were subject to different benefit formulas 
under the defined benefit plan. 
‘‘(B) REFERENCES TO CLOSED CLASS OF 
PARTICIPANTS.—References to a closed class of 
participants and similar references to a closed 
class shall include arrangements under which 1 
or more classes of participants are closed, ex-
cept that 1 or more classes of participants 
closed on different dates shall not be aggre-
gated for purposes of determining the date any 
such class was closed. 
‘‘(C) HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE.— 
The term ‘highly compensated employee’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 414(q). 
‘‘(D) DISCRIMINATORY AMENDMENTS.—A 
plan amendment shall be treated as discrimi-
nating significantly in favor of highly com-
pensated employees only if such amendment, if 
adopted before the enactment of this sub-
section, would have been treated as violating 
subsection (a)(4).’’. 
(b) 
PARTICIPATION
REQUIREMENTS.—Paragraph 
(26) of section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(I) PROTECTED PARTICIPANTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A plan shall be 
deemed to satisfy the requirements of sub-
paragraph (A) if— 
‘‘(I) the plan is amended— 
‘‘(aa) to cease all benefit ac-
cruals, or 
‘‘(bb) to provide future ben-
efit accruals only to a closed 
class of participants, 
‘‘(II) the plan satisfies subpara-
graph (A) (without regard to this sub-
paragraph) as of the effective date of 
the amendment, and 
‘‘(III) the amendment was adopt-
ed before April 5, 2017, or the plan is 
described in clause (ii). 
‘‘(ii) PLANS DESCRIBED.—A plan is 
described in this clause if the plan would 
be described in subsection (o)(1)(C), as ap-
plied 
for 
purposes 
of 
subsection 
(o)(1)(B)(iii)(IV) and by treating the effec-
tive date of the amendment as the date the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
class was closed for purposes of subsection 
(o)(1)(C). 
‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes 
of clause (i)(II), in applying section 
410(b)(6)(C), the amendments described in 
clause (i) shall not be treated as a signifi-
cant change in coverage under section 
410(b)(6)(C)(i)(II). 
‘‘(iv) SPUN-OFF
PLANS.—For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, if a portion of 
a plan described in clause (i) is spun off to 
another employer, the treatment under 
clause (i) of the spun-off plan shall con-
tinue with respect to the other employer.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section 
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, without regard to whether any plan modifica-
tions referred to in such amendments are adopted or 
effective before, on, or after such date of enactment. 
(2) SPECIAL RULES.— 
(A) ELECTION
OF
EARLIER
APPLICA-
TION.—At the election of the plan sponsor, the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
amendments made by this section shall apply to 
plan years beginning after December 31, 2013. 
(B) CLOSED CLASSES OF PARTICIPANTS.— 
For 
purposes 
of 
paragraphs 
(1)(A)(iii), 
(1)(B)(iii)(IV), and (2)(A)(iv) of section 401(o) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added 
by this section), a closed class of participants 
shall be treated as being closed before April 5, 
2017, if the plan sponsor’s intention to create 
such closed class is reflected in formal written 
documents and communicated to participants 
before such date. 
(C) 
CERTAIN
POST-ENACTMENT
PLAN 
AMENDMENTS.—A plan shall not be treated as 
failing to be eligible for the application of sec-
tion 
401(o)(1)(A), 
401(o)(1)(B)(iii), 
or 
401(a)(26) of such Code (as added by this sec-
tion) to such plan solely because in the case 
of— 
(i) such section 401(o)(1)(A), the plan 
was amended before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act to eliminate 1 or more 
benefits, rights, or features, and is further 
amended after such date of enactment to 
provide such previously eliminated benefits, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
rights, or features to a closed class of par-
ticipants, or 
(ii) such section 401(o)(1)(B)(iii) or 
section 401(a)(26), the plan was amended 
before the date of the enactment of this 
Act to cease all benefit accruals, and is 
further amended after such date of enact-
ment to provide benefit accruals to a closed 
class of participants. 
Any such section shall only apply if the plan 
otherwise meets the requirements of such sec-
tion and in applying such section, the date the 
class of participants is closed shall be the effec-
tive date of the later amendment. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:15 Apr 13, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1962.IH
H1962
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS