I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2410
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide reductions in
required contributions to the United Mine Workers of America Combined
Benefit Fund, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 27, 1995
Mr. MURTHA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
reductions in required contributions to the United Mine
Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Non-Coal Pro-
ducing Company Relief Act’’.
SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN CONTRIBUTIONS OF CERTAIN PER-
SONS TO COAL MINERS COMBINED BENEFIT
FUND.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of subchapter B of chap-
ter 99 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
financing of Combined Benefit Fund) is amended by in-
serting after section 9704 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 9704A. REDUCTIONS IN ANNUAL PREMIUMS OF CER-
TAIN ASSIGNED OPERATORS.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—The annual premium of an
assigned operator under section 9704(a) shall—
‘‘(1) in the case of an eligible small assigned
operator, be reduced as provided in subsection (b),
and
‘‘(2) in any case in which there is a surplus in
the Combined Fund to which subsection (c) applies,
be reduced as provided in subsection (c).
‘‘(b) REDUCTIONS FOR ELIGIBLE SMALL ASSIGNED
OPERATORS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If this subsection applies to
an eligible small assigned operator for any plan year
of the Combined Fund, the annual premium under
section 9704(a) for such operator for such plan year
shall not exceed 5 percent of the operator’s average
annual taxable income for purposes of chapter 1 for
the 5-taxable year period ending with the operator’s
most recent taxable year ending before the beginning
of the plan year.
‘‘(2) YEARS TO WHICH SUBSECTION APPLIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall
apply to any plan year of the Combined Fund—
‘‘(i) which begins before October 1,
1998,
‘‘(ii) which begins after September 30,
1998, and before October 1, 2003, but
only if the Combined Fund has a surplus
as of the close of the plan year ending Sep-
tember 30, 1998, equal to or greater than
$150,000,000, or
‘‘(iii) which begins after September
30, 2003, but only if the Combined Fund
has a surplus as of the close of the plan
year ending September 30, 2003, equal to
or greater than $100,000,000.
‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH SURPLUS RE-
DUCTIONS.—This subsection shall not apply to
any eligible small assigned operator for any
plan year for which no annual premium is im-
posed on such operator by reason of subsection
(c).
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE SMALL ASSIGNED OPERATORS.—
For purposes of this section—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible
small assigned operator’ means any assigned
operator—
‘‘(i) the average annual gross income
of which for purposes of chapter 1 for the
5-taxable year period ending with the oper-
ator’s most recent taxable year ending be-
fore October 1, 1993, did not exceed
$25,000,000, and
‘‘(ii) which is not engaged in the pro-
duction of coal for the plan year for which
the determination is being made.
For purposes of this subparagraph, production
by a related person shall be treated as produc-
tion by the assigned operator.
‘‘(B) PRODUCTION
OF
COAL.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), an assigned opera-
tor or related person shall be treated as en-
gaged in the production of coal if it has em-
ployed employees in—
‘‘(i) the extraction of coal, or
‘‘(ii) the preparation, processing, or
changing of coal for sale.
‘‘(4) AGGREGATION
RULES.—In determining
gross income or taxable income for purposes of this
section, an assigned operator and any related per-
sons shall be treated as 1 person.
‘‘(c) REDUCTIONS BASED UPON FUND SURPLUS.—
‘‘(1) ASSIGNED OPERATORS.—If, as of the close
of any plan year ending after September 30, 1997,
the Combined Fund has a surplus equal to or great-
er than 50 percent of the net expenses of the Com-
bined Fund for the plan year, no annual premium
shall be imposed under section 9704(a) on any eligi-
ble small assigned operator for the succeeding plan
year.
‘‘(2) OTHER OPERATORS.—If, as of the close of
any plan year ending after September 30, 1997, the
Combined Fund has a surplus equal to or greater
than 100 percent of the net expenses of the Com-
bined Fund for the plan year, the annual premium
under section 9704(a) for the succeeding plan year
of any assigned operator other than an eligible small
assigned operator shall be reduced by an amount
which bears the same ratio to the surplus in excess
of 100 percent of the net expenses of the Combined
Fund for the plan year as—
‘‘(A) such assigned operator’s applicable
percentage (expressed as a whole number),
bears to
‘‘(B) the sum of the applicable percentages
(expressed as whole numbers) of all assigned
operators other than eligible small assigned op-
erators.
‘‘(d) OVERALL LIMITATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In no event shall the total
reductions in annual premiums payable to the Com-
bined Fund under this section for any plan year ex-
ceed $5,000,000.
‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF REDUCTIONS.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), the total reductions in an-
nual premiums for any plan year shall not include
any reductions under this section in premiums pay-
able by an eligible small assigned operator who,
prior to the date of the enactment of this section,
has not paid at least 50 percent of the premiums as-
sessed such assigned operator for the period October
1, 1994, through June 30, 1995.
‘‘(3) ORDERING RULE.—Any decrease in pre-
mium reductions under this section for any plan
year by reason of paragraph (1) shall be applied
first against the reductions under subsection (b) and
then against reductions under subsection (c). Any
such decreases shall be made ratably among opera-
tors.
‘‘(e) COMPUTATION OF SURPLUS.—For purposes of
this section, any determination of a surplus in the Com-
bined Fund—
‘‘(1) shall be calculated on an accrual basis,
‘‘(2) shall be made and certified by an inde-
pendent auditor retained by the trustees, and
‘‘(3) once so certified, shall be reviewable by a
court of law only to determine if such determination
is reasonable.
A determination shall be considered reasonable for pur-
poses of paragraph (3) if it is made in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles and is based on
assumptions which, in the aggregate, are reasonable.’’
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for part II of subchapter B of chapter 99 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 9704 the following new
item:
‘‘Sec. 9704A. Reductions in annual premiums of certain assigned opera-
tors.’’
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to plan years beginning after Janu-
ary 31, 1993.