TITLE 
II—AMENDMENTS 
TO
TITLE IV OF THE EMPLOYEE
RETIREMENT INCOME SECU-
RITY ACT OF 1974
SEC. 201. TERMINATION OF PENSION PLANS IN CONNEC-
TION WITH ACQUISITIONS OF STEEL COMPA-
NIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 is amended by insert-
ing after section 4048 (29 U.S.C. 1348) the following new
section:
‘‘TREATMENT OF CERTAIN STEEL PLANS INVOLVED IN
QUALIFIED ACQUISITIONS
‘‘SEC. 4049. (a) TERMINATIONS
IN CONNECTION
WITH QUALIFIED ACQUISITIONS.—In the case of any
qualified acquisition of a qualified steel company, any
qualified defined benefit plan which is maintained by the
acquired company immediately before the acquisition shall
be treated as terminated under this title.
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF PLAN ASSETS AND LIABIL-
ITIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
all assets and liabilities of the plan treated as termi-
nated under subsection (a) shall continue to be
treated as assets and liabilities of such terminated
plan, notwithstanding any allocation of such assets
and liabilities to spun off plans in accordance with
section 414(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
ACQUIRED
BY
ACTIVE
CONTROLLED
GROUP
MEM-
BERS
NOT
ENGAGED
IN
STEEL-BASED
OPER-
ATIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect
to any plan assets or liabilities which are acquired,
in connection with the qualified acquisition, by any
person which is a member of the controlled group of
the person acquiring the qualified steel company and
is, at the time of the qualified acquisition, in active
operation but whose business does not include steel-
based operations (or by any plan to which any per-
son who is such a member is obligated to con-
tribute). The acquired company shall provide for
separate treatment as a terminated plan of so much
of the acquired plan as does not consist of such as-
sets and liabilities.
‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ALL PAR-
TICIPANTS AND BENEFICIARIES.—No asset or liability
shall be excluded from treatment as an asset or liability
of the eligible plan in connection with any participant, or
beneficiary thereof, on the basis of any classification of
a participant as an active employee or as a retiree.
‘‘(d) EXCLUSION OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES SUB-
SEQUENTLY ACCRUED.—This section shall not apply with
respect to assets or liabilities accruing after the date of
the qualified acquisition.
‘‘(e) PETITION
PROCEDURE.—The Secretary of
Labor shall make determinations under this subsection, in
consultation with the acquired company, in accordance
with procedures which shall be prescribed by the Sec-
retary. Any such determination in connection with a quali-
fied acquisition, shall be made only pursuant to a petition
for such determination filed with the Secretary not later
than 60 days before the effective date of the acquisition.
The Secretary shall provide, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, for the conduct of the petition process pursuant
to this paragraph in conjunction with the petition process
established under section 268 of the Trade Act of 1984.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) 
QUALIFIED
ACQUISITION.—The 
term
‘qualified acquisition’ means a transaction through
which a qualified steel company purchases or other-
wise acquires, either through stock or asset acquisi-
tion, all or substantially all of the steelmaking assets
of another qualified steel company, in any case in
which the acquiring company (and the ultimate par-
ent among the members of the acquiring company’s
controlled 
group) 
and 
the 
company 
whose
steelmaking assets are acquired are incorporated
under the laws of a State.
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
PLAN.—The term ‘qualified
plan’ means a defined benefit plan (as defined in
section 3(35)) if each trust forming a part of the
plan is a qualified trust under section 401(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED STEEL COMPANY.—The term
‘qualified steel company’ means any person if such
person, or any member of such person’s controlled
group, was engaged, on January 1, 2000, in steel-
based operations.
‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any
State, the District of Columbia, and any territory or
possession of the United States.
‘‘(5) STEEL-BASED
OPERATIONS.—The term
‘steel-based operations’ means—
‘‘(A) the production and manufacture of a
product defined by the American Iron and Steel
Institute as a basic steel mill product, including
ingots, slab and billets, plates, flat-rolled steel,
sections and structural products, bars, rail type
products, pipe and tube, and wire rod;
‘‘(B) the mining or processing of iron ore
or beneficiated iron ore products;
‘‘(C) the production of coke for use in a
still mill product described in subparagraph
(A); and
‘‘(D) the transportation of a product by a
person solely or principally for another person
engaged in operations described in subpara-
graph (A), (B), or (C), but only if the person
transporting the product is a member of that
other person’s controlled group.
‘‘(6) STEEL-MAKING ASSETS.—The term ‘steel-
making assets’ means the land, buildings, machin-
ery, equipment, and other assets that, at any time
on or after January 1, 2000, was used in—
‘‘(A) the production, manufacturing, or
distribution or products described in paragraph
(5)(A);
‘‘(B) the mining, processing, or distribu-
tion of iron ore or beneficiated iron ore prod-
ucts;
‘‘(C) the production of coke for use in a
steel mill product described in paragraph
(5)(A); or
‘‘(D) the transportation of a product by a
person solely or principally for another person
engaged in operations described in subpara-
graph (A), (B), or (C), but only if the person
transporting the product is a member of that
other person’s controlled group.
‘‘(7) CONTROLLED
GROUP.—The term ‘con-
trolled group’ has the meaning given that term in
section 52(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
in section 1 of such Act is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 4048 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 4049. Treatment of certain steel plans involved in qualified acquisitions.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply with respect to qualified acquisi-
tions occurring on or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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