H. R. 4—132
or beneficiary under subsection (b)(3)(D) for the initial 
critical year. 
‘‘(iii) 
PLAN
SPONSOR
FLEXIBILITY.—The 
plan 
sponsor shall include in the schedules provided to the 
bargaining parties an allowance for funding the bene-
fits of participants with respect to whom contributions 
are not currently required to be made, and shall reduce 
their benefits to the extent permitted under this title 
and considered appropriate by the plan sponsor based 
on the plan’s then current overall funding status. 
‘‘(iv) ADJUSTABLE BENEFIT DEFINED.—For purposes 
of this paragraph, the term ‘adjustable benefit’ 
means—
‘‘(I) benefits, rights, and features under the 
plan, including post-retirement death benefits, 60-
month guarantees, disability benefits not yet in 
pay status, and similar benefits, 
‘‘(II) any early retirement benefit or retire-
ment-type subsidy (within the meaning of section 
411(d)(6)(B)(i)) and any benefit payment option 
(other than the qualified joint and survivor 
annuity), and 
‘‘(III) benefit increases that would not be 
eligible for a guarantee under section 4022A of 
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974 on the first day of initial critical year because 
the increases were adopted (or, if later, took effect) 
less than 60 months before such first day. 
‘‘(B) NORMAL
RETIREMENT
BENEFITS
PROTECTED.—
Except as provided in subparagraph (A)(iv)(III), nothing 
in this paragraph shall be construed to permit a plan 
to reduce the level of a participant’s accrued benefit payable 
at normal retirement age. 
‘‘(C) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No reduction may be made to 
adjustable benefits under subparagraph (A) unless 
notice of such reduction has been given at least 30 
days before the general effective date of such reduction 
for all participants and beneficiaries to—
‘‘(I) plan participants and beneficiaries, 
‘‘(II) each employer who has an obligation to 
contribute (within the meaning of section 4212(a)) 
under the plan, and 
‘‘(III) each employee organization which, for 
purposes of collective bargaining, represents plan 
participants employed by such an employer. 
‘‘(ii) CONTENT OF NOTICE.—The notice under clause 
(i) shall contain—
‘‘(I) sufficient information to enable partici-
pants and beneficiaries to understand the effect 
of any reduction on their benefits, including an 
estimate (on an annual or monthly basis) of any 
affected adjustable benefit that a participant or 
beneficiary would otherwise have been eligible for 
as of the general effective date described in clause 
(i), and
H. R. 4—133
‘‘(II) information as to the rights and remedies 
of plan participants and beneficiaries as well as 
how to contact the Department of Labor for further 
information and assistance where appropriate. 
‘‘(iii) FORM AND MANNER.—Any notice under clause 
(i)—
‘‘(I) shall be provided in a form and manner 
prescribed in regulations of the Secretary of Labor, 
‘‘(II) shall be written in a manner so as to 
be understood by the average plan participant, 
and 
‘‘(III) may be provided in written, electronic, 
or other appropriate form to the extent such form 
is reasonably accessible to persons to whom the 
notice is required to be provided. 
The Secretary of Labor shall in the regulations pre-
scribed under subclause (I) establish a model notice 
that a plan sponsor may use to meet the requirements 
of this subparagraph. 
‘‘(9) ADJUSTMENTS DISREGARDED IN WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY 
DETERMINATION.—
‘‘(A) BENEFIT
REDUCTIONS.—Any benefit reductions 
under this subsection shall be disregarded in determining 
a plan’s unfunded vested benefits for purposes of deter-
mining an employer’s withdrawal liability under section 
4201 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974. 
‘‘(B) SURCHARGES.—Any surcharges under paragraph 
(7) shall be disregarded in determining an employer’s with-
drawal liability under section 4211 of such Act, except 
for purposes of determining the unfunded vested benefits 
attributable to an employer under section 4211(c)(4) of 
such Act or a comparable method approved under section 
4211(c)(5) of such Act. 
‘‘(C) SIMPLIFIED CALCULATIONS.—The Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation shall prescribe simplified methods 
for the application of this paragraph in determining with-
drawal liability. 
‘‘(f) RULES FOR OPERATION OF PLAN DURING ADOPTION AND 
REHABILITATION PERIOD.—
‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE WITH REHABILITATION PLAN.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A plan may not be amended after 
the date of the adoption of a rehabilitation plan under 
subsection (e) so as to be inconsistent with the rehabilita-
tion plan. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES FOR BENEFIT INCREASES.—A plan 
may not be amended after the date of the adoption of 
a rehabilitation plan under subsection (e) so as to increase 
benefits, including future benefit accruals, unless the plan 
actuary certifies that such increase is paid for out of addi-
tional contributions not contemplated by the rehabilitation 
plan, and, after taking into account the benefit increase, 
the multiemployer plan still is reasonably expected to 
emerge from critical status by the end of the rehabilitation 
period on the schedule contemplated in the rehabilitation 
plan. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTION ON LUMP SUMS AND SIMILAR BENEFITS.—
H. R. 4—134
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Effective on the date the notice 
of certification of the plan’s critical status for the initial 
critical year under subsection (b)(3)(D) is sent, and notwith-
standing section 411(d)(6), the plan shall not pay—
‘‘(i) any payment, in excess of the monthly amount 
paid under a single life annuity (plus any social secu-
rity supplements described in the last sentence of sec-
tion 411(b)(1)(A)), 
‘‘(ii) any payment for the purchase of an irrevocable 
commitment from an insurer to pay benefits, and 
‘‘(iii) any other payment specified by the Secretary 
by regulations. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply 
to a benefit which under section 411(a)(11) may be imme-
diately distributed without the consent of the participant 
or to any makeup payment in the case of a retroactive 
annuity starting date or any similar payment of benefits 
owed with respect to a prior period. 
‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS DISREGARDED IN WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY 
DETERMINATION.—Any benefit reductions under this subsection 
shall be disregarded in determining a plan’s unfunded vested 
benefits for purposes of determining an employer’s withdrawal 
liability under section 4201 of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974. 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES FOR PLAN ADOPTION PERIOD.—During 
the rehabilitation plan adoption period—
‘‘(A) the plan sponsor may not accept a collective bar-
gaining agreement or participation agreement with respect 
to the multiemployer plan that provides for—
‘‘(i) a reduction in the level of contributions for 
any participants, 
‘‘(ii) a suspension of contributions with respect to 
any period of service, or 
‘‘(iii) any new direct or indirect exclusion of 
younger or newly hired employees from plan participa-
tion, and 
‘‘(B) no amendment of the plan which increases the 
liabilities of the plan by reason of any increase in benefits, 
any change in the accrual of benefits, or any change in 
the rate at which benefits become nonforfeitable under 
the plan may be adopted unless the amendment is required 
as a condition of qualification under part I of subchapter 
D of chapter 1 or to comply with other applicable law. 
‘‘(g) EXPEDITED RESOLUTION OF PLAN SPONSOR DECISIONS.—
If, within 60 days of the due date for adoption of a funding improve-
ment plan or a rehabilitation plan under subsection (e), the plan 
sponsor of a plan in endangered status or a plan in critical status 
has not agreed on a funding improvement plan or rehabilitation 
plan, then any member of the board or group that constitutes 
the plan sponsor may require that the plan sponsor enter into 
an expedited dispute resolution procedure for the development and 
adoption of a funding improvement plan or rehabilitation plan. 
‘‘(h) NONBARGAINED PARTICIPATION.—
‘‘(1) BOTH
BARGAINED
AND
NONBARGAINED
EMPLOYEE-
PARTICIPANTS.—In the case of an employer that contributes 
to a multiemployer plan with respect to both employees who 
are covered by one or more collective bargaining agreements
H. R. 4—135
and employees who are not so covered, if the plan is in endan-
gered status or in critical status, benefits of and contributions 
for the nonbargained employees, including surcharges on those 
contributions, shall be determined as if those nonbargained 
employees were covered under the first to expire of the 
employer’s collective bargaining agreements in effect when the 
plan entered endangered or critical status. 
‘‘(2) NONBARGAINED EMPLOYEES ONLY.—In the case of an 
employer that contributes to a multiemployer plan only with 
respect to employees who are not covered by a collective bar-
gaining agreement, this section shall be applied as if the 
employer were the bargaining party, and its participation agree-
ment with the plan were a collective bargaining agreement 
with a term ending on the first day of the plan year beginning 
after the employer is provided the schedule or schedules 
described in subsections (c) and (e). 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS; ACTUARIAL METHOD.—For purposes of this 
section—
‘‘(1) BARGAINING
PARTY.—The term ‘bargaining party’ 
means—
‘‘(A)(i) except as provided in clause (ii), an employer 
who has an obligation to contribute under the plan; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan described under section 
404(c), or a continuation of such a plan, the association 
of employers that is the employer settlor of the plan; and 
‘‘(B) an employee organization which, for purposes of 
collective 
bargaining, 
represents 
plan 
participants 
employed by an employer who has an obligation to con-
tribute under the plan. 
‘‘(2) FUNDED PERCENTAGE.—The term ‘funded percentage’ 
means the percentage equal to a fraction—
‘‘(A) the numerator of which is the value of the plan’s 
assets, as determined under section 431(c)(2), and 
‘‘(B) the denominator of which is the accrued liability 
of the plan, determined using actuarial assumptions 
described in section 431(c)(3). 
‘‘(3) 
ACCUMULATED
FUNDING
DEFICIENCY.—The 
term 
‘accumulated funding deficiency’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 412(a). 
‘‘(4) ACTIVE
PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘active participant’ 
means, in connection with a multiemployer plan, a participant 
who is in covered service under the plan. 
‘‘(5) INACTIVE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘inactive participant’ 
means, in connection with a multiemployer plan, a participant, 
or the beneficiary or alternate payee of a participant, who—
‘‘(A) is not in covered service under the plan, and 
‘‘(B) is in pay status under the plan or has a nonforfeit-
able right to benefits under the plan. 
‘‘(6) PAY STATUS.—A person is in pay status under a multi-
employer plan if—
‘‘(A) at any time during the current plan year, such 
person is a participant or beneficiary under the plan and 
is paid an early, late, normal, or disability retirement ben-
efit under the plan (or a death benefit under the plan 
related to a retirement benefit), or