Waivers for major disaster area residents due to severe weather: Hurricanes Floyd and Irene; various States,
[Federal Register: November 23, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 225)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 65658-65660]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23no99-4]
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
29 CFR Parts 4003, 4007, 4011, 4041, 4041A, 4043, and 4050
Disaster Relief in Response to Hurricanes Floyd and Irene
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of disaster relief.
SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the major disasters declared by the President of the United States on account of Hurricanes Floyd and Irene.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Suite 340, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202- 326-4024 (202-326-4179 for TTY and TDD). (These are not toll-free numbers.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation administers the pension plan termination insurance program under title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). Under ERISA and the PBGC's regulations, a number of deadlines must be met in order to avoid the imposition of penalties or other consequences.
The President of the United States issued declarations, under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), that major disasters exist in the States of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia because of Hurricane Floyd, Hurricane Irene, or both.
Relief From Certain Deadlines and Penalties
The PBGC is providing relief from certain deadlines and penalties. In general, this relief is applicable with respect to plans for which the administrator's or sponsor's principal place of business, or the office of a service provider, bank, insurance company, or other person maintaining information necessary to meet the applicable deadlines, is located in an area that has been (or will be) designated a major disaster area on account of Hurricanes Floyd or Irene (a ``designated disaster area''). However, the extension (discussed below) for filing requests for reconsideration or appeals is applicable to any aggrieved person who is residing in, or whose principal place of business is within, a designated disaster area, or with respect to whom the office of the service provider, bank, insurance company, or other person maintaining the information necessary to file the request for reconsideration or appeal, is within such an area.
Premiums
The PBGC will waive the late payment penalty charge with respect to any premium payment required to be made on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, if the payment is made by November 30, 1999. The PBGC is not permitted by law to waive late payment interest charges. (ERISA section 4007(b); 29 CFR 4007.7 and 4007.8(b)(3).)
Section 4071 Penalties
For any of the following notices that is required to be filedwith the PBGC on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, in order to avoid the assessment of section 4071 penalties, the PBGC will not assess a section 4071 penalty if the notice is filedby November 30, 1999:
(1) Post-distribution certification for single-employer plans (PBGC Form 501 or 602; ERISA section 4041(b)(3)(B) or (c)(3)(B); 29 CFR 4041.29 or 4041.50)),
(2) Notice of termination for multiemployer plans (ERISA section 4041A; 29 CFR 4041A.11),
(3) Notice of plan amendments increasing benefits by more than $10 million (ERISA section 307(e)),
(4) Missing participants information for single-employer plans (Schedule MP (including Attachments A and B) to PBGC Forms 501 and 602; ERISA section 4050; 29 CFR 4050.6), and
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(5) Premium declarations (PBGC Forms 1 (including Schedule A) and 1-ES; ERISA section 4007; 29 CFR 4007.3).
The PBGC will not assess a section 4071 penalty for a failure to provide certain supporting information and documentation when a notice of failure to make required contributions totaling more than $1 million (including interest) is timely filed, if the timely filednotice includes at least items 1 through 7 and items 11 and 12 of Form 200; the responses to items 8 through 10, with the certifications in items 11 and 12, may be filedlate (PBGC Form 200; ERISA section 302(f)(4); 29 CFR 4043.81). This relief applies to notices required to be filed with the PBGC on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, provided that all supporting information and documentation are filedby November 30, 1999.
The PBGC is not automatically forgoing assessment of penalties under section 4071 for failure to comply with other information submission requirements, but relief may be granted in individual cases. For example, 29 CFR 4010.11 provides for waivers and extensions for financial and actuarial information reporting under 29 CFR Part 4010.
Reportable Events Notices
With respect to a reportable event for which a post-event notice is required to be filedunder subpart B of the PBGC's regulation on Reportable Events (29 CFR 4043.20 through 4043.35) on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4043.4(d)) extending to November 30, 1999, the time within which to provide certain supporting information and documentation when a notice of the reportable event is timely filed, if the timely filed notice includes at least the information specified on the front of PBGC Form 10 or, if Form 10 is not filed, the information specified in 29 CFR 4043.3(b)(1) through (5); the extension applies to the information specified on the back of Form 10 or, if Form 10 is not filed, the information specified in 29 CFR 4043.3(b)(6) through (8) and in paragraph (b) of the regulation section that describes the event.
The PBGC is not providing automatic extensions for advance notices of reportable events described in subpart C of the Reportable Events regulation (29 CFR 4043.61 through 4043.68), but waivers and extensions for such notices may be granted individually pursuant to 29 CFR 4043.4(d).
Standard and Distress Termination Notices and Distribution of Assets
With respect to a standard termination for which the standard termination notice is required to be filed, or the distribution of plan assets is required to be completed, on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4041.4) extending to November 30, 1999, the time within which the standard termination notice must be filed(and, thus, the time within which notices of plan benefits must be provided) and the time within which the distribution of plan assets must be completed.
With respect to a distress termination for which the distress termination notice is required to be filedon or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4041.4) extending to November 30, 1999, the time within which the termination notice must be filed. With respect to a distress termination for which notices of benefit distribution must be provided or plan assets must be distributed on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, as a result of the PBGC's issuance of a distribution notice, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4041.4) extending to November 30, 1999, the time within which such actions must be taken. In addition, as noted above, the PBGC is providing relief from penalties for late filing of the post-distribution certification.
Participant Notices
For Participant Notices that are required to be issued on or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4011.8) extending the due date to November 30, 1999.
Requests for Reconsideration or Appeals
For persons who are aggrieved by certain agency determinations and for whom a request for reconsideration or an appeal is required to be filedon or after September 15, 1999, and before November 30, 1999, the PBGC is (pursuant to 29 CFR 4003.4(b)) extending the time for filing to November 30, 1999.
Designated Disaster Areas
When this notice was prepared, the following counties had been designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (pursuant to 44 CFR 206.40(b)) as areas affected by one or both of these disasters:
In the state of Connecticut: Fairfield, Hartford, and Litchfield counties.
In the state of Delaware: New Castle county.
In the state of Florida: Brevard, Broward, Collier, Dade, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Seminole, and Volusia counties.
In the state of Maryland: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St.Mary's, and Talbot counties.
In the state of New Hampshire: Belknap, Cheshire, and Grafton counties.
In the state of New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties.
In the state of New York: Albany, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Ulster, Warren, and Westchester counties.
In the state of North Carolina: Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Tyrrell, Union, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson counties.
In the state of Pennsylvania: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and York counties.
In the state of South Carolina: Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Marlboro, Marion, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, and Williamsburg counties.
In the state of Vermont: Bennington, Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor.
In the state of Virginia: Accomack, Brunswick, Caroline, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fairfax, Gloucester, Greensville, Hanover, Halifax, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King, King & Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lunenburg, Mathews,
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Mecklenburg, Middlesex, New Kent, Northhampton, Northumberland, Prince George, Richmond, Southampton, Suffolk, Surry, Sussex, Westmoreland, and York counties, and the cities of Charles City, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Emporia, Franklin, Hampton, Hopewell, Portsmouth, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and Poquoson.
Applying for Waivers/Extensions
A submission to the PBGC to which a waiver or an extension is applicable under this notice should be marked in bold print ``HURRICANE FALL 1999, [name of county], [name of state]'' at the top center.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 17th day of November 1999. David M. Strauss, Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 99-30467Filed11-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P
