[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 241 (Friday, December 15, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64401-64402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30415]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

26 CFR Part 1

[EE-34-95]
RIN 1545-AT78


Notice of Significant Reduction in the Rate of Future Benefit 
Accrual

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary 
regulations.

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SUMMARY: In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the 
Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations relating to 
the requirements of section 204(h) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). Section 204(h) of ERISA 
applies to defined benefit plans and to individual account plans that 
are subject to the funding standards of section 302 of ERISA. It 
requires the plan administrator to give notice of certain plan 
amendments to participants in the plan and certain other parties. The 
text of those temporary regulations also serves as the text of these 
proposed regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 14, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to CC:DOM:CORP:R (EE-34-95), room 5228, 
Internal Revenue Service, POB 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, 
DC 20044. In the alternative, submissions may be hand delivered between 
the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to CC:DOM:CORP:R (EE-34-95), Courier's 
Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty J. Clary, (202) 622-6070 (not a 
toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection of information contained in this notice of proposed 

[[Page 64402]]
    rulemaking has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
for review in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3507).
    Comments on the collection of information should be sent to the 
Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for the Department 
of Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, 
DC 20503, with copies to the Internal Revenue Service, Attn: IRS 
Reports Clearance Officer, T:FP, Washington, DC 20224. Comments on the 
collection of information should be received by February 13, 1996.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a valid control number.
    The collection of information is in Sec. 1.411(d)-6T which 
implements the statutory requirement of section 204(h) of ERISA that a 
plan administrator provide notice to participants and certain other 
parties if certain pension plans are amended to provide for a 
significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accrual. This 
collection of information is required to assure that the rights of 
participants in plans subject to section 204(h) of ERISA are protected. 
The likely respondents are small businesses. Responses to this 
collection of information are required under section 204(h) of ERISA in 
order for certain amendments to qualified plans to become effective.
    These regulations do not involve any issues of confidentiality.
    Estimated total annual reporting burden: 15,000 hours.
    The estimated annual burden per respondent varies from 1 hour to 40 
hours, depending on individual circumstances, with an estimated average 
of 5 hours.
    Estimated number of respondents: 3,000.
    Estimated annual frequency of responses: Once.

Background

    Temporary regulations in the Rules and Regulations portion of this 
issue of the Federal Register amend the Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR 
part 1) (relating to section 411(d)). The text of those temporary 
regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. The 
preamble to the temporary regulations explains the temporary 
regulations.

Special Analyses

    It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is 
not a significant regulatory action as defined in EO 12866. Therefore, 
a regulatory assessment is not required. It also has been determined 
that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 
chapter 5) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) do 
not apply to these regulations, and, therefore, a Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is not required. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of 
the Internal Revenue Code, the notice of proposed rulemaking will be 
submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration for comment on their impact on small business.

Comments and Requests for a Public Hearing

    Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, 
consideration will be given to any written comments (a signed original 
and eight (8) copies) that are submitted timely to the IRS. All 
comments will be available for public inspection and copying. A public 
hearing may be scheduled if requested in writing by a person that 
timely submits written comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, 
notice of the date, time, and place for the hearing will be published 
in the Federal Register.

    Drafting Information: The principal author of these regulations 
is Betty J. Clary, Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee 
Benefits and Exempt Organizations), IRS. However, other personnel 
from the IRS and Treasury Department participated in their 
development.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 1

    Income taxes, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Proposed Amendments to the Regulations

    Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 1--INCOME TAXES

    Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read, 
in part, as follows:

    Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805. * * *

    Section 1.411(d)-6 also issued under Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 
1978, 29 U.S.C. 1001nt. * * *
    Par. 2. Section 1.411(d)-6 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 1.411(d)-6  Section 204(h) notice.

    [The text of this proposed section is the same as the text of 
Sec. 1.411(d)-6T published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register.]
Margaret Milner Richardson,
Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
[FR Doc. 95-30415 Filed 12-12-95; 1:23 pm]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-U