Request to Modify Prior Amortization Rulings Granted

(1) That the Initial Approval and Modification granting conditional approval for a 10-year extension for amortizing the unfunded liabilities described in section 412(b)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and section 302(b)(2)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (prior to amendment by the Pension Protection Act of 2006), be modified to provide that if any of the conditions set forth in either the Initial Approval or Modification are not satisfied, the approval to extend the amortization periods of the unfunded liabilities shall not apply to any plan year ending on or after the date the condition is not satisfied.

(2) That, because the Plan has been in critical and declining status since January 1, * * *, and because the plan sponsor has adopted and complied with a rehabilitation plan as required under section 432 of the Code, effective January 1, * * *, the Fund's contributing employers are not subject to the minimum funding requirements set forth in section 412(b)(1) of the Code.

(3) That, should the Internal Revenue Service (Service) choose not to grant the relief requested in paragraphs (1) and (2) above, the Service rule that the Amendment is neither reasonable nor de minimis under section 412(c)(7) of the Code, and therefore renders the Service's prior grants of relief under section 412 of the Code void prospectively, effective January 1, * * *.

(a) Replace the language in the Initial Approval stating that, “If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, the approval to extend the amortization periods for amortizing the unfunded liabilities would be retroactively null and void,” with “If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, the approval to extend the periods for amortizing the unfunded liabilities shall not apply to any plan year ending after the date the condition is not satisfied.”

(b) Eliminate the language in the Modification stating that “If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, the approval to extend the amortization periods of the unfunded liabilities would be null and void, retroactive to January 1, * * *” with “If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, the approval to extend the periods for amortizing the unfunded liabilities shall not apply to any plan year ending after the date the condition is not satisfied.”

1. Effective as of the Revocation Date, the remaining balance of each extended amortization base is redetermined as the balance that would exist if the extension had not been granted (hereinafter, the “Redetermined Prospective Revocation Balance”). For this purpose, if as of the Revocation Date, the base would have been fully amortized had the extension not been granted, the Redetermined Prospective Revocation Balance on account of such base as of the Revocation Date shall equal $0.

2. There is a one-time charge to the funding standard account at the Revocation Date on account of each extended amortization base equal to the excess of (A) over (B), where:

The funding standard account includes interest on this one-time charge to the end of the plan year, using the valuation interest rate for the plan year that includes the Revocation Date.

3. The annual amortization charge at the Revocation Date for each amortization base that was previously extended shall be redetermined by amortizing each Redetermined Prospective Revocation Balance over the remaining amortization period, determined without regard to the extension previously granted under section 412(e) of the Code. The resulting amortization charges would be determined using the applicable valuation interest rate at the Revocation Date. Note that if the Redetermined Prospective Revocation Balance of an extended base is $0, there is no amortization charge with respect to such base at the Revocation Date.

4. At the Revocation Date, the reconciliation account shall be redetermined as if the amortization extension had never been approved.