[Federal Register: March 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 51)]
[Notices]               
[Page 11722-11723]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15mr02-108]                         

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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

 
Required Interest Rate Assumption for Determining Variable-Rate 
Premium; Interest Assumptions for Multiemployer Plan Valuations 
Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and assumptions.

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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the interest assumptions for 
multiemployer plan valuations following mass withdrawal under the 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Duties of Plan 
Sponsor Following Mass Withdrawal (part 4281). These assumptions are 
published elsewhere but are referenced in this notice for the 
convenience of the public. This notice also informs the public that 
announcement of the required interest rate for determining the 
variable-rate premium under the PBGC's regulation on Premium Rates is 
being deferred. The PBGC plans to announce the required interest rate 
well before the variable-rate premium is due. Interest rates are 
published on the PBGC's Web site (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The interest assumptions for performing multiemployer plan 
valuations following mass withdrawal under part 4281 apply to valuation 
dates occurring in April 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General 
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202-326-4024. 
(TTY/TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-
877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

    Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and Sec. 4006.4(b)(1) of the PBGC's 
regulation on Premium Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use of an 
assumed interest rate (the ``required interest rate'') in determining a 
single-employer plan's variable-rate premium. The required interest 
rate is the ``applicable percentage'' (currently 85 percent) of the 
annual yield on 30-year Treasury securities for the month preceding the 
beginning of the plan year for which premiums are being paid (the 
``premium payment year''). Until recently, that yield figure was 
reported in Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15.
    The Treasury Department has suspended issuance of 30-year Treasury 
securities and, effective February 18, 2002, ceased supplying the 
Federal Reserve board with an estimate of the annual yield on 30-year 
Treasury securities for publication in Statistical Release H.15. As a 
result of these changes, the PBGC is consulting with the Treasury 
Department on how best to determine the required interest rate. As soon 
as the PBGC determines the required interest rate to be used in 
determining variable-rate premiums for premium payment years beginning 
in

[[Page 11723]]

March 2002, it will inform the public of the rate. This will be well 
before the variable-rate premium for premium payment years beginning in 
March 2002 is due.

Multiemployer Plan Valuations Following Mass Withdrawal

    The PBGC's regulation on Duties of Plan Sponsor Following Mass 
Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281) prescribes the use of interest 
assumptions under the PBGC's regulation on Allocation of Assets in 
Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 4044). The interest assumptions 
applicable to valuation dates in April 2002 under part 4044 are 
contained in an amendment to part 4044 published elsewhere in today's 
Federal Register. Tables showing the assumptions applicable to prior 
periods are codified in appendix B to 29 CFR part 4044.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on this 12th day of March 2002.
Steven A. Kandarian,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 02-6428 Filed 3-14-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P