SFA Priority Group 6 Plan List

The law and PBGC’s regulation implementing the Special Financial Assistance Program (SFA) requires that eligible plans file an application with PBGC to receive such assistance. The statute and PBGC’s regulation give priority for several groups of plans to file SFA applications before all other eligible plans are permitted to submit applications to PBGC.

In accordance with ERISA § 4262(d) and PBGC regulations at 4262.10(d)(2), PBGC will accept applications for SFA only from plans that are in one of the enumerated Priority Groups prior to March 11, 2023. On and after that date, PBGC will begin to accept applications from all other eligible plans, i.e., plans that are not in any of the Priority Groups specified in PBGC’s SFA regulation.

There are six Priority Groups specified in PBGC regulations at 4262.10(d)(2)(i) through (vi). Priority Group 6 includes those plans for which PBGC projects a present value of financial assistance payments under section 4261 of ERISA that would exceed $1 billion in the absence of SFA. In the preamble to the final regulations on SFA issued in July 2022, PBGC indicated that it would post the listing of plans in Priority Group 6 on its website no later than November 15, 2022. PBGC has identified the plans listed here as meeting the requirements for Priority Group 6:

Please note: inclusion on this list does not establish eligibility for SFA. All SFA applicants must demonstrate eligibility for SFA in accordance with PBGC’s SFA regulation and instructions. Exclusion from the list does not indicate a plan is ineligible for SFA. (Note information below regarding plans that may have been omitted from the listing in error.)

In compiling this list, PBGC used the same modeling techniques and projection assumptions that it used to measure its financial statement liabilities as of September 30, 2021, which is the first fiscal year-end following enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act. The measurement date for the present value calculations is September 30, 2021. Plan actuarial, financial and participation data used in the calculation was derived from Form 5500 filings for the 2020 plan year. This data was reviewed for reasonableness but not audited and the results are dependent on the accuracy of the data reported in the Form 5500 filings. The discount rate used to determine the present value of financial assistance under Section 4261 varies by year from 0.44% to 2.50% based on a yield curve (see Note 6 in the agency’s Annual Report for 2021 for a full description). (It is important to note that the modeling techniques and projection assumptions used for PBGC’s financial reporting are subject to change in the future as circumstances dictate.)

For plans not included on the list, PBGC will consider comments from plan representatives on the basis of errors in the plan’s actuarial, financial or participation data submitted by the plan in the Form 5500 filings for plan year 2020 which may impact eligibility for Priority Group 6. Additionally, PBGC will consider comments which show that more recent data demonstrates that the plan is eligible for SFA and should therefore be included on Priority Group 6. Plan representatives should forward a detailed explanation of the circumstances via email to multiemployerprogram@pbgc.gov.

PBGC will not consider comments from plan representatives that request PBGC to calculate the present value of financial assistance payments under section 4261 of ERISA using other assumptions and methods or plan data as of a date subsequent to the September 30, 2021 measurement date. Any questions about this listing can be sent to multiemployerprogram@pbgc.gov.