ERISA § 305A (29 U.S.C. § 1085a) — Minimum funding standards

(a) Security may be required

(1) In general Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may require an employer maintaining a defined benefit plan which is a single-employer plan (within the meaning of section 1301(a)(15) of this title) to provide security to such plan as a condition for granting or modifying a waiver under section 1083 of this title or an extension under section 1084 of this title.

(2) Special rules Any security provided under paragraph (1) may be perfected and enforced only by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or, at the direction of the Corporation, by a contributing sponsor (within the meaning of section 1301(a)(13) of this title) or a member of such sponsor's controlled group (within the meaning of section 1301(a)(14) of this title).

(b) Consultation with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, before granting or modifying a waiver under section 1083 of this title or an extension under section 1084 of this title with respect to a plan described in subsection (a)(1) of this section—

(1) provide the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with—

(A) notice of the completed application for any waiver, extension, or modification, and

(B) an opportunity to comment on such application within 30 days after receipt of such notice, and

(2) consider—

(A) any comments of the Corporation under paragraph (1)(B), and

(B) any views of any employee organization representing participants in the plan which are submitted in writing to the Secretary of the Treasury in connection with such application.

Information provided to the corporation under this subsection shall be considered tax return information and subject to the safeguarding and reporting requirements of section 6103(p) of title 26.

(1) In general The preceding provisions of this section shall not apply to any plan with respect to which the sum of—

(A) the outstanding balance of the accumulated funding deficiencies (within the meaning of section 1082(a)(2) of this title and section 412(a) of title 26) of the plan,

(B) the outstanding balance of the amount of waived funding deficiencies of the plan waived under section 1083 of this title or section 412(d) of title 26, and

(C) the outstanding balance of the amount of decreases in the minimum funding standard allowed under section 1084 of this title or section 412(e) of title 26,

is less than $1,000,000.

(2) Accumulated funding deficiencies For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), accumulated funding deficiencies shall include any increase in such amount which would result if all applications for waivers of the minimum funding standard under section 1083 of this title or section 412(d) of title 26 and for extensions of the amortization period under section 1084 of this title or section 412(e) of title 26 which are pending with respect to such plan were denied.

Pension Law Library · https://pensionresource.website/EAMain?content=EAMain.Law&id=usc29-1085a&asof=1995-01-04 · printed October 16, 2026. Unofficial copy compiled from official federal sources; verify against the official text before relying on it.