The ERISA Industry Committee supports new regulations proposed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation that would tinker with premium payments, premium rates and reduce regulatory burdens, but is against a provision that would apply loading factors to premiums of at-risk plans.

In a letter to the PBGC, ERIC said it appreciated the efforts of the PBGC and its response to the concerns of plan sponsors. It supports the proposal to change the premium due date for large plans and the proposal to lower the self-correction penalty cap. It does believe that the PBGC should not apply loading factors to premiums for plans that are at-risk.

ERIC said in its letter that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act contains separate provisions relating to the funding of pension plans and PBGC's premiums.  ERISA 303(d) provides funding rules for plans that are not at-risk; section 303(i)(1) requires a plan that has been in at-risk status in two of the past four plan years to add a loading factor when calculating its funding target; and ERISA 4006 calculates the PBGC annual premium rate for single-employer plans based on an amount for each participant in the plan plus an additional premium that is equal to a dollar amount for each $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits divided by the number of participants.