Reg. § 1.410(b)-10 Effective dates and transition rules.
(a) Statutory effective dates
(1) In general Except as set forth in of this section, the minimum coverage rules of section as amended by section 1112 of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1989.
(2) Special statutory effective date for collective bargaining agreements
(i) In general As provided for by section 1112(e)(2) of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, in the case of a plan maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between employee representatives and one or more employers ratified before March 1, 1986, the minimum coverage rules of section as amended by section 1112 of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 do not apply to employees covered by any such agreement in plan years beginning before the earlier of—
(A) January 1, 1991; or
(B) The later of January 1, 1989, or the date on which the last of such collective bargaining agreements terminates (determined without regard to any extension thereof after February 28, 1986). For purposes of this , any extension or renegotiation of a collective bargaining agreement, which extension or renegotiation is ratified after February 28, 1986, is to be disregarded in determining the date on which the agreement terminates.
(ii) Example The following example illustrates this .
Example. Employer A maintains Plan 1 pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. Plan 1 covers 100 of Employer A's noncollectively bargained employees and 900 of Employer A's collectively bargained employees. Employer A also maintains Plan 2, which covers Employer A's other 400 noncollectively bargained employees. The collective bargaining agreement under which Plan 1 is maintained was entered into on January 1, 1986, and expires December 31, 1992. Because Plan 1 is a plan maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, section applies to the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1991. In applying section to Plan 2, the 100 noncollectively bargained employees in Plan 1 must be taken into account. The deferred effective date for plans maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement is not applicable in determining how section is applied to a plan that is not maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.
(iii) Plan maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement For purposes of this , a plan is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between employee representatives and one or more employers, if one or more of the agreements were ratified before March 1, 1986. Only plans maintained pursuant to agreements that the Secretary of Labor finds to be collective bargaining agreements and that satisfy section are eligible for the deferred effective date under this . A plan will not be treated as a plan maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements eligible for the deferred effective date under this unless the plan would be a plan maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements under the principles applied under section 1017(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. See H.R. Rep. No. 1280, 93rd Cong. 2d Sess. 266 (1974).
(b) Regulatory effective dates
(1) In general Except as otherwise provided in this section, through apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1994.
(2) Plans of tax-exempt organizations In the case of plans maintained by organizations exempt from income taxation under section , including plans subject to section (nonelective plans), through apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1996, to the extent such plans are subject to section .
(c) Compliance during transition period For plan years beginning before the effective date of these regulations, as set forth in of this section, and on or after the statutory effective date as set forth in of this section, a plan must be operated in accordance with a reasonable, good faith interpretation of section . Whether a plan is operated in accordance with a reasonable, good faith interpretation of section will generally be determined based on all of the relevant facts and circumstances, including the extent to which an employer has resolved unclear issues in its favor. If a plan's classification has been determined by the Commissioner to be nondiscriminatory and there have been no significant changes in or omissions of a material fact, the classification will be treated as nondiscriminatory for the relevant plan year. A plan will be deemed to be operated in accordance with a reasonable, good faith interpretation of section if it is operated in accordance with the terms of through .
(d) Effective date for governmental plans In the case of governmental plans described in section , including plans subject to section (nonelective plans) through apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1996, or 90 days after the opening of the first legislative session beginning on or after January 1, 1996, of the governing body with authority to amend the plan, if that body does not meet continuously. Such plans are deemed to satisfy section (and in the case of such plans that are not subject to section , section as in effect on September 1, 1974) for plan years before that effective date. For purposes of this section, the governing body with authority to amend the plan is the legislature, board, commission, council, or other governing body with authority to amend the plan. See and .
(e) Effective date for provisions relating to exclusion of employees of certain tax-exempt entities The provisions in apply to plan years beginning after December 31, 1996. For plan years to which applies that begin before January 1, 1997, (as it appeared in the April 1, 2005 edition of 26 CFR part 1) applies.
[T.D. 8487, 58 FR 46844, Sept. 3, 1993, as amended by T.D. 9275, 71 FR 41359, July 21, 2006]