Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**1994**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1994-07A 03/14/1994 3(1) 3(5) 514(b)(6)(D)	Mr. Robert R. Googins Commissioner of Insurance P.O. Box 816 Hartford, CT 06142-0816	Whether an employee benefit arrangement sponsored by the United Service Association for Health Care (USA) and seven trusts established under the arrangement constitute "employee welfare benefit plans" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA and whether they are "fully insured" within the meaning of section 514(b)(6)(D) of ERISA.
1994-06A 03/08/1994 3(33) 4(b)(2)	Mr. John P. Gallagher Schubert, Bellwoar, Mallon & Walheim 1400 Two Penn Center Plaza Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102-1890	Whether benefit arrangements for employees of the Sacred Heart Manor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a nursing home of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of ERISA.
1994-05A 03/08/1994 3(33) 4(b)(2)	Mr. Vincent P. Haley Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis 1600 Market Street, Suite 3600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103	Whether benefit arrangements for employees of certain hospitals and other institutions of the Religious Sisters of Mercy are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
1994-04A 02/17/1994 3(33) 4(b)(2)	Mr. Robert L. Abramowitz Morgan, Lewis & Bockius 2000 One Logan Square Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-6993	Whether benefit arrangements that twelve institutions of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia establish and maintain for their employees are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
1994-03A 02/17/1994 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Mr. John R. Whitehurst II Porter & Porter 2100 Central Trust Tower Cincinnati, Ohio 45202	Whether the Addison Community Hospital Employee Pension Plan is a governmental plan within the meaning of section 3(32) of Title I of ERISA and thus excluded by section 4(b)(1) from coverage by the requirements of Title I of ERISA.
1994-02A 02/14/1994 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Ms. Carol V. Calhoun 1800 M Street, N.W Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the District of Columbia Bar Deferred Compensation Plan, administered by the D.C. Bar is a "governmental plan" within the meaning of section 3(32) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA").
1994-01A 02/02/1994 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Ms. Naomi H. Truman General Counsel Housing Authority of the Birmingham District 1826 3rd Avenue, South P. O. Box 55906 Birmingham, Alabama 35255-5906	Whether the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District Money Purchase Pension Plan established by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District is a "governmental plan" within the meaning of section 3(32) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA").

**1993**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1993-35A 12/23/1993 408(b)(3)	Ms. Roberta Casper Watson Trenam, Simmons, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye & O'Neill Attorneys at Law 2700 Barnett Plaza 101 East Kennedy Blvd. P. O. Box 1102 Tampa, FL 33601-1102	Whether proceeds received from the sale of stock from an employee stock ownership plan acquired with a loan which is exempt under section 408(b)(3) may be used to repay the loan if there is no formal pledge of the stock as security for the loan. Whether such action violates the general fiduciary provisions of ERISA.
1993-34A 12/16/1993 3(1)	Mr. M. Lee Price Hader, Price, Rinehart & Robblee 1620 Metropolitan Park Building 1100 Olive Way Seattle, Washington 98101	Whether the Labor-Management Cooperation Trust, which was established in accordance with the Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry, Local Union 598, AFL-CIO and the employers that are signatories to the Local 598 Collective Bargaining Agreement, as revised December 1991, is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA. Specifically, whether the revised Trust Agreement’s purpose to provide benefits described in section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 falls within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.
1993-33A 12/16/1993 4975 (c )(1)	Mr. Roberto Faith 1101 S.W. 102 Court Miami, Florida 33174	Whether the proposed purchase and lease-back of a tax-exempt school's land and building by a self-directed Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that is an employee pension benefit plan would result in a prohibited transaction under section 4975 of the Code. Whether the prohibited transaction would result in a deemed distribution from the IRA under section 408(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.