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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**1981**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1981-17A 01/29/1981 103(a)	Mr. J. Robert Ash Employers Dental Services, Inc. 4431 East Broadway Tucson, Arizona 85711	Whether an "Employer Group Agreement" between Employer Dental Services, Inc. (EDS) and an employer sponsoring a prepaid dental plan, under which EDS agrees to provide specified dental benefits to employees and their eligible dependents is an insurance contract or policy issued by an insurance company or similar organization which is qualified to do business in a state for purposes of 29 C.F.R. §2520.104-20(b)(ii).
1981-16A 01/23/1981 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. J. Michael Wylie Moore & Peterson 2400 One Dallas Centre Dallas, Texas 75201	Whether the Trust, created by employees of Natural Resource Management Corporation (NRMC) and its subsidiaries for the purpose of acquiring a general partnership interest in NRM 81-1, Ltd., a Texas limited partnership, is an "employee pension benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA, or an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1981-15A 01/23/1981	Mr. Stanley D. Heisler Heisler, Van Valkenburgh & Coats 214 East Fifth Street The Dalles, Oregon 97058	Whether the Plan is exempt from the provisions of ERISA by virtue of its being a "governmental plan" within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. §1002 (ERISA section 3(32)).
1981-14A 01/23/1981	Mr. Courts Oulahan 702 Longfellow Building 1201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the plan is a governmental plan within the meaning of ERISA section 3(32) and, thus, is excluded from ERISA title I coverage by ERISA section 4(b)(1).
1981-13A 01/16/1981 404(a)(1)	Mr. S. E. Clark Senior Vice President and Senior Trust Officer City National Bank Wilshire Boulevard at Roxbury Drive Beverly Hills, California 90210	Whether the diversification requirement of section 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA is met in the case of a plan which has invested in the limited partnership, the investments of the limited partnership are to be considered investments of the plan. Whether the Trustee would be considered prudent under section 404 of ERISA for making such investments and be obligated to monitor these investments.
1981-12A 01/15/1981 404(a)(1) 408(b)(1)	Robert A. Georgine, Chairman National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans Suite 603 815 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20006	The application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to investment programs under which multiemployer plans may offer mortgage loans to plan participants and beneficiaries.
1981-11A 01/16/1981 401(b)	Mr. Michael F. Klein, Jr. Price Waterhouse & Co. 153 East 53rd Street New York, New York 10022	Whether the insurance policies would not be assets of the proposed plan.
1981-10A 01/14/1981 3(2)	Ms. Virginia M. Johnson Assistant Secretary-Personnel Director Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Co. BOX 30060 Lansing, Michigan 48909	Whether the Living Income Benefit (the Program) of Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Co. (the Employer) must comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements of title I of ERISA.
1981-09A 01/14/1981 3(1) 3(5)	John Van Wijk, Esq. The Great Western Sugar Company Post Office Box 5308 Denver, Colorado 80217	Whether a group insurance plan covering domestic sugar beet workers employed by beet growers contracting with The Great Western Sugar Company (G.W.S.) and paid for by G.W.S. is covered by ERISA as an employee benefit plan.
1981-08A 01/12/1981 3(2)	Mr. David M. Monroe Vice President-Finance Secretary and Treasurer Upper Peninsula Power Company 616 Shelden Avenue Houghton, Michigan 49931	You request an opinion that the Special Severance Pay Plan of Upper Peninsula Power Company (the Program) is a severance pay plan as defined in Department of Labor regulation 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-2(b).