[March 19, 2007]

As part of the closeout of the University of California’s contract with the Department of Energy to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory, UC will seek Regents’ authorization to enter into two agreements with the Department of Energy (DOE) /National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) regarding the transfer of University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) assets and liabilities associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory service and DOE/ NNSA’s ongoing reimbursement obligation to UC for UCRP funding shortfalls related to the retained LANL members.  The Regents will consider the agreements at their regular business meeting on March 15 in Los Angeles.

Under the proposed agreement regarding DOE/NNSA’s ongoing obligations to reimburse UC, those LANL employees who became inactive or retired members prior to June 1, 2006, or their beneficiaries will remain within UCRP, provided DOE/ NNSA satisfies its obligations under the funding formula described in the agreement. This agreement clarifies DOE/NNSA’s ongoing obligations to reimburse UC for any shortfall and provides a high degree of protection for UCRP. In addition, based on the terms of the management contract between DOE/ NNSA and UC, the transfer agreement outlines the amount of assets to be transferred to the Los Alamos National Security LLC Defined Benefit Pension Plan (LANS Pension Plan) to provide funding for the prior-service pension benefits of former University employees who elected to participate in the LANS Pension Plan. 

Both agreements must be approved by UC and officials at DOE/NNSA.  If both are approved, the asset transfer is planned to occur on or about April 2, 2007.

The transfer of assets and liabilities under these agreements will have no adverse effect on UCRP and are not related to The Regents’ current plan to restart employer and employee contributions to UCRP. The UCRP assets and liabilities associated with the LANL Retained Segment will be carefully tracked and accounted for, and underfunding will be addressed by the funding formula under the agreement with the DOE. The Regents’ decision to restart contributions will not affect any UCRP retired and inactive members, including LANL retired or inactive members retained in UCRP.

For more information about the UC-DOE agreements, see the Fact Sheet and the Regents website.

• The information presented in these news archive articles may no longer be current. Please note the date when the article was first published.