Does ERISA permit the termination of a distressed pension plan through an agreement between PBGC and the plan administrator?

QUESTIONS PRESENTED ; The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) carefully spells out the process to terminate a distressed pension plan insured by the Pension : Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”). Under 29 U.S.C. §1342(a), PBGC may “institute proceedings” to terminate a plan it deems in distress; under §1342(b), ; a trustee can take charge of the plan while those pro, ceedings are underway; and under §1342(c), PBGC or the trustee ultimately may apply to a district court for a decree terminating the plan, which the court may grant “in order to protect the interests of the partici. pants or to avoid any unreasonable deterioration of the financial condition of the plan or any unreasonable increase in the liability of the [PBGC insurance] fund.” Here, the Sixth Circuit held that, as an alter; native to these procedures, PBGC may terminate a plan through an agreement with the plan’s administrator, with no judicial oversight or hearing of any sort for participants who will lose benefits upon termination. The Questions Presented are: (1) Does ERISA permit the termination of a distressed pension plan through an agreement between PBGC and the plan administrator? (2) Does termination through such an agreement, which avoids a hearing, violate the participants’ con; stitutional rights to due process? . (3) If ERISA and due process allow for termination by agreement, is the termination’s substantive legality to be judged under the standards in §1342(c), , or is it enough that the conditions in §1342(a) to “institute” proceedings may exist? — ; ¢ ; ii