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
1994-32A 08/04/1994 206(d)(3)	Mr. Homer L. Elliott Drinker Biddle & Reath Philadelphia National Bank Building Broad and Chestnut Streets Philadelphia, PA 19107	Whether VIZ Manufacturing Company’s Savings and Investment Profit-Sharing Plan can apply the "qualified domestic relations order" (QDRO) exception to the anti-assignment and alienation rules contained in section 206(d)(3) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and sections 401(a)(13)(B) and 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).
1994-31A 09/09/1994 401(b)	Mr. Thomas Veal Deloitte & Touche Suite 350N 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20004-2594	Whether contributions to a purported grantor trust (the Trust) which is designed to offset liability for post-retirement benefits in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement 106 (FAS 106) would constitute plan assets under Title I of ERISA.
1994-30A 08/19/1994 3(2)	Mr. Mark H. Sokolsky Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson 55 East Monroe Street, Suite 4200 Chicago, Illinois 60603-5803	Whether Universities Research Association, Inc. has established or maintains an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of Title I of ERISA with regard to either the "retirement annuity contracts" or the "supplemental retirement annuity contracts" made available to employees of Fermilab under the annuity program.
1994-29A 07/21/1994 3(1)	Mr. Eugene H. Veenhuis Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp Trident Center 11377 West Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90064-1683	Whether the Screen Actors Guild, Inc. (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund provides benefits to its participants and beneficiaries and is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.
1994-28A 07/21/1994 PTE 80-26	Mr. Kenneth W. Ruthenberg, Jr. Chang, Hallisey, Ruthenberg Crawford & Long 8880 Cal Center Drive Suite 250 Sacramento, CA 95826	Whether PTE 80-26 is applicable to a loan to a plan which is used solely for the payment of benefits to a beneficiary of such plan in accordance with the terms of a QDRO, provided all of the other conditions of the exemption are met.
1994-27A 07/14/1994 514(a)	Mr. Leonard P. Larrabee, III Dreyfus Service Corporation 200 Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10166	Whether New York Labor Law section 193 (McKinney 1986) (Section 193) is preempted by section 514(a) of Title I of ERISA to the extent that Section 193 requires employee benefit plans covered by Title I of ERISA to secure written authorization for employee elective deferrals from their wages.
1994-26A 07/11/1994 2510.3-1(j) 3(1)	Ms. Catherine A. Powers Benefits Attorney Air Line Pilots Association 535 Herndon Parkway P.O. Box 1169 Herndon, Virginia 22070	Whether the Air Line Pilots Association, International Group Loss of License Disability Income and the ALPA Group Extended Total Disability Income Insurance Plan are "employee welfare benefit plans" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1994-25A 07/11/1994 2510.3-1(j) 3(1)	Ms. Catherine A. Powers Benefits Attorney Air Line Pilots Association 535 Herndon Parkway P.O. Box 1169 Herndon, Virginia 22070	Whether the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) Group Legal Expense Insurance Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1994-24A 07/01/1994 2510.3-1(j) 3(1)	Ms. Catherine A. Powers Benefits Attorney Air Line Pilots Association 535 Herndon Parkway P.O. Box 1169 Herndon, Virginia 22070	Whether the Air Line Pilots Association, International Group Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1994-23A 07/01/1994 2510.3-1(j) 3(1)	Ms. Catherine A. Powers Benefits Attorney Air Line Pilots Association 535 Herndon Parkway P.O. Box 1169 Herndon, Virginia 22070	Whether the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), Group Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.