Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 3.djvu/224

 110 STAT. 1954 PUBLIC LAW 104-191—AUG. 21, 1996 (ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN PERIODS. —The Secretary of Labor, consistent with section 104, shall provide for a process whereby individusds who need to establish creditable coverage for periods before July 1, 1996, and who would have such coverage credited but for clause (i) may be given credit for creditable coverage for such periods through the presentation of documents or other means. (B) CERTIFICATIONS, ETC.— (i) IN GENERAL.— Subject to clauses (ii) and (iii), subsection (e) of section 701 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (as added by this section) shall apply to events occurring after Jiuie 30, 1996. (ii) No CERTIFICATION REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED BEFORE JUNE 1, 1997. —In no case is a certification required to be provided under such subsection before June 1, 1997. (iii) CERTIFICATION ONLY ON WRITTEN REQUEST FOR EVENTS OCCURRING BEFORE OCTOBER 1, 1996.—In the case of an event occurring after June 30, 1996, and before October 1, 1996, a certification is not required to be provided under such subsection unless an individual (with respect to whom the certification is otherwise required to be made) requests such certification in writing. (C) TRANSITIONAL RULE.— In the case of an individual who seeks to establish creditable coverage for any period for which certification is not required because it relates to an event occurring before Jrnie 30, 1996— (i) the individual may present other credible evidence of such coverage in order to establish the period of creditable coverage; and (ii) a group health plan and a hesdth insurance issuer shall not be subject to any penalty or enforcement action with respect to the plan s or issuer's crediting (or not crediting) such coverage if the plan or issuer has sought to comply in good faith with the applicable requirements under the amendments made by this section. (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREE- MENTS. —Except as provided in paragraph (2), in the case of a group healtii plan maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between employee representatives and one or more employers ratified before the date of the enactment of this Act, part 7 of subtitle B of title I of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (other than section 701(e) thereof) shall not apply to plan years beginning before the later of— (A) the date on which the last of the collective bargaining agreements relating to the plan terminates (determined without regard to any extension thereof agreed to after the date of the enactment of this Act), or (B) July 1, 1997. For purposes of subparagraph (A), any plan amendment made pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement relating to the plan which amends the plan solely to conform to any require-

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