The Treasury Department today said some airlines, steel manufacturers...

The Treasury Department today said some airlines, steel manufacturers and other companies with underfunded pension plans would be exempt from restrictions on increasing benefits if their actuaries certify that the companies will contribute money to the plans above minimum funding requirements. The guidance is for those companies that choose the "alternative deficit reduction contributions" under the Pension Funding Equity Act, passed in April. The law, which allows the firms to avoid accelerated pension contributions that otherwise would have been due this year and in 2005, restricts those companies with underfunded plans from increasing benefits.