(A) Any reference to a section of the Internal Revenue Code shall be construed to also refer to any successor provision. Any reference to a section of Treasury Regulations shall be construed to also refer to any successor provision of such regulations. Any reference to a revenue ruling or revenue procedure or IRS notice or IRS announcement shall be construed to also refer to any guidance of general applicability that extends, amplifies or modifies the revenue ruling or revenue procedure or IRS notice or IRS announcement.
(B) The plan refers to relevant regulations, including (but not limited to) Treasury Regulations under the Internal Revenue Code, without regard to whether the regulations are substantive or interpretive and without regard to whether the regulations are proposed or temporary or final; but it is intended that any provision that refers to a regulation shall be construed to refer to the regulation in the sense of the appropriate legal effect (under administrative procedure law and otherwise) that the regulation currently has at the time the construction is made.
(C) To the extent that a provision states a duty owed to any government (rather than a duty to a participant or beneficiary or other person or entity having an interest under the plan), the provision shall be construed as directory and shall be enforced only by the government. However, a provision that is necessary for the plan to meet the requirements of an eligible deferred compensation plan within the meaning of I.R.C. § 457(b) includes a duty owed to participants and beneficiaries and is not directory.
(D) To the extent that a construction or interpretation of the plan involves a construction of a statute or regulation, the Plan Administrator may (but is not required to) construe the statute or regulation according to the Uniform Statutory Construction Act.
(Ord. NIRC 97-1, passed 1-15-1997)