Nicor Inc.
Form 8-K
Exhibit 10.11
Nicor Gas Supplementary
Retirement Plan
(As Amended And Restated for
Post-2004 Benefits, Effective January 1, 2008)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Nicor Gas Supplementary Retirement
Plan
(As Amended And Restated for
Post-2004 Benefits, Effective January 1, 2008)
SECTION 1
General
1.1 History, Purpose and Effective Date
. Northern Illinois Gas
Company (doing business as Nicor Gas Company, the
“Company”) previously established the Nicor Gas
Retirement Plan (now Supplement E to the Nicor Companies Pension
and Retirement Plan, the “Retirement Plan”) to provide
retirement and other benefits to or on behalf of its eligible
employees and those of its affiliates which, with the consent of
the Company, adopt the Retirement Plan. Contrary to the
desire of the Company, the amount of the benefit payable to or on
account of an employee under the Retirement Plan may be limited by
reason of the application of certain provisions of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
“Code”). Therefore, the Company previously
established the NI-Gas Supplementary Retirement Plan (the
“Plan”), effective as of January 9, 1980 and amended
and restated effective January 1, 1999, to assure that affected
individuals would receive total retirement and other benefits in an
amount equal to the amount that they would have received under the
Retirement Plan if certain limitations of the Code were not
applicable to the Retirement Plan. The following
provisions constitute an amendment and restatement of the Plan,
effective as of January 1, 2008 (the “Effective Date”),
in the form of the “Nicor Gas Supplementary Retirement Plan
(As Amended and Restated Effective as of January 1,
2008)”. The Company and any affiliate of the
Company which adopts the Plan for the benefit of its eligible
employees are referred to below, collectively, as the
“Employers” and individually as an
“Employer”.
Notwithstanding any provisions of
the Plan to the contrary, the provisions of the Plan in effect on
October 3, 2004 apply with respect to those Plan benefits that were
earned and vested within the meaning of Treas. Reg.
§1.409A-6(a) as of December 31, 2004, as well as the actuarial
increases in value thereon determined in accordance with Treas.
Reg. §1.409A-6(a)(3)(i), with respect to (i) each Participant
who Separated from Service (as defined in subsection 1.9) prior to
or on December 31, 2007 and (ii) each Limited Participant (as
defined in subsection 1.9) whose individual agreement provides for
such grandfathering (“Grandfathered
Benefits”). The terms applicable to the
Grandfathered Benefits have not been materially modified within the
meaning of Treas. Reg. §§1.409A-6(a)(1) and (4) on or
after October 3, 2004.
1.2 Source of Benefit Payments
. The amount of any
benefit payable under the Plan shall be paid from the general
revenues of the Employer with respect to whose former employee the
benefit is payable; provided, however, that if a Participant (as
defined in subsection 2.1) has been employed by more than one
Employer, the portion of his Plan benefits payable by any such
Employer shall be in proportion to the benefit he accrued under the
Plan attributable to his period of service with that
Employer. The Company and any Employer may, but are not
required by this Plan to, establish one or more trusts, the assets
of which are subject to the claims of general creditors of the
Employer or any affiliate thereof. An Employer’s
obligation under the Plan shall be reduced to the extent that any
amounts due under the Plan are paid from any such trust.
1.3 Applicable Laws. The Plan shall be construed and
administered in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois
to the extent that such laws are not preempted by the laws of the
United States of America.
1.4 Gender and Number . Where the context admits, words in
one gender shall include the other gender, words in the singular
shall include the plural and the plural shall include the
singular.
1.5 Notices . Any notice or document required to
be filed with the Committee (as defined in subsection 5.1) under
the Plan will be properly filed if delivered or mailed by
registered mail, postage prepaid, to the Committee, in care of the
Company, at its principal executive offices. Any notice
required under the Plan may be waived by the person entitled to
notice.
1.6 Action by
Employers . Any action required or permitted to be
taken under the Plan by any Employer which is a corporation shall
be by resolution of its Board of Directors, or by a person or
persons authorized by its Board of Directors. Any action
required or permitted to be taken by any Employer which is a
partnership shall be by a general partner of such partnership or by
a duly authorized officer thereof.
1.7 Limitations on
Provisions . The provisions of the Plan and the
benefits provided hereunder shall be limited as described
herein. Any benefit payable under the Retirement Plan
shall be paid solely in accordance with the terms and conditions of
the Retirement Plan and nothing in this Plan shall operate or be
construed in any way to modify, amend, or affect the terms and
provisions of the Retirement Plan.
1.8 Claims and
Review Procedures . Any claim for benefits under the
Plan shall be governed by and submitted pursuant to the rules
established under the Nicor Claims Procedures for Nonqualified
Plans, as such are in effect from time to time. The
decision of the Committee shall be conclusive, final and binding in
all respects on both the Company and the
claimant. Benefits shall be paid only if the Committee
determines that the claimant is entitled to them.
1.9 Definitions
.
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(a)
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Affiliate . The term “Affiliate” means
any corporation, trade or business during any period that it is,
along with any Employer, a member of a controlled group of
corporations or a controlled group of trades or businesses (as
described in sections 414(b) and (c), respectively, of the
Code).
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Beneficiary . “Beneficiary” shall
have the meaning described in subsection 2.2.
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Limited
Participant . “Limited Participant”
shall have the meaning described in subsection 2.1.
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Normal
Retirement Age . The term “Normal Retirement
Age” means, with respect to any Participant, the later of (i)
his 65th birthday or (ii) the fifth anniversary of the date on
which he first becomes a Participant; provided, however, that, in
the case of an individual who became a Participant in
the
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Retirement Plan
prior to January 1, 1989, his Normal Retirement Age shall be his
65th birthday.
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Payment
Date . “Payment Date” shall
have the meaning described in subsection 3.2(a).
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Plan
Year . The
“Plan Year” shall be the calendar year.
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Separation
from Service . “Separation from
Service” means the termination of the Participant’s
services to the Company and all Affiliates, whether voluntarily or
involuntarily, as determined in accordance with Treas. Reg.
§1.409A-1(h).
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Supplemental
Retirement Benefit . “Supplemental Retirement
Benefit” shall have the meaning described in subsection
3.1.
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SECTION 2
Participation
2.1 Eligibility to
Participate . Each person who was a Participant in
the Plan immediately prior to the Effective Date shall continue as
a Participant in this Plan for periods on and after Effective Date,
subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan. Subject
to the terms and conditions of the Plan, each other employee of an
Employer shall become a “Participant” in the Plan at
the time that the amount of his retirement benefit under the
Retirement Plan is limited by reason of the application of Section
415 of the Code or Section 401(a)(17) of the Code (and, in each
case, the regulations and other guidance
thereunder). Subject to the following paragraph, no
other person shall become a “Participant” in the
Plan.
Subject to the terms and conditions
of the Plan, an individual who is granted benefits under an
individual agreement (including, but not limited to, a Change in
Control Agreement) with the Company or, with the consent of the
Company, an Employer, which individual agreement provides for the
payment of retirement benefits or other deferred compensation,
including benefits which are in addition to the benefits to which
the individual would otherwise be entitled under the terms of the
Retirement Plan, will be a “Participant” in the Plan
solely for purposes of the benefits to be provided under the
individual agreement and such individuals are sometimes referred to
herein as “Limited Participants”. Each
Participant (or, to the extent applicable, his Beneficiary (as
defined in subsection 2.2)) shall be entitled to receive the
Supplemental Retirement Benefit, if any, determined in accordance
with Section 3 hereof.
2.2 Beneficiary
. Each Participant from time to time, by signing a form
furnished by the Committee, may designate any legal or natural
person or persons (who may be designated contingently or
successively) to whom his benefits under the Plan are to
b