15.1 Information to Be Furnished

An Employee or Associate Employee shall furnish the Trustees any information or proof that they may deem necessary and reasonable in order to administer the terms of this Retirement Plan.

15.2 Contributions

All contributions to the Fund will be made by the Individual Employers and in amounts as specified in their respective Collective Bargaining Agreements.

15.3 Applicable Law

This Retirement Plan shall be construed, regulated, and administered under the federal laws of the United States and, to the extent not preempted, the laws of the State of Washington.

15.4 Savings Clause

If any provisions of the Plan are held to be illegal or invalid for any reason, such illegality, or invalidity shall not affect the remaining parts of the Plan, but the Plan shall be construed and enforced as if such illegal and invalid provisions had never been inserted in the Plan.

15.5 Masculine Gender

The masculine gender shall include the feminine wherever applicable.

15.6 Withdrawal Liability

15.6.1 Adoption of Optional Provisions. The following provisions are adopted to comply with the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-364), which requires that certain optional provisions of that Act be set forth in the Plan.

15.6.2 Interest Assumption. The Plan shall use an interest discount assumption for calculating withdrawal liability, which is the greater of:

1. the PBGC immediate annuity rate in effect at the valuation date for terminating a single employer plan, less one and one-half percent (1-1/2%); or
2. the valuation funding assumption.

15.6.3 Fresh Start Option. The fresh start option shall apply for Plan withdrawals occurring on or after January 1, 2007, by substituting the Plan Year ending December 31, 2006, for the Plan Year ending before September 26, 1980 (ERISA § 4211(c)(5)(E)).

15.6.4 Free Look Option. The free look option shall apply for Plan withdrawals on or after January 1, 2007, as long as the following apply:

1. the ratio of Plan assets to benefits paid for the Plan Year preceding the first Plan Year for which the employer was required to contribute was at least 8 to 1;
2. the Individual Employer had an obligation to contribute to the Plan for no more than five years;
3. the Individual Employer's required contributions for each of the five Plan Years prior to withdrawal did not exceed 2% of the total Plan contributions made for that Plan Year;
4. the Individual Employer has not previously avoided withdrawal liability under this rule; and
5. the Individual Employer first had an obligation to contribute to the Plan after September 26, 1980 (ERISA § 4210).

In the event an Individual Employer withdraws from the Plan under this free look option, that part of any past service credit and past service accrued benefit (including but not limited to service under Article 1.8.5) for which an Employee was previously eligible because of employment for that Individual Employer prior to the participation of such Individual Employer in this Plan shall be forfeited.

15.7 Qualified Military Service

Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, contributions, benefits and Credited Service with respect to qualified military service will be provided in accordance with § 401(a)(37) and § 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code, provided that benefit accrual will not be provided for an individual who dies while performing qualified military service, and provided further that reemployment rights are not provided to an individual who becomes disabled while performing qualified military service and fails to resume employment. Funding to provide benefits attributable to periods of qualified military service shall be at Plan expense. Hours of Service for qualified military service shall be based upon the Employee's average Hours of Service during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the qualified military service, or, if shorter, the period of employment immediately preceding the qualified military service.

15.8 Relief From Registration with CFTC

Pursuant to Rule 4.5(a) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), the Board of Trustees is not a commodity pool operator with respect to the Trust and therefore does not register with the CFTC.

Assets of the Trust are invested through the Group Investment Trust of the Northwest Carpenters Individual Account Pension Pla and the Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan ("Group Investment Trust"). The CFTC granted relief from registration as a commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor to the Board of Trustees of the Group Investment Trust with respect to their operation of that trust, and pursuant to that relief the Trustees of the Group Investment Trust have not registered with the CFTC.