Cite as: 522 U. S. 192 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
other steps in the assessment and collection process.4 Congress' adoption of a looser "as soon as practicable" requirement for the initial determination of withdrawal liability bespeaks a deliberate legislative choice to afford some flexibility in gathering the information and performing the complex calculations necessary to make that assessment.
Furthermore, we agree with the D. C. Circuit that "significant incentives . . . will, in the usual case, induce plan sponsors to act promptly to calculate, schedule, and demand payment of withdrawal liability." Joyce, 871 F. 2d, at 1126. Pension funds have a financial imperative to act quickly, for the contributions lost when the employer withdraws will not be replaced with withdrawal liability payments until the plan calculates those payments and serves a demand on the employer. And as time passes, the likelihood that the plan will never receive payment increases. If the trustees' delay in calculating withdrawal liability threatens a plan's financial position, that delay could constitute a breach of fiduciary duty actionable at the instance of the plan's beneficiaries. Also, if an employer believes the trustees have failed to comply with their "as soon as practicable" responsibility, the employer may assert that violation as a laches objection at an arbitration contesting the withdrawal liability assessment. See ibid. The Ninth Circuit's policy concerns, in short, do not warrant an extraordinary reading of § 1451(f) that would trigger the statute of limitations before a cause of action accrues.
4 See 29 U. S. C. § 1399(a) (employer must furnish requested information to the plan sponsor within 30 days); § 1399(b)(2)(A) (employer may seek reconsideration of withdrawal liability assessment within 90 days); § 1399(c)(2) (withdrawal liability shall be payable according to the plan sponsor's schedule, beginning no later than 60 days after the date of the demand); § 1401(a)(1) (either party may request arbitration within the earlier of 60 days after the plan responds to the employer's request for reconsideration or 180 days after the employer sought reconsideration).
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