The Court shall confirm a plan only if all the following requirements are met:
(a) The plan substantially complies with all applicable provisions of §§ 113-113nn of this title;
(b) the plan separates affected debt into classes based on:
(1) Differences in the claims’ collateral security or priorities; or
(2) rational business justifications for classifying similar claims separately, provided that different maturities shall not render claims dissimilar;
(c) the plan provides the same treatment for each claim of a particular class, unless the holder of a particular claim agrees to a less favorable treatment of such claim;
(d) the plan provides for every affected creditor in each class of affected debt to receive payments and/or property having a present value of at least the amount the affected debt in the class would have received if all creditors holding claims against the petitioner had been allowed to enforce them on the date the petition was filed;
(e) at least one class of affected debt has voted to accept the plan by a majority of all votes cast in such class and two-thirds of the aggregate amount of affected debt in such class that is voted;
(f) the plan does not contain any provision causing a violation of an entity’s rights under the Commonwealth Constitution or the U.S. Constitution that is not remedied or otherwise justified pursuant to § 111aa of this title;
(g) the petitioner shall be able to:
(1) Make all mandatory payments provided by the plan and
(2) perform public functions;
(h) confirmation of the plan is not likely to be followed by the need for further financial reorganization of the petitioner, unless such reorganization is proposed by the plan, and all other provisions of the plan must be feasible;
(i) the plan has been proposed in good faith and not by any means forbidden by law, subject to § 111g of this title;
(j) all administrative expenses accruing prior to the effective date of the plan shall be paid in full according to their terms or on the effective date of the plan, and all noncontingent, undisputed, and matured claims unaffected by the plan in accordance with § 113z of this title shall be paid in full according to their terms; Provided, however, That disputed or contingent claims shall be resolved in the ordinary course and paid as the parties agree or as the plan otherwise provides;
(k) each class of claims of affected debt that will not be satisfied in full under the plan absent the additional consideration provided in this subsection shall be entitled to receive annually in arrears its pro rata share of 50% of the petitioner’s positive free cash flow, if any, at the end of any fiscal year, after payment of: (1) operating expenses; (2) capital expenditures (including capitalized expenses); (3) taxes, if any; (4) principal, interest, and other payments made in respect of financial indebtedness; (5) reserves; (6) changes in working capital; (7) cash payments of other liabilities; and (8) extraordinary items; in each case, incurred, expensed, and recorded in such fiscal year; such contingent payments to be made by the petitioner, but only to the extent necessary to pay each claim in full, including interest and any fees contractually required, for each of the first ten (10) full fiscal years ending after the first anniversary of the effective date of the plan, provided that once any claim is paid in full, its share of future contingent payments shall be ratably distributed to other affected creditors not yet paid in full;
(l) the effective date of the plan shall be the first date after confirmation of the plan that the confirmation order is not stayed and the petitioner or GDB files a notice with the Court that it is prepared to begin implementing the plan;
(m) with respect to affected secured claims (representing the amount by which a claim for principal, interest, and fees is secured by the value of the collateral security):
(1) Both:
(A) The plan provides that the holders of such claims retain the liens securing such claims, whether the property subject to such liens is retained by the petitioner or transferred to another entity, to the extent of the allowed amount of such claims; and
(B) each holder of such a claim receives on account of such claim immediate or deferred cash payments totaling at least the allowed amount of such claim, of a value, as of the effective date of the plan, of at least the value of such holder’s interest in the petitioner’s interest in such property, with value being determined by the Court based on the plan’s proposed disposition or use of the property, including its expected net revenues or net transfer proceeds if contemplated by the plan; or
(2) the plan provides for the transfer of any property that is subject to the liens securing such claims, free and clear of liens, and such liens attach to the net proceeds of such transfer;
(n) with respect to unsecured claims for affected debt (including deficiency claims, subject to subsection (d) of § 113dd of this title, for secured affected debt that are based on a deficiency arising from liens against property having a value of less than the full amounts of the affected debt held by the affected creditor owning such liens), the plan shall be in the best interests of such creditors and shall maximize the amounts distributable to such creditors to the extent practicable, subject to the petitioner’s obligations to fulfill its public functions;
(o) the petitioner shall have proved to the Court that it undertook-before or after the petition was filed-a reasonable program of cost reductions and income enhancements to try to maximize its repayment of affected debt under the plan, subject to the constraints that the petitioner must fulfill its public functions, and that some cost reductions or revenue enhancements may be counterproductive if they cause individuals or businesses to leave the Commonwealth, to reduce spending in the Commonwealth, or to reduce the consumption of services provided by the petitioner; and
(p) except to the extent agreed to by an affected creditor, the plan does not provide for a materially different and adverse treatment for such claim as compared to the treatment of claims in different classes under the plan having the same priority, unless the petitioner demonstrates a rational basis to permit such disparate treatment.
History —June 28, 2014, No. 71, § 315.