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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS AND LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLANS | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS AND LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLANS [Abstract] |
Employee Benefit Plans and Long-Term Incentive Plans | EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS AND LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLANS Employee Benefit Plans We rely on employees of NuStar GP, LLC to provide the necessary services to conduct our U.S. operations. NuStar GP, LLC sponsors various employee benefit plans. The NuStar Pension Plan (the Pension Plan) is a qualified non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that became effective July 1, 2006. The Pension Plan covers substantially all of NuStar GP, LLC’s employees and generally provides eligible employees with retirement income calculated under a final average pay formula (FAP) or a cash balance formula. Employees hired before January 1, 2011 are covered under FAP, which is based on years of service and compensation during their period of service, and employees become fully vested in their benefits upon attaining five years of vesting service. Employees hired on January 1, 2011 or after are covered under the cash balance formula, which is based on age and service and interest credits, and employees become fully vested in their benefits upon attaining three years of vesting service. Effective January 1, 2014, the Pension Plan was amended to freeze the FAP benefit as of December 31, 2013 and all employees will be covered under the cash balance formula. NuStar GP, LLC also maintains an excess pension plan (the Excess Pension Plan) which is a nonqualified deferred compensation plan that provides benefits to a select group of management or other highly compensated employees of NuStar GP, LLC. The supplemental executive retirement plan (the SERP) has no participants, and it will terminate in 2014 upon a final payment to the former participants. The NuStar Thrift Plan (the Thrift Plan) is a qualified employee profit-sharing plan that became effective June 26, 2006. Participation in the Thrift Plan is voluntary and is open to substantially all NuStar GP, LLC employees upon their date of hire, except for part-time employees (as defined in the Thrift Plan), who become eligible upon completing one year of service (as defined in the Thrift Plan). Thrift Plan participants can contribute from 1% up to 30% of their total annual compensation to the Thrift Plan in the form of pre-tax and/or after tax employee contributions. NuStar GP, LLC makes matching contributions in an amount equal to 100% of each participant’s employee contributions up to a maximum of 6% of the participant’s total annual compensation. NuStar GP, LLC also maintains an excess thrift plan (the Excess Thrift Plan) that became effective July 1, 2006. The Excess Thrift Plan is a nonqualified deferred compensation plan that provides benefits to those employees of NuStar GP, LLC whose compensation and/or annual contributions under the Thrift Plan are subject to the limitations applicable to qualified retirement plans under the Code. Benefits under the Excess Thrift Plan are generally payable in a single lump sum payment upon the employee’s separation from service. None of the Excess Thrift Plan, the Excess Pension Plan or the SERP is intended to constitute either a qualified plan under the provisions of Section 401 of the Code or a funded plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. NuStar GP, LLC also provides a medical benefits plan for retired employees. In 2013, the plan was amended for employees that retire on or after April 1, 2014 to provide a defined subsidy for eligible third-party health care premiums. We also maintain several other defined contribution plans for certain international employees located in Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, our costs for these plans totaled $2.5 million, $2.6 million and $2.6 million, respectively. Long-Term Incentive Plans NuStar GP, LLC sponsors the following:
• | The Third Amended and Restated 2000 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the 2000 LTIP), under which NuStar GP, LLC may award up to 3,250,000 NS common units. Awards under the 2000 LTIP can include NS unit options, restricted units, performance awards, distribution equivalent rights (DER) and contractual rights to receive common units. As of December 31, 2013, a total of 1,517,027 NS common units remained available to be awarded under the 2000 LTIP.
• | The 2006 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the 2006 LTIP) under which NuStar GP Holdings may award up to 2,000,000 NSH units to employees, consultants and directors of NuStar GP Holdings and its affiliates, including us. Awards under the 2006 LTIP can include NSH unit options, performance awards, DER, restricted units, phantom units, unit grants and unit appreciation rights. As of December 31, 2013, a total of 1,494,177 NSH units remained available to be awarded under the 2006 LTIP.
The 2003 Employee Unit Incentive Plan (the UIP), under which NuStar GP, LLC awarded NS common units to employees of NuStar GP, LLC or its affiliates, terminated on June 16, 2013. The 2002 Unit Option Plan (the UOP), under which NuStar GP, LLC awarded NS unit options to officers and directors of NuStar GP, LLC or its affiliates, terminated on March 22, 2012. The number of awards granted under the above-described plans were as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2013 |  | 2012 |  | 2011
| Granted |  | Vesting |  | Granted |  | Vesting |  | Granted |  | Vesting
2000 LTIP: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Performance awards | 38,786 |  |  | (a) |  |  | 33,445 |  |  | (a) |  | 27,111 |  |  | (a)
Restricted units (b) | 269,182 |  |  | 1/5 per year |  |  | 231,855 |  |  | 1/5 per year |  | 208,195 |  |  | 1/5 per year
Restricted units (grants to non-employee directors of NuStar GP, LLC) | 8,904 |  |  | 1/3 per year |  |  | 8,170 |  |  | 1/3 per year |  | 6,760 |  |  | 1/3 per year
UIP: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Restricted units (c) | — |  |  | — |  |  | 15,382 |  |  | 1/5 per year |  | 14,005 |  |  | 1/5 per year
2006 LTIP: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Restricted units | 18,620 |  |  | 1/5 per year |  |  | 25,640 |  |  | 1/5 per year |  | 24,970 |  |  | 1/5 per year
Restricted units (grants to non-employee directors of NuStar GP Holdings) (d) | 13,183 |  |  | 1/3 per year |  |  | 10,601 |  |  | 1/3 per year |  | 9,987 |  |  | 1/3 per year
(a) | Performance awards vest 1/3 per year if certain performance measures are met.
(b) | The 2000 LTIP restricted unit grants include 3,882 restricted unit awards granted to certain international employees for the year ended December 31, 2013, that vest 1/3 per year , as defined in the award agreements.
(c) | The UIP restricted unit grants include 3,392 and 2,880 restricted unit awards granted to certain international employees for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, that vest 1/3 per year , as defined in the award agreements.
(d) | We do not reimburse NuStar GP, LLC for compensation expense relating to these awards.
Our share of compensation expense related to the various long-term incentive plans and benefit plans described above is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2013 |  | 2012 |  | 2011
| (Thousands of Dollars)
Long-term incentive plans | $ | 9,818 |  |  | $ | 7,745 |  |  | $ | 8,521 |
Benefit plans | $ | 18,204 |  |  | $ | 23,602 |  |  | $ | 13,684 |

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- Definition Description of and general information regarding the types of pension, other postretirement benefit and share based compensation plans utilized by the employer. + References No definition available. + Details
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