BRB No. 90-2220 BLA 
                         

MARY PETRUSH                  )
(Widow of JOHN PETRUSH)       )
                              )
          Claimant-Petitioner )
                              )
     v.                       )                                                 )
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS'  )    DATE ISSUED:04/27/1992 
COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, UNITED )
STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR    )
                              )
          Respondent          )    DECISION and ORDER

     Appeal of the Decision and Order of Michael F. Colligan, Administrative Law
     Judge, United States Department of Labor.

     Daniel G. Walter (Pawlowski, Creany & Tulowitzki), Ebensburg,    Pennsylvania,
for claimant.  

     Dorothy L. Page (Marshall J. Breger, Solicitor of Labor; Donald S. Shire,
     Associate Solicitor; Rae Ellen Frank James, Deputy Associate Solicitor;
     Richard A. Seid and Michael J. Rutledge, Counsel for Administrative
     Litigation and Legal Advice), Washington, D.C., for the Director, Office of
     Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor.

     Before:  STAGE, Chief Administrative Appeals Judge, DOLDER, Administrative
     Appeals Judge, and LAWRENCE, Administrative Law Judge.*

     PER CURIAM:
     Claimant[1]  appeals the Decision and Order
(87-BLA-3034) of Administrative Law Judge Michael F. Colligan denying benefits on
a survivor's claim filed pursuant to the provisions of Title IV of the Federal Coal
Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended, 30
U.S.C. §901 et seq. (the Act).  The administrative
law judge reviewed this claim pursuant to the provisions of 20 C.F.R. Part 718, and
credited the miner with twenty-five years of qualifying coal mine employment, but
found that the evidence of record was insufficient to establish the existence of
pneumoconiosis pursuant to 20 C.F.R. §718.202.  Accordingly, benefits were
denied.  Claimant appeals, contending that the administrative law judge failed to
properly credit the lay testimony of record.  The Director, Office of Workers'
Compensation Programs, responds, urging affirmance.
     The Board's scope of review is defined by statute.  If the administrative law
judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law are supported by substantial
evidence, are rational, and are consistent with applicable law, they are binding
upon this Board and may not be disturbed.  33 U.S.C. §921(b)(3), as
incorporated by 30 U.S.C. §932(a); O'Keeffe v. Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
Associates, Inc., 380 U.S. 359 (1965).
     In order to establish entitlement to benefits in a survivor's claim filed
after January 1, 1982, claimant must establish, by a preponderance of the evidence,
that the miner's death was due to pneumoconiosis, that pneumoconiosis was a
substantially contributing cause or factor leading to the miner's death, or that
the miner suffered from complicated pneumoconiosis.  See 20 C.F.R.
§718.205(c); Dillon v. Peabody Coal Co., 11 BLR 1-113 (1988);
Neeley v. Director, OWCP, 11 BLR 1-85 (1988).  Survivors are
precluded from entitlement to benefits where the miner's death was caused by a
traumatic injury or the principal cause of death was a medical condition unrelated
to pneumoconiosis, unless the evidence establishes that pneumoconiosis was a
substantially contributing cause of death.  See 20 C.F.R.
§718.205(c)(4); Haduck v. Director, OWCP, 14 BLR 1-29 (1990);
Neeley, supra.
     After careful consideration of the administrative law judge's Decision and
Order, the arguments raised on appeal, and the evidence of record, we conclude that
the Decision and Order of the administrative law judge is supported by substantial
evidence and contains no reversible error.  Claimant's sole contention on appeal
is that the administrative law judge erred in failing to credit the testimony of
the miner's son, which claimant maintains is sufficient to establish entitlement
pursuant to Part 718.  We disagree.  Contrary to claimant's arguments, the
administrative law judge properly found that although the miner's son testified
that his father had difficulty breathing and that he believed his father's
respiratory problems were attributable to coal mine employment exposure, the record
contained no evidence to substantiate this belief.  Decision and Order at 3, 5. 
Consequently, the administrative law judge reasonably found that the evidence of
record was insufficient to establish entitlement pursuant to Part 718, as there
were no presumptions available to claimant; the record contained no x-rays,
biopsies or autopsies; and the only medical evidence of record consisted of the
miner's death certificate, which listed the cause of death as "shock & hemmorhage
following fracture of left leg due to being caught in a cutting machine."  Decision
and Order at 5; Director's Exhibit 6.  As the administrative law judge's findings
are supported by substantial evidence, we must affirm his denial of benefits. 
See Neeley, supra.
     Accordingly, the administrative law judge's Decision and Order denying
benefits is affirmed.
     SO ORDERED.

                                                 
                    BETTY J. STAGE, Chief
                    Administrative Appeals Judge



                                                 
                    NANCY S. DOLDER
                    Administrative Appeals Judge



                                                 
                    LEONARD N. LAWRENCE
                    Administrative Law Judge



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Footnotes.
 1) Claimant, the widow of the deceased miner, died on April 21,
1988.  Hearing Transcript at 6, 10-11.

*Sitting as a temporary Board member by designation pursuant to the Longshore and
Harbor Workers' Compensation Act as amended in 1984, 33 U.S.C.
§921(b)(5)(Supp. V 1987).
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