Overview Compliance Assistance Materials Basic Information Fact Sheets Posters Applicable Laws and Regulations Related Topics and Links DOL Contacts Return to By Law Menu

Frequently Asked Questions What is the Black Lung Benefits (BLB) Act? What costs are covered under my Federal Black Lung Program medical benefits? Where do I get information about black lung benefits? more ...

OVERVIEW

The Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) provides monthly payments and medical benefits to coal miners totally disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) arising from employment in or around the nation's coal mines. This Act also provides monthly benefits to a miner's dependent survivors if pneumoconiosis caused or hastened the miner's death. The Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation (DCMWC), within the U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), adjudicates and processes claims filed by coal miners and their survivors under the BLBA.

COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE MATERIALS

BASIC INFORMATION

• Compliance Assistance - Black Lung Benefits Act
• Black Lung Home Page
• Compliance Guide to the BLBA
• Employment Law Guide: Black Lung Compensation - Describes the compensation provisions of the BLBA.
• Questions and Answers about the Federal Black Lung Program (PDF)

FACT SHEETS

• Fact Sheet: Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation
• About Black Lung Benefits
• Black Lung Medical Benefits: Questions and Answers about the Federal Black Lung Program (PDF)

POSTERS

• Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) End Black Lung Poster (PDF)

APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) - Provides monthly payments and medical benefits to coal miners totally disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) arising from employment in or around the nation's coal mines. Also provides monthly benefits to a miner's dependent survivors if pneumoconiosis caused or hastened the miner's death.
• 20 CFR Part 726 - Regulations describing the requirements for Coal Mine Operator's Insurance.
• Black Lung Regulations — 2000 Amendments
• 20 CFR Part 718 - Standards for Determining Coal Miners' Total Disability or Death Due to Pneumoconiosis.
• 20 CFR Part 727 (1999) - Review of pending and denied claims under the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977.
• 20 CFR Part 725 - Claims for benefits under Part C of Title IV of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, as amended.

RELATED TOPICS AND LINKS

• Compliance Assistance Materials Library: Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA)
• OALJ Law Library Black Lung Collection
• Black Lung Forms
• MSHA's End Black Lung Now and Forever
• MSHA's Coal Worker's Pneumoconiosis (Black Lung)(PDF)

DOL CONTACTS*

• Employment Standards Administration (ESA) 
  Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP)
  Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation
  200 Constitution Avenue, NW
  Room C-3521
  Washington, DC 20210
  E-mail: DCMWC-Public@dol.gov
  Tel: 1-800-638-7072
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627
  Local Offices

• For questions on other DOL laws,
  please call DOL's Toll-Free Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL. Live assistance is available in English and Spanish, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional service is available in more than 140 languages through a translation service.
  Tel: 1-866-4-USA-DOL
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627

*Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Confidentiality Protocol for Compliance Assistance Inquiries, information provided by a telephone caller will be kept confidential within the bounds of the law. Compliance assistance inquiries will not trigger an inspection, audit, investigation, etc.