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Code of Federal Regulations Pertaining to U.S. Department of Labor |
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Employees' Benefits |
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Employment Standards Administration, Department of Labor |
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Claims for Benefits Under Part C of Title IV of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, As Amended |
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General |
20 CFR 725.101 - Definitions and use of terms.
- Section Number: 725.101
- Section Name: Definitions and use of terms.
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this subchapter, except where the
content clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply:
(1) The Act means the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act,
Public Law 91-173, 83 Stat. 742, 30 U.S.C. 801-960, as amended by the
Black Lung Benefits Act of 1972, the Mine Safety and Health Act of
1977, the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, the Black Lung
Benefits Revenue Act of 1977, the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of
1981, and the Black Lung Benefits Amendments of 1981.
(2) The Longshoremen's Act or LHWCA means the Longshoremen's and
Harbor Workers' Compensation Act of March 4, 1927, c. 509, 44 Stat.
1424, 33 U.S.C. 901-950, as amended from time to time.
(3) The Social Security Act means the Social Security Act, Act of
August 14, 1935, c. 531, 49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. 301-431, as amended
from time to time.
(4) Administrative law judge means a person qualified under 5
U.S.C. 3105 to conduct hearings and adjudicate claims for benefits
filed pursuant to section 415 and part C of the Act. Until March 1,
1979, it shall also mean an individual appointed to conduct such
hearings and adjudicate such claims under Public Law 94-504.
(5) Beneficiary means a miner or any surviving spouse, divorced
spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, who is entitled to benefits
under either section 415 or part C of title IV of the Act.
(6) Benefits means all money or other benefits paid or payable
under section 415 or part C of title IV of the Act on account of
disability or death due to pneumoconiosis, including augmented benefits
(see Sec. 725.520(c)). The term also includes any expenses related to
the medical examination and testing authorized by the district director
pursuant to Sec. 725.406.
(7) Benefits Review Board or Board means the Benefits Review Board,
U.S. Department of Labor, an appellate tribunal appointed by the
Secretary of Labor pursuant to the provisions of section 21(b)(1) of
the LHWCA. See parts 801 and 802 of this title.
(8) Black Lung Disability Trust Fund or the fund means the Black
Lung Disability Trust Fund established by the Black Lung Benefits
Revenue Act of 1977, as amended by the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act
of 1981, for the payment of certain claims adjudicated under this part
(see subpart G of this part).
(9) Chief Administrative Law Judge means the Chief Administrative
Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Law Judges, U.S. Department
of Labor, 800 K Street, NW., suite 400, Washington, DC 20001-8002.
(10) Claim means a written assertion of entitlement to benefits
under section 415 or part C of title IV of the Act, submitted in a form
and manner authorized by the provisions of this subchapter.
(11) Claimant means an individual who files a claim for benefits
under this part.
(12) Coal mine means an area of land and all structures,
facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels,
excavations and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under or
above the surface of such land by any person, used in, or to be used
in, or resulting from, the work of extracting in such area bituminous
coal, lignite or anthracite from its natural deposits in the earth by
any means or method, and in the work of preparing the coal so
extracted, and
includes custom coal preparation facilities.
(13) Coal preparation means the breaking, crushing, sizing,
cleaning, washing, drying, mixing, storing and loading of bituminous
coal, lignite or anthracite, and such other work of preparing coal as
is usually done by the operator of a coal mine.
(14) Department means the United States Department of Labor.
(15) Director means the Director, OWCP, or his or her designee.
(16) District Director means a person appointed as provided in
sections 39 and 40 of the LHWCA, or his or her designee, who is
authorized to develop and adjudicate claims as provided in this
subchapter (see Sec. 725.350). The term District Director is
substituted for the term Deputy Commissioner wherever that term appears
in the regulations. This substitution is for administrative purposes
only and in no way affects the power or authority of the position as
established in the statute. Any action taken by a person under the
authority of a district director will be considered the action of a
deputy commissioner.
(17) Division or DCMWC means the Division of Coal Mine Workers'
Compensation in the OWCP, Employment Standards Administration, United
States Department of Labor.
(18) Insurer or carrier means any private company, corporation,
mutual association, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, or any other
person or fund, including any State fund, authorized under the laws of
a State to insure employers' liability under workers' compensation
laws. The term also includes the Secretary of Labor in the exercise of
his or her authority under section 433 of the Act.
(19) Miner or coal miner means any individual who works or has
worked in or around a coal mine or coal preparation facility in the
extraction or preparation of coal. The term also includes an individual
who works or has worked in coal mine construction or transportation in
or around a coal mine, to the extent such individual was exposed to
coal mine dust as a result of such employment (see Sec. 725.202). For
purposes of this definition, the term does not include coke oven
workers.
(20) The Nation's coal mines means all coal mines located in any
State.
(21) Office or OWCP means the Office of Workers' Compensation
Programs, United States Department of Labor.
(22) Office of Administrative Law Judges means the Office of
Administrative Law Judges, U.S. Department of Labor.
(23) Operator means any owner, lessee, or other person who
operates, controls or supervises a coal mine, including a prior or
successor operator as defined in section 422 of the Act and certain
transportation and construction employers (see subpart G of this part).
(24) Person means an individual, partnership, association,
corporation, firm, subsidiary or parent of a corporation, or other
organization or business entity.
(25) Pneumoconiosis means a chronic dust disease of the lung and
its sequelae, including respiratory and pulmonary impairments, arising
out of coal mine employment (see part 718 of this subchapter).
(26) Responsible operator means an operator which has been
determined to be liable for the payment of benefits to a claimant for
periods of eligibility after December 31, 1973, with respect to a claim
filed under section 415 or part C of title IV of the Act or reviewed
under section 435 of the Act.
(27) Secretary means the Secretary of Labor, United States
Department of Labor, or a person, authorized by him or her to perform
his or her functions under title IV of the Act.
(28) State includes any state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American
Samoa, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and prior to
January 3, 1959, and August 21, 1959, respectively, the territories of
Alaska and Hawaii.
(29) Total disability and partial disability, for purposes of this
part, have the meaning given them as provided in part 718 of this
subchapter.
(30) Underground coal mine means a coal mine in which the earth and
other materials which lie above and around the natural deposit of coal
(i.e., overburden) are not removed in mining; including all land,
structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes,
tunnels, excavations and other property, real or personal, appurtenant
thereto.
(31) A workers' compensation law means a law providing for payment
of benefits to employees, and their dependents and survivors, for
disability on account of injury, including occupational disease, or
death, suffered in connection with their employment. A payment funded
wholly out of general revenues shall not be considered a payment under
a workers' compensation law.
(32) Year means a period of one calendar year (365 days, or 366
days if one of the days is February 29), or partial periods totaling
one year, during which the miner worked in or around a coal mine or
mines for at least 125 ``working days.'' A ``working day'' means any
day or part of a day for which a miner received pay for work as a
miner, but shall not include any day for which the miner received pay
while on an approved absence, such as vacation or sick leave. In
determining whether a miner worked for one year, any day for which the
miner received pay while on an approved absence, such as vacation or
sick leave, may be counted as part of the calendar year and as partial
periods totaling one year.
(i) If the evidence establishes that the miner worked in or around
coal mines at least 125 working days during a calendar year or partial
periods totaling one year, then the miner has worked one year in coal
mine employment for all purposes under the Act. If a miner worked fewer
than 125 working days in a year, he or she has worked a fractional year
based on the ratio of the actual number of days worked to 125. Proof
that the miner worked more than 125 working days in a calendar year or
partial periods totaling a year, shall not establish more than one
year.
(ii) To the extent the evidence permits, the beginning and ending
dates of all periods of coal mine employment shall be ascertained. The
dates and length of employment may be established by any credible
evidence including (but not limited to) company records, pension
records, earnings statements, coworker affidavits, and sworn testimony.
If the evidence establishes that the miner's employment lasted for a
calendar year or partial periods totaling a 365-day period amounting to
one year, it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the
contrary, that the miner spent at least 125 working days in such
employment.
(iii) If the evidence is insufficient to establish the beginning
and ending dates of the miner's coal mine employment, or the miner's
employment lasted less than a calendar year, then the adjudication
officer may use the following formula: divide the miner's yearly income
from work as a miner by the coal mine industry's average daily earnings
for that year, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A
copy of the BLS table shall be made a part of the record if the
adjudication officer uses this method to establish the length of the
miner's work history.
(iv) No periods of coal mine employment occurring outside the
United States shall be considered in computing the miner's work
history.
(b) Statutory terms. The definitions contained in this section
shall not be
construed in derogation of terms of the Act.
(c) Dependents and survivors. Dependents and survivors are those
persons described in subpart B of this part.
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