Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 1.djvu/149

 PUBLIC LAW 95-239—MAR. 1, 1978

92 STAT. 95

Public Law 95-239 95th Congress An Act To amend the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act to improve the black lung benefits program established under such Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives United States of America in Congress assembled,

Mar. 1, 1978 [H.R. 4544]

of the

SHORT TITUJ

Black Lung Benefits Reform Art nf 1077 Acioii:///.

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Black L u n g Benefits 30 USC 801 note. Reform Act of 1977". DEFINITIONS H i: SEC. 2. (a) Section 402(b) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the " Act ") is amended to read as follows: " (b) The term 'pneumoconiosis' means a chronic dust disease of the lung and its sequelae, including respiratory and pulmonary impairments, arising out of coal mine employment.". (b) Section 402(d) of the Act is amended to read as follows: " (d) The term '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. Such 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 dust as a result of such employment.". ! (c) Section 402(f) of the Act is amended to read as follows: " (f)(1) The term 'total disability' has the meaning given it by regulations of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for claims under part B of this title, and by regulations of the Secretary of Labor for claims under part C of this title, subject to the relevant provisions of subsections (b) and (d) of section 413, except that— " (A) in the case of a living miner, such regulations shall provide that a miner sihaP be considered totally disabled when pneumoconiosis prevents him or her from engaging in gainful i employment requiring the skills and abilities comparable to those of any employment in a mine or mines in which he or she previously engaged with some regularity and over a substantial period of t i m e; " (B) such regulations shall provide that (i) a deceased miner's employment in a mine at the time of death shall not be used as conclusive evidence that the miner was not totally disabled; and (ii) in the case of a living miner, if there are changed circumstances of employment indicative of reduced ability to perform his or her usual coal mine work, such miner's employment in a mine shall not be used as conclusive evidence that the miner is not totally disabled; " (C) such regulations shall not provide more restrictive criteria than those applicable under section 223(d) of the Social Security Act; and

30 USC 902.

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30 USC 921 et seq. 30 USC 931 et seq. 30 USC 923.

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42 USC 423.

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