§ 725.101 - Definition and use of terms.

§ 725.101 Definition 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 Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. 901-44, as amended.

(2) The Longshore Act or LHWCA means the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 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 also means 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 § 725.520(c)). The term also includes any expenses related to the medical examination and testing authorized by the district director pursuant to § 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 § 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, 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 § 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, does 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 must 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 must 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 must 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) Periods of coal mine employment occurring outside the United States must not be considered in computing the miner's work history.

(b) Statutory terms. The definitions contained in this section must 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.

[65 FR 80054, Dec. 20, 2000, as amended at 77 FR 37286, June 21, 2012; 78 FR 59117, Sept. 25, 2013]