[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1529-1530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00097]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

[Docket No. WCPO-2020-0002]


Guidance on Black Lung Benefits Act Self-Insurance

AGENCY: Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Labor. ACTION: Notice 
of availability; request for comments.
SUMMARY: The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) is 
announcing publication of a preliminary program bulletin titled ``DCMWC 
Self-Insurance Process Guidelines'' describing the agency's updated 
process for evaluating self-insurance applications under the Black Lung 
Benefits Act (BLBA). The BLBA requires coal mine operators to secure 
the payment of benefits by either purchasing commercial insurance or 
obtaining the Department's authorization to self-insure those 
liabilities. Authorization to self-insure may be granted or denied at 
the Department's discretion. OWCP is making the programmatic changes 
and preliminary bulletin available for public comment pursuant to the 
Department of Labor's PRO Good Guidance Rule.

DATES: The Department invites written comments on the self-insurance 
program and the bulletin from interested parties. Written comments must 
be received by February 8, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments electronically by the 
following method:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions on the website for submitting comments.
    Instructions. Include the docket number WCPO-2020-0002 in your 
comments. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. Please do not include any personally identifiable 
or confidential business information you do not want publicly 
disclosed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Chance, Director, Division of 
Coal Mine Workers' Compensation, Office of Workers' Compensation 
Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-
3464, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 1-800-347-2502. This is a toll-
free number. TTY/TDD callers may dial toll-free 1-800-877-8339 for 
further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    The BLBA provides benefits to coal miners who are totally disabled 
by pneumoconiosis (commonly known as black lung disease) and to certain 
of their survivors. The BLBA requires coal mine operators to secure the 
payment of benefits by either purchasing commercial insurance or 
obtaining the Department's authorization to self-insure those 
liabilities. 30 U.S.C. 933(a). Authorization to self-insure may be 
granted or denied at the Department's discretion. 20 CFR 726.101(a). 
When a self-insurer is unable (or unwilling) to meet its payment 
obligations, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (Trust Fund) makes 
those payments. Although the Trust Fund acts as a backstop, Congress 
intended ``to ensure that individual coal operators rather than the 
trust fund bear the liability for [black lung] claims arising out of 
such operators' mines to the maximum extent feasible.'' See Old Ben 
Coal Co. v. Luker, 826 F.2d 688, 693 (7th Cir. 1987) (quoting S. Rep. 
No. 209, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 9 (1977), reprinted in House Comm. on 
Educ. and Labor, 96th Cong., Black Lung Benefits Reform Act and Black 
Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1977, 612 (Comm. Print 1979)); 20 CFR 
725.1(e). To help ensure that self-insured operators' liabilities do 
not fall on the Trust Fund, OWCP created new forms CM-2017, CM-2017a, 
and CM-2017b and now seeks to update its process for evaluating the 
information collected through those forms to determine whether a coal 
mine operator should be allowed to self-insure and to determine the 
security amount each operator must provide to guarantee payment of 
current and future liabilities. OWCP has set forth the updated process 
in its preliminary bulletin titled ``DCMWC Self-Insurance Process 
Guidelines.'' OWCP now seeks public comment on the bulletin and the 
process discussed in the bulletin.

II. Bulletin Publication

    Out of an abundance of caution, OWCP is requesting comments on the 
bulletin and its underlying programmatic changes, in line with the 
requirements of the Department's PRO Good Guidance Rule, see 29 CFR 
part 89, and also because OWCP believes the public's input on the self-
insurance process could be very helpful to the program's 
administration. OWCP's request for comments is also consistent with the 
openness and transparency goals of the Department's guidance 
regulations; E.O. 13891, 84 FR 55235 (Oct. 15, 2019); and OMB's Final 
Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices, 72 FR 3432 (Jan. 25, 
2007).

[[Page 1530]]

III. Internet Availability

    Persons with internet access may view the preliminary bulletin at 
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OWCP/dcmwc/blba/indexes/BL21-01OCR.pdf or at http://www.regulations.gov. The relevant forms are 
available at: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/owcp/regs/compliance/cm-2017.pdf; https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/owcp/regs/compliance/cm-2017a.pdf; https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/owcp/regs/compliance/cm-2017b.pdf. Additional information about the 
programmatic changes are available on the OWCP website at: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/owcp/dcmwc/ActuarialAssumptions.pdf. 
Persons who do not have electronic access to the bulletin, forms, and 
other information may request a copy using the contact information 
above.

    Dated: January 4, 2021.
Julia K. Hearthway,
Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.
[FR Doc. 2021-00097 Filed 1-7-21; 8:45 am]
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