II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 176 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 

transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2017 

Mr. MCCONNELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer 

Health Benefit Plan, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Ensure Long5 Term Protection for Coal Miners Health Care Act of 

6 2017’’ or the ‘‘HELP for Coal Miners Health Care Act 

7 of 2017’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Over the 8 years preceding the date of the 

2 introduction of this Act, the coal industry and the 

3 communities supported by that industry have strug4 gled, in large part due to overregulation. 

5 (2) Excessive regulation has, in large part, 

6 made coal more expensive to mine and use and has 

7 put it at an unfair disadvantage in the marketplace. 

8 (3) Because of these struggles— 

9 (A) the coal mining industry has lost over 

10 30,000 jobs since President Obama’s inaugura11 tion; 

12 (B) over 600 coal mines have shuttered 

13 since President Obama’s inauguration; 

14 (C) more than 25 coal mining companies 

15 have filed for bankruptcy since President 

16 Obama’s inauguration; 

17 (D) Kentucky alone has lost over 10,000 

18 coal mining jobs since President Obama’s inau19 guration; and 

20 (E) the total number of operating coal 

21 mines has hit its lowest point on record. 

22 (4) Because of the health risks often associated 

23 with mining, robust health benefits are vital to coal 

24 miner retirees; however, coal company bankruptcies, 

25 job cuts, and closures have exhausted the ability of 


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1 many coal companies to continue providing health 

2 benefits to retirees and their dependents. 

3 (5) Congress has stepped in twice before, in 

4 1992 and in 2006, to assist retired miners and to 

5 secure their health benefits. When thousands more 

6 were at risk of losing their benefits at the end of 

7 2016, Congress intervened again to provide a 4- 

8 month extension in health benefits for orphaned re9 tired miners and their dependents. 

10 (6) While this extension helped prevent the loss 

11 of health benefits for thousands of miners, it did not 

12 provide a long-term solution. 

13 (7) It is necessary to provide a permanent ex14 tension of health care benefits for the orphaned re15 tirees who are at risk of losing their retirement 

16 health benefits at the end of April 2017. 

17 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN RETIREES IN THE MULTI18 EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(h)(2)(C) of the Sur20 face Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

21 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)(C)), as amended by the Further Con22 tinuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, 2017, 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by striking clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv); and 

25 (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION OF EXCESS.—The 

2 excess determined under clause (i) shall be 

3 calculated by taking into account only— 

4 ‘‘(I) those beneficiaries actually 

5 enrolled in the Plan as of the date of 

6 the enactment of the HELP for Coal 

7 Miners Health Care Act of 2017 who 

8 are eligible to receive health benefits 

9 under the Plan on the first day of the 

10 calendar year for which the transfer is 

11 made, other than those beneficiaries 

12 enrolled in the Plan under the terms 

13 of a participation agreement with the 

14 current or former employer of such 

15 beneficiaries; and 

16 ‘‘(II) those beneficiaries whose 

17 health benefits, defined as those bene18 fits payable, following death or retire19 ment or upon a finding of disability, 

20 directly by an employer in the bitu21 minous coal industry under a coal 

22 wage agreement (as defined in section 

23 9701(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986), would be denied or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jan 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S176.IS S176

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1 duced as a result of a bankruptcy pro2 ceeding commenced in 2012 or 2015. 

3 For purposes of subclause (I), a bene4 ficiary enrolled in the Plan as of the date 

5 of the enactment of the HELP for Coal 

6 Miners Health Care Act of 2017 shall be 

7 deemed to have been eligible to receive 

8 health benefits under the Plan on January 

9 1, 2017. 

10 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN RETIR11 EES.—Individuals referred to in clause 

12 (ii)(II) shall be treated as eligible to re13 ceive health benefits under the Plan. 

14 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANS15 FER.—The amount of the transfer other16 wise determined under this subparagraph 

17 for a fiscal year shall be reduced by any 

18 amount transferred for the fiscal year to 

19 the Plan, to pay benefits required under 

20 the Plan, from a voluntary employees’ ben21 eficiary association established as a result 

22 of a bankruptcy proceeding described in 

23 clause (ii).’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to fiscal years beginning after Sep3 tember 30, 2016. 

4 (c) GAO AUDIT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 years there6 after, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

7 conduct a study of the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan 

8 described in section 402(h)(2)(C)(i) of the Surface Mining 

9 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

10 1232(h)(2)(C)(i)) and shall submit to the appropriate 

11 committees of Congress a report analyzing whether Fed12 eral funds are being spent appropriately by such Plan. 

13 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF FINANCING OBLIGATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9704 of 

15 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking paragraph (3), 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘three premiums’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘two premiums’’, and 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘, plus’’ at the end of paragraph 

20 (2) and inserting a period. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Section 9704 of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986 is amended— 

24 (A) by striking subsection (d), and 


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1 (B) by redesignating subsections (e) 

2 through (j) as subsections (d) through (i), re3 spectively. 

4 (2) Subsection (d) of section 9704 of such 

5 Code, as so redesignated, is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘3 separate accounts for 

7 each of the premiums described in subsections 

8 (b), (c), and (d)’’ in paragraph (1) and insert9 ing ‘‘2 separate accounts for each of the pre10 miums described in subsections (b) and (c)’’, 

11 and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘or the unassigned bene13 ficiaries premium account’’ in paragraph 

14 (3)(B). 

15 (3) Subclause (I) of section 9703(b)(2)(C)(ii) of 

16 such Code is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘9704(e)(3)(B)(i)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘9704(d)(3)(B)(i)’’. 

19 (4) Paragraph (3) of section 9705(a) of such 

20 Code is amended— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘the unassigned beneficiary 

22 premium under section 9704(a)(3) and’’ in sub23 paragraph (B), and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘9704(i)(1)(B)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘9704(h)(1)(B)’’. 


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1 (5) Paragraph (2) of section 9711(c) of such 

2 Code is amended— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘9704(j)(2)’’ in subpara4 graph (A)(i) and inserting ‘‘9704(i)(2)’’, 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘9704(j)(2)(B)’’ in sub6 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘9704(i)(2)(B)’’, 

7 and 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘9704(j)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘9704(i)’’. 

10 (6) Paragraph (4) of section 9712(d) of such 

11 Code is amended by striking ‘‘9704(j)’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘9704(i)’’. 

13 (c) ELIMINATION OF ADDITIONAL BACKSTOP PRE14 MIUM.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

16 9712(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

17 amended by striking subparagraph (C). 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (2) 

19 of section 9712(d) of such Code is amended— 

20 (A) by striking subparagraph (B), 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of sub22 paragraph (A) and inserting a period, and 

23 (C) by striking ‘‘shall provide for—’’ and 

24 all that follows through ‘‘annual adjustments’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘shall provide for annual adjust2 ments’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to plan years beginning after Sep5 tember 30, 2016. 

6 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

7 It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should 

8 work with the administration to— 

9 (1) repeal onerous regulations that have con10 tributed to the downfall of the coal industry; and 

11 (2) support economic growth in Appalachia and 

12 other coal communities by promoting growth-ori13 ented economic development efforts. 

Æ 


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