I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3114 

To provide benefits authorized under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ 

Compensation Act to maritime workers who contract COVID–19, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2021 

Mr. MRVAN (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide benefits authorized under the Longshore and 

Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to maritime workers 

who contract COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Longshore and Harbor 

5 Workers’ COVID–19 Compensation Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLAIMS RELATED TO COVID–19. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered employee who receives 

8 a diagnosis of COVID–19 or is subject to an order de9 scribed in subsection (b)(2) and who provides notice of or 


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1 files a claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ 

2 Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) relating to such 

3 diagnosis or order shall be conclusively presumed to have 

4 an injury arising out of or in the course of employment 

5 for the purpose of compensation under the Longshore and 

6 Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. 

7 (b) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—In this Act, the term 

8 ‘‘covered employee’’ means an individual who, at any time 

9 during the period beginning January 27, 2020, and ending 

10 on January 27, 2023, is an employee engaged in maritime 

11 employment as defined in section 2 of the Longshore and 

12 Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902(3)) 

13 and who— 

14 (1)(A) is diagnosed with COVID–19; and 

15 (B) during a covered exposure period with re16 spect to the date of such diagnosis carried out duties 

17 which— 

18 (i) required contact with members of the 

19 public, co-workers, or other individuals associ20 ated with the course of employment; or 

21 (ii) included a risk of exposure to the novel 

22 coronavirus; or 

23 (2) is ordered not to return to work by the em24 ployee’s employer or by a local, State, or Federal 

25 agency because of exposure, or the risk of exposure, 


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1 to 1 or more individuals diagnosed with COVID–19 

2 in the workplace. 

3 (c) CLARIFICATION OF MARITIME EMPLOYMENT.— 

4 For the purposes of subsection (b), maritime employment 

5 does not include employment under— 

6 (1) the Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. 1651 et 

7 seq.); 

8 (2) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

9 U.S.C. 1333(b)); and 

10 (3) section 8171 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (d) LIMITATION.—This Act shall not apply with re12 spect to a covered employee who— 

13 (1) provides notice or files a claim described in 

14 subsection (a) on or before the date of enactment of 

15 this Act; and 

16 (2) is determined to be entitled to the com17 pensation described in subsection (a) or is awarded 

18 such compensation if such determination or award is 

19 made on or before the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (e) DENIALS ON OR BEFORE THE DATE OF ENACT21 MENT.—Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a cov22 ered employee who is determined not to be entitled to, or 

23 who is not awarded, compensation described in subsection 

24 (a) if such determination or decision not to award such 


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1 compensation is made on or before the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (f) EXCLUSION.—The Secretary shall not consider 

4 any compensation paid with respect to a notice or claim 

5 to which subsection (a) applies, including disability com6 pensation, death benefits, funeral and burial expenses, and 

7 medical expenses, in calculating the annual assessments 

8 under section 44(c)(2) of the Longshore and Harbor 

9 Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 944(c)(2)). 

10 SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) ENTITLEMENT.—An employer of a covered 

13 employee or the employer’s carrier shall be entitled 

14 to reimbursement pursuant to this Act for any com15 pensation paid with respect to a notice or claim de16 scribed in section 2(a), including disability com17 pensation, death benefits, funeral and burial ex18 penses, medical or other related costs for treatment 

19 and care, and reasonable and necessary allocated 

20 claims expenses. 

21 (2) SAFETY AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS.—To 

22 be entitled to reimbursement under paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) an employer shall be in compliance 

24 with all applicable safety and health guidelines 

25 and standards that are related to the prevention 


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1 of occupational exposure to the novel 

2 coronavirus, including such guidelines and 

3 standards issued by the Occupational Safety 

4 and Health Administration, State plans ap5 proved under section 18 of the Occupational 

6 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

7 667), the Centers for Disease Control and Pre8 vention, and the National Institute for Occupa9 tional Safety and Health; and 

10 (B) a carrier— 

11 (i) shall be a carrier for an employer 

12 that is in compliance with subparagraph 

13 (A); and 

14 (ii) shall not adjust the experience 

15 rating or the annual premium of the em16 ployer based upon the compensation paid 

17 by the carrier with respect to a notice or 

18 claim described in section 2(a). 

19 (b) REIMBURSEMENT PROCEDURES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive reimbursement 

21 under subsection (a), a claim for such reimburse22 ment shall be submitted to the Secretary of Labor— 

23 (A) not earlier than the date on which a 

24 compensation order (as described in section 

25 19(e) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ 


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1 Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 919(e))) is issued 

2 that fixes entitlement to benefits; or 

3 (B) not later than one year after the final 

4 payment of compensation to a covered employee 

5 pursuant to this Act; and 

6 (C) in accordance with a rule issued by the 

7 Secretary that the Secretary determines to be 

8 similar to the process established under part 61 

9 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

10 effect on the date of enactment of this Act). 

11 (2) RECORDS.—An employer and the employ12 er’s carrier shall make, keep, and preserve such 

13 records, make such reports, and provide such infor14 mation, as the Secretary of Labor determines nec15 essary or appropriate to carry out this Act. 

16 (3) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The action of the 

17 Secretary in allowing or denying reimbursement 

18 under this section shall be the final Agency action 

19 with respect to such reimbursement. 

20 (c) APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A reimbursement under this 

22 section shall be paid out of the Longshore COVID– 

23 19 Fund established in section 45 of the Longshore 

24 and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (in this 


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1 Act, referred to as the ‘‘Longshore COVID–19 

2 Fund’’). 

3 (2) FUNDS.—In addition to amounts otherwise 

4 available, there are authorized to be appropriated, 

5 and there are appropriated, out of any money in the 

6 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as 

7 may be necessary to the Longshore COVID–19 

8 Fund for each reimbursement paid out of such Fund 

9 under this section. 

10 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the end 

11 of each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, the Sec12 retary of Labor shall submit to the Committee on Edu13 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives and the 

14 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

15 the Senate, an annual report enumerating— 

16 (1) the number of claims filed pursuant to sec17 tion 2(a); 

18 (2) of such filed claims— 

19 (A) the number and types of claims under 

20 the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensa21 tion Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) with respect to 

22 which the presumption under section 2(a) is 

23 made; 

24 (B) the number and types of such claims 

25 denied; and 


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1 (C) the number and types of such claims 

2 pending; and 

3 (3) the total number of claims for reimburse4 ment and the total amounts paid for such reim5 bursement from the Longshore COVID–19 Fund 

6 under subsection (c)(1) for the fiscal year for which 

7 the report is being submitted. 

8 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor may 

9 promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

10 out this Act. 

11 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

12 (1) COVERED EXPOSURE PERIOD.—The term 

13 ‘‘covered exposure period’’ with respect to the date 

14 of a diagnosis described in section 2(b)(1)(A), means 

15 the period of days— 

16 (A) ending on the date of such diagnosis; 

17 and 

18 (B) equal to the maximum number of days 

19 that the Secretary of Labor, with the concur20 rence of the Director of the National Institute 

21 of Occupational Safety and Health, determines 

22 could occur between an exposure to the novel 

23 coronavirus and a diagnosis of COVID–19 re24 sulting from such exposure. 


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1 (2) LHWCA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘carrier’’, 

2 ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘employee’’, and ‘‘employer’’ have 

3 the meanings given the terms in section 2 of the 

4 Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act 

5 (33 U.S.C. 902). 

6 (3) NOVEL CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘novel 

7 coronavirus’’ means SARS–CoV–2, a variant of 

8 SARS–CoV–2, or any other coronavirus declared to 

9 be a pandemic by public health authorities. 

10 SEC. 4. LONGSHORE COVID–19 FUND. 

11 The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation 

12 Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended by adding after 

13 section 44 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 45. LONGSHORE COVID–19 FUND. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

16 Treasury of the United States the Longshore COVID–19 

17 Fund (in this section, referred to as the ‘Fund’), which 

18 consists of sums that are appropriated to the Fund under 

19 section 3(c) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ 

20 COVID–19 Compensation Act of 2021. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Fund shall be 

22 available for the reimbursement of an employer or the em23 ployer’s carrier for compensation payments and expenses 

24 approved under section 3 of the Longshore and Harbor 

25 Workers’ COVID–19 Compensation Act of 2021, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3114.IH H3114

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1 ing disability compensation, death benefits, funeral and 

2 burial expenses, medical or other related costs for treat3 ment and care, and reasonable and necessary allocated 

4 claims expenses paid under this Act when reimbursement 

5 is required under section 3 of the Longshore and Harbor 

6 Workers’ COVID–19 Compensation Act of 2021, subject 

7 to any limitations in such section.’’. 

Æ 


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