170
not bear a relationship to the eligible seller de-
scribed in section 267(b). 
‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SELLER.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, the term ‘eligible seller’ means 
an assigned operator described in section 
9704(j)(2) or a related person to such assigned 
operator.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, except that the amendment made by sub-
section (d) shall apply to transactions after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 322. TRANSFERS TO FUNDS; PREMIUM RELIEF. 
(a) COMBINED FUND.—
(1) FEDERAL TRANSFERS.—Section 9705(b) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
transfers from Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund) 
is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 
402(h)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (h) and (i) 
of section 402’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
ing the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Any amount transferred 
under paragraph (1) for any fiscal year shall be used
171
to pay benefits and administrative costs of bene-
ficiaries of the Combined Fund or for such other 
purposes as are specifically provided in the Acts de-
scribed in paragraph (1).’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘FROM ABANDONED MINE 
RECLAMATION FUND’’. 
(2) MODIFICATIONS OF PREMIUMS TO REFLECT 
FEDERAL TRANSFERS.—
(A) ELIMINATION OF UNASSIGNED BENE-
FICIARIES PREMIUM.—Section 9704(d) of such 
Code (establishing unassigned beneficiaries pre-
mium) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) UNASSIGNED BENEFICIARIES PREMIUM.—
‘‘(1) PLAN YEARS ENDING ON OR BEFORE SEP-
TEMBER 30, 2006.—For plan years ending on or be-
fore September 30, 2006, the unassigned bene-
ficiaries premium for any assigned operator shall be 
equal to the applicable percentage of the product of 
the per beneficiary premium for the plan year multi-
plied by the number of eligible beneficiaries who are 
not assigned under section 9706 to any person for 
such plan year. 
‘‘(2) PLAN YEARS BEGINNING ON OR AFTER OC-
TOBER 1, 2006.—
172
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For plan years begin-
ning on or after October 1, 2006, subject to 
subparagraph (B), there shall be no unassigned 
beneficiaries premium, and benefit costs with 
respect to eligible beneficiaries who are not as-
signed under section 9706 to any person for 
any such plan year shall be paid from amounts 
transferred under section 9705(b). 
‘‘(B) INADEQUATE
TRANSFERS.—If, for 
any plan year beginning on or after October 1, 
2006, the amounts transferred under section 
9705(b) are less than the amounts required to 
be transferred to the Combined Fund under 
subsection (h)(2)(A) or (i) of section 402 of the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232)), then the unassigned 
beneficiaries premium for any assigned operator 
shall be equal to the operator’s applicable per-
centage of the amount required to be so trans-
ferred which was not so transferred.’’. 
(B) PREMIUM ACCOUNTS.—
(i) CREDITING
OF
ACCOUNTS.—Sec-
tion 9704(e)(1) of such Code (relating to 
premium accounts; adjustments) is amend-
ed by inserting ‘‘and amounts transferred
173
under section 9705(b)’’ after ‘‘premiums 
received’’. 
(ii) SURPLUSES
ATTRIBUTABLE
TO 
PUBLIC FUNDING.—Section 9704(e)(3)(A) 
of such Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new sentence: ‘‘Amounts 
credited to an account from amounts 
transferred under section 9705(b) shall not 
be taken into account in determining 
whether there is a surplus in the account 
for purposes of this paragraph.’’. 
(C) APPLICABLE
PERCENTAGE.—Section 
9704(f)(2) of such Code (relating to annual ad-
justments) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) In the case of plan years beginning 
on or after October 1, 2007, the total number 
of assigned eligible beneficiaries shall be re-
duced by the eligible beneficiaries whose assign-
ments 
have 
been 
revoked 
under 
section 
9706(h).’’. 
(3) ASSIGNMENTS AND REASSIGNMENT.—Sec-
tion 9706 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re-
lating to assignment of eligible beneficiaries) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
174
‘‘(h) ASSIGNMENTS AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2007.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the premium ob-
ligation set forth in paragraph (3), the Commis-
sioner of Social Security shall—
‘‘(A) revoke all assignments to persons 
other than 1988 agreement operators for pur-
poses of assessing premiums for plan years be-
ginning on and after October 1, 2007; and 
‘‘(B) make no further assignments to per-
sons other than 1988 agreement operators, ex-
cept that no individual who becomes an unas-
signed beneficiary by reason of subparagraph 
(A) may be assigned to a 1988 agreement oper-
ator. 
‘‘(2) REASSIGNMENT
UPON
PURCHASE.—This 
subsection shall not be construed to prohibit the re-
assignment under subsection (b)(2) of an eligible 
beneficiary. 
‘‘(3) LIABILITY
OF
PERSONS
DURING
THREE 
FISCAL YEARS BEGINNING ON AND AFTER OCTOBER 
1, 2007.—In the case of each of the fiscal years be-
ginning on October 1, 2007, 2008, and 2009, each 
person other than a 1988 agreement operator shall 
pay to the Combined Fund the following percentage 
of the amount of annual premiums that such person