157 
SEC. 318. EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF 
PROHIBITION ON ISSUANCE OF PERMIT. 
Section 510(e) of the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1260(e)) is amended 
by striking the last sentence. 
SEC. 319. TRIBAL REGULATION OF SURFACE COAL MINING 
AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 710 of the Surface Min-
ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
1300) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) TRIBAL REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) TRIBAL REGULATORY PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, an Indian tribe may 
apply for, and obtain the approval of, a tribal 
program under section 503 regulating in whole 
or in part surface coal mining and reclamation 
operations on reservation land under the juris-
diction of the Indian tribe using the procedures 
of section 504(e). 
‘‘(B) REFERENCES TO STATE.—For pur-
poses of this subsection and the implementation 
and administration of a tribal program under 
title V, any reference to a ‘State’ in this Act 
shall be considered to be a reference to a ‘tribe’. 
‘‘(2) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 
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158 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The fact that an indi-
vidual is a member of an Indian tribe does not 
in itself constitute a violation of section 201(f). 
‘‘(B) EMPLOYEES OF TRIBAL REGULATORY 
AUTHORITY.—Any employee of a tribal regu-
latory authority shall not be eligible for a per 
capita distribution of any proceeds from coal 
mining operations conducted on Indian reserva-
tion lands under this Act. 
‘‘(3) SOVEREIGN
IMMUNITY.—To receive pri-
mary regulatory authority under section 504(e), an 
Indian tribe shall waive sovereign immunity for pur-
poses of section 520 and paragraph (4). 
‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
‘‘(A) CIVIL ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After exhausting 
all tribal remedies with respect to a civil 
action arising under a tribal program ap-
proved under section 504(e), an interested 
party may file a petition for judicial review 
of the civil action in the United States cir-
cuit court for the circuit in which the sur-
face coal mining operation named in the 
petition is located. 
‘‘(ii) SCOPE OF REVIEW.— 
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159 
‘‘(I) QUESTIONS
OF
LAW.—The 
United States circuit court shall re-
view de novo any questions of law 
under clause (i). 
‘‘(II) FINDINGS OF FACT.—The 
United States circuit court shall re-
view findings of fact under clause (i) 
using a clearly erroneous standard. 
‘‘(B) CRIMINAL
ACTIONS.—Any criminal 
action brought under section 518 with respect 
to surface coal mining or reclamation oper-
ations on Indian reservation lands shall be 
brought in— 
‘‘(i) the United States District Court 
for the District of Columbia; or 
‘‘(ii) the United States district court 
in which the criminal activity is alleged to 
have occurred. 
‘‘(5) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), grants for developing, ad-
ministering, and enforcing tribal programs ap-
proved in accordance with section 504(e) shall 
be provided to an Indian tribe in accordance 
with section 705. 
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160 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub-
paragraph (A), the Federal share of the costs 
of developing, administering, and enforcing an 
approved tribal program shall be 100 percent. 
‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date on which a tribal program is approved 
under subsection (e) of section 504, the Secretary 
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con-
gress a report, developed in cooperation with the ap-
plicable Indian tribe, on the tribal program that in-
cludes a recommendation of the Secretary on wheth-
er primary regulatory authority under that sub-
section should be expanded to include additional In-
dian lands.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 710(i) of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 1300(i)) is amended in the first sentence by 
striking ‘‘, except’’ and all that follows through ‘‘section 
503’’. 
Subtitle B—Coal Industry Retiree 
Health Benefit Act 
SEC. 321. CERTAIN RELATED PERSONS AND SUCCESSORS 
IN INTEREST RELIEVED OF LIABILITY IF PRE-
MIUMS PREPAID. 
(a) COMBINED BENEFIT FUND.— 
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161 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9704 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to liability of as-
signed operators) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(j) PREPAYMENT OF PREMIUM LIABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If— 
‘‘(A) a payment meeting the requirements 
of paragraph (3) is made to the Combined 
Fund by or on behalf of— 
‘‘(i) any assigned operator to which 
this subsection applies, or 
‘‘(ii) any related person to any as-
signed operator described in clause (i), and 
‘‘(B) the common parent of the controlled 
group of corporations described in paragraph 
(2)(B) is jointly and severally liable for any pre-
mium under this section which (but for this 
subsection) would be required to be paid by the 
assigned operator or related person, 
then such common parent (and no other person) 
shall be liable for such premium. 
‘‘(2) ASSIGNED
OPERATORS
TO
WHICH
SUB-
SECTION APPLIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 
apply to any assigned operator if— 
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162 
‘‘(i) the assigned operator (or a re-
lated person to the assigned operator)— 
‘‘(I) made contributions to the 
1950 UMWA Benefit Plan and the 
1974 UMWA Benefit Plan for em-
ployment during the period covered by 
the 1988 agreement; and 
‘‘(II) is not a 1988 agreement 
operator, 
‘‘(ii) the assigned operator (and all re-
lated persons to the assigned operator) are 
not actively engaged in the production of 
coal as of July 1, 2005, and 
‘‘(iii) the assigned operator was, as of 
July 20, 1992, a member of a controlled 
group of corporations described in sub-
paragraph (B). 
‘‘(B) CONTROLLED
GROUP
OF
CORPORA-
TIONS.—A controlled group of corporations is 
described in this subparagraph if the common 
parent of such group is a corporation the shares 
of which are publicly traded on a United States 
exchange. 
‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH REPEAL OF AS-
SIGNMENTS.—A person shall not fail to be 
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163 
treated as an assigned operator to which this 
subsection applies solely because the person 
ceases to be an assigned operator by reason of 
section 9706(h)(1) if the person otherwise 
meets the requirements of this subsection and 
is liable for the payment of premiums under 
section 9706(h)(3). 
‘‘(D) CONTROLLED GROUP.—For purposes 
of this subsection, the term ‘controlled group of 
corporations’ has the meaning given such term 
by section 52(a). 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A payment meets the 
requirements of this paragraph if— 
‘‘(A) the amount of the payment is not less 
than the present value of the total premium li-
ability under this chapter with respect to the 
Combined Fund of the assigned operators or re-
lated persons described in paragraph (1) or 
their assignees, as determined by the operator’s 
or related person’s enrolled actuary (as defined 
in section 7701(a)(35)) using actuarial methods 
and assumptions each of which is reasonable 
and which are reasonable in the aggregate, as 
determined by such enrolled actuary; 
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164 
‘‘(B) such enrolled actuary files with the 
Secretary of Labor a signed actuarial report 
containing— 
‘‘(i) the date of the actuarial valuation 
applicable to the report; and 
‘‘(ii) a statement by the enrolled actu-
ary signing the report that, to the best of 
the actuary’s knowledge, the report is com-
plete and accurate and that in the actu-
ary’s opinion the actuarial assumptions 
used are in the aggregate reasonably re-
lated to the experience of the operator and 
to reasonable expectations; and 
‘‘(C) 90 calendar days have elapsed after 
the report required by subparagraph (B) is filed 
with the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary 
of Labor has not notified the assigned operator 
in writing that the requirements of this para-
graph have not been satisfied. 
‘‘(4) USE
OF
PREPAYMENT.—The Combined 
Fund shall— 
‘‘(A) establish and maintain an account for 
each assigned operator or related person by, or 
on whose behalf, a payment described in para-
graph (3) was made, 
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165 
‘‘(B) credit such account with such pay-
ment (and any earnings thereon), and 
‘‘(C) use all amounts in such account ex-
clusively to pay premiums that would (but for 
this subsection) be required to be paid by the 
assigned operator. 
Upon termination of the obligations for the premium 
liability of any assigned operator or related person 
for which such account is maintained, all funds re-
maining in such account (and earnings thereon) 
shall be refunded to such person as may be des-
ignated by the common parent described in para-
graph (1)(B).’’. 
(b) 
INDIVIDUAL
EMPLOYER
PLANS.—Section 
9711(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 
to joint and several liability) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY OF RELATED 
PERSONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), each related person of a last signatory op-
erator to which subsection (a) or (b) applies shall be 
jointly and severally liable with the last signatory op-
erator for the provision of health care coverage de-
scribed in subsection (a) or (b). 
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166 
‘‘(2) LIABILITY
LIMITED
IF
SECURITY
PRO-
VIDED.—If— 
‘‘(A) security meeting the requirements of 
paragraph (3) is provided by or on behalf of— 
‘‘(i) any last signatory operator which 
is an assigned operator described in section 
9704(j)(2), or 
‘‘(ii) any related person to any last 
signatory operator described in clause (i), 
and 
‘‘(B) the common parent of the controlled 
group of corporations described in section 
9704(j)(2)(B) is jointly and severally liable for 
the provision of health care under this section 
which, but for this paragraph, would be re-
quired to be provided by the last signatory op-
erator or related person, 
then, as of the date the security is provided, such 
common parent (and no other person) shall be liable 
for the provision of health care under this section 
which the last signatory operator or related person 
would otherwise be required to provide. Security may 
be provided under this paragraph without regard to 
whether a payment was made under section 9704(j). 
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