I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3625 
To ensure that claims for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act are 
processed in a fair and timely manner, to better protect miners from 
pneumoconiosis (commonly known as ‘‘black lung disease’’), and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Ms. WILSON of 
Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure that claims for benefits under the Black Lung 
Benefits Act are processed in a fair and timely manner, 
to better protect miners from pneumoconiosis (commonly 
known as ‘‘black lung disease’’), and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black Lung Benefits 
Improvement Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
TITLE I—BLACK LUNG BENEFITS 
PART A—IMPROVING THE PROCESS FOR FILING AND ADJUDICATING CLAIMS 
FOR BENEFITS 
Sec. 101. Mandatory disclosure of medical information and reports. 
Sec. 102. Attorneys’ fees and medical expenses payment program. 
Sec. 103. Clarifying eligibility for black lung benefits. 
Sec. 104. Restoring adequate benefit adjustments for miners suffering from 
black lung disease and for their dependent family members. 
Sec. 105. Treatment of evidence in equipoise. 
Sec. 106. Providing assistance with claims for miners and their dependent fam-
ily members. 
Sec. 107. False statements or misrepresentations, attorney disqualification, and 
discovery sanctions. 
Sec. 108. Development of medical evidence by the Secretary. 
Sec. 109. Establishment of pilot program to provide impartial classifications of 
chest radiographs. 
Sec. 110. Medical evidence training program. 
Sec. 111. Technical and conforming amendments. 
Sec. 112. Readjudicating cases involving certain chest radiographs. 
Sec. 113. Disclosure of employment and earnings information for Black Lung 
benefits claims. 
PART B—REPORTS TO IMPROVE THE ADMINISTRATION OF BENEFITS 
UNDER THE BLACK LUNG BENEFITS ACT 
Sec. 121. Strategy to reduce delays in adjudication. 
Sec. 122. GAO report on black lung program. 
TITLE II—STANDARD FOR RESPIRABLE DUST CONCENTRATION 
Sec. 201. Standard for respirable dust concentration. 
TITLE III—ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF WORKERS’ 
COMPENSATION PROGRAMS 
Sec. 301. Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. 
TITLE IV—SEVERABILITY 
Sec. 401. Severability. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
901 et seq.) was enacted to provide health care and 
modest benefits to coal miners who develop pneumo-
coniosis (referred to in this section as ‘‘black lung 
disease’’) resulting from exposure to coal dust dur-
ing their employment. Yet the determination of a 
claimant’s eligibility for these benefits often requires 
complex, adversarial litigation. Resource disparities 
between coal companies and such claimants are 
widespread within the statutory and regulatory 
framework of such Act. Comprehensive reforms are 
necessary to ensure that coal miners are not at a 
disadvantage when filing claims for benefits. 
(2) The Government Accountability Office has 
found that many claimants under the Black Lung 
Benefits Act are not equipped with the medical and 
legal resources necessary to develop evidence to meet 
the requirements for benefits. Miners often lack 
complete and reliable medical evidence, consequently 
increasing the risk that the individuals who review 
claims for benefits will be presented with insufficient 
medical evidence. Similarly, without better options 
for legal representation, significant numbers of such 
claimants proceed with their claims through a com-
plex and potentially long administrative process 
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without resources that Department of Labor officials 
and black lung disease experts note are important 
for developing evidence and supporting their claims. 
Only 30 percent of claimants are represented by an 
attorney during the initial claims determination. Ab-
sent efforts to remedy administrative problems and 
address structural weaknesses in the process for ob-
taining benefits, claimants with meritorious claims 
will not receive benefits. 
(3) Full exchange and disclosure between the 
parties of relevant medical information is essential 
for fair adjudication of claims under the Black Lung 
Benefits Act, regardless of whether the parties in-
tend to submit such information into evidence. 
Records of adjudications reveal that some mine oper-
ators’ legal representatives have withheld relevant 
evidence from claimants, administrative law judges, 
and, in some cases, even their own medical experts. 
In several cases, the disclosure of such evidence 
would have substantiated a miner’s claim for bene-
fits. Withholding medical information can endanger 
miners by depriving them of important information 
about their own health and the potential need to 
seek medical treatment. 
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