the Secretary on allocations of funds in establishing 
such program. 
‘‘(2) COSTS OF REPORTS FOR B READER PAN-
ELS.— 
‘‘(A) FEES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 
establish a fee for a B Reader Panel Re-
port in accordance with clause (ii). Such 
fee shall be payable by the party request-
ing such report. No fee shall be charged if 
the request for such ILO classification is 
made by an individual defined as an adju-
dication officer by regulations of the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The amount of a 
fee under clause (i) shall not exceed the di-
rect cost of hiring the B Readers of the B 
Reader Panel that made the ILO classi-
fication. 
‘‘(B) LEGAL COSTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The National In-
stitute for Occupational Safety and Health 
shall use amounts in the fund to pay for 
all costs related to the appearance and re-
sponses to interrogatories of the Director 
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or a designee of the Director, or a B Read-
er of a B Reader Panel, in a proceeding 
under this section. 
‘‘(ii) REPRESENTATION OF THE NA-
TIONAL
INSTITUTE
FOR
OCCUPATIONAL 
SAFETY
AND
HEALTH.—The 
General 
Counsel of the Department of Health and 
Human Services shall, in consultation with 
the Solicitor of Labor, represent the Na-
tional Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health in any proceeding under this 
section, which costs shall be payable from 
the fund. 
‘‘(h) PROTOCOLS AND INTERIM FINAL RULES.—Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2015, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall issue protocols 
and promulgate interim final rules, as necessary, to com-
mence the implementation of this section. 
‘‘(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 
after the completion of the pilot program under this 
section, the Director shall, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, prepare and submit a report to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
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Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce of the House of Rep-
resentatives that includes the information in para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report under this sub-
section shall include— 
‘‘(A) the number of B Reader Panels es-
tablished under this section; 
‘‘(B) the number of B Readers partici-
pating in the pilot program under this section; 
‘‘(C) the effectiveness of the quality assur-
ance program under subsection (b)(4); 
‘‘(D) the accuracy of the ILO classifica-
tions conducted by B Readers under this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(E) challenges in the administration and 
implementation of such pilot program; 
‘‘(F) the costs and revenues of such pilot 
program; 
‘‘(G) the impact of the pilot program on 
the claims-adjudication process; 
‘‘(H) a recommendation on whether the 
pilot program under this section should extend 
beyond the one-year duration under subsection 
(b)(1)(B); and 
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‘‘(I) recommendations for any necessary 
modifications to such pilot program, if the Di-
rector recommends such an extension.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATED
TO DE-
POSIT OF FEES.—Section 9501(b) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9501(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) CERTAIN
FEES.—Amounts collected as 
fees authorized under section 436(g)(2)(A) of the 
Black Lung Benefits Act.’’. 
SEC. 110. MEDICAL EVIDENCE TRAINING PROGRAM. 
Part C of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
931 et seq.), as amended by sections 108 and 109, is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 437. MEDICAL EVIDENCE TRAINING PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of the Black Lung Benefits Improve-
ment Act of 2015, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
shall establish and implement a training program, to pro-
vide education on issues relating to medical evidence rel-
evant to claims for benefits under this title, to each of 
the following individuals who engage in work under this 
title: 
‘‘(1) District directors. 
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‘‘(2) Claims examiners working under such di-
rectors. 
‘‘(3) Administrative law judges and attorney 
advisors supporting such judges. 
‘‘(4) Members of the Benefits Review Board es-
tablished under section 21(b) of the Longshore and 
Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 
921(b)). 
‘‘(b) TRAINING PROGRAM TOPICS.—The training 
program under this section shall provide an overview of 
topics that include— 
‘‘(1) new developments in pulmonary medicine 
relating to pneumoconiosis; 
‘‘(2) medical evidence, and other relevant evi-
dence, sufficient to support a claim for benefits 
under this title; and 
‘‘(3) weighing conflicting medical evidence and 
testimony concerning eligibility for such benefits. 
‘‘(c) TIMING OF TRAINING.— 
‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS HIRED OR APPOINTED PRIOR 
TO THE BLACK LUNG BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT 
OF 2015.—Any district director, claims examiner, ad-
ministrative law judge, attorney advisor supporting 
such judge, or member of the Benefits Review Board 
described in subsection (a)(4), who was hired or ap-
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pointed prior to the date of enactment of the Black 
Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2015 shall com-
plete the training program under this section not 
later than 60 days after the establishment of such 
program under subsection (a) and not less than an-
nually thereafter. 
‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS HIRED OR APPOINTED AFTER 
THE BLACK LUNG BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 
2015.—Any district director, claims examiner, admin-
istrative law judge, attorney advisor supporting such 
judge, or member of the Benefits Review Board de-
scribed in subsection (a)(4), who is not described in 
paragraph (1) shall complete the training program 
under this section prior to engaging in any work 
under this title and not less than annually there-
after.’’. 
SEC. 111. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
The Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) in section 401(a) (30 U.S.C. 901(a)), by in-
serting ‘‘or who were found to be totally disabled by 
such disease’’ after ‘‘such disease’’; 
(2) in section 402— 
(A) in subsection (a), by striking para-
graph (2) and inserting the following: 
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‘‘(2) a spouse who is a member of the same 
household as the miner, or is receiving regular con-
tributions from the miner for support, or whose 
spouse is a miner who has been ordered by a court 
to contribute to support, or who meets the require-
ments of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 216(b) of 
the Social Security Act or paragraph (1) or (2) of 
section 216(f) of such Act. An individual is the 
‘spouse’ of a miner when such individual is legally 
married to the miner under the laws of the State 
where the marriage was celebrated. The term 
‘spouse’ also includes a ‘divorced wife’ or ‘divorced 
husband’, as such terms are defined in paragraph 
(1) or (4) of section 216(d) of such Act, who is re-
ceiving at least one-half of his or her support, as de-
termined in accordance with regulations prescribed 
by the Secretary, from the miner, or is receiving 
substantial contributions from the miner (pursuant 
to a written agreement), or there is in effect a court 
order for substantial contributions to the spouse’s 
support from such miner.’’; 
(B) by striking subsection (e) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(e) The term ‘surviving spouse’ includes the spouse 
living with or dependent for support on the miner at the 
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