I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3915 
To resolve the structural indebtedness of the Black Lung Disability Trust 
Fund, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 
Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To resolve the structural indebtedness of the Black Lung 
Disability Trust Fund, 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 Disability 
Trust Fund Debt Restructuring Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Trust Fund’’) was cre-
ated in 1978 as part of the Black Lung Benefits
Revenue Act of 1977, with the goal of shifting, from 
the Federal Government to the coal mining industry, 
the cost of compensating victims of occupational 
black lung disease. 
(2) The Trust Fund draws its principal revenue 
from excise taxes on coal. The Black Lung Benefits 
Revenue Act of 1977 authorized repayable advances 
from the Treasury to the Trust Fund, in such sums 
as may be necessary to make benefit payments and 
other authorized expenditures. Any such advances 
are required to be repaid, with interest at the rate 
prescribed in section 9501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 to the general fund of the Treas-
ury when the Secretary of the Treasury determines 
that monies are available in the Trust Fund for such 
purposes. 
(3) In each year prior to 1990, the Trust Fund 
revenues were insufficient to satisfy all benefit pay-
ments and other authorized expenditures, resulting 
in the need for repayable advances from the Treas-
ury to the Trust Fund. 
(4) Since 1990, the Trust Fund revenues from 
excise taxes on coal have generally been sufficient to 
cover current benefit payments and administrative 
costs, but have not been sufficient to repay any por-
tion of the outstanding principal that the Trust 
Fund owes to the Treasury. Instead, that indebted-
ness has grown each year as additional advances 
were taken to pay the portion of the interest charges 
not covered by the Trust Fund’s revenues. 
(5) Beginning in 1998, the annual interest 
charges on the debt alone have exceeded benefit pay-
ments made by the Trust Fund. 
(6) The annual interest charges to the Trust 
Fund now exceed its total annual excise tax reve-
nues. 
(7) Without action, the Trust Fund’s indebted-
ness to the Treasury, which totals approximately 
$8,700,000,000, will continue to grow and the Trust 
Fund will never become solvent, even when benefit 
outlays have declined to a level approaching zero. 
(8) It is in the public interest to refinance the 
Trust Fund debt and to restore long-term fiscal sol-
vency to the Trust Fund. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) REPAYABLE ADVANCE.—The term ‘‘repay-
able advance’’ means an amount that has been ap-
propriated to the Trust Fund in order to make ben-
efit payments and other expenditures that are au-
thorized under section 9501 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 and are required to be repaid when 
the Secretary of the Treasury determines that mon-
ies are available in the Trust Fund for this purpose. 
(2) MARKET VALUE OF THE OUTSTANDING RE-
PAYABLE ADVANCES, PLUS ACCRUED INTEREST.— 
The term ‘‘market value of the outstanding repay-
able advances, plus accrued interest’’ means the 
present value (determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury as of the refinancing date and using the 
Treasury rate as the discount rate) of the stream of 
principal and interest payments derived assuming 
that each repayable advance that is outstanding on 
the refinancing date is due on the thirtieth anniver-
sary of the end of the fiscal year in which the ad-
vance was made to the Trust Fund, and that all 
such principal and interest payments are made on 
September 30 of the applicable fiscal year. 
(3) REFINANCING
DATE.—The term ‘‘refi-
nancing date’’ means the date occurring 2 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(4) 
TREASURY
1-YEAR
RATE.—The 
term 
‘‘Treasury 1-year rate’’ means a rate determined by 
the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consider-
ation current market yields on outstanding market-
able obligations of the United States with remaining 
periods to maturity of approximately 1 year, to have 
been in effect as of the close of business 1 business 
day before the date on which the Trust Fund issues 
obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury under 
section 4(b). 
(5) TREASURY
RATE.—The term ‘‘Treasury 
rate’’ means a rate determined by the Secretary of 
the Treasury, taking into consideration current mar-
ket yields on outstanding marketable obligations of 
the United States of comparable maturities. 
SEC. 4. REFINANCING OF OUTSTANDING PRINCIPAL OF RE-
PAYABLE ADVANCES AND UNPAID INTEREST 
ON SUCH ADVANCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—On the refinancing date, the 
Trust Fund shall pay the market value of the outstanding 
repayable advances, plus accrued interest, by transferring 
into the general fund of the Treasury the following sums: 
(1) The proceeds from obligations that the 
Trust Fund shall issue to the Secretary of the 
Treasury in such amounts as the Secretaries of 
Labor and the Treasury shall determine and bearing 
interest at the Treasury rate, and that shall be in 
such forms and denominations and be subject to
such other terms and conditions, including maturity, 
as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. 
(2) The appropriation made to the Trust Fund 
pursuant to section 5 that is needed to cover the dif-
ference defined in that section. 
(b) ADDITIONAL ISSUANCE
OF OBLIGATIONS.—In 
the event that the Trust Fund is unable to repay the obli-
gations that it has issued to the Secretary of the Treasury 
under subsection (a)(1) and this subsection, or is unable 
to make benefit payments and other authorized expendi-
tures, the Trust Fund shall issue obligations to the Sec-
retary of the Treasury in such amounts as may be nec-
essary to make such repayments, payments, and expendi-
tures, with a maturity of 1 year, and bearing interest at 
the Treasury 1 year rate. These obligations shall be in 
such forms and denominations and be subject to such 
other terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall prescribe. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION TO ISSUE OBLIGATIONS.—The 
Trust Fund is authorized to issue obligations to the Sec-
retary of the Treasury under subsections (a)(1) and (b). 
The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to purchase 
such obligations of the Trust Fund. For the purposes of 
making such purchases, the Secretary of the Treasury 
may use as a public debt transaction the proceeds from