I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1912 
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 
APRIL 5, 2017 
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 2017’’. 
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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 33 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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(4) Given the remedial nature of the Black 
Lung Benefits Act, when an adjudicator determines 
that evidence is evenly balanced, it is appropriate for 
any resulting doubt to be resolved in favor of the 
claimant. The Supreme Court vacated this long-
standing legal principle, not on substantive grounds, 
but because its application conflicted with the re-
quirements of another statute. Such principle needs 
to be reinstated in the Black Lung Benefits Act be-
cause it provides fairness and improves the adminis-
tration of benefits. 
(5) Physicians who read lung x-rays as part of 
pulmonary assessments used in proceedings for 
claims under the Black Lung Benefits Act are re-
quired to demonstrate competency in classifying 
chest radiographs by becoming certified as B Read-
ers by the National Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health (referred to in this section as 
‘‘NIOSH’’). However, investigations have uncovered 
that there are NIOSH-certified B Readers who have 
systematically misclassified chest radiographs while 
employed by coal operators or their law firms for the 
purpose of opposing claims under such Act. In re-
sponse, the Department of Labor has directed claims 
examiners ‘‘not to credit negative chest x-ray read-
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ings for pneumoconiosis’’ by one widely used physi-
cian employed at a prominent medical center unless 
the conclusions of such physician ‘‘have been reha-
bilitated’’. Where chest radiographs are needed to 
establish entitlement to benefits, claimants should 
have access to accurate interpretations so as to en-
sure the fair adjudication of such claims. 
(6) As of the date of enactment of this Act, 
more than one year has passed since survivors were 
denied benefits on claims under the Black Lung 
Benefits Act that involved the consideration of chest 
radiograph interpretations rendered by a certain 
physician whose interpretations have since been de-
termined by the Department of Labor to be gen-
erally not worthy of credit. Such survivors should be 
permitted to file a new claim for benefits under such 
Act. However, a survivor is effectively barred from 
filing a new claim one year after a decision regard-
ing such benefits is final, constituting an injustice 
that merits a remedy. 
(7) Between the calendar years 2004 and 2014, 
a reduction in the number of administrative law 
judges in the Department of Labor, coupled with a 
large increase in the number of cases filed under the 
Black Lung Benefits Act, cuts to nondefense discre-
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tionary spending, furloughs resulting from seques-
tration, and the 16-day shutdown of the Federal 
Government during the calendar year 2013, has cre-
ated extensive delays in adjudicating claims under 
such Act and numerous other labor and employment 
laws. Due to the imbalance between resources and 
caseloads, a typical claim under such Act remains 
unresolved for an average of nearly 2 years prior to 
a decision by an administrative law judge. These 
delays directly and severely impact the lives of work-
ers throughout the United States, placing an undue 
financial and emotional burden on the affected indi-
viduals and their families. 
(8) Contrary to the intent of Congress, benefits 
payments under the Black Lung Benefits Act do not 
automatically increase with the rising cost of living. 
Benefit payments are tied to the monthly pay rate 
for Federal employees in grade GS–2, step 1. In sev-
eral of the fiscal years prior to the enactment of this 
Act, there was a pay freeze for Federal employees, 
which had the effect of eliminating cost-of-living ad-
justments for miners, surviving spouses, and depend-
ents under the Black Lung Benefits Act during such 
years. 
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(9) A competent assessment of medical infor-
mation and testimony, which often involves multiple 
physicians disputing a diagnosis, is necessary in de-
termining whether to award benefits under the 
Black Lung Benefits Act. To ensure that a deter-
mination regarding a claim for benefits under such 
Act is fair and accurate, regular training is needed 
regarding— 
(A) developments in pulmonary medicine 
relating to black lung disease; 
(B) medical evidence necessary to sustain 
claims for such benefits; and 
(C) the proper weight to be given to con-
flicting evidence. 
(10) Black lung disease has been the underlying 
or contributing cause of death of more than 76,000 
miners since 1968. After decades of decline, the inci-
dence of coal miners with black lung disease is on 
the rise. According to NIOSH, miners are devel-
oping advanced cases of the disease at younger ages. 
In response, the Department of Labor has taken im-
portant steps to combat the disease, including pro-
mulgating a rule that reduces the allowed concentra-
tion of coal dust and eliminates weaknesses in the 
current dust sampling system. Retrospective studies 
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should be continued to determine whether revisions 
to the standards are necessary to eliminate the dis-
ease. 
(11) To eliminate an avoidable delay in evalu-
ating claims under such Act, the Department of La-
bor’s Inspector General has recommended legislation 
that would authorize the Department of Labor to 
have electronic access to miners’ earning records 
held by the Social Security Administration. 
TITLE I—BLACK LUNG BENEFITS 
PART A—IMPROVING THE PROCESS FOR FILING 
AND ADJUDICATING CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS 
SEC. 101. MANDATORY DISCLOSURE OF MEDICAL INFOR-
MATION AND REPORTS. 
Part A of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 403. MANDATORY MEDICAL INFORMATION DISCLO-
SURE. 
‘‘(a) REPORT.—In any claim for benefits under this 
title, an operator that requires a miner to submit to a 
medical examination regarding the miner’s respiratory or 
pulmonary condition shall, not later than 21 days after 
the miner has been examined, deliver to the claimant a 
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complete copy of the examining physician’s report. The ex-
amining physician’s report shall— 
‘‘(1) be in writing; and 
‘‘(2) set out in detail the findings of such physi-
cian, including any diagnoses and conclusions, the 
results of any diagnostic imaging tests, and any 
other tests performed on the miner. 
‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.—In any claim for benefits under 
this title, each party shall provide all other parties in the 
proceeding with a copy of all medical information devel-
oped regarding the miner’s physical condition relating to 
such claim, even if the party does not intend to submit 
the information as evidence. Such medical information 
shall include the opinion of any examining physician, and 
any examining or nonexamining physician’s interpreta-
tions of radiographs or pathology. 
‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 
regulations regarding the disclosure of medical informa-
tion under this section, and such regulations may establish 
sanctions for noncompliance with this section.’’. 
SEC. 102. ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND MEDICAL EXPENSES PAY-
MENT PROGRAM. 
Part A of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
901 et seq.), as amended by section 101, is further amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 404. ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND MEDICAL EXPENSES PAY-
MENT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of the Black Lung Bene-
fits Improvement Act of 2017, the Secretary shall 
establish a payment program to pay attorneys’ fees 
and other reasonable and unreimbursed medical ex-
penses incurred in establishing the claimant’s case, 
using amounts from the fund, to the attorneys of 
claimants in qualifying claims. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFYING CLAIM.—A qualifying claim 
for purposes of this section is a contested claim for 
benefits under this title for which a final order has 
not been entered within one year of the filing of the 
claim. 
‘‘(3) USE OF PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.— 
Notwithstanding 
any 
other 
provision 
of 
law, 
amounts in the fund shall be available for payments 
authorized by the Secretary under this section. 
‘‘(b) PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—If a claimant for ben-
efits under this title obtains a proposed decision and 
order from a district director with an award of bene-
fits for a qualifying claim, or an award for a quali-
fying claim before an administrative law judge, the 
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district director may approve attorneys’ fees for 
work done before such director in an amount not to 
exceed $1,500 and an administrative law judge may 
approve attorneys’ fees for work done before such 
judge in an amount not to exceed $3,000. The Sec-
retary shall, through the program under this section, 
pay such amounts approved. 
‘‘(2) MEDICAL EXPENSES.—If a claimant for 
benefits under this title obtains a proposed decision 
and order from a district director with an award of 
benefits for a qualifying claim, or an award for a 
qualifying claim before an administrative law judge, 
such district director and administrative law judge 
may each approve an award to the claimant’s attor-
ney of reasonable and unreimbursed medical ex-
penses incurred in establishing the claimant’s case in 
an amount not to exceed $1,500. The Secretary 
shall, through the program under this section, pay 
such amounts approved. 
‘‘(3) 
MAXIMUM.—The 
program 
established 
under this section shall not pay more than a total 
of $4,500 in attorneys’ fees nor more than $3,000 
in medical expenses for any single qualifying claim. 
‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—In any case in 
which a qualifying claim results in a final order awarding 
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compensation, the liable operator shall reimburse the fund 
for any fees or expenses paid under this section, subject 
to enforcement by the Secretary under section 424 and 
in the same manner as compensation orders are enforced 
under section 21(d) of the Longshore and Harbor Work-
ers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 921(d)). 
‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM RULES.—Nothing in 
this section shall limit or otherwise affect an operator’s 
liability for any attorneys’ fees, medical expenses, or other 
allowable and unreimbursed expenses awarded by the dis-
trict director or an administrative law judge that were not 
paid by the program under this section. Nothing in this 
section shall limit or otherwise affect the Secretary’s au-
thority to use amounts in the fund to pay approved attor-
neys’ fees in claims for benefits under this title for which 
a final order awarding compensation has been entered and 
the operator is unable to pay. 
‘‘(e) NO RECOUPMENT OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Any 
payment for attorneys’ fees or medical expenses made by 
the Secretary under this section shall not be recouped 
from the claimant or the claimant’s attorney.’’. 
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SEC. 103. CLARIFYING ELIGIBILITY FOR BLACK LUNG BEN-
EFITS. 
Section 411(c) of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 
U.S.C. 921(c)) is amended by striking paragraphs (3) and 
(4) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(3) If x-ray, biopsy, autopsy, or other medi-
cally accepted and relevant test or procedure estab-
lishes that a miner is suffering or has suffered from 
a chronic dust disease of the lung, diagnosed as 
complicated pneumoconiosis or progressive massive 
fibrosis (pneumoconiosis that has formed an opacity, 
mass, or lesion whose greatest diameter exceeds 1 
centimeter), then there shall be an irrebuttable pre-
sumption that such miner is totally disabled due to 
pneumoconiosis, that the miner’s death was due to 
pneumoconiosis, or that at the time of death the 
miner was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis, as the 
case may be. A chest radiograph, which yields one 
or more large opacities (whose greatest diameter ex-
ceeds 1 centimeter), and would be classified in cat-
egory A, B, or C in the International Classification 
of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses by the Inter-
national Labor Organization, shall be sufficient to 
invoke the presumption, in the absence of more pro-
bative evidence sufficient to establish that the eti-
ology of a large opacity is not pneumoconiosis. 
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‘‘(4) If a miner was employed for 15 years or 
more in one or more coal mines, and if there is a 
chest radiograph submitted in connection with the 
claim under this title of such miner or such miner’s 
surviving spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, or de-
pendent and it is interpreted as negative with re-
spect to the requirements of paragraph (3), and if 
other evidence demonstrates the existence of a to-
tally disabling respiratory or pulmonary impairment, 
then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that 
such miner is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis, 
that the miner’s death was due to pneumoconiosis, 
or that at the time of death the miner was totally 
disabled by pneumoconiosis. In the case of a living 
miner, a spouse’s affidavit may not be used by itself 
to establish the presumption under this paragraph. 
The presumption under this paragraph may be re-
butted only by establishing that such miner does 
not, or did not, have pneumoconiosis, or that no part 
of such miner’s respiratory or pulmonary impair-
ment or death was caused by pneumoconiosis.’’. 
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SEC. 104. RESTORING ADEQUATE BENEFIT ADJUSTMENTS 
FOR MINERS SUFFERING FROM BLACK LUNG 
DISEASE AND FOR THEIR DEPENDENT FAM-
ILY MEMBERS. 
Section 412(a) of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 
U.S.C. 922(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) In the case of total disability of a miner 
due to pneumoconiosis, the disabled miner shall be 
paid benefits during the disability— 
‘‘(A) for any calendar year preceding Jan-
uary 1, 2015, at a rate equal to 371⁄2 percent 
of the monthly pay rate for Federal employees 
in grade GS–2, step 1; 
‘‘(B) for the calendar year beginning on 
January 1, 2015, at a rate of $7,980 per year, 
payable in 12 equal monthly payments; and 
‘‘(C) for each calendar year thereafter, at 
a rate equal to the amount under subparagraph 
(B) increased by an amount equal to any in-
crease in the annual rate of the Consumer Price 
Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 
Workers, as published by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.’’. 
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SEC. 105. TREATMENT OF EVIDENCE IN EQUIPOISE. 
Section 422 of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 
U.S.C. 932) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m) In determining the validity of a claim under this 
title, an adjudicator who finds that the evidence is evenly 
balanced on an issue shall resolve any resulting doubt in 
the claimant’s favor and find that the claimant has met 
the burden of persuasion on such issue.’’. 
SEC. 106. PROVIDING ASSISTANCE WITH CLAIMS FOR MIN-
ERS AND THEIR DEPENDENT FAMILY MEM-
BERS. 
Section 427(a) of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 
U.S.C. 937(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘the analysis, ex-
amination, and treatment’’ and all that follows through 
‘‘coal miners.’’ and inserting ‘‘the analysis, examination, 
and treatment of respiratory and pulmonary impairments 
in active and inactive coal miners and for assistance on 
behalf of miners, spouses, dependents, and other family 
members with claims arising under this title.’’. 
SEC. 107. FALSE STATEMENTS OR MISREPRESENTATIONS, 
ATTORNEY 
DISQUALIFICATION, 
AND 
DIS-
COVERY SANCTIONS. 
Section 431 of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 
U.S.C. 941) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘SEC. 431. FALSE STATEMENTS OR MISREPRESENTATIONS, 
ATTORNEY 
DISQUALIFICATION, 
AND 
DIS-
COVERY SANCTIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No person, including any claim-
ant, physician, operator, duly authorized agent of such op-
erator, or employee of an insurance carrier, shall— 
‘‘(1) knowingly and willfully make a false state-
ment or misrepresentation for the purpose of obtain-
ing, increasing, reducing, denying, or terminating 
benefits under this title; or 
‘‘(2) knowingly and willfully threaten, coerce, 
intimidate, deceive, or mislead a party, representa-
tive, witness, potential witness, judge, or anyone par-
ticipating in a proceeding regarding any matter re-
lated to a proceeding under this title. 
‘‘(b) FINE; IMPRISONMENT.—Any person who en-
gages in the conduct described in subsection (a) shall, 
upon conviction, be subject to a fine in accordance with 
title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 
5 years, or both. 
‘‘(c) PROMPT INVESTIGATION.—The United States 
Attorney for the district in which the conduct described 
in subsection (a) is alleged to have occurred shall make 
every reasonable effort to promptly investigate each com-
plaint of a violation of such subsection. 
‘‘(d) DISQUALIFICATION.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An attorney or expert wit-
ness who engages in the conduct described in sub-
section (a) shall, in addition to the fine or imprison-
ment provided under subsection (b), be permanently 
disqualified from representing any party, or appear-
ing in any proceeding, under this title. 
‘‘(2) ATTORNEY DISQUALIFICATION.—In addi-
tion to the disqualification described in paragraph 
(1), the Secretary may disqualify an attorney from 
representing any party in any administrative pro-
ceeding under this title for either a limited term or 
permanently, if the attorney— 
‘‘(A) engages in any action or behavior 
that is prejudicial to the fair and orderly con-
duct of such proceeding; or 
‘‘(B) is suspended or disbarred by any 
court of the United States, any State, or any 
territory, commonwealth, or possession of the 
United States with jurisdiction over the pro-
ceeding. 
‘‘(e) DISCOVERY SANCTIONS.—An administrative law 
judge may sanction a party who fails to comply with an 
order to compel discovery or disclosure, or to supplement 
earlier responses, in a proceeding under this title. These 
sanctions may include, as appropriate— 
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‘‘(1) drawing an adverse inference against the 
noncomplying party on the facts relevant to the dis-
covery or disclosure order; 
‘‘(2) limiting the noncomplying party’s claims, 
defenses, or right to introduce evidence; and 
‘‘(3) rendering a default decision against the 
noncomplying party. 
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 
regulations that— 
‘‘(1) provide procedures for the disqualifications 
and sanctions under this section and are appropriate 
for all parties; and 
‘‘(2) distinguish between parties that are rep-
resented by an attorney and parties that are not 
represented by an attorney.’’. 
SEC. 108. DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE BY THE 
SECRETARY. 
Part C of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
931 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 435. DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE BY THE 
SECRETARY. 
‘‘(a) COMPLETE PULMONARY EVALUATION.—Upon 
request by a claimant for benefits under this title, the Sec-
retary shall provide the claimant an opportunity to sub-
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stantiate the claim through a complete pulmonary evalua-
tion of the miner that shall include— 
‘‘(1) an initial report, conducted by a qualified 
physician on the list provided under subsection (d), 
and in accordance with subsection (d)(5) and sec-
tions 402(f)(1)(D) and 413(b); and 
‘‘(2) if the conditions under subsection (b) are 
met, any supplemental medical evidence described in 
subsection (c). 
‘‘(b) 
DIAGNOSING
COMPLICATED
PNEUMO-
CONIOSIS.—In diagnosing whether there is complicated 
pneumoconiosis as a part of a medical examination con-
ducted under subsection (a), the Secretary shall authorize 
a high-quality, low-dose or standard computerized tomog-
raphy scan where any or a combination of the following 
is found: 
‘‘(1) Any certified B reader of a chest 
radiograph associated with an exam conducted under 
section 413(b) finds advanced pneumoconiosis (ILO 
category 2/1 or greater). 
‘‘(2) Any certified B reader of a chest 
radiograph associated with an exam conducted under 
section 413(b) finds a coalescence of small opacities. 
‘‘(3) Any certified B reader of a chest 
radiograph associated with an exam conducted under 
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