Opinion ID: 472568
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: regulatory and administrative history

Text: 19 Shortly after the 1977 Act, the Secretary of the Department of Labor promulgated a regulation which, inter alia, clarified the definition of miner for the purposes of the Act: 20 Miner defined.... A coal mine construction or transportation worker shall be considered a miner to the extent such individual is or was exposed to coal mine dust as a result of employment in or around a coal mine or a coal preparation facility. In the case of an individual employed in coal transportation or coal mine construction, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such individual was exposed to coal mine dust during all periods of such employment occurring in or around a coal mine or coal preparation facility for purposes of (1) Determining whether such individual is or was a miner.... 21 20 C.F.R. Sec. 725.202(a) (emphasis added). 4 Significantly, this regulation defined a coal mine construction worker as a miner if he was exposed to coal mine dust, whereas the 1977 Act had spoken of coal dust. 22 The regulation has since been challenged, but the Board has upheld it, albeit without much analysis. George v. Williamson Shaft Contracting Co., 8 Black Lung.Rep. 1-91 (1985); Conley v. Roberts and Schaefer Co., 7 Black Lung Rep 1-309 (1984). 5 23