20 C.F.R. § 718.201

Definition of pneumoconiosis

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) For the purpose of the Act, “pneumoconiosis” means a chronic dust disease of the lung and its sequelae, including respiratory and pulmonary impairments, arising out of coal mine employment. This definition includes both medical, or “clinical”, pneumoconiosis and statutory, or “legal”, pneumoconiosis.

(1) Clinical Pneumoconiosis. “Clinical pneumoconiosis” consists of those diseases recognized by the medical community as pneumoconioses, i.e., the conditions characterized by permanent deposition of substantial amounts of particulate matter in the lungs and the fibrotic reaction of the lung tissue to that deposition caused by dust exposure in coal mine employment. This definition includes, but is not limited to, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, anthracosilicosis, anthracosis, anthrosilicosis, massive pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis or silicotuberculosis, arising out of coal mine employment.

(2) Legal Pneumoconiosis. “Legal pneumoconiosis” includes any chronic lung disease or impairment and its sequelae arising out of coal mine employment. This definition includes, but is not limited to, any chronic restrictive or obstructive pulmonary disease arising out of coal mine employment.

(b) For purposes of this section, a disease “arising out of coal mine employment” includes any chronic pulmonary disease or respiratory or pulmonary impairment significantly related to, or substantially aggravated by, dust exposure in coal mine employment.

(c) For purposes of this definition, “pneumoconiosis” is recognized as a latent and progressive disease which may first become detectable only after the cessation of coal mine dust exposure.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 324 cases (46 in the last 5 years), 1983–2026 · leading case: Gunderson v. United States Dep't of Labor, 601 F.3d 1013 (10th Cir. 2010).
Gunderson v. United States Dep't of Labor, 601 F.3d 1013 (10th Cir. 2010). · cites it 22× “The ALJ heard conflicting evidence: Mr. Gunderson's doctors concluded that he suffered from pneumoconiosis arising from coal dust exposure and that he was disabled because of the disease, while doctors testifying on behalf of Blue Mountain Energy opined that Mr.”
Westmoreland Coal Co. v. Jarrell Cochran, 718 F.3d 319 (4th Cir. 2013). · cites it 9× “” 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). “[P]neumoconiosis can take two forms”: “clinical” pneumoconiosis and “legal” pneumoconiosis.”
Sea \B\" Mining Co. v. Shirley Addison", 831 F.3d 244 (4th Cir. 2016). · cites it 4× “” 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). Courts recognize two forms of pneumo-coniosis: “clinical” and “legal.”
Harman Mining Co. v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 678 F.3d 305 (4th Cir. 2012). · cites it 5× “” 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). The courts have long recognized that pneumoconiosis can take two forms: “clinical” pneumoconiosis and “legal” pneumoconiosis.”
Sherman Greene v. King James Coal Mining, Inc., 575 F.3d 628 (6th Cir. 2009). · cites it 8× “20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). The regulations define clinical (or medical) pneumoconiosis as “those diseases recognized by the medical community as pneumoconiosis, i.”
Zurich Am. Ins. Grp. v. Duncan Ex Rel. Duncan, 889 F.3d 293 (6th Cir. 2018). · cites it 6× “Clinical pneumoconiosis"consists of those diseases recognized by the medical community as pneumoconioses," *297 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a)(1), whereas legal pneumoconiosis"includes any chronic lung disease or impairment and its sequelae arising out of coal mine employment," 20 C.”
Wilgar Land Co. v. OWCP, 85 F.4th 828 (6th Cir. 2023). · cites it 11× “20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). The regulation defined the word “pneumoconiosis” to include both “medical, or ‘clinical’, pneumoconiosis and statutory, or ‘legal’, pneumoconiosis.”
West Virginia CWP Fund v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, United States Dep't of Labor, 880 F.3d 691 (4th Cir. 2018). · cites it 4× “See 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a)(1). The statutory definition of “pneumoconiosis” is broader, reaching not only so-called “clinical.”
Island Creek Coal Co. v. Melyndia Bryan, 937 F.3d 738 (6th Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “Page 23 operator to prove that the miner had neither clinical pneumoconiosis (diseases that the medical community recognizes as pneumoconiosis, 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a)(1)) nor legal pneumoconiosis (a broader category of lung impairments that are significantly related to, or…”
Sunny Ridge Mining Co., Inc. v. Herbert Keathley, 773 F.3d 734 (6th Cir. 2014). · cites it 8× “Broudy’s statement— that “coal mine dust-related chronic bronchitis should dissipate with cessation of coal mine dust exposure and usually stops with exposure cessation” — was “inconsistent with the regulatory definition of pneumoconiosis in 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (c) as a latent…”
Antelope Coal Co./Rio Tinto Energy Am. v. Goodin, 743 F.3d 1331 (10th Cir. 2014). · cites it 5× “” 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a)(1). Legal pneumoconiosis, added in 1978, 30 U.”
Morrison v. Tennessee Consol. Coal Co., 644 F.3d 473 (6th Cir. 2011). · cites it 4× “See 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (b) (explaining that "a disease 'arising out of coal mine employment’ includes any chronic pulmonary disease or respiratory or pulmonary impairment significantly related to, or substantially aggravated by, dust exposure in coal mine employment”).”
— 20 C.F.R. § 718.201(a)(1) — 3 cases
Felton v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 339 F. App'x 187 (3rd Cir. 2009).
Felton v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 339 F. App'x 187 (3rd Cir. 2009).
— 20 C.F.R. § 718.201(a)(2) — 3 cases
Westmoreland Coal Co., Inc v. DOWCP, 548 F. App'x 840 (4th Cir. 2013).
— 20 C.F.R. § 718.201(c) — 2 cases
Island Creek Coal Co. v. Melyndia Bryan, 937 F.3d 738 (6th Cir. 2019). “Page 23 operator to prove that the miner had neither clinical pneumoconiosis (diseases that the medical community recognizes as pneumoconiosis, 20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a)(1)) nor legal pneumoconiosis (a broader category of lung impairments that are significantly related to, or…”
Wilgar Land Co. v. OWCP, 85 F.4th 828 (6th Cir. 2023). “20 C.F.R. § 718.201 (a). The regulation defined the word “pneumoconiosis” to include both “medical, or ‘clinical’, pneumoconiosis and statutory, or ‘legal’, pneumoconiosis.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.