20 C.F.R. § 726.203

Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act endorsement

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(a) The following form of endorsement shall be attached and applicable to the standard workmen's compensation and employer's liability policy prepared by the National Council on Compensation Insurance affording coverage under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended:

It is agreed that: (1) With respect to operations in a State designated in item 3 of the declarations, the unqualified term “workmen's compensation law” includes part C of title IV of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, 30 U.S.C. section 931-936, and any laws amendatory thereto, or supplementary thereto, which may be or become effective while this policy is in force, and definition (a) of Insuring Agreement III is amended accordingly; (2) with respect to such insurance as is afforded by this endorsement, (a) the States, if any, named below, shall be deemed to be designated in item 3 of the declaration; (b) Insuring Agreement IV(2) is amended to read “by disease caused or aggravated by exposure of which the last day of the last exposure, in the employment of the insured, to conditions causing the disease occurs during the policy period, or occurred prior to (effective date) and claim based on such disease is first filed against the insured during the policy period.”

(b) The term “effective date” as used in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to mean the effective date of the first policy or contract of insurance procured by an operator for purposes of meeting the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of part C of title IV of the Act.

(c) The Act contains a number of provisions and imposes a number of requirements on operators which differ in varying degrees from traditional workmen's compensation concepts. To avoid unnecessary administrative delays and expense which might be occasioned by the drafting of an entirely new standard workmen's compensation policy specially tailored to the Act, the Office has determined that the existing standard workmen's compensation policy subject to the endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be acceptable for purposes of writing commercial insurance coverage under the Act. However, to avoid undue disputes over the meaning of certain policy provisions and in accordance with the authority contained in section 423(b)(3) of the Act, the Office has determined that the following requirements shall be applicable to all commercial insurance policies obtained by an operator for the purpose of insuring any liability incurred pursuant to the Act:

(1) Operator liability. (i) Section 415 and part C of title IV of the Act provide coverage for total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis to all claimants who meet the eligibility requirements imposed by the Act. Section 422 of the Act and the regulations duly promulgated thereunder (part 725 of this subchapter) set forth the conditions under which a coal mine operator may be adjudicated liable for the payment of benefits to an eligible claimant for any period subsequent to December 31, 1973.

(ii) Section 422(c) of the Act prescribes that except as provided in 422(i) (see paragraph (c)(2) of this section) an operator may be adjudicated liable for the payment of benefits in any case if the total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis upon which the claim is predicated arose at least in part out of employment in a mine in any period during which it was operated by such operator. The Act does not require that such employment which contributed to or caused the total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis occur subsequent to any particular date in time. The Secretary in establishing a formula for determining the operator liable for the payment of benefits (see subpart D of part 725 of this subchapter) in respect of any particular claim, must therefore, within the framework and intent of title IV of the Act find in appropriate cases that an operator is liable for the payment of benefits for some period after December 31, 1973, even though the employment upon which an operator's liability is based occurred prior to July 1, 1973, or prior to the effective date of the Act or the effective date of any amendments thereto, or prior to the effective date of any policy or contract of insurance obtained by such operator. The endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to incorporate these requirements in any policy or contract of insurance obtained by an operator to meet the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of the Act.

(2) Successor liability. Section 422(i) of part C of title IV of the Act requires that a coal mine operator who after December 30, 1969, acquired his mine or substantially all of the assets thereof from a person who was an operator of such mine on or after December 30, 1969, shall be liable for and shall secure the payment of benefits which would have been payable by the prior operator with respect to miners previously employed in such mine if the acquisition had not occurred and the prior operator had continued to operate such mine. In the case of an operator who is determined liable for the payment of benefits under section 422(i) of the Act and part 725 of this subchapter, such liability shall accrue to such operator regardless of the fact that the miner on whose total disability or death the claim is predicated was never employed by such operator in any capacity. The endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to incorporate this requirement in any policy or contract of insurance obtained by an operator to meet the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of the Act.

(3) Medical eligibility. Pursuant to section 422(h) of part C of title IV of the Act and the regulations described therein (see subpart D of part 410 of this title) benefits shall be paid to eligible claimants on account of total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis and in cases where the miner on whose death a claim is predicated was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis at the time of his death regardless of the cause of such death. The endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to incorporate these requirements in any policy or contract of insurance obtained by an operator to meet the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of the Act.

(4) Payment of benefits, rates. Section 422(c) of the Act by incorporating section 412(a) of the Act requires the payment of benefits at a rate equal to 50 per centum of the minimum monthly payment to which a Federal employee in grade GS-2, who is totally disabled is entitled at the time of payment under Chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code. These benefits are augmented on account of eligible dependents as appropriate (see section 412(a) of part B of title IV of the Act). Since the dollar amount of benefits payable to any beneficiary is required to be computed at the time of payment such amounts may be expected to increase from time to time as changes in the GS-2 grade are enacted into law. The endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to incorporate in any policy or contract of insurance obtained by an operator to meet the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of the Act, the requirement that the payment of benefits to eligible beneficiaries shall be made in such dollar amounts as are prescribed by section 412(a) of the Act computed at the time of payment.

(5) Compromise and waiver of benefits. Section 422(a) of part C of title IV of the Act by incorporating sections 15(b) and 16 of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 915(b) and 916) prohibits the compromise and/or waiver of claims for benefits filed or benefits payable under section 415 and part C of title IV of the Act. The endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall be construed to incorporate these prohibitions in any policy or contract of insurance obtained by an operator to meet the obligations imposed on such operator by section 423 of the Act.

(6) Additional requirements. In addition to the requirements described in paragraph (c)(1) through (5) of this section, the endorsement provisions contained in paragraph (a) of this section shall, to the fullest extent possible, be construed to bring any policy or contract of insurance entered into by an operator for the purpose of insuring such operator's liability under part C of title IV of the Act into conformity with the legal requirements placed upon such operator by section 415 and part C of title IV of the Act and parts 720 and 725 of this subchapter.

(d) Nothing in this section shall relieve any operator or carrier of the duty to comply with any State workmen's compensation law, except insofar as such State law is in conflict with the provisions of this section.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 16 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1974–2025 · leading case: Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. v. Woolman, 913 F.3d 977 (10th Cir. 2019).

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Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. v. Woolman, 913 F.3d 977 (10th Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “See 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a). Failure to procure such insurance could expose Clemens Coal's president and its officers to individual liability for black-lung benefits and for civil penalties.”

RB&F Coal, Inc. v. Deloris Mullins, 842 F.3d 279 (4th Cir. 2016). · cites it 3× “5 RB&F also argued that to the extent that the Guaranty Act prevents the VPCIGA from assuming liability for Mullins’s claim, it violates 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (c), which prohibits an insurance company from limiting its liability for black lung claims.”

Lovilia Coal Co. & Bituminous Cas. Corp. v. Verda M. Williams & Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 143 F.3d 317 (7th Cir. 1998). · cites it 3× “See 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a). Accordingly, the contract between Lovilia and Bituminous included an endorsement stating, in relevant part: It is agreed that: 1.”

Apogee Coal Co. v. OWCP, 113 F.4th 751 (7th Cir. 2024). · cites it 2× “That is because 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a) requires all such policies to include an endorsement making the insurer liable for any black lung claim that accrues against its insured dur- ing the policy period, regardless of when the benefits claim is ultimately filed.”

Karst Robbins Coal Co. v. OWCP, 969 F.3d 316 (6th Cir. 2020). “” 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (c)(6). And one of these legal requirements is that insurers must give DOL thirty days’ advance notice before canceling a policy, which in turn relieves the insurer from paying claims that arise after that cancellation.”

Nat'l Indep. Coal Operator's Ass'n v. Brennan, 372 F. Supp. 16 (D.D.C. 1974). · cites it 2× “In 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 , 38 Fed. Reg. 12498 (1973), the Secretary of Labor has promulgated an interpretative regulatory provision, which states that the Secretary of Labor is bound, within the framework and intent of Title IV of the Act [to] find in appropriate cases that an…”

Keene v. Consolidation Coal Co., 645 F.3d 844 (7th Cir. 2011). “See 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a). And § 1556 only allows the 15-year presumption to reach back to claims filed after 2005 that were still pending in early 2010.”

Clayton Coal Co., a Colorado Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., a Massachusetts Corp., 594 F.2d 1378 (10th Cir. 1979). · cites it 2× “See 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a). Clayton Coal does not contest the validity of the regulation.”

Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs v. Forsyth Energy, Inc., 666 F.2d 1104 (7th Cir. 1981). · cites it 3× “20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (1980), 24 contains an endorsement to a standard policy of workmen’s compensation insurance.”

Nat'l Indep. Coal Operators Ass'n v. Old Repub. Ins., 544 F. Supp. 520 (W.D. Va. 1982). · cites it 3× “If the coal operator chose to procure liability insurance rather than self-insure, regulation 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (1981) required the following endorsement be attached and applicable to the standard workmen’s compensation and employer’s liability policy: It is agreed that (1)…”

Westmoreland Coal Co. v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 696 F. App'x 604 (4th Cir. 2017). “” 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (a). Thus, once the district director determined that Lady H had no policy in place on Miner’s last day of employment, he properly concluded that there “was no record of insurance coverage” for Lady H that covered Miner’s claim.”

Boyd & Stevenson Coal Co. v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, 407 F.3d 663 (4th Cir. 2005). “Slone was receiving black lung benefits from Roekwood, which, under 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 , are included in the general term “workmen’s compensation.”

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— 20 C.F.R. § 726.203(c) — 1 case

RB&F Coal, Inc. v. Deloris Mullins, 842 F.3d 279 (4th Cir. 2016). “5 RB&F also argued that to the extent that the Guaranty Act prevents the VPCIGA from assuming liability for Mullins’s claim, it violates 20 C.F.R. § 726.203 (c), which prohibits an insurance company from limiting its liability for black lung claims.”

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