(a) Section 423 of part C of title IV of the Act requires each
operator of a coal mine or former operator in any State which does meet
the requirements prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to section 411 of
part C of title IV of the Act to self-insure or obtain a policy or
contract of insurance to guarantee the payment of benefits for which
such operator may be adjudicated liable under section 422 of the Act.
In enacting sections 422 and 423 of the Act Congress has unambiguously
expressed its intent that coal mine operators bear the cost of
providing the benefits established by part C of title IV of the Act.
Section 3 of the Act defines an ``operator'' as any owner, lessee, or
other person who operates, controls, or supervises a coal mine.
(b) Section 422(i) of the Act clearly recognizes that any
individual or business entity who is or was a coal mine operator may be
found liable for the payment of pneumoconiosis benefits after December
31, 1973. Within this framework it is clear that the Secretary has wide
latitude for determining which operator shall be liable for the payment
of part C benefits. Comprehensive standards have been promulgated in
subpart G of part 725 of this subchapter for the purpose of guiding the
Secretary in making such determination. It must be noted that pursuant
to these standards any parent or subsidiary corporation, any individual
or corporate partner, or partnership, any lessee or lessor of a coal
mine, any joint venture or participant in a joint venture, any
transferee or transferor of a corporation or other business entity, any
former, current, or future operator or any other form of business
entity which has had or will have a substantial and reasonably direct
interest in the operation of a coal mine may be determined liable for
the payment of pneumoconiosis benefits after December 31, 1973. The
failure of any such business entity to self-insure or obtain a
policy or contract of insurance shall in no way relieve such business
entity of its obligation to pay pneumoconiosis benefits in respect of
any case in which such business entity's responsibility for such
payments has been properly adjudicated. Any business entity described
in this section shall take appropriate steps to insure that any
liability imposed by part C of the Act on such business entity shall be
dischargeable.
