(a) The 1981 amendments to the Act amended section 422 of the Act
and transferred liability for payment of certain special claims from
operators and carriers to the fund. These provisions apply to claims
which were denied before March 1, 1978, and which have been or will be
approved in accordance with section 435 of the Act.
(b) Section 402(i) of the Act defines three classes of denied
claims subject to the transfer provisions:
(1) Claims filed with and denied by the Social Security
Administration before March 1, 1978;
(2) Claims filed with the Department of Labor in which the claimant
was notified by the Department of an administrative or informal denial
before March 1, 1977, and in which the claimant did not within one year
of such notification either:
(i) Request a hearing; or
(ii) Present additional evidence; or
(iii) Indicate an intention to present additional evidence; or
(iv) Request a modification or reconsideration of the denial on the
ground of a change in conditions or because of a mistake in a
determination of fact;
(3) Claims filed with the Department of Labor and denied under the
law in effect prior to the enactment of the Black Lung Benefits Reform
Act of 1977, that is, before March 1, 1978, following a formal hearing
before an administrative law judge or administrative review before the
Benefits Review Board or review before a United States Court of
Appeals.
(c) Where more than one claim was filed with the Social Security
Administration and/or the Department of Labor prior to March 1, 1978,
by or on behalf of a miner or a surviving dependent of a miner, unless
such claims were required to be merged by
the agency's regulations, the procedural history of each such claim
must be considered separately to determine whether the claim is subject
to the transfer of liability provisions.
(d) For a claim filed with and denied by the Social Security
Administration prior to March 1, 1978, to come within the transfer
provisions, such claim must have been or must be approved under the
provisions of section 435 of the Act. No claim filed with and denied by
the Social Security Administration is subject to the transfer of
liability provisions unless a request was made by or on behalf of the
claimant for review of such denied claim under section 435. Such review
must have been requested by the filing of a valid election card or
other equivalent document with the Social Security Administration in
accordance with section 435(a) and its implementing regulations at 20
CFR 410.700 through 410.707.
(e) Where a claim filed with the Department of Labor prior to March
1, 1977, was subjected to repeated administrative or informal denials,
the last such denial issued during the pendency of the claim determines
whether the claim is subject to the transfer of liability provisions.
(f) Where a miner's claim comes within the transfer of liability
provisions of the 1981 amendments the fund is also liable for the
payment of any benefits to which the miner's dependent survivors are
entitled after the miner's death. However, if the survivor's
entitlement was established on a separate claim not subject to the
transfer of liability provisions prior to approval of the miner's claim
under section 435, the party responsible for the payment of such
survivors' benefits shall not be relieved of that responsibility
because the miner's claim was ultimately approved and found subject to
the transfer of liability provisions.
