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Today is the last day to comment on the Labor Department's plan to replace the 2024 rule's 100 percent black lung collateral for self-insured coal companies with seven tiers from 10 to 100 percent, phased in over three years, and five comments had been filed by Monday's count

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Written comments on the Labor Department's proposed rewrite of how self-insured coal companies guarantee black lung benefits 'must be received by September 28, 2026', which is today. The proposal (FR Doc. 2026-15325, docket WCPO-2026-0529, RIN 1240-AA16) would replace the 2024 rule's requirement of security equal to 100 percent of estimated liabilities within one year with seven tiers based on financial strength, requiring 10 to 100 percent, phased in over three years. The Department says self-insured operators would still pledge 'over $300 million' more and would save about $7 million to $28 million a year. Its analysis says the change 'reallocates a portion of the bankruptcy-related risk to the taxpayers' while keeping deposits 'appropriately aligned with the associated risk of bankruptcy'. The backdrop: from 2014 to 2016, three self-insured operators went bankrupt with $27.4 million in collateral, and the liabilities that passed to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund were 'eventually estimated to be $865 million'. When the Federal Register checked regulations.gov at 15:55 UTC today, five comments had been filed.

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When a coal miner is found eligible for black lung benefits, the bill generally goes to the coal company that most recently employed the miner for at least a year. When that company cannot pay, a federal trust fund financed mainly by a tax on coal pays instead. Today is the last day to tell the Labor Department how much a coal company that insures itself must put up in advance to guarantee those benefits.

Written comments "must be received by September 28, 2026". Regulations.gov sets its cutoff at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern tonight. When the Federal Register checked regulations.gov at 15:55 UTC today, five had been filed. Regulations.gov had posted four.

What would change

At the end of fiscal 2024, 15 coal operators were authorized to self-insure their black lung liabilities; 709 used commercial insurance. A 2024 rule requires each self-insurer to post security equal to 100 percent of its estimated liabilities within one year.

The proposal would score each company's financial strength, using its credit rating, if it has one, and two bankruptcy-prediction formulas, and sort it into one of seven tiers. The strongest would secure 10 percent of estimated liabilities; the weakest, 100 percent. Companies would get three years: at least 34 percent in year one, at least 33 percent more in year two, the rest in year three.

The tier table is set for the first year and stays until the Department's workers' compensation office makes "changes to the tier structure or values through subregulatory guidance", meaning by guidance rather than a new rule.

The numbers

  • Self-insured operators' estimated liabilities: $688 million. Security on deposit: $116 million. Unsecured: $572 million.
  • The Department says the 2024 rule would require operators to "pledge over $500 million in security within twelve months". The proposal: "over $300 million" more, over a longer period.
  • Estimated savings for the companies: about $7 million to $28 million a year.
  • From 2014 to 2016, three self-insured operators went bankrupt with combined collateral of $27.4 million. The liabilities passed to the trust fund were "eventually estimated to be $865 million".
  • The fund reported a $6.6 billion deficit as of September 30, 2024. In fiscal 2024 the Labor Department's black lung program paid about $140 million in Part C benefits for 12,911 beneficiaries.

The two approaches

The Department calls the 2024 rule "prohibitive and potentially detrimental to the coal industry" and says that approach "fails to promote the stated goal of increasing domestic energy production, including coal", citing Executive Order 14261 of April 8, 2025, and the power needs of AI data centers. It says the proposal "would best balance the needs of the Trust Fund with ensuring that miners receive the benefits to which they are entitled", and that current self-insurers, though not all fully secured, "are not currently at high risk of bankruptcy". Its economic analysis says the change "reallocates a portion of the bankruptcy-related risk to the taxpayers, but the required security deposits are appropriately aligned with the associated risk of bankruptcy".

The 2024 rule answered the same bankruptcies differently: no company-by-company scoring, and 100 percent for every self-insurer.

Who has weighed in

Of the four posted comments, one is from the United Mine Workers of America. Its letter, dated September 25, "unequivocally opposes this proposed rule and urges the Department to withdraw it in full". Three were filed by individuals, none by a coal company.

How to comment

Use the regulations.gov form for docket WCPO-2026-0529, linked below, and include the agency name and RIN 1240-AA16. The fax line, (202) 693-1395, takes comments of ten pages or fewer. Comments are posted "without change". Regulations.gov will not accept late comments.

What the record does not say

  • A closing time in the notice, which gives only the date.
  • How any single company would be tiered. The per-company tables are images Hugin did not transcribe.
  • A final comment count. Both counts were moving today.
  • Whether a final rule will follow, or when.
  • Exact savings. The estimate assumes surety bond premiums of 2 to 12 percent a year; the Department says "actual costs could be higher or lower".

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