Changing the structure of a tax that funds federal benefits for miners could bring tens of millions of dollars annually to the cash-strapped Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Blog Archives
Black Lung Benefit Fund Would See Major Boost from Change to Coal Tax
TAGS: Black Lung Disability Trust Fund black lung disease black lung excise tax black lung severance tax coal miners
Tighter silica rules needed to protect miners from black lung disease
Coal miners are legally allowed to be exposed to twice as much dangerous silica dust as any other worker. That needs to change.
TAGS: black lung association Black Lung Disability Trust Fund black lung disease coal dust Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA silica dust
Congress includes one-year extension of black lung excise tax in omnibus spending bill
A one-year extension of the excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is included in the 2021 omnibus spending bill. This is the second year in a row that a one-year extension has been included in the…
TAGS: 116th Congress Biden administration black lung association Black Lung Disability Trust Fund black lung disease coal miners
Federal negligence allowed coal companies to shrug off their responsibility for black lung benefits
For decades, coal companies ignored a federal requirement to provide enough funds for black lung benefits — and the government let them.
TAGS: Black Lung black lung association black lung disease Coal self-bonding U.S. Department of Labor
Progress on healthcare for miners with black lung disease
Congress reinstated a tax to fund healthcare and benefits for miners with black lung and their families for 2020 — but further action is needed to extend the tax and support the fund for 10 years.
Intro: The Legacies of Coal
As Appalachia’s coal industry continues to decline, the scale of the damage it has cas becomes even more apparent.
Blackjewel’s black lung problem
Bankrupt coal company Blackjewel owes nearly $10 million in taxes to the fund that provides benefits to miners with black lung disease whose employer has gone bankrupt.
TAGS: bankruptcy Black Lung black lung association Black Lung Disability Trust Fund black lung disease blackjewel
Calling on Legislators for Action in Washington, D.C.
In July, Appalachian Voices traveled to Capitol Hill alongside about 150 miners, widows and their loved ones to demand Congress to restore proper funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. And in June, we joined other organizations in a visit to D.C. to ask legislators to co-sponsor the RECLAIM Act to fast-track abandoned mine reclamation.
Miners Take Black Lung Demands to D.C.
Approximately 150 Appalachian coal miners, widows and their loved ones visited Capitol Hill in July to demand that Congress reinstate a tax rate on coal companies for black lung healthcare and benefits.
TAGS: Black Lung Disability Trust Fund black lung disease coal miners United Mine Workers of America
Coal miners visit D.C. to urge Congress to act on Black Lung legislation
More than 150 coal miners or their widows and loved ones traveled to D.C. in July to call for action on black lung legislation.
