Changing the structure of the tax on coal mining that funds federal benefits for miners could bring tens of millions of dollars annually to the cash-strapped Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Currently, the fund does not receive any revenue from exported coal.
Coal miners are legally allowed to be exposed to twice as much dangerous silica dust as any other worker. That needs to change.
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…
For decades, coal companies ignored a federal requirement to provide enough funds for black lung benefits — and the government let them.
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.
As Appalachia’s coal industry continues to decline, the scale of the damage it has cas becomes even more apparent.
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.
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.
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.
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.
