August 25, 2026 - The Department of Labor is seeking feedback on a proposal that would make multiple revisions to a rule that requires self-insured coal mine operators to “post adequate security for their benefit liabilities.”

Published July 30 by the DOL Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, the proposed rule would amend the Black Lung Self-Insurance Rule, which went into effect in January 2025 after OWCP revised regulations related to the Black Lung Benefits Act.

Operators are generally responsible for providing compensation to coal miners who have been disabled by black lung – a deadly condition caused by exposure to respirable coal mine dust – and their dependent survivors. However, the taxpayer-supported Black Lung Disability Trust Fund helps finance benefits when an operator is unable to pay or no responsible mine operator is identifiable.

The proposal states that DOL “now believes” the current Black Lung Self-Insurance Rule is “prohibitive and potentially detrimental to the coal industry by requiring operators to secure 100% of actuarial estimated liabilities in a short period of time, regardless of the operator’s financial strength.”

Proposed changes that OWCP says will “advance the goal of protecting the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund against future insolvencies of mine operators in the coal industry” include:

• Establishing security levels for self-insured coal mine operators that account for the financial health of the operator and accurately reflect the risk of default.

• Allowing operators an extended period to post security “to avoid constraining vital capital that could be used in mining operations.”

• Introducing new methods for operators to post required security while still recognizing existing methods.

In a press release, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the proposed rule is akin to “taking a sledgehammer to worker protections.”

He continued: “Instead of the simple, straightforward Biden-era rule that was easy to implement and guaranteed full protection for taxpayers, the new Trump proposal reverts to a complicated formula that the Labor Department struggled to enforce in the past.”

In November and March, Scott and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), ranking member of the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, wrote letters to then-Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer requesting answers to their questions about whether DOL is enforcing the Black Lung Self-Insurance Rule.

DOL says in the proposal that OWCP “has evaluated current self-insured operators and determined that although not all are secured at 100%, they are not currently at high risk of bankruptcy.”

The deadline to comment on the proposed rule is Sept. 28.