CFR > Title 20 - Employees' Benefits > CHAPTER VI—OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR > SUBCHAPTER B—FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, AS AMENDED (parts 718 to 726) > PART 718—STANDARDS FOR DETERMINING COAL MINERS' TOTAL DISABILITY OR DEATH DUE TO PNEUMOCONIOSIS > SUBPART C—Determining Entitlement to Benefits (§718.201 to §718.206) > 718.205—Death due to pneumoconiosis.

718.205—Death due to pneumoconiosis.

(a) Benefits are provided to eligible survivors of a miner whose death was due to pneumoconiosis. In order to receive benefits, the claimant must prove that:
(1) The miner had pneumoconiosis (see § 718.202 );
(2) The miner's pneumoconiosis arose out of coal mine employment (see § 718.203 ); and
(3) The miner's death was due to pneumoconiosis as provided by this section.
(b) For the purpose of adjudicating survivors' claims filed prior to January 1, 1982, death will be considered due to pneumoconiosis if any of the following criteria is met:
(1) Where competent medical evidence established that the miner's death was due to pneumoconiosis, or
(2) Where death was due to multiple causes including pneumoconiosis and it is not medically feasible to distinguish which disease caused death or the extent to which pneumoconiosis contributed to the cause of death, or
(3) Where the presumption set forth at § 718.304 is applicable, or
(4) Where either of the presumptions set forth at § 718.303 or § 718.305 is applicable and has not been rebutted.
(5) Where the cause of death is significantly related to or aggravated by pneumoconiosis.
(c) For the purpose of adjudicating survivors' claims filed on or after January 1, 1982, death will be considered to be due to pneumoconiosis if any of the following criteria is met:
(1) Where competent medical evidence establishes that pneumoconiosis was the cause of the miner's death, or
(2) Where pneumoconiosis was a substantially contributing cause or factor leading to the miner's death or where the death was caused by complications of pneumoconiosis, or
(3) Where the presumption set forth at § 718.304 is applicable.
(4) However, survivors are not eligible for benefits where the miner's death was caused by a traumatic injury or the principal cause of death was a medical condition not related to pneumoconiosis, unless the evidence establishes that pneumoconiosis was a substantially contributing cause of death.
(5) Pneumoconiosis is a “substantially contributing cause” of a miner's death if it hastens the miner's death.
(d) To minimize the hardships to potentially entitled survivors due to the disruption of benefits upon the miner's death, survivors' claims filed on or after January 1, 1982, shall be adjudicated on an expedited basis in accordance with the following procedures. The initial burden is upon the claimant, with the assistance of the district director, to develop evidence which meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section. Where the initial medical evidence appears to establish that death was due to pneumoconiosis, the survivor will receive benefits unless the weight of the evidence as subsequently developed by the Department or the responsible operator establishes that the miner's death was not due to pneumoconiosis as defined in paragraph (c). However, no such benefits shall be found payable before the party responsible for the payment of such benefits shall have had a reasonable opportunity for the development of rebuttal evidence. See § 725.414 concerning the operator's opportunity to develop evidence prior to an initial determination.