Coal Mine Operator Response to Schedule for Submission of Additional Evidence and Operator Response to Notice of Claim
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
09/11/2023
table that charts list comparision
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
10/31/2023
5,294
9,800
1,173
2,042
1,096
2,842
The OWCP, Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation (DCMWC) administers the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 901 et seq.), which provides benefits to coal miners totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis and their surviving dependents. When the DCMWC makes a preliminary analysis of a claimant's eligibility for benefits, and if a coal mine operator has been identified as potentially liable for payment of those benefits, the
responsible operator is notified of the preliminary analysis. Regulations codified at 20 CFR part 725 require that a coal mine operator be identified and notified of potential liability as early in the adjudication process as possible. Coal Mine Operator Response to Schedule for Submission of
Additional Evidence (Form CM-2970) and Operator Response to Notice of Claim (Form CM-2970a) are used for claims filed after January 19, 2001, and indicate that the coal mine operator will submit additional evidence or respond to the notice of claim.
US Code:
30 USC 901
Name of Law: Black Lung Benefits Act
Respondents: The number of respondents increased from 4,900 to 5,294.
Responses: Responses have decreased from 9,800 to 8,082 because, in the last iteration of this collection, the number of responses was incorrectly calculated as twice the number of Notice of Claim forms that OWCP issued in FY-19 (4,900). The previous iteration assumed OWCP issued a Notice of Claim to a single operator in a case then subsequently issued a Schedule for the Submission of Additional Evidence to the same operator in each case. However, OWCP issues more Notices of Claims than Schedules for the Submission of Additional Evidence. (Reasons for notifying multiple employers of a single claim include, but are not limited to: the minerâs reporting of who his last coal mine employer was differs from who his Social Security Earnings Records indicate was the last to employ him; the miner withdraws or abandons his claim before a Schedule for the Submission of Additional Evidence is issued; and the most recent employer is not financially capable of assuming liability for the claim and OWCP must notify the next most-recent coal mine employer .) Thus, the previous calculation both overstated the number of responses to Form CM-2970 and understated the number of responses to Form CM-2970a.
For the current iteration of this collection, OWCP has used the actual FY-22 response rates to each form to more precisely estimate the burden associated with this collection.
The following also decreased due to the change in method of calculations and attendant perceived decrease in overall number of responses.
.
Burden Hours: Burden hours have decreased from 2,042 to 1,790.
Costs: Annual burden costs have decreased from $2,842 to $1,673. These costs also decreased, in part, due to the 20% increase in electronic submissions for both forms.
Other cost (Monetized Value of Respondent Time) increased from $35,102 to $39,201 due to the increase in the national mean hourly wage for Office and Administrative Support Occupations from $17.19 to $21.90.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form CM-2970a Operator Response to Schedule for Submission of Additional Evidence, and Operator Response to Notice of Claim
SS-1240-0033 CM-2970 2970a 2023_OCIO passback2-MM (2).docx
DOL-OWCP-9.pdf
Operator Response to Schedule for Submission of Additional Evidence, and Operator Response to Notice of Claim