20 CFR § 718.203 - Establishing relationship of pneumoconiosis to coal mine employment.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t20/s718.203"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "20 CFR § 718.203 - Establishing relationship of pneumoconiosis to coal mine employment."
title_number: 20
title_name: "Employees' Benefits"
section_number: "718.203"
section_name: "Establishing relationship of pneumoconiosis to coal mine employment."
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, AS AMENDED"
part_number: "718"
part_name: "STANDARDS FOR DETERMINING COAL MINERS' TOTAL DISABILITY OR DEATH DUE TO PNEUMOCONIOSIS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174; 30 U.S.C. 901  902(f), 934, 936; 33 U.S.C. 901  42 U.S.C. 405; Secretary's Order 10-2009, 74 FR 58834."
regulatory_source: "45 FR 13678, Feb. 29, 1980, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "718"
---


# 718.203 Establishing relationship of pneumoconiosis to coal mine employment.

(a) In order for a claimant to be found eligible for benefits under the Act, it must be determined that the miner's pneumoconiosis arose at least in part out of coal mine employment. The provisions in this section set forth the criteria to be applied in making such a determination.

(b) If a miner who is suffering or suffered from pneumoconiosis was employed for ten years or more in one or more coal mines, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the pneumoconiosis arose out of such employment.

(c) If a miner who is suffering or suffered from pneumoconiosis was employed less than ten years in the nation's coal mines, it shall be determined that such pneumoconiosis arose out of that employment only if competent evidence establishes such a relationship.