West Virginia
New labor rule will prevent coal operators from putting black lung liabilities on taxpayers’ backs • West Virginia Watch
A new final rule was issued by the federal Department of Labor last week that will require coal operators who self-insure to post adequate security bonds that cover all of their black lung benefit liabilities.
The rule comes as a protection for coal miners who currently or could in the future receive black lung benefits, which are supposed to be paid by the operators who employed them and who, through that employment, exposed them to dangerous silica dust that causes black lung disease.
“This is a long-overdue rule that will have a significant impact in helping to ensure benefits to miners who have contracted black lung will be paid, and be paid by those responsible — the coal companies,” said Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, in an emailed news release earlier this week.
The finalized rule requires self-insured coal companies to post collateral — through surety bonds or other forms — that is equal to 100% of their black lung benefit liabilities.
With the new rule, coal companies that merge or file for bankruptcy will not be able to buck their responsibility for paying out benefits. Roberts said coal companies often use the bankruptcy process to shift these expenses to taxpayers by transferring the responsibility to the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
“That means taxpayers are now picking up the tab for coal companies that did not adequately protect their workers from dangerous levels of respirable coal dust,” Roberts said in his statement.
The trust fund exists to cover benefits for miners when no specific coal operator can be held responsible for their illness or when the operators fail to pay their share. Self-insured coal operators, however, are obligated to pay their own expenses.
Between 2014 and 2016, bankruptcies at just three coal companies resulted in an estimated $865 million in benefit payments being transferred to the taxpayer-funded trust, according to a 2020 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The new rule came partially in response to that report, Muckian-Bates said.
The finalized rule is especially timely as two of the country’s largest coal producers — Arch Resources and CONSOL Energy — are in the middle of a merger that, once complete, will create a new, $5 billion coal company based in Pennsylvania.
Those companies combined, Muckian-Bates said, report at least $300 million in black lung liability that — without the rule — could potentially be passed on to the trust fund.
Nationwide, Muckian-Bates said, it’s known that black lung benefit liabilities at self-insured coal companies total at least $615 million, but Milliman — a risk analysis consulting group — estimates that amount could actually be much higher, totaling between $9 billion and $14 billion.
Despite the high liability, Roberts said that only $119 million in security has been posted by self-insured coal companies to cover the costs of benefits.
If bankruptcies or mergers occur — which is likely given the ongoing decline in the coal market — the difference between what is posted and what is owed would be passed on to the trust fund, threatening its solvency and the access of benefits for coal miners who rely on it, Muckian-Bates said.
“This is a powerful rule to ensure that as the coal market becomes a bit more unstable — knowing that large companies have used these bankruptcies to shed their liabilities — this ensures that they can’t do that now,” Muckian-Bates said. “They can’t transfer that [liability] to a trust fund that’s … been a target sometimes of certain administrations.”
The rule is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 11.
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West Virginia
Community Catalyst Grant applications are open through West Virginia First Foundation through June 30 – WV MetroNews
The West Virginia First Foundation, which was established to use drug lawsuit settlement money to try to alleviate problems related to addiction, reported having access to $378.5 million in financial resources and noted that more than $34 million in grants have been awarded since the organization’s start.
The West Virginia First Foundation met for a few minutes Thursday at Ascend West Virginia in Charleston. The meeting was also available for view through streaming.
Executive Director Jonathan Board highlighted the launch of the Community Catalyst Grant application and a statewide needs assessment intended to identify service gaps.
Designed as a three-year, outcomes-driven investment, the program will support projects focused on public safety response, day report centers and generational prevention efforts. The program opened for applications on June 1 and remains open through June 30.
“We’re very encouraged by the interest and engagement so far,” Board said.
The board also approved a $4 million funding request for the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. The project is focused on expanding access to innovative addiction treatment and recovery support tools while building the technology and infrastructure needed to support implementation across West Virginia.
Additional details about the project and funding agreement are to be released in the coming weeks following the completion of final documentation. West Virginia First Foundation and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute plan to issue a joint announcement once the agreement process is complete.
“They’ve gone through a very rigorous process for the correct funding,” Board said. “Their team has presented an opportunity to fund a project that will build technology, training and support systems of care needed to expand access to an innovative addiction treatment approach throughout the state of West Virginia, and really beyond.”
The West Virginia First Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2023 to manage and distribute 72.5% of the state’s opioid settlement funds, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The organization is aimed at combatting the addiction crisis through grants and regional projects.
The next regular meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors is scheduled for Sept. 17 although it’s subject to change.
West Virginia may have come up empty-handed in two tries against North Carolina in the College World Series, but they earned the respect of their head coach, Scott Forbes, who was incredibly complimentary of the Mountaineers following Wednesday’s game.
“I want to congratulate West Virginia. A heck of a team, a heck of a run,” he opened his postgame press conference with. “They are very well coached. They just play the game the right way. It’s a credit to their coaching staff. They come at you a lot of ways. A lot of speed, deep pitching staff, so we really had to work in those two games to beat them. I’ve been in their shoes, and I know what that feels like, and it’s a stinker. But man, they got a lot to be proud of, and they should be extremely proud of how they represented their university.”
The culture at WVU is as strong as it gets
Multiple times this season, West Virginia looked like they were well on their way to a loss and were rewarded with a win because they never stopped playing hard. Everyone thinks of the two games against Kentucky in the Morgantown Regional, and rightfully so, but they also came back to win after trailing by eight against UCF and after trailing by five to BYU.
For a moment, there was a belief that the magical moment was going to come again during Wednesday’s game against Forbes’ Tar Heels. With two outs in the 7th and trailing 12-1, Armani Guzman busted his tail down the first base line to beat out a grounder to short. It ultimately led to a five-run inning for the Mountaineers, all of a sudden turning a laugher into a semi-interesting game. Gavin Kelly hit a solo home run in the 8th to make it a five-run deficit, and in the ninth, Ben Lumsden just missed a three-run shot that would have really put pressure on North Carolina, even with two outs.
To have your team still playing hard when trailing by 11 with their season likely about to come to an end, it says a lot about the character of this group, but also how deeply ingrained the culture is at WVU. There’s a reason this program has turned the corner over the last 14 or so years and is continuing to trend up. They’ve had the right people in place leading it.
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West Virginia
Proposed 107.5-mile transmission line could leave W.Va. ratepayers on hook for $440M-$900M
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A 107.5-mile transmission line project has been proposed, the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, which would cut through parts of West Virginia to ultimately help power Virginia’s data center hub since there is not enough generation locally to serve them.
“Virginia gets the power and West Virginia gets the towers,” Del Chris Anders said. “What they did is they look west and said, hey, we’ll just use West Virginia but we’ll get this power and we’ll run this big extension cord. I’m all for exporting power from West Virginia. We are a power production state, but I’m not going to do so out of the wallets of West Virginians and allowing their property to be taken.”
During the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers put a bill on the table which was aimed at giving the state access to utilize these lines, but nothing made it to the finish line.
“We said, ‘Okay, if you’re going to run them through, you have to drop substations in West Virginia and by the way, West Virginia ratepayers will only pay for the amount of energy that stays within our state,’” Anders said.
A second line is also up for discussion. Valley Link Transmission hasn’t finalized any routes yet, but it would consist of 260 miles of transmission line and would add two substations between Frederick County, Maryland, and Putnam County.
With both of these lines, the main concern surrounding the proposals is who exactly is expected to foot the bill and whether or not it will ultimately fall back on West Virginia ratepayers.
“We’re going to be on the hook for anywhere between $440 million to over $900 million on both lines,” Anders said.
Lawmakers said those price tags continue to increase.
“At least for the MARL line, they went back to the grid operator, PJM, and said, ‘It’s going to cost significantly more money than it originally thought. Those estimates of the cost to West Virginia ratepayers are only going to go up,’” Del. Evan Hansen said.
These projects have gained bipartisan opposition. This is all beginning when representatives for these energy companies brought these proposals to lawmakers in January, noting that these lines would strengthen the entire grid.
But many lawmakers were not convinced, asking why they should support it if West Virginia has no direct benefit.
“It would increase our electric rates and private property owners might be faced with giving up their land or having their property values decline,” Hansen said.
It’s not only state officials voicing opposition. Public hearings have been held in the northern counties where community members shared their concerns with these projects that could go right through their backyards.
“We did hear from construction workers and electrical workers about the jobs, but otherwise it was uniformly against the construction of the project,” Hansen said.
An evidentiary hearing for MARL’s permit application will be held by the Public Service Commission on Oct. 26.
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