Cite as: 537 U. S. 149 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
I
We have spoken about portions of the Coal Act in two recent cases, Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., 534 U. S. 438 (2002), and Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel, 524 U. S. 498 (1998), the first of which sketches the Act's history, 534 U. S., at 442-447. Here, it is enough to recall that in its current form the Act requires the Commissioner to assign, where possible, every coal industry retiree to a "signatory operator," defined as a signatory of a coal wage agreement specified in § 9701(b)(1). §§ 9701(c)(1), 9706(a). An assignment should turn on a retiree's employment history with a particular operator, § 9706(a), unless an appropriate signatory is no longer in business, in which case the proper assignee is a "related person" of that operator, defined in terms of corporate associations and relationships not in issue here, § 9701(c)(2).1 The Act recognizes that some retirees will be "unassigned." § 9704(d).
Assignment to a signatory operator binds the operator to pay an annual premium to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund, established under the Act to administer benefits. § 9702. The premium has up to three components, starting with a "health benefit premium," computed by multiplying the number of assigned retirees by the year's "per beneficiary" premium, set by the Commissioner and based on the Combined Fund's health benefit expenses for the prior year, adjusted for changes in the Consumer Price Index. § 9704(b). The second element is a "death benefit premium" for projected benefits to the retirees' survivors, the premium being the operator's share of "the amount, actuarially determined, which the Combined Fund will be required to pay during the plan year for death benefits coverage." § 9704(c).
1 The Coal Act's definition of "related persons" was the subject of our opinion last Term in Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., 534 U. S. 438 (2002). For simplicity, we will not refer to related persons separately in the balance of this opinion.
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