even if it is assumed that the phrase "customarily used" in § 903 (a) modifies all the preceding terms, rather than only the immediately preceding term "other adjoining area," he satisfied the test by working in an "adjoining . . . terminal . . . customarily used . . . for loading [and] unloading." Pp. 279-281.

544 F.2d 35, affirmed.

MARSHALL, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

William M. Kimball argued the cause for petitioners in No. 76-444. With him on the brief was Peter M. Pryor. E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr., argued the cause for petitioner in No. 76-454. With him on the briefs was Robert J. Kenney, Jr.

Angelo C. Gucciardo argued the cause and filed a brief for respondents Caputo and Blundo in both cases. Frank H. Easterbrook argued the cause for respondent Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, in both cases pro hac vice. With him on the brief were Acting Solicitor General Friedman, Laurie M. Streeter, and Joshua T. Gillelan II.t

MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL delivered the opinion of the Court. In 1972 Congress amended the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA or Act), 33 U. S. C. § 901 et seq., in substantial part to "extend [the Act's] coverage to protect additional workers." S. Rep. No. 92-1125, p. 1 (1972) (hereinafter S. Rep.). In these consolidated cases we must determine whether respondents Caputo and Blundo, injured while working on the New York City waterfront, are

+ Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed by E. D. Vickery and W. Robins Brice for the West Gulf Maritime Assn.; and by Thomas D. Wilcox for the National Association of Stevedores.

Thomas W. Gleason and Herzl S. Eisenstadt filed a brief for the International Longshoremen's Assn., AFL-CIO, as amicus curiae urging affirmance.

186 Stat. 1251, Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Amendments of 1972 (hereinafter 1972 Amendments).

entitled to compensation. To answer that question we must determine the reach of the 1972 Amendments.

The sections of the Act relevant to these cases are the ones providing "coverage" and defining "employee." They provide, with italics to indicate the material added in 1972:

...

"Compensation shall be payable. in respect of disability or death of an employee but only if the disability or death results from an injury occurring upon the navigable waters of the United States (including any adjoining pier, wharf, dry dock, terminal, building way, marine railway, or other adjoining area customarily used by an employer in loading, unloading, repairing, or building a vessel). 33 U. S. C. § 903 (a) (1970 ed., Supp. V).

"The term 'employee' means any person engaged in maritime employment, including any longshoreman or other person engaged in longshoring operations, and any harborworker including a ship repairman, shipbuilder, and shipbreaker, but such term does not include a master or member of a crew of any vessel, or any person engaged by the master to load or unload or repair any small vessel under eighteen tons net." 33 U. S. C. § 902 (3) (1970 ed., Supp. V).

Specifically at issue here is whether respondents Caputo and Blundo were "employees" within the meaning of the Act and whether the injuries they sustained occurred on the "navigable waters of the United States."

I

At the time of his injury respondent Carmelo Blundo had been employed for five years as a "checker" by petitioner International Terminal Operating Co. (ITO) at its facility in Brooklyn, N. Y., known as the 21st Street Pier. As a checker he was responsible for checking and recording cargo as it was

loaded onto or unloaded from vessels, barges, or containers.2 Blundo was assigned his tasks at the beginning of each day and until he arrived at the terminal he did not know whether he would be working on a ship or on shore. He was reassigned during the day if he completed the task to which he was assigned initially. App. 63-69, 112.

On January 8, 1974, ITO assigned Blundo to check cargo being "stripped" or removed from a container on the 19th Street side of the pier. The container Blundo was checking had been taken off a vessel at another pier facility outside of Brooklyn and brought overland unopened by an independent trucking company to the 21st Street Pier. It was Blundo's job to break the seal that had been placed on the container in a foreign port and show it to United States Customs Agents. After the seal was broken, Blundo was to check the contents of the container against a manifest sheet describing the cargo, the consignees, and the ship on, and port from which, the cargo had been transported. He was to mark each item of cargo with an identifying number. After the checking, the cargo was to be placed on pallets, sorted according to consignees, and put in a bonded warehouse pending customs inspection. Blundo was injured as he was marking the cargo stripped from the container, when he slipped on some ice on the pier. Id., at 69-74, 86–90. Blundo sought compensation under the LHWCA. The Administrative Law Judge concluded that Blundo satisfied the

2 A container is a large metal box resembling a truck trailer without wheels. It can carry large amounts of cargo destined for one or more consignees. If the goods are for a single consignee, the container may be removed from the pier intact and delivered directly to him, but if it carries goods destined for several consignees, it must be unloaded or "stripped" and the goods sorted according to consignee. This operation may be done at the waterfront or inland. The analogous process during the loading phase is called "stuffing." App. 86-89, 96-98, 101-103, 105-107; Brief for Federal Respondent 7 n. 4; Brief for National Association of Stevedores as Amicus Curiae 30.

coverage requirements of the Act and the Benefits Review Board (BRB) affirmed.3

Respondent Ralph Caputo was a member of a regular longshoring "gang" that worked for Pittston Stevedoring Co. When his gang was not needed, Caputo went to the

3 Under the 1972 Amendments, contested compensation claims are heard by an administrative law judge. 33 U. S. C. § 919 (d) (1970 ed., Supp. V). Review is then available from the BRB, a three-member board appointed by the Secretary of Labor. The BRB, created by the 1972 Amendments, is empowered "to hear and determine appeals raising a substantial question of law or fact taken by any party in interest from decisions with respect to claims of employees under [the LHWCA]." 33 U. S. C. §§ 921 (b)(1), (3) (1970 ed., Supp. V); see generally 20 CFR §§ 801-802 (1976). The decisions of the BRB are subject to review in the courts of appeals. 33 U. S. C. § 921 (c) (1970 ed., Supp. V).

Prior to the 1972 Amendments, cases were heard in the first instance by deputy commissioners and review was then available in the district courts. 33 U. S. C. § 921. There was no administrative review procedure for LHWCA claims.

The Benefits Review Board Service (BRBS) is the unofficial reporter of the Board's decisions. The BRB's decision in Blundo's case may be found at 2 BRBS 376 (1975) as well as in App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 76-454, p. 45a. The Administrative Law Judge's decision is reproduced id., at 49a. A synopsis of it may be found at 1 BRBS 71 (ALJ) (1975). 4 It is necessary, at this point, to introduce some terminology. "A stevedore or stevedore contractor is responsible for loading or unloading a ship in port by contract with a shipowner, agent, or charter operator." U. S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs Task Force Report, Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Program 103 (1976). “[A] marine terminal operator, who may own or lease the terminal property, is responsible for the safe handling of the ship, the delivery and receipt of the ship's cargo, and all movement and handling of that cargo between the point-of-rest and any place on the marine terminal property except to shipside." Ibid.

Typically, the work of getting the cargo on and off the ship is done by a "gang" of longshoremen "distributed between the ship and the pier so they can move cargo in an uninterrupted flow." Id., at 104. A member of the gang may be designated by the equipment he operates, e. g., a winchman or hustler operator, or by the area in which he works,

waterfront hiring hall, where he was hired by the day by other stevedoring companies or terminal operators with work available. He had been hired on some occasions by Northeast Stevedoring Co. to work as a member of a stevedore gang on ships at the 39th Street Pier in Brooklyn; on other occasions he had been hired by petitioner Northeast Marine Terminal Co., Inc. (Northeast), for work in its terminal operations at the same location. App. 8-10, 14-16.

On April 16, 1973, Caputo was hired by Northeast to work as a "terminal labor [er]." App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 76– 444, p. 48a; App. 8, 14. A terminal laborer may be assigned to load and unload containers, lighters," barges, and trucks." Id., at 8; Brief for Petitioners in No. 76-444, p. 4. When he arrived at the terminal, Caputo was assigned, along with a checker and forklift driver, to help consignees' truckmen load their trucks with cargo that had been discharged from ships at Northeast's terminal.' Caputo was injured while rolling a dolly loaded with cheese into a consignee's truck. App. 27-40.

The Administrative Law Judge found that Caputo satisfied the requirements of the Act and awarded him compensation. The BRB affirmed."

The employers in both cases filed petitions to review the

e. g., holdman. A typical longshore gang ranges from 12 to 20 workers. Because ship arrivals are irregular, the demand for a gang varies from day to day. Ibid.

A lighter is a closed barge. App. 8. See discussion n. 35, infra. "It is not clear from the record whether loading vessels with "ships' stores" and laundry for the crew may be assigned to a terminal laborer or whether there is a separate classification called "ship laborer" for this. Compare App. 8, 24-25 with Brief for Federal Respondent 5 n. 3.

"It was stipulated that all the cargo handled at this terminal either was going on board a vessel or had come from one. App. 6.

The BRB decision is reported at 3 BRBS 13 (1975). A synopsis of the Administrative Law Judge's decision appears at 2 BRBS 4 (ALJ) (1975). Both opinions may also be found in Pet. for Cert. in No. 76-444, pp. 47a, 51a.