II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 545 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act of 2000 to strengthen the quality control measures in place for 

part B lung disease claims and part E processes with independent reviews. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to strengthen the quality 

control measures in place for part B lung disease claims 

and part E processes with independent reviews. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND 

4 WORKER HEALTH. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subtitle B of the Energy Em6 ployees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act 

7 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3632. ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND 

2 WORKER HEALTH. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

6 President shall establish and appoint an Advisory 

7 Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health (re8 ferred to in this section as the ‘Board’). 

9 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION ON APPOINTMENTS.—In 

10 appointing members to the Board under paragraph 

11 (1), the President shall consult with organizations 

12 with expertise on worker health issues in order to 

13 ensure that the membership of the Board reflects a 

14 proper balance among perspectives from the sci15 entific, medical, legal, workers, and worker advocate 

16 communities. 

17 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall des18 ignate a chairperson of the Board from among its 

19 members. 

20 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) provide advice to the President concerning 

22 the review and approval of the Department of Labor 

23 site exposure matrix; 

24 ‘‘(2) conduct periodic peer reviews of, and ap25 prove, medical guidance for part E claims examiners 


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1 with respect to the weighing of a claimant’s medical 

2 evidence; 

3 ‘‘(3) obtain periodic expert reviews of medical 

4 evidentiary requirements for part B claims related to 

5 lung diseases; 

6 ‘‘(4) provide oversight over consulting physi7 cians and reports to ensure quality, objectivity, and 

8 consistency of the consultant physicians’ work; and 

9 ‘‘(5) coordinate where applicable exchanges of 

10 data and findings with the Advisory Board on Radi11 ation and Worker Health (under section 3624). 

12 ‘‘(c) STAFF AND POWERS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ap14 point a staff to facilitate the work of the Board. The 

15 staff of the Board shall be headed by a Director who 

16 shall be appointed under subchapter VIII of chapter 

17 33 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL AGENCY PERSONNEL.—The 

19 President may authorize the detail of employees of 

20 Federal agencies to the Board as necessary to enable 

21 the Board to carry out its duties under this section. 

22 The detail of such personnel may be on a non-reim23 bursable basis. 


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1 ‘‘(3) POWERS.—The Board shall have same 

2 powers that the Advisory Board has under section 

3 3624. 

4 ‘‘(d) EXPENSES.—The members of the Board, other 

5 than full-time employees of the United States, while at6 tending meetings of the Board or while otherwise serving 

7 at the request of the President, and while serving away 

8 from their homes or regular place of business, shall be 

9 allowed travel and meal expenses, including per diem in 

10 lieu of subsistence (as authorized by section 5703 of title 

11 5, United States Code) for individuals in the Federal Gov12 ernment serving without pay. 

13 ‘‘(e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Energy 

15 shall ensure that the members and staff of the 

16 Board, and the contractors performing work in sup17 port of the Board, are afforded the opportunity to 

18 apply for a security clearance for any matter for 

19 which such a clearance is appropriate. The Secretary 

20 should, not later than 180 days after receiving a 

21 completed application for such a clearance, make a 

22 determination whether or not the individual con23 cerned is eligible for the clearance. 

24 ‘‘(2) BUDGET JUSTIFICATION.—For fiscal year 

25 2012, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary 


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1 of Energy shall include in the budget justification 

2 materials submitted to Congress in support of the 

3 Department of Energy budget for that fiscal year 

4 (as submitted with the budget of the President 

5 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 

6 Code) a report specifying the number of applications 

7 for security clearances under this subsection, the 

8 number of such applications granted, and the num9 ber of such applications denied. 

10 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall, 

11 in accordance with law, provide to the Board and the con12 tractors of the Board, access to any information that the 

13 Board considers relevant to carry out its responsibilities 

14 under this section, including information such as re15 stricted data (as defined in section 2014(y)) and informa16 tion covered by the Privacy Act.’’. 

17 (b) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RESPONSE TO THE OF18 FICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 

19 3686 of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Com20 pensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s–15) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub23 section (i); and 

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (g), the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(h) RESPONSE TO REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the publication of the annual report under subsection 

3 (e), the Department of Labor shall submit an answer in 

4 writing on whether the Department agrees or disagrees 

5 with the specific issues raised by the Ombudsman, if the 

6 Department agrees, on the actions to be taken to correct 

7 the problems identified by the Ombudsman, and if the De8 partment does not agree, on the reasons therefore. The 

9 Department of Labor shall post such answer on the public 

10 Internet website of the Department.’’. 

Æ 


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