I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6189 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act of 2000 to establish the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and 

Worker Health for the contractor employee compensation program under 

subtitle E of such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 

Mr. WHITFIELD (for himself and Mr. POLIS of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to establish the Advisory 

Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health for the 

contractor employee compensation program under subtitle E of such Act. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘EEOICPA Amend5 ment Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON 

2 TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND WORKER HEALTH. 

3 (a) ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND

4 WORKER HEALTH.—Subtitle E of the Energy Employees 

5 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

6 (42 U.S.C. 7385 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3687. ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND 

9 WORKER HEALTH. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

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

13 President shall establish and appoint an Advisory 

14 Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health (in 

15 this section referred to as the ‘Board’). 

16 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION ON APPOINTMENTS.—The 

17 President shall make appointments to the Board in 

18 consultation with organizations with expertise on 

19 worker health issues in order to ensure that the 

20 membership of the Board reflects a balance of per21 spectives from the scientific, medical, legal, worker, 

22 and worker advocate communities. 

23 ‘‘(3) CHAIR.—The President shall designate a 

24 Chair for the Board from among its members. 

25 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) advise the Secretary, the Secretary of En2 ergy, and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv3 ices concerning the review and approval of the site 

4 exposure matrix used to determine eligibility for 

5 compensation under this subtitle for illnesses result6 ing from exposure to toxic substances; 

7 ‘‘(2) periodically review and approve guidance 

8 provided to claims examiners on weighing medical 

9 evidence under this subtitle; 

10 ‘‘(3) review reports by consulting physicians to 

11 ensure quality, objectivity, and consistency; and 

12 ‘‘(4) coordinate exchanges of data and findings 

13 with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

14 Health to the extent necessary. 

15 ‘‘(c) STAFF.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appoint 

17 a staff to facilitate the work of the Board. The staff 

18 shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed 

19 under subchapter VIII of chapter 33 of title 5, 

20 United States Code. 

21 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL AGENCY PERSONNEL.—The Sec22 retary may accept as staff of the Board personnel on 

23 detail from other Federal agencies as necessary to 

24 enable the Board to carry out its duties under this 


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1 section. The detail of personnel under this para2 graph may be on a nonreimbursable basis. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary shall em4 ploy outside contractors and specialists selected by 

5 the Board to support the work of the Board. 

6 ‘‘(d) EXPENSES.—Members of the Board, other than 

7 full-time employees of the United States, while attending 

8 meetings of the Board or while otherwise serving at the 

9 request of the President, while serving away from their 

10 homes or regular places of business, shall be allowed travel 

11 and meal expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist12 ence, in accordance with applicable provisions under sub13 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The Secretary of Energy 

16 shall ensure that the members and staff of the 

17 Board, and the contractors performing work in sup18 port of the Board, are afforded the opportunity to 

19 apply for a security clearance for any matter for 

20 which such a clearance is appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary of En22 ergy should, not later than 180 days after receiving 

23 a completed application for a security clearance 

24 under this subsection, make a determination whether 


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1 or not the individual concerned is eligible for the 

2 clearance. 

3 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—For fiscal year 2012 and each 

4 fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall 

5 include in the budget justification materials sub6 mitted to Congress in support of the Department of 

7 Energy budget for that fiscal year (as submitted 

8 with the budget of the President under section 

9 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code) a report 

10 specifying the number of applications for security 

11 clearances under this subsection, the number of such 

12 applications granted, and the number of such appli13 cations denied. 

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

15 in accordance with law, provide to the Board and the con16 tractors of the Board access to any information that the 

17 Board considers relevant to carry out its responsibilities 

18 under this section, including information such as Re19 stricted Data (as defined in section 11(y) of the Atomic 

20 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(y))) and information 

21 covered by the Privacy Act.’’. 

22 (b) OMBUDSMAN REPORT.—Section 3686 of such Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 7385s–15) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub25 section (i); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(h) RESPONSE TO REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) TIMING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 publication of the annual report under subsection 

6 (e), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a written 

7 response to the report. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENS OF RESPONSE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.—If the Secretary 

10 agrees with a finding of the Ombudsman in the 

11 report, the Secretary shall include in the re12 sponse proposed actions to address any issues 

13 raised by the finding. 

14 ‘‘(B) DISAGREEMENT.—If the Secretary 

15 disagrees with a finding of the Ombusman in 

16 the report, the Secretary shall include in the re17 sponse the reasons of disagreement with the 

18 finding. 

19 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall post 

20 the response on the public Internet site of the De21 partment of Labor.’’. 

Æ 


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