II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3329 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act of 2000 to expand the category of individuals eligible for compensation, to improve the procedures for providing compensation, and to improve transparency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24 (legislative day, JULY 23), 2008 

Mr. SALAZAR 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 expand the category 

of individuals eligible for compensation, to improve the 

procedures for providing compensation, and to improve 

transparency, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Compensation and Re5 spect for Energy Workers Act of 2008’’ or the ‘‘CARE 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF CANCERS FOR WHICH INDIVIDUALS 

2 ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION 

3 UNDER THE ENERGY EMPLOYEES COM4 PENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000 AND THE 

5 RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT. 

6 Section 4(b)(2) of the Radiation Exposure Com7 pensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(other than chronic 

9 lymphocytic leukemia)’’ and inserting ‘‘(including 

10 chronic lymphocytic leukemia)’’; 

11 (2) by inserting ‘‘posterior subcapsular cata12 racts, nonmalignant thyroid nodular disease, para13 thyroid adenoma, malignant tumors of the brain and 

14 central nervous system, brochio-alveolar carcinoma, 

15 benign neoplasms of the brain and central nervous 

16 system,’’ after ‘‘disease),’’; and 

17 (3) by striking ‘‘or lung’’ and inserting ‘‘lung, 

18 skin, kidney, salivary gland, rectum, pharynx, or 

19 prostate’’. 

20 SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION TO CLAIMANTS 

21 AND POTENTIAL CLAIMANTS. 

22 (a) INDEPENDENT PHYSICIANS FOR PERFORMANCE

23 OF MEDICAL AND IMPAIRMENT SCREENINGS.—Paragraph 

24 (2) of subsection (b) of section 3631 of the Energy Em25 ployees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act 

26 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384v) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub4 paragraph (C); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(B) lists of physicians qualified to per8 form medical and impairment screenings on 

9 matters relating to the compensation program 

10 who are identified for purposes of this subpara11 graph by one or more independent medical as12 sociations, institutions of higher education, or 

13 both selected by the President for purposes of 

14 this subparagraph; and’’. 

15 (b) NOTICE OF AVAILABLE BENEFITS.—Such section 

16 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO CLAIMANTS ON AVAILABLE BENE18 FITS.—The President shall provide to an individual who 

19 files a claim for compensation under this subtitle or sub20 title E written notice on the benefits for which the indi21 vidual may be eligible under this Act.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. ENHANCEMENT OF SITE PROFILES OF DEPART23 MENT OF ENERGY FACILITIES. 

24 (a) INCLUSION OF TRADE NAMES OF CHEMICALS IN

25 SITE PROFILES.—Subsection (c) of section 3633 of the 


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1 Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

2 Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384w–1) is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘In iden4 tifying any chemical commonly used in a building or proc5 ess of a facility, an exposure assessment shall include the 

6 trade name (if any) of such chemical.’’. 

7 (b) PUBLIC ACCESS TO SITE PROFILES AND RE8 LATED INFORMATION.—Such section is further amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC ACCESS TO SITE PROFILES AND RE11 LATED INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

12 make available to the public each site profile prepared 

13 under subsection (a) and any other database used by the 

14 Department to evaluate claims for compensation under 

15 this Act.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION TO SURVIVORS AND 

17 ESTATES OF CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES. 

18 Section 3672 of the Energy Employees Occupational 

19 Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

20 7385s–1) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3672. COMPENSATION TO BE PROVIDED. 

22 ‘‘Subject to the other provisions of this subtitle: 

23 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered DOE con25 tractor employee shall receive contractor emVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:34 Jul 26, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3329.IS S3329

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1 ployee compensation under this subtitle in ac2 cordance with section 3673. 

3 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION AFTER DEATH OF

4 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE.—Except as provided 

5 in paragraph (2)(B), if the death of a con6 tractor employee occurs after the employee ap7 plies for compensation under this subtitle but 

8 before such compensation is paid, the amount 

9 of compensation the employee would have re10 ceived under this paragraph shall be paid to a 

11 survivor of the employee (for purposes of sec12 tion 3674) or, if the employee has no survivors, 

13 the estate of the employee. 

14 ‘‘(2) SURVIVORS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B), a survivor of a covered DOE 

17 contractor employee shall receive contractor em18 ployee compensation under this subtitle in ac19 cordance with section 3674. 

20 ‘‘(B) ELECTION OF CONTRACTOR EM21 PLOYEE COMPENSATION OR SURVIVOR COM22 PENSATION.—A survivor who is otherwise eligi23 ble to receive compensation pursuant to both 

24 subparagraph (A) and paragraph (1)(B) shall 

25 not receive compensation pursuant to both subVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:34 Jul 26, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3329.IS S3329

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1 paragraph (A) and paragraph (1)(B), but shall 

2 receive compensation pursuant to subparagraph 

3 (A) or paragraph (1)(B), as elected by the sur4 vivor.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY OF OMBUDSMAN OF EN6 ERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS 

7 COMPENSATION PROGRAM. 

8 Section 3686 of the Energy Employees Occupational 

9 Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

10 7385s–15) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Office shall be as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(1) To assist individuals in making claims 

16 under this subtitle and subtitle B. 

17 ‘‘(2) To provide information on the benefits 

18 available under this subtitle and subtitle B and on 

19 the requirements and procedures applicable to the 

20 provision of such benefits. 

21 ‘‘(3) To act as an advocate on behalf of individ22 uals seeking benefits under this subtitle and subtitle 

23 B. 

24 ‘‘(4) To make recommendations to the Sec25 retary regarding the location of centers (to be known 


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1 as ‘resource centers’) for the acceptance and devel2 opment of claims for benefits under this subtitle and 

3 subtitle B. 

4 ‘‘(5) To carry out such other duties as the Sec5 retary shall specify.’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or subtitle 

7 B’’ after ‘‘this subtitle’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘and subtitle 

9 B’’ after ‘‘this subtitle’’ each place it appears; and 

10 (4) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(g) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Ombudsman may 

13 contract for the services of individuals with expertise in 

14 such matters, including health physics, medicine, indus15 trial hygiene, and toxicology, as the Ombudsman considers 

16 appropriate for the performance of the duties of the Of17 fice.’’. 

18 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF TIME FOR CLAIMANTS TO RESPOND 

19 TO REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION. 

20 If the Secretary of Labor requests information from 

21 an individual who has filed a claim for compensation under 

22 the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

23 Program Act of 2000 with respect to that claim, the indi24 vidual shall have not less than 120 days to respond to 

25 the request. 


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1 SEC. 8. EXTENSION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR JU2 DICIAL REVIEW OF CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE 

3 CLAIMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3677(a) of the Energy 

5 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

6 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s–6(a)) is amended by strik7 ing ‘‘within 60 days’’ and inserting ‘‘not later than 1 

8 year’’. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

10 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to final decisions 

11 of the Secretary of Labor under subtitle E of the Energy 

12 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

13 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s et seq.) issued on or after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 9. PAYMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES AND 

16 FOR PERSONAL CARE SERVICES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

19 prescribe regulations to provide for the direct payment to 

20 providers of the costs to individuals described in sub21 section (b) of— 

22 (1) personal care services (as that term is used 

23 in section 30.403 of title 20, Code of Federal Regu24 lations (as in effect on the day before the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act)) authorized pursuant to sec26 tion 3629 of the Energy Employees Occupational IllVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:34 Jul 26, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3329.IS S3329

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1 ness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

2 7384t); and 

3 (2) necessary and reasonable transportation ex4 penses incident to securing medical services, appli5 ances, or supplies pursuant to section 3629(c) of 

6 such Act. 

7 (b) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.—An individual described 

8 in this subsection is an individual who receives medical 

9 benefits under section 3629(a) of the Energy Employees 

10 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

11 (42 U.S.C. 7384t(a)). 

12 SEC. 10. ENHANCEMENT OF TRANSPARENCY IN CLAIMS 

13 PROCESS. 

14 (a) INFORMATION PROVIDED UPON DENIAL OF

15 CLAIM; CORRESPONDENCE IN EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE

16 LANGUAGE.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act, the President shall prescribe regu18 lations to ensure that— 

19 (1) any notification to an individual making a 

20 claim under the Energy Employees Occupational Ill21 ness Compensation Program Act of 2000 that the 

22 claim has been denied, and all other correspondence 

23 with such an individual with respect to a claim, are 

24 written in language that is clear, concise, and easily 

25 understandable; and 


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1 (2) any such notification is accompanied by an 

2 explanation of the reasons for denying the claim and 

3 a description of the information, if any, the indi4 vidual could have submitted that might have resulted 

5 in approval of the claim. 

6 (b) DOCUMENT RETENTION.—Not later than 90 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Labor and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly pre9 scribe regulations to ensure that the Department of Labor 

10 and the Department of Energy— 

11 (1) retain all original documents in the posses12 sion of such Departments related to a Department 

13 of Energy facility if— 

14 (A) employees of that facility might rea15 sonably be expected to file claims for compensa16 tion under the Energy Employees Occupational 

17 Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000; 

18 and 

19 (B) the documents might reasonably be ex20 pected to be used by such employees in making 

21 such claims; and 

22 (2) provide such employees access to such docu23 ments. 

Æ 


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