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1 Subtitle D—Other Matters 

2 SEC. 3141. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY BOARD ON 

3 TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND WORKER HEALTH; 

4 EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF OFFICE OF 

5 OMBUDSMAN FOR ENERGY EMPLOYEES OC6 CUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND

9 WORKER HEALTH.—Subtitle E of the Energy Employees 

10 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

11 (42 U.S.C. 7385o et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following: 

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

14 WORKER HEALTH. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) Not later than 120 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Presi17 dent shall establish and appoint an Advisory Board on 

18 Toxic Substances and Worker Health (in this section re19 ferred to as the ‘Board’). 

20 ‘‘(2) The President shall make appointments to the 

21 Board in consultation with organizations with expertise on 

22 worker health issues in order to ensure that the member23 ship of the Board reflects a proper balance of perspectives 

24 from the scientific, medical, and claimant communities. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The President shall designate a Chair of the 

2 Board from among its members. 

3 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) advise the Secretary of Labor with respect 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(A) the site exposure matrices of the De7 partment of Labor; 

8 ‘‘(B) medical guidance for claims exam9 iners for claims under this subtitle with respect 

10 to the weighing of the medical evidence of 

11 claimants; 

12 ‘‘(C) evidentiary requirements for claims 

13 under subtitle B related to lung disease; and 

14 ‘‘(D) the work of industrial hygienists and 

15 staff physicians and consulting physicians of 

16 the Department and reports of such hygienists 

17 and physicians to ensure quality, objectivity, 

18 and consistency; and 

19 ‘‘(2) coordinate exchanges of data and findings 

20 with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

21 Health established under section 3624 to the extent 

22 necessary. 

23 ‘‘(c) STAFF AND POWERS.—(1) The President shall 

24 appoint a staff to facilitate the work of the Board. The 

25 staff of the Board shall be headed by a Director, who shall 


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1 be appointed under subchapter VIII of chapter 33 of title 

2 5, United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(2) The President may authorize the detail of em4 ployees of Federal agencies to the Board as necessary to 

5 enable the Board to carry out its duties under this section. 

6 The detail of such personnel may be on a nonreimbursable 

7 basis. 

8 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may employ outside contractors 

9 and specialists to support the work of the Board. 

10 ‘‘(d) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—No member, em11 ployee, or contractor of the Board shall have any financial 

12 interest, employment, or contractual relationship (other 

13 than a routine consumer transaction) with any person that 

14 has provided, or sought to provide during the two years 

15 preceding the appointment or during the service of the 

16 member, employee, or contractor under this section, goods 

17 or services related to medical benefits under this title. 

18 ‘‘(e) EXPENSES.—Members of the Board, other than 

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

20 meetings of the Board or while otherwise serving at the 

21 request of the President, and while serving away from 

22 their homes or regular places of business, shall be allowed 

23 travel and meal expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

24 subsistence (as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, 


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1 United States Code) for individuals in the Federal Govern2 ment serving without pay. 

3 ‘‘(f) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—(1) The Secretary of 

4 Energy shall ensure that the members and staff of the 

5 Board, and the contractors performing work in support 

6 of the Board, are afforded the opportunity to apply for 

7 a security clearance for any matter for which such a clear8 ance is appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Energy should, not later than 

10 180 days after receiving a completed application for a se11 curity clearance for an individual under this subsection, 

12 make a determination of whether or not the individual is 

13 eligible for the clearance. 

14 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year there15 after, the Secretary of Energy shall include in the budget 

16 justification materials submitted to Congress in support 

17 of the Department of Energy budget for that fiscal year 

18 (as submitted with the budget of the President under sec19 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code) a report 

20 specifying the number of applications for security clear21 ances under this subsection, the number of such applica22 tions granted, and the number of such applications denied. 

23 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall, 

24 in accordance with law, provide to the Board and the con25 tractors of the Board, access to any information that the 


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1 Board considers relevant to carry out its responsibilities 

2 under this section, including information such as Re3 stricted Data (as defined in section 11 y. of the Atomic 

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

5 covered by section 552a of title 5, United States Code 

6 (commonly known as the ‘Privacy Act’). 

7 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

9 appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 

10 carry out this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS DISCRETIONARY SPEND12 ING.—Amounts appropriated to carry out this sec13 tion— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall not be appropriated to the ac15 count established under subsection (a) of sec16 tion 151 of title I of division B of Appendix D 

17 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 

18 (Public Law 106–554; 114 Stat. 2763A–251); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) shall not be subject to subsection (b) 

21 of that section. 

22 ‘‘(i) SUNSET.—The Board shall terminate on the 

23 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

24 this section.’’. 


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1 (b) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RESPONSE TO THE OF2 FICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT; EXTENSION

3 OF AUTHORITY.—Section 3686 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 7385s–15) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (e)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Feb7 ruary 15’’ and inserting ‘‘July 30’’; and 

8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(4) Not later than 180 days after the submission 

10 to Congress of the annual report under paragraph (1), the 

11 Secretary shall submit to Congress in writing, and post 

12 on the public Internet website of the Department of 

13 Labor, a response to the report that— 

14 ‘‘(A) includes a statement of whether the Sec15 retary agrees or disagrees with the specific issues 

16 raised by the Ombudsman in the report; 

17 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary agrees with the Ombuds18 man on those issues, describes the actions to be 

19 taken to correct those issues; and 

20 ‘‘(C) if the Secretary does not agree with the 

21 Ombudsman on those issues, describes the reasons 

22 the Secretary does not agree.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘2012’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘2019’’. 


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