EEOICP Memorandum

Date: 10/4/01

To: District Offices

From: Branch of Policies, Regulations and Procedures

Re: Covered Uranium Employees and designation of Beneficiaries

We have recently re-evaluated our interpretation of the Regulations with regard to 

covered uranium employees and benefits due beneficiaries of the RECA. At paragraph 

30.200 (a) of the Regulations, it states, "In order to be eligible for compensation under 

this section, the Attorney General must have determined that a claimant is a covered 

uranium employee or surviving eligible beneficiary of such employee who is entitled to 

payment of $100,000 as compensation due under section 5 of the Radiation Exposure 

Compensation Act ... for a claim made under that Act." What this is actually stating is 

that if DOJ has determined that an individual (whether it be an employee or a surviving 

eligible beneficiary - based on their rules) is found to be entitled to a RECA award, the 

EEOICPA will compensate that individual an additional $50,000. The survivor provision 

for EEOICPA, which is currently adopted from the Federal Employees Compensation 

Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. 8133, will not apply to RECA compensation beneficiaries. For 

example, if a surviving spouse receives an award from RECA, we automatically pay that 

spouse benefits - he/she is not subjected to the EEOICPA survivor rule. By the same 

token, if a child is considered a surviving eligible beneficiary of a RECA award, he/she 

will automatically receive the $50,000 from EEOICPA, and the EEOICPA survivor rule 

will not apply to that individual.

The EEOICPA/FECA survivor rules apply only where the covered uranium employee 

(i.e. husband or dad) was awarded the RECA section 5 award in his own right. In that 

case, the wife and kids must establish their entitlement to the EEOICPA lump sum under 

the EEOICPA/FECA survivor rules.

Another variation on this theme arises when children under the age of 18 or FT students 

under 23 file a RECA/EEOICPA claim. In this case, if the mother received RECA 

benefits as the only eligible surviving beneficiary (the RECA does not provide for shared 

lump sums), than the mother would receive the entire $50,000 under EEOICPA, and the 

children receive nothing.

Since the original $100,000 RECA award does not follow the EEOICPA criteria for the 

definition of what constitutes a survivor, the EEOICP will not apply this definition to the 

$50,000 RECA compensation awards under our program. However, compensation that 

might have been payable to an eligible survivor (if the survivor were still living) still 

cannot be paid to that survivor's heirs.
Please take this new information into consideration when requesting additional 

documentation from claimants and when writing Recommended Decisions. There will be 

no need to obtain a marriage certificate from a spouse who has received the RECA 

award, as it has already been determined by DOJ that the spouse is a covered beneficiary 

and therefore is entitled to the EEOICPA $50,000. When acceptance decisions are 

recommended for spouses or RECA surviving beneficiaries, the Decisions should not 

contain language indicating that the spouse is a surviving beneficiary under EEOICPA. 

The language should state that since the survivor received benefits under RECA, he/she is 

entitled to benefits under EEOICPA.

With regard to this interpretation, we are considering revising the letter that is sent to 

DOJ to determine if the claimant is the sole beneficiary of the RECA. In addition, we 

will be working with Claudia Gangi in outreach efforts for claimants that may have 

previously not applied.