Department of Energy Support to the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA)

Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security

December 2020
Covid-19 Update

• The DOE EEOICPA Operations have been significantly 

impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic since mid March

• DOE has been doing everything we can to respond to both 

individual records requests and records research projects

• Depending on location, many DOE sites still in a “maximum 

telework” situation where all but essential employees are 

teleworking

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Covid-19 Update (cont.)

• Site status is determined individually at each site, and 

depends primarily on the Covid rate and trends in that area, 

but there are other factors as well. These are site wide 

decisions, and the DOE Office of Environment, Health, Safety 

and Security does not have direct input into these decisions

• Many sites eliminated backlogs in the late summer or early 

fall, but some sites have returned to maximum telework in 

light of rising infection numbers in their area. 

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Covid-19 Update (cont.)

The ability of the DOE sites to respond to records requests varies 

widely by the site. Factors include:

• Are key staff onsite (Medical, Rad, IH, HR, Record)

• If not onsite, can these groups search and access their records 

remotely 

– In some cases, if the collections can be searched remotely, sites are 

able to send limited staff on site to pull hard copy records (paper, 

microfilm, etc.). 

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Covid-19 Update (cont.)

• Some DOE sites rely heavily on Federal Records Centers, and 

most of those have been closed or at a very reduced capacity 

(less than 20%) for substantial portions of the last eight 

months. 

• Do sites have enough classification reviewers onsite (this is 

more relevant for site research projects but can sometimes 

impact individual claims)

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DOE’s Core Mandate

Work on behalf of the program claimants to ensure 

that all available worker and facility records and 

data are provided to DOL, NIOSH, and the Advisory 

Board.

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DOE Responsibilities

• Respond via the SERT system to DOL and NIOSH requests for 

information related to individual claims (employment 

verification, exposure records).

• Provide support and assistance to DOL, NIOSH, and Advisory 

Board on large-scale research and site characterization projects 

through records research and retrieval efforts at various DOE 

sites. 

• Conduct research, in coordination with DOL and NIOSH, on 

issues related to covered facilities designations. 

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Individual Records

(cont.)

• Claimants often worked at multiple DOE sites, for multiple 

contractors and subcontractors, and in different jobs or 

divisions over a career. 

• For a typical request for a worker’s records, DOE may have to 

go to many different site departments and within those 

departments many different records sources or databases. 

• For example, one DOE site routinely checks approximately 40 

different sources for responsive records, including hardcopy 

paper records, microfilm, microfiche, databases, and scanned 

electronic records. 

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Large-Scale

Research Projects

• NIOSH and Advisory Board research projects have been 

ongoing, but on site document review has not been possible. 

• DOE has been answering targeted document requests, and 

facilitating worker interviews via phone where possible. 

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Document Reviews

• DOE committed to providing documents to NIOSH, DOL, and 

the Advisory Board, but must do so in a responsible manner.

• DOE HQ reviews NIOSH generated reports but DOE field sites 

review the DOE source documents

– The average turnaround time for reports reviewed at DOE HQ is 

typically about 8 work days. (but there are fewer reports and 

they are typically shorter)

– The turnaround time for source documents reviewed in the 

field can vary considerable because there can be hundreds of 

documents requested and thousands of pages to review. 

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Facility Research

Research and maintain the Covered Facilities Database

• Database of over 300 facilities covered under EEOICPA. This 

includes DOE facilities, AWEs and Beryllium Vendors whose 

employees are eligible for benefits under EEOICP.

• Full listing can be found at:

https://ehss.energy.gov/Search/Facility/findfacility.aspx

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Former Worker Medical 

Screening Program

• Mission: To identify and notify former workers at risk for 

occupational disease and offer them medical screening that 

can lead to treatment.

• Program now serves all former workers from all DOE sites in 

locations close to their residences.

• Published an annual report.

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Former Worker Program

FWP website: 

• http://energy.gov/ehss/services/worker-health-andsafety/former-worker-medical-screening-program

FWP brochure: 

• http://energy.gov/ehss/downloads/former-worker-medicalscreening-program-brochure

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Questions?

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