NIOSH Advisory Board 

Presentation
 

Rachel Leiton
 

Director
 

Division of Energy Employees
 

Occupational Illness Compensation
 

Department of Labor
 

August 2011
 

Enactment of EEOICPA 

•	 Enacted October 2000 

– Part B, mandatory federal entitlement, by DOL 

– Part D, state workers comp. assistance, by DOE 

•	 Amendments October 2004 

– Abolished Part D, created federal Part E, transferred 

to DOL 

•	 146,120 cases filed, over $7.3 billion total 

compensation paid to date 

•	 Agencies: Labor, Energy, HHS, Justice 

•	 DOL locations 

– DC, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Denver, and Seattle 

Data as of August 11, 2011 
 

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3 

Part B Cases Filed 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

NIOSH 

36% 

Other 

36% 

RECA 

10% 

SEC Cases Never Sent to 

NIOSH 

9% 

SEC Cases Referred to 

NIOSH 

9% 

HHS added SEC classes 

• 2,976 cases withdrawn 

from NIOSH for SEC 

class review: 

2,617 Final Decisions 

issued 

2,530 Final Approvals 

19 Recommended but no 

Final Decision 

72 Cases Pending 

268 Cases Closed 

Closed 

9% Pending 

2% 

Rec. Dec. 

1% 

Final 

Dec. 

88% 

Data as of August 3, 2011 
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SEC Class Implementation Overview 

•	 NIOSH sends letter to DOL sharing draft language 

for new SEC class definition: 

Occurs a few weeks before NIOSH presents SEC class to the 

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH) 

•	 DOL sends letter to NIOSH with comments on the 

draft SEC class definition, if applicable: 

Improves the consistency and fairness of claims adjudication 

Speeds the process of determining which cases should be 

considered a part of the new SEC class 

DOL does NOT comment on whether a new SEC class is 

necessary 

SEC Class Implementation Overview (Cont’d) 

•	 DOL produces draft EEOICP circular: 

– Draft EEOICP circular is produced after ABRWH 

makes its recommendation on the new SEC class 

definition 

•	 Draft EEOICP circular is based on NIOSH 

SEC Petition Evaluation Report 

Reasons for the new SEC class and the SEC class definition 

are taken directly from the NIOSH SEC Petition Evaluation 

Report 

Many of the policies and procedures used by DOL when 

evaluating claims are the same for each SEC class 
– “

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SEC Class Implementation Overview (Cont’d) 

•	 SEC classes may not cover “all workers:” 

Limited by monitoring status – was monitored or should have been 

monitored” (examples: LANL, LLNL) 

Limited by work location, division, or building (examples: Ames Lab, LANL, 

tech areas) 

Limited by job title (examples: Ames Lab sheet metal workers, Iowa 

Ordnance Plant radiographers) 

Limited by certain process or operation (example: Iowa Ordnance Plant 

process area (Line 1), Y 12 Plant cyclotron operations) 

•	 DOL relies on DOE records to place individuals in covered buildings, 

areas, etc., but often the records are not specific enough
 

•	 DOL includes in the circular a list of records that can be used when 

establishing membership in a SEC class 

SEC Class Implementation Overview (Cont’d) 

•	 Once HHS’ Letter to Congress regarding the SEC 

Petition is sent – DOL’s EEOICP circular is placed in 

final form 

Circular must go through concurrence process 

•	 Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation (DEEOIC) 

•	 Office of the Solicitor 

•	 Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs 

•	 DOL’s Goal – to have circular finalized by SEC class 

effective date 
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NIOSH Referral Case Status 

• 35,377 Cases Referred to NIOSH for Dose 

Reconstruction 

• 32,907 Cases Returned by NIOSH that are 

Currently at DOL 

– 28,810 with Dose Reconstruction 

– 4,097 without Dose Reconstruction 

• 2,470 Cases that are Currently at NIOSH 

– 1,823 Initial Referrals to NIOSH 

– 647 Reworks or Returns to NIOSH 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Case 

Status 

• 28,810 Cases returned by 

NIOSH that are currently 

at DOL w/ a Dose 

Reconstruction (DR) 

• 23,941 Cases w/ DR and a 

Final Decision 

8,329 Final Approvals 

(POC 50% or Greater) 

15,612 Final Denials 

(POC less than 50%) 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

Final Den. 

65% 

Final App. 

35% 
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Part B Cancer Cases with 

Final Decision to Accept
 

•	 Accepted DR Cases – 7,837
 

11,058 Payees 

$ 1.16 Billion in Compensation
 

•	 Accepted SEC Cases – 14,109
 

23,449 Payees
 

$2.09 Billion in Compensation
 

•	 Cases Accepted Based on SEC Status and POC 50% or Greater–510 

638 Payees 

$76 Million in Compensation 

•	 Totals: All Accepted SEC and DR Cases – 22,456
 

35,145 Payees
 

$3.3 Billion in Compensation
 

Data as of August 11, 2011 

Joint Outreach Task Group 

• Joint Outreach Task Group (JOTG) members 

- DEEOIC 

- Ombudsman for the EEOICPA 

- NIOSH 

- Ombudsman to NIOSH under the EEOICPA 

- DOE Former Workers Medical Screening 

Program (FWP) 

• Monthly conference call with all members 
JOTG Outreach Events 

• FY 2011 JOTG Town Hall Meetings: 

– Kansas City Plant (October 20, 2010) 

– Oak Ridge (April 13, 2011) 

– Savannah River Site (May 3, 2011) 

– Fermi National Accelerator Lab. And Argonne 

National Lab. – East (June 7, 2011) 

• Town Hall Meeting video 

DEEOIC SEC Outreach 

• In response to new SECs DEEOIC conducted: 

– 6 Town Hall Meetings and 8 Traveling Resource 

Centers during FY ’10 and ’11 

• In cases of smaller SECs – press releases are 

issued 
Outreach to Covered Facilities 

(50 claims or less filed) 

• Identified several covered facilities where less 

than 50 claims have been filed 

–	 Majority AWE facilities 

• Concentrating efforts to notify individuals who 

worked at these facilities of potential EEOICPA

benefits 

–	 Issuing press releases 

– Reaching out to unions, local government, other key 

stakeholders 

–	 Utilizing Resource Center staff 

Use of the Ruttenber Database for the 

Rocky Flats Plant Neutron SEC Class
 

•	 Database from the epidemiological studies conducted by the 

Ruttenber team at the Colorado Department of Public Health and 

the Environment. 

•	 The Ruttenber study relied on the dosimetry records provided by the 

Rocky Flats radiation protection department to calculate 

unmonitored neutron dose. 

•	 DOL will use the database as a resource for: 

•	 Placing employees in the Rocky Flats SEC buildings and/or 

•	 For determining whether they were exposed to 100mrem+ of neutron in 

any calendar year, i.e., the level of “should have been monitored for 

neutron exposures” in the SEC definition. 
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DOL Implementation of Ames Laboratory 

SEC Class 

•	 During NIOSH Advisory Board telephone meeting on July 11, 2011 

NIOSH proposed a SEC class for all workers for the period from 

January 1, 1942 through December 31, 1970, based on the inability 

to bound internal thorium and other radionuclide exposures. 

•	 This new class subsumed three already existing SEC classes. 

•	 The Board deferred a decision hoping to get additional details from 

DOL as to who is covered by the SEC class, i.e., which University 

personnel are covered, including non technical personnel, e.g. 

housekeeping, etc. 

DOL GPRA Goals 

• New goal FY 2012 

• Time of receipt of claim to final decision 

– Includes NIOSH processing time 

– Includes cases that go to hearing and those 

that do not 

• Will require close coordination with NIOSH 

• Baseline FY 2011 
Summary of Reasons for Returning Cases to NIOSH for 

Re-Work (Reasons total more than actual reworks) 

Reason for Re-work Number of Cases in 2009 Number of Cases in Number of Cases in 

2010 2011 (until 6/30) 

Change in cancer/ICD-9 code 34 47 15 

Decrease in reported cancers (usually 14 

PoC >50%) 

Increase in reported cancers 296 

14 

265 

2 

186 

Change in cancer diagnosis date 9 11 6 

Change in smoking history or 0 

race/ethnicity questionnaires 

0 0 

Employment site issues (e.g., different or 11 

non covered sites) -

11 5 

Additional verified employment 167 148 68 

Decrease in verified employment 11 7 6 

New survivors identified 47 74 31 

Administrative issues (e.g., SSNs, DOB) 1 0 0 

Technical Issues (mostly FAB issues and 11 

Director’s Orders) 

8 15 

Summary of Reasons for Returning Cases to 

NIOSH for Re-Work (2010) 

Number of Cases in 2010 

9% 13% 

25% 

45% 

8% 

Change in cancer/ICD-9 code 

Increase in reported cancers 

Additional verified employment

 New survivors identified 

Other 
EEOICPA Part B Cases 

Final Decisions – Covered Applications
 

 =

 

 =

33,531 

Totals

35,000 

30,000 23,139

 695 Survivor Not 

Eligible 25,000 

20,000 

15,000 16,297 POC < 50% 

10,000 

5,000 

6,147 = Medical 

0 Info. Insufficient to 

Final Decisions Approved Final Decisions Denied Support Claim 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

New Part B Cases Received 

Monthly by DOL 

=

=

=

=

July 2010 485 

700 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

Nationwide: New Part B Cases Received Monthly by DOL 

Aug. 2010 = 627 

Sept. 2010 = 510 

Oct. 2010 = 571 

Nov. 2010 502 

Dec. 2010 = 457 

Jan. 2011 396 

Feb. 2011 = 409 

Mar. 2011 = 506 

Apr. 2011 400 

May. 2011 = 413 

June. 2011 = 364 

July, 2011 = 447 

Data as of August 3, 2011 
QUESTIONS ? 
NIOSH Advisory Board 

Presentation 

Handout Slides 

August 2011 

Employee Eligibility 

Employed By Part B Part E 

DOE Contractors Yes Yes 

and 

Subcontractors 

DOE Federal Yes No 

Employees 

AWE Employees Yes No 

Beryllium Yes No 

Vendors 

RECA Yes Yes 
Covered Conditions
 

Condition Part B Part E 

CBD Yes Yes 

Beryllium Medical Yes 

Sensitivity Monitoring Only 

Chronic Silicosis Yes Yes 

Cancer Yes Yes 

Any condition No Yes 

related to toxic 

exposure 

Survivor Definition 

Type Part B Part E 

Spouse at time of Yes Yes 

death 

Children - under Yes Yes 

age 18; under 

age 23 if full-time 

student; or any 

age if medically 

incapable of selfsupport 

Adult Children Yes No 
Benefits 

Part B Part E 

$150,000 Employee + Impairment $2,500 per % 

Survivor (Employee) 

$50,000 RECA Employee + Wage Loss $10,000-

Survivor $15,000 per year 

(Employee) 

$125,000 Survivor 

$400,000 CAP for B+E combined 

Means of Verifying Employment 

•	 DOE 

–	 EE-5 Employment Verification Form 

•	 Oak Ridge Institute for Science and 

Education (ORISE) 

•	 Center for Construction Research and 

Training (CPWR) 

•	 Corporate Verifiers 

•	 SSA wage data 

•	 Affidavits 
Part B Cases Sent to NIOSH Monthly 

 

 

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

0 

50 

100 

150 

200 

250 

300 

350 

400 

Part B Cases Sent to NIOSH Monthly (includes both Initial Referrals to 

NIOSH and Reworks or Returns to NIOSH) 

July 2010 326 

Aug. 2010 = 316 

Sep. 2010 356 

Oct. 2010 309 

Nov. 2010 288 

Dec. 2010 295 

Jan. 2011 343 

Feb. 2011 277 

Mar. 2011 320 

Apr. 2011 295 

May. 2011 = 338 

Jun. 2011 324 

July. 2011 245 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

Top Four Worksites 

• The top 4 worksites generating new Part B 

EEOICPA cases are: 

– Hanford 

– Y-12 

– Bethlehem Steel 

– Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K-25) 
Hanford: New Part B Cases 

Received Monthly by DOL
 

 =

 =

 =

 =

 =

July 2010 69 

Aug. 2010 58 70 

Sept. 2010 = 46 

60 Oct. 2010 = 63 

Nov. 2010 = 47 

Dec. 2010 = 62 

50 

40 Jan. 2011 39 

30 Feb. 2011 = 48 

Mar. 2011 = 61 20 

Apr. 2011 45 

10 May 2011 = 42 

June 2011 = 57 0 

Hanford: New Part B Cases Received Monthly by DOL July 2011 36 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

Y-12 Plant: New Part B Cases 

Received Monthly by DOL
 

-

 = 

 = 

 = 

=

 = 

 = 

=

 = 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

July 2010 42 

Aug. 2010 58 

Sept. 2010 44 

Oct. 2010 = 33 

Nov. 2010 38 

Dec. 2010 = 26 

Jan. 2011 43 

Feb. 2011 = 40 

Mar. 2011 = 50 

Apr. 2011 44 

May 2011 33 

June 2011 = 51 

Y 12 Plant: New Part B Cases Received Monthly by DOL July 2011 29

Data as of August 3, 2011 
Bethlehem Steel: New Part B 

Cases Received Monthly by DOL
 

 

 =

 =

 = 

 =

 = 

=

 =

July 2010 88
 

Aug. 2010 = 148
 

160 

Sept. 2010 89 

140 Oct. 2010 = 103 

120 Nov. 2010 105
 

Dec. 2010 = 79
 100 

Jan. 2011 = 67 80 

Feb. 2011 = 38 

60 Mar. 2011 = 49 

40 Apr. 2011 42 

20 May 2011 28 

June 2011 21 0 

Bethlehem Steel: New Part B Cases Received Monthly by DOL July 2011 19 

Data as of August 3, 2011 

Oak Ridge K-25: New Part B 

Cases Received Monthly by DOL
 

- 

 = 

 = 

 = 

=

 = 

 = 

=

 = 

July 2010 37 

Aug. 2010 44 

45 

Sept. 2010 35 

40 Oct. 2010 = 27 

35 Nov. 2010 34 

30 Dec. 2010 = 21 

25 Jan. 2011 33 

20 Feb. 2011 = 32 

Mar. 2011 = 38 

Apr. 2011 29 

15 

10 

May 2011 23 5 

June 2011 = 33 0 

Oak Ridge K 25: New Part B Cases Received Monthly by DOL July 2011 20 

Data as of August 3, 2011 
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SEC Petition Site Discussions
 

ABRWH Agenda August 2011
 

WR Grace Y-12 Plant Piqua Organic Hanger 481 

and Co. Moderated 

(Maryland) Reactor 

Cases (Claims)

Part B & E 

37 (55) 

Part B Only 

15,396 (23,848) 34 (53) 16 (19) 

Cases Returned 17 3,517 8 4 

by NIOSH w/ DR 

Final Decisions 

(Part B) 

21 6,089 14 5 

Part B 

Approvals 

8 3,902 8 1 

Part E 

Approvals 

N/A 3,781 6 0 

Total Comp. & $1.2 Million $978 Million $1.9 Million $150,000 

Medical Bills Paid 

Data as of August 9, 2011 

SEC Petition Site Discussions 

ABRWH Agenda August 2011 

Hooker FMPC Norton Co. Savannah 

Electro River 

chemical 

Cases (Claims) 273 (422) 3,756 (4,944) 202 (359) 12,679

Part B & E Part B Only Part B Only (17,125) 

Cases Returned 134 1,114 54 3,777 

by NIOSH w/ DR 

Final Decisions 

(Part B) 

154 1,395 147 4,543 

Part B 

Approvals 

15 516 88 1,613 

Part E 

Approvals 

N/A 641 N/A 2,147 

Total Comp. & $2.3 Million $135 Million $12.9 Million $463 Million 

Medical Bills Paid 

Data as of August 9, 2011 
SEC Petition Site Discussions
 

ABRWH Agenda August 2011
 

Hanford Pantex Vitro (PA) Ames Lab. Pacific 

Plant Northwest 

Lab. 

Cases (Claims) 12,585 1,393 84 (134) 656 (850) 1,980

Part B & E (19,717) (1,737) Part B Only (2,886) 

Cases Returned 3,144 416 19 119 535 

by NIOSH w/ DR 

Final Decisions 

(Part B) 

5,148 575 47 265 830 

Part B 

Approvals 

3,004 190 25 176 548 

Part E 

Approvals 

2,650 224 N/A 175 485 

Total Comp. & $678 Million $45 Million $3.8 Million $36 Million $120 Million 

Medical Bills 

Paid 

Data as of August 9, 2011