Presidential Documents

77487

Federal Register

Vol. 65, No. 238

Monday, December 11, 2000

Title 3—

The President

Executive Order 13179 of December 7, 2000

Providing Compensation to America’s Nuclear Weapons

Workers

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the

laws of the United States of America, including Public Law 106-398, the

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000

(Public Law 106-398, the ‘‘Act’’), and to allocate the responsibilities imposed

by that legislation and to provide for further legislative efforts, it is hereby

ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Since World War II, hundreds of thousands of men and

women have served their Nation in building its nuclear defense. In the

course of their work, they overcame previously unimagined scientific and

technical challenges. Thousands of these courageous Americans, however,

paid a high price for their service, developing disabling or fatal illnesses

as a result of exposure to beryllium, ionizing radiation, and other hazards

unique to nuclear weapons production and testing. Too often, these workers

were neither adequately protected from, nor informed of, the occupational

hazards to which they were exposed.

Existing workers’ compensation programs have failed to provide for the

needs of these workers and their families. Federal workers’ compensation

programs have generally not included these workers. Further, because of

long latency periods, the uniqueness of the hazards to which they were

exposed, and inadequate exposure data, many of these individuals have

been unable to obtain State workers’ compensation benefits. This problem

has been exacerbated by the past policy of the Department of Energy (DOE)

and its predecessors of encouraging and assisting DOE contractors in opposing the claims of workers who sought those benefits. This policy has recently

been reversed.

While the Nation can never fully repay these workers or their families,

they deserve recognition and compensation for their sacrifices. Since the

Administration’s historic announcement in July of 1999 that it intended

to compensate DOE nuclear weapons workers who suffered occupational

illnesses as a result of exposure to the unique hazards in building the

Nation’s nuclear defense, it has been the policy of this Administration

to support fair and timely compensation for these workers and their survivors.

The Federal Government should provide necessary information and otherwise

help employees of the DOE or its contractors determine if their illnesses

are associated with conditions of their nuclear weapons-related work; it

should provide workers and their survivors with all pertinent and available

information necessary for evaluating and processing claims; and it should

ensure that this program minimizes the administrative burden on workers

and their survivors, and respects their dignity and privacy. This order sets

out agency responsibilities to accomplish these goals, building on the Administration’s articulated principles and the framework set forth in the Energy

Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Energy shall be

responsible for developing and implementing actions under the Act to compensate these workers and their families in a manner that is compassionate,

fair, and timely. Other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall assist in this

effort.

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Sec. 2. Designation of Responsibilities for Administering the Energy Employees’ Occupational Illness Compensation Program (‘‘Program’’).

(a) Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Labor shall have primary responsibility for administering the Program. Specifically, the Secretary shall:

(i) Administer and decide all questions arising under the Act not assigned

to other agencies by the Act or by this order, including determining the

eligibility of individuals

with covered occupational illnesses and their survivors and adjudicating

claims for compensation and benefits;

(ii) No later than May 31, 2001, promulgate regulations for the administration

of the Program, except for functions assigned to other agencies pursuant

to the Act or this order;

(iii) No later than July 31, 2001, ensure the availability, in paper and electronic format, of forms necessary for making claims under the Program;

and

(iv) Develop informational materials, in coordination with the Secretary

of Energy and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to help potential

claimants understand the Program and the application process, and provide

these materials to individuals upon request and to the Secretary of Energy

and the Attorney General for dissemination to potentially eligible individuals.

(b) Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary of Health

and Human Services shall:

(i) No later than May 31, 2001, promulgate regulations establishing:

(A) guidelines, pursuant to section 3623(c) of the Act, to assess the likelihood

that an individual with cancer sustained the cancer in the performance

of duty at a Department of Energy facility or an atomic weapons employer

facility, as defined by the Act; and

(B) methods, pursuant to section 3623(d) of the Act, for arriving at and

providing reasonable estimates of the radiation doses received by individuals

applying for assistance under this program for whom there are inadequate

records of radiation exposure;

(ii) In accordance with procedures developed by the Secretary of Health

and Human Services, consider and issue determinations on petitions by

classes of employees to be treated as members of the Special Exposure

Cohort;

(iii) With the assistance of the Secretary of Energy, apply the methods

promulgated under subsection (b)(i)(B) to estimate the radiation doses received by individuals applying for assistance;

(iv) Upon request from the Secretary of Energy, appoint members for a

physician panel or panels to consider individual workers’ compensation

claims as part of the Worker Assistance Program under the process established pursuant to subsection (c)(v); and

(v) Provide the Advisory Board established under section 4 of this order

with administrative services, funds, facilities, staff, and other necessary support services and perform the administrative functions of the President under

the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), with

respect to the Advisory Board.

(c) Secretary of Energy. The Secretary of Energy shall:

(i) Provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Advisory

Board on Radiation and Worker Health access, in accordance with law,

to all relevant information pertaining to worker exposures, including access

to restricted data, and any other technical assistance needed to carry out

their responsibilities under subsection (b)(ii) and section 4(b), respectively.

(ii) Upon request from the Secretary of Health and Human Services or

the Secretary of Labor, and as permitted by law, require a DOE contractor,

subcontractor, or

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Presidential Documents 77489

designated beryllium vendor, pursuant to section 3631(c) of the Act, to

provide information relevant to a claim under this Program;

(iii) Identify and notify potentially eligible individuals of the availability

of compensation under the Program;

(iv) Designate, pursuant to sections 3621(4)(B) and 3622 of the Act, atomic

weapons employers and additions

to the list of designated beryllium vendors;

(v) Pursuant to Subtitle D of the Act, negotiate agreements with the chief

executive officer of each State in which there is a DOE facility, and other

States as appropriate, to provide assistance to a DOE contractor employee

on filing a State workers’ compensation system claim, and establish a Worker

Assistance Program to help individuals whose illness is related to employment in the DOE’s nuclear weapons complex, or the individual’s survivor

if the individual is deceased, in applying for State workers’ compensation

benefits. This assistance shall include:

(1) Submittal of reasonable claims to a physician panel, appointed by the

Secretary of Health and Human Services and administered by the Secretary

of Energy, under procedures established by the Secretary of Energy, for

determination of whether the individual’s illness or death arose out of

and in the course of employment by the DOE or its contractors and exposure

to a toxic substance at a DOE facility; and

(2) For cases determined by the physician panel and the Secretary of Energy

under section 3661(d) and (e) of the Act to have arisen out of and in

the course of employment by the DOE or its contractors and exposure

to a toxic substance at a DOE facility, provide assistance to the individual

in filing for workers’ compensation benefits. The Secretary shall not contest

these claims and, to the extent permitted by law, shall direct a DOE contractor

who employed the applicant not to contest the claim;

(vi) Report on the Worker Assistance Program by making publicly available

on at least an annual basis claims- related data, including the number

of claims filed, the number of illnesses found to be related to work at

a DOE

facility, job location and description, and number of successful State workers’

compensation claims awarded; and

(vii) No later than January 15, 2001, publish in the Federal Register a

list of atomic weapons employer facilities within the meaning of section

3621(5) of the Act, Department of Energy employer facilities within the

meaning of section 3621(12) of the Act, and a list of facilities owned and

operated by a beryllium vendor, within the meaning of section 3621(6)

of the Act.

(d) Attorney General. The Attorney General shall:

(i) Develop procedures to notify, to the extent possible, each claimant (or

the survivor of that claimant if deceased) whose claim for compensation

under section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has been

or is approved by the Department of Justice, of the availability of supplemental compensation and benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational

Illness Compensation Program;

(ii) Identify and notify eligible covered uranium employees or their survivors

of the availability of supplemental compensation under the Program; and

(iii) Upon request by the Secretary of Labor, provide information needed

to adjudicate the claim of a covered uranium employee under this Program.

Sec. 3. Establishment of Interagency Working Group.

(a) There is hereby established an Interagency Working Group to be composed of representatives from the Office of Management and Budget, the

National Economic Council, and the Departments of Labor, Energy, Health

and Human Services, and Justice.

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(b) The Working Group shall:

(i) By January 1, 2001, develop a legislative proposal to ensure the Program’s

fairness and efficiency, including provisions to assure adequate administrative resources and swift dispute resolution; and

(ii) Address any impediments to timely and coordinated Program implementation.

Sec. 4. Establishment of Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health.

(a) Pursuant to Public Law 106-398, there is hereby established an Advisory

Board on Radiation and Health (Advisory Board). The Advisory Board shall

consist of no more than 20 members to be appointed by the President.

Members shall include affected workers and their representatives, and representatives from scientific and medical communities. The President shall

designate a Chair for the Board among its members.

(b) The Advisory Board shall:

(i) Advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the development

of guidelines under section 2(b)(i) of this order;

(ii) Advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the scientific

validity and quality of dose reconstruction efforts performed for this Program;

and

(iii) Upon request by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, advise

the Secretary on whether there is a class of employees at any Department

of Energy facility who were exposed to radiation but for whom it is not

feasible to estimate their radiation dose, and on whether there is a reasonable

likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered the health of

members of the class.

Sec. 5. Reporting Requirements. The Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human

Services, and Energy shall, as part of their annual budget submissions,

report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on their activities

under this Program, including total expenditures related to benefits and

program administration. They shall also report to the OMB, no later than

March 1, 2001, on the manner in which they will carry out their respective

responsibilities under the Act and this order. This report shall include,

among other things, a description of the administrative structure established

within their agencies to implement the Act and this order. In addition,

the Secretary of Labor shall annually report on the total number and types

of claims for which compensation was considered and other data pertinent

to evaluating the Federal Government’s performance fulfilling the requirements of the Act and this order.

Sec. 6. Administration and Judicial Review. (a) This Executive Order shall

be carried out subject to the availability of appropriations, and to the extent

permitted by law.

(b) This Executive Order does not create any right or benefit, substantive

or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United

States, its agencies, its officers or employees, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 7, 2000.

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[FR Doc. 00–31692

Filed 12–8–00; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P