Authorizing legislation - EO 13179

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Presidential Documents

Federal Register
Vol. 65, No. 238
Monday, December 11, 2000

Title 3—

Executive Order 13179 of December 7, 2000

The President

Providing
Workers

Compensation

to

America’s

Nuclear

Weapons

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

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

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

œ–
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 7, 2000.
[FR Doc. 00–31692
Filed 12–8–00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195–01–P

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