THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release December 7, 2000
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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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 asso-ciated 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.
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
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.
(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.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 7, 2000.
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