Docket Number: 10001749-2005

NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION

This decision of the Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) concerns your claim for impairment benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 7384 et seq. (EEOICPA). Your claim is approved for compensation in the amount of $62,500. Adjudication of this claim will not preclude your potential entitlement to additional compensation under the Act for wage-loss and/or increased impairment.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On March 22, 2005, the Final Adjudication Branch issued a Notice of Final Decision During the Interim Administration Period. Based on your confirmed employment with Union Carbide, Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) from October 3, 1955 through June 30, 1999, and a positive determination for asbestosis by a panel accepted by the Secretary of Energy under former Part D, the FAB found you to be a “covered DOE contractor employee” as defined by 42 U.S.C. § 7385s(1). As such, the FAB awarded you medical benefits for asbestosis in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7384t beginning on your May 15, 2002 Department of Energy filing date. The FAB deferred adjudication for wage-loss and/or impairment.

On September 8, 2005, the district office received your statement of intent to pursue a claim for impairment benefits. To determine your “minimum impairment rating” (the percentage rating representing the extent of whole person impairment, based on the organ and body functions affected by the covered condition and the extent of the impairment attributable to your covered condition), your case was referred for review to a Department of Labor Medical Consultant. The medical consultant used the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment and opined that you have a class 2 impairment classification with a range of 10-25% impairment (See AMA’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5^th Ed. 2005). Given your physical findings, current treatment and severely compromised activities of daily living (ADL), the medical consultant calculated your minimum impairment rating attributed to the accepted covered condition, asbestosis, to be 25%.

On November 8, 2005, the Cleveland district office issued a recommended decision finding that you are entitled to $2,500 for each of the twenty five percentage points the medical consultant found to be a result of the accepted covered illness. As such the district office concluded that you are entitled to compensation in the amount of $62,500.

On November 23, 2005, the FAB received written notification that you waive any and all objections to the November 8, 2005 recommended decision. On December 14, 2005, the FAB received your written confirmation that you have not received any settlement or award from a lawsuit or workers’ compensation claim in connection with the accepted condition.

After considering the evidence of record and your waiver of objections, the FAB hereby makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. You filed a claim under EEOICPA with the Department of Labor on July 31, 2001.

2. You filed a claim under EEOICPA with the Department of Energy on May 15, 2002.

3. A final decision was issued by the Department of Labor under Part E of the Act on March 22, 2005, concluding that you are a covered DOE contractor employee who contracted asbestosis due to work-related exposure to a toxic substance, and awarded you medical benefits for asbestosis commencing on your May 15, 2002 filing date.

4. Based on the 5^th edition of the AMA’s Guides, your minimum impairment rating due to asbestosis is calculated to be 25%.

5. You confirmed in writing that you never received any settlement or award from a lawsuit or workers’ compensation claim in connection with the accepted condition.

Based on the above noted findings of fact, the FAB hereby also makes the following:

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The Final Adjudication Branch hereby finds that you have a permanent impairment that is the result of the accepted covered condition, asbestosis, and that your minimum impairment rating is calculated to be 25%. The FAB further finds that you are entitled to $2,500 for each percentage point of your minimum impairment rating attributed to the accepted condition. Therefore, the Final Adjudication Branch hereby concludes that you are entitled to compensation for impairment in the amount of $62,500 under 42 U.S.C. § 7382s-2(a)(1)(A) and (B).

In addition, the May 22, 2005 final decision awarded you medical benefits commencing on your May 15, 2002 Department of Energy filing. This decision should serve as a correction. Your entitlement to medical benefits is retroactive to the earliest date of filing and that would be the July 31, 2001 Department of Labor filing date. Accordingly, the Final Adjudication Branch hereby concludes that you are also entitled to medical benefits for asbestosis commencing on July 31, 2001.

Washington, DC

Vawndalyn B. Feagins

Hearing Representative

Final Adjudication Branch