Docket Number: 10024820-2006

NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION

 

This is the final decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) on your claim for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 7384 et seq. (EEOICPA or the Act). For the reasons stated below, your claim for benefits under Part E is denied.

 

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

 

On October 1, 2001, you filed Form EE-1, Claim for Benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act indicating that you were diagnosed with beryllium sensitivity and that you worked at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility.

 

On Form EE-3, Employment History, you stated that you were employed at the U.S. Department of Energy, Albuquerque Operations Office, assigned to the Rocky Flats Area Office in Golden, CO from 1958 to May 5, 1978. Kaiser-Hill, the Rocky Flats Plant operator, stated that there were no records to support you were employed directly by the plant operator, however; you were issued a radiation monitoring badge from September 29, 1958 to May 5, 1978.

 

A beryllium lymphocyte transformation test from blood drawn on March 24, 1997, revealed an abnormal response to beryllium sulfate.

 

On March 10, 2003, the Final Adjudication Branch accepted your claim for the medical monitoring of beryllium sensitivity.

 

On October 25, 2001, you filed Form KK-1, Request for Review by Medical Panels, with the Department of Energy (DOE) under Part D of the Act. On October 28, 2004, Part E of EEOICPA was created when Congress repealed Part D of EEOICPA, and your claim is now being processed under Part E.

 

The Denver district office confirmed that you were a federal employee employed by the Atomic Energy Commission at Rocky Flats from September 29, 1958 to May 5, 1978.

 

On March 21, 2006, the Denver district office issued a recommended decision denying your claim for benefits under Part E of the Act, as you were not a “covered DOE contractor employee.” After reviewing the evidence in your claim, the Final Adjudication Branch makes the following:

 

FINDINGS OF FACT

 

1. You filed a claim for compensation under the former Part D of the Act on October 25, 2001.

 

2. You were a federal employee directly employed by the Atomic Energy Commission at the Rocky Flats Plant, from September 29, 1958 to May 5, 1978; therefore, you cannot be considered a DOE contractor employee.

 

3. You were diagnosed with beryllium sensitivity on March 24, 1997.

 

Based on the above noted findings of fact in this claim, the Final Adjudication Branch makes the following:

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

 

Pursuant to the regulations implementing of EEOICPA, a claimant has 60 days from the date of issuance of the recommended decision to raise objections to that decision to the Final Adjudication Branch pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 30.310(a). If an objection is not raised during the 60-day period, the Final Adjudication Branch will consider any and all evidence in the record and issue a final decision affirming the district office’s recommended decision pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 30.316(a). On March 31, 2006, the Final Adjudication Branch received your written notification waiving any and all objections to the recommended decision.

 

A “covered Part E employee” means, under Part E of the Act, a Department of Energy contractor employee or RECA section 5 uranium worker who has been determined by OWCP to have contracted a covered illness through exposure at Department of Energy facility or a RECA section 5 facility, as appropriate. See 20 C.F.R. § 30.5(p).

 

You have not established that you were a DOE contractor employee pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7385s(1) of the EEOICPA.

 

You are not entitled to compensation pursuant to Part E.

 

The undersigned has thoroughly reviewed the case record and finds that it is in accordance with the facts and the law in this case. It is the decision of the Final Adjudication Branch that your claim under Part E is denied.

 

Denver, Colorado

 

 

Anna Navarro

Hearing Representative