Docket Number: 12914-2002

EMPLOYEE: [Name Deleted]

CLAIMANT: [Name Deleted]

FILE NUMBER: [Number Deleted]

DOCKET NUMBER: 12914-2002

DECISION DATE: February 8, 2005

NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION

This decision of the Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) concerns 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). Your claim under Part E of the Act is hereby accepted as compensable.

On January 28, 2005, the Jacksonville district office issued a recommended decision finding that the employee was employed at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility by a DOE contractor in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7385s(1); that you are the eligible survivor in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-3(d); that a positive determination by DEEOIC under Part B is treated for the purposes of Part E as a determination that the employee contracted that illness through work-related exposure to a toxic substance at a DOE facility in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-4(a); and that you are entitled to $125,000.00 in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-3(a)(1). Consequently, the district office recommended that your survivor claim be accepted in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-4(a). On January 31, 2005, the Final Adjudication Branch received your written notification that you waive any and all objections to the recommended decision.

The evidence of record establishes that your claim meets the statutory criteria for compensability as defined in Part E of the EEOICPA. In this instance, the evidence confirms that your spouse had covered employment with Union Carbide Corporation and Martin Marietta Energy Systems from April 1, 1975 to April 1, 1984 and April 2, 1984 to December 18, 1987, and supports a causal connection between your spouse’s death and his exposure to a toxic substance at the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant and the X-10 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE facilities. The evidence of record indicates that a completed Physicians Panel review under former Part D of the EEOICPA concluded that no causally related condition exists. However, a separate determination was made by DEEOIC under Part B which concluded that the employee was a covered employee entitled to compensation for brain cancer. Under these circumstances, your claim meets the standards for adjudication during the Preliminary Administration Period consistent with EEOICPA Bulletin No. 05-01 (issued November 23, 2004).

The file contains the employee’s death certificate, which shows that his covered illness caused or contributed to his death, and also contains a copy of your marriage certificate. This evidence establishes your entitlement to basic survivor benefits under Part E of the EEOICPA. The file also contains your statement that the employee did not file or receive any state workers’ compensation benefits for the claimed condition. In addition, you stated that the employee, at the time of death, had no minor children or children incapable of self support, who were not your natural or adopted children.

The Final Adjudication Branch hereby finds that the employee is a covered DOE contractor employee as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 7385s(1); that a positive determination of entitlement by DEEOIC under Part B was made for the illness of brain cancer; and that you are the eligible survivor of the employee. Therefore, the Final Adjudication Branch hereby concludes that you are entitled to compensation in the amount of $125,000 under Part E of the EEOICPA. Adjudication of your potential entitlement to additional compensation is deferred until after the effective date of the Interim Final Regulations as per EEOICPA Bulletin No. 05-01 (issued November 23, 2004).

Jacksonville, FL

Sidne M. Valdivieso

Hearing Representative