EEOICPA CIRCULAR NO. 12-18 September 22, 2012
SUBJECT: Medina Modification Center Special Exposure Cohort Class (SEC) from January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1966.
The purpose of this Circular is to notify all Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) staff of the SEC class designation for Medina Modification Center located in San Antonio, Texas.
Pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA) and 42 C.F.R. Part 83, a petition was filed on behalf of workers from Medina Modification Center in San Antonio, Texas, to be added to the SEC.
The decision to initiate this petition occurred after the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined that it could not reconstruct a dose under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13. NIOSH submitted its findings to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (“the Board”) on June 21, 2012. On August 1, 2012, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) received the Board’s recommendation to add to the SEC a class of employees who worked at the Medina Modification Center in San Antonio, Texas.
On August 23, 2012, the Secretary of HHS designated the following class for addition to the SEC in a report to Congress:
All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Medina Modification Center in San Antonio, Texas, from January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1966, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.
A copy of the Secretary’s letter to Congress recommending the designation is included as Attachment 1. Although Congress had the authority to reject the recommendation within a 30-day time frame, Congress took no action. Therefore, the SEC designation for this class became effective as of September 22, 2012, which was 30 days after the Secretary of HHS designated the class for addition to the SEC in the report to Congress.
To qualify under this class, the employee must be an employee of the Department of Energy (DOE), an employee of one of its predecessor agencies, or an employee of a DOE contractor or subcontractor who has worked at least 250 workdays at the Medina Modification Center in San Antonio, Texas between January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1966. If the employee does not have 250 workdays at Medina Modification Center during the period of the class, the case file must be reviewed to determine if additional days in the SEC can be found by combining days from employment meeting the criteria for other SEC classes and aggregating them to meet the 250-workday requirement.
While a new SEC class has been added for employees at Medina Modification Center, NIOSH intends to use any available internal and external monitoring data that may become available for an individual claim (and that can be interpreted using existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures). This means that for claims that do not satisfy the SEC membership criteria, a partial dose reconstruction is to be performed by NIOSH.
A copy of the NIOSH letter to affected Medina Modification Center employees is included as Attachment 2.
This Circular should be used in conjunction with EEOICPA Bulletin No. 11-07, Special Exposure Cohort Claim Processing. A screening worksheet is included as Attachment 3.
As outlined in EEOICPA Bulletin No. 11-07, the district offices are to use the comprehensive list provided as the basis for an initial screening of cases associated with all SEC classes. For screening only, the results reflected on the initial screening worksheet must be recorded in ECS using the NIOSH Causation Path. From the NIOSH Causation Path on the case, the ‘View/Perform SEC Screening’ window is selected. Based on the result of the review and in accordance with the ‘SEC Class Screening Worksheet’, the appropriate result of “Likely SEC” or “Unlikely SEC” or “SEC Development Needed” is selected. The date of the signed worksheet is recorded in the date field. The reason associated with the SEC is selected in the “Initial SEC Screening Reason” field. For this SEC, the reason is “Rvwd per Circular 12-18, Medina Modification Center SEC (1/1/58 – 12/31/66).” If the CE determines that the case is going to be awarded based on an SEC, a positive SEC causation path must be entered into ECS. This process is the equivalent of the SER/SEF codes discussed in Bulletin No. 11‑07.
RACHEL P. LEITON
Director, Division of Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation
Attachments
Distribution List No. 1: Claims Examiners, Supervisory Claims Examiners, Technical Assistants, Customer Service Representatives, Fiscal Officers, FAB District Managers, Operation Chiefs, Hearing Representatives, District Office Mail & File Section