EEOICPA CIRCULAR NO. 14-02

EEOICPA CIRCULAR NO. 14-02 October 30, 2013

SUBJECT: Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) Special Exposure Cohort Class (SEC) from January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1983.

The purpose of this Circular is to notify all Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) staff of two SEC class designations for the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) located in Fernald, Ohio.

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 FMPC in Fernald, Ohio, 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 July 17, 2012. On September 3, 2013, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) received the Board’s recommendation to add to the SEC two classes of employees who worked at FMPC in Fernald, Ohio.

On September 30, 2013, the Secretary of HHS designated the following classes 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 Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) in Fernald, Ohio, from January 1, 1954 through December 31, 1967, 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 included in the Special Exposure Cohort.

And

All employees of the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) in Fernald, Ohio, who were not employed by National Lead of Ohio, NLO, or the Department of Energy or its predecessor agencies, who worked at FMPC from January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1983, 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 included in the Special Exposure Cohort.

Copies of the Secretary’s letters to Congress recommending the designations are 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 designations for these classes became effective as of October 30, 2013, which was 30 days after the Secretary of HHS designated the classes for addition to the SEC in the reports to Congress.

To qualify under this SEC class, the employee must be either:

1. An employee of FMPC in Fernald, Ohio who was not employed by National Lead of Ohio, NLO, or the Department of Energy or its predecessor agencies, who worked at FMPC from January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1983, or

2. An employee of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at FMPC in Fernald, Ohio, from January 1, 1954 through December 31, 1967.

If the employee does not have 250 workdays at the FMPC during the period of either 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 together to meet the 250-workday requirement. FMPC, however, is a large site with employees who were employed by the DOE, NLO, FMPC, or their contractors or subcontractors. These SEC classes, with overlapping periods, distinguish which category in which the employee fits.

While two new SEC classes have been added for employees at FMPC, NIOSH intends to use any available internal and external dose 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.

Copies of the NIOSH letters to affected FMPC employees are included as Attachment 2.

This Circular should be used in conjunction with EEOICPA Bulletin 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 and Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) offices are to use the comprehensive list provided as the basis for an initial screening of cases associated with all SEC classes. All cases on the comprehensive list, that are located at a district office or FAB office, must be reviewed for possible inclusion in the SEC class. The jurisdictional office listed on the comprehensive report as the location of where the case resides is responsible for ensuring that screening occurs for that case. For screening only, the results reflected on the initial screening worksheet must be recorded in ECS using the Screening (SEC/PER/Other) Navigation Panel. From the Screening (SEC/PER/Other) Navigation Panel, on the case, select the ‘Create’ button. Based on the result of the review and in accordance with the ‘SEC Class Screening Worksheet’, select the appropriate result of “Likely” if the case is likely an SEC, “Unlikely” if it is unlikely that the case will be an SEC, or “Development Needed” if development is needed. The date of the signed worksheet is recorded in the “Date” field. The reason associated with the SEC is selected in the “Reason” field. For this SEC, the reason is “Rvwd per Circular 14-02, Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) SEC (1/1/51-12/31/83)[1].” If the CE determines that the case is going to be awarded based on a SEC, a positive SEC causation path must be entered into ECS. This process is the equivalent of the SER/SEF codes discussed in Bulletin 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