| U.S. Department of Labor | Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Washington, DC 20210 |
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EEOICPA CIRCULAR NO. 16-03 Date: March 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, Ohio, Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) from July 1, 1956 through December 31, 1970.
The purpose of this Circular is to notify all Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) staff of the SEC class designation for the Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, 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 at the Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, 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. § 83.14. NIOSH submitted its findings to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (“the Board”) on November 18, 2015. On February 18, 2016, 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 Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, Ohio.
On February 18, 2016, the Secretary of HHS designated the following class for addition to the SEC in a report to Congress:
All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked at the facility owned by Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue site in Columbus, OH during the period from July 1, 1956 through December 31, 1970, 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.
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 March 19, 2016, 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 SEC class, the employee must be an Atomic Weapons Employee who worked at the facility owned by the Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, Ohio, during the period from July 1, 1956 through December 31, 1970. In addition, 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.
While a new SEC class has been added for the Atomic Weapons Employees at the facility owned by the Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, Ohio, NIOSH has determined that available internal monitoring records, process descriptions, and source data are inadequate to complete dose reconstructions for thorium exposures with sufficient accuracy for the evaluated class of employees during the period from July 1, 1956 through December 31, 1970. 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 employees at the facility 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 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. 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 16-03, Battelle Laboratories at the King Avenue Site in Columbus, Ohio (7/1/1956 - 12/31/1970).” 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 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