WASHINGTON — A proposed rule could improve the U.S. Department of Labor's administration of a law governing workers' compensation for energy employees. Proposed by the department's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, the rule would amend regulations governing its administration of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. These regulations were last revised on Dec. 29, 2006.

Expansion: Former Hooker Electrochemical Corp. workers may qualify for a presumption of causation if they are included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees, and were diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers. For nuclear weapons workers applying for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, a presumption of causation can simplify the process.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Agreement description: On Sept. 24, OWCP and NIOSH entered into a formal memorandum of understanding establishing a quality assurance program for X-rays used to evaluate whether claimants are entitled to black lung benefits based on the presence of complicated pneumoconiosis.

Expansion: Former Westinghouse Electric Corp. workers may qualify for a presumption of causation if they are included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees, and diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers. For nuclear weapons workers applying for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, a presumption of causation can simplify the process.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is seeking nominations for membership on the newly created Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health for Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The act provides compensation and medical benefits to nuclear weapons workers diagnosed with medical conditions caused by their exposure to toxic substances at covered nuclear facilities.

WASHINGTON — Former employees of the Grand Junction Facilities site in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the Dow Chemical Co. site in Pittsburg, California, may qualify for a presumption of causation if they are included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees and diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers. The change comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services amended its Special Exposure Cohort in May 2015.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Labor representatives will host information sessions in Pennsylvania on July 22 in New Kensington to inform current and former nuclear weapons workers from 25 covered facilities in the state about the benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Former U.S. Department of Energy contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Hanford site in Richland may qualify for a presumption of causation if they are included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees, and diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers. The change comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services amended its Special Exposure Cohort in May 2015. This SEC designation took effect on June 21, 2015.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor along with other federal agencies will host two town hall meetings on July 23 in Amarillo, Texas. The meetings will provide current and former nuclear weapons workers, including those employed at the Pantex Plant, with information regarding benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies will host two town hall meetings on June 16 and 17 in Bridgeton, Missouri. The meetings will provide current and former nuclear weapons employees who worked at 11 covered facilities in Missouri with information regarding benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a traveling resource center in Grand Junction, Colo., on Wednesday, June 10, and in Moab, Utah, on Thursday, June 11, to provide the public with information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act and the medical benefits available under the program.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a traveling resource center in Grand Junction, Colo., on Wednesday, June 10, and in Moab, Utah, on Thursday, June 11, to provide the public with information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act and the medical benefits available under the program.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is publishing for public comment a proposed Black Lung Benefits Act rule that gives coal miners greater access to their health records and requires coal miner owners to pay all benefits due in a claim before the award can be challenged through modification. The NPRM was posted on the Federal Register's website for public inspection today.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's traveling resource center will visit Newport News, Virginia, on April 28, to inform nuclear weapons workers about benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is expanding the means by which documents and information can be transmitted between OWCP and its stakeholders. A direct final rule and a proposed rule published in the March 12 issue of the Federal Register apply to claims handled by OWCP's longshore program.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host three town hall meetings on March 18 in Westminster, Colorado, to provide nuclear weapons workers, including those who worked at the Rocky Flats Plant, with information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act and the medical benefits provided to approved claimants under the program.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies will host two town hall meetings on Feb. 25 in Carlsbad, New Mexico, to inform current and former nuclear weapons workers, including those employed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, about the benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Survivors of qualified workers may be entitled to benefits also.

WASHINGTON — Former employees of General Atomics in La Jolla, California, have been notified by the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings: the first on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in Amherst, New York, and the second on Thursday, Sept. 25, in Rochester, New York, to notify current and former nuclear weapons employees who worked at 39 covered facilities in New York about the benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. These meetings are open to the public and preregistration is not required.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Labor Department's Office of the Ombudsman for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program will host two town hall meetings in Wyoming: one on Tuesday, July 29, in Casper, and the other Wednesday, July 30, in Riverton, to notify current and former U.S.