1.Advisory Board on Toxic
Substances and Worker Health
(a)Subtitle B of the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
3632.Advisory
Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health
(a)
(1)Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment
of this section, the President shall establish and appoint an Advisory Board on
Toxic Substances and Worker Health (referred to in this section as the
Board
).
(2)Consultation on
appointmentsIn appointing members to the Board under paragraph
(1), the President shall consult with organizations with expertise on worker
health issues in order to ensure that the membership of the Board reflects a
proper balance among perspectives from the scientific, medical, legal, workers,
and worker advocate communities.
(3)The
President shall designate a chairperson of the Board from among its
members.
(b)The
Board shall—
(1)provide advice to
the President concerning the review and approval of the Department of Labor
site exposure matrix;
(2)conduct periodic
peer reviews of, and approve, medical guidance for part E claims examiners with
respect to the weighing of a claimant’s medical evidence;
(3)obtain periodic
expert reviews of medical evidentiary requirements for part B claims related to
lung diseases;
(4)provide oversight
over consulting physicians and reports to ensure quality, objectivity, and
consistency of the consultant physicians’ work; and
(5)coordinate where
applicable exchanges of data and findings with the Advisory Board on Radiation
and Worker Health (under section 3624).
(c)
(1)The President shall appoint a staff to facilitate the
work of the Board. The staff of the Board shall be headed by a Director who
shall be appointed under subchapter VIII of chapter 33 of title 5, United
States Code.
(2)The President may authorize the detail of employees of
Federal agencies to the Board as necessary to enable the Board to carry out its
duties under this section. The detail of such personnel may be on a
non-reimbursable basis.
(3)The
Board shall have same powers that the Advisory Board has under section
3624.
(d)The
members of the Board, other than full-time employees of the United States,
while attending meetings of the Board or while otherwise serving at the request
of the President, and while serving away from their homes or regular place of
business, shall be allowed travel and meal expenses, including per diem in lieu
of subsistence (as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code)
for individuals in the Federal Government serving without pay.
(e)
(1)The
Secretary of Energy shall ensure that the members and staff of the Board, and
the contractors performing work in support of the Board, are afforded the
opportunity to apply for a security clearance for any matter for which such a
clearance is appropriate. The Secretary should, not later than 180 days after
receiving a completed application for such a clearance, make a determination
whether or not the individual concerned is eligible for the clearance.
(2)For fiscal year 2012, and each fiscal year
thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall include in the budget justification
materials submitted to Congress in support of the Department of Energy budget
for that fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code) a report specifying the number
of applications for security clearances under this subsection, the number of
such applications granted, and the number of such applications denied.
(f)The
Secretary of Energy shall, in accordance with law, provide to the Board and the
contractors of the Board, access to any information that the Board considers
relevant to carry out its responsibilities under this section, including
information such as restricted data (as defined in section 2014(y)) and
information covered by the Privacy
Act.
.
(b)Department of
Labor response to the Office of the Ombudsman annual
reportSection 3686 of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s–15) is amended—
(1)by redesignating
subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
(2)by inserting
after subsection (g), the following:
(h)Not later than 90 days after the publication of the annual
report under subsection (e), the Department of Labor shall submit an answer in
writing on whether the Department agrees or disagrees with the specific issues
raised by the Ombudsman, if the Department agrees, on the actions to be taken
to correct the problems identified by the Ombudsman, and if the Department does
not agree, on the reasons therefore. The Department of Labor shall post such
answer on the public Internet website of the
Department.
.