[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2905 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2905

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
  Act of 2000 to strengthen the quality control measures in place for 
part B lung disease claims and to establish the Advisory Board on Toxic 
 Substances and Worker Health for the contractor employee compensation 
                 program under subtitle E of such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2013

  Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Polis, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Ben Ray 
    Lujan of New Mexico, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. 
 Brownley of California, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Pierluisi, and Mr. 
    Honda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
  Act of 2000 to strengthen the quality control measures in place for 
part B lung disease claims and to establish the Advisory Board on Toxic 
 Substances and Worker Health for the contractor employee compensation 
                 program under subtitle E of such Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Workers Health Advisory 
Board Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND 
              WORKER HEALTH.

    (a) Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health.--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:

``SEC. 3632. ADVISORY BOARD ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND WORKER HEALTH.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--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 appointments.--The President shall 
        make appointments to the Board in consultation with 
        organizations with expertise on worker health issues in order 
        to ensure that the membership of the Board reflects a proper 
        balance of perspectives from the scientific, medical, legal, 
        worker, worker families, and worker advocate communities.
            ``(3) Chairperson.--The President shall designate a Chair 
        of the Board from among its members.
    ``(b) Duties.--The Board shall--
            ``(1) advise 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 review of evidentiary 
        requirements for part B claims related to lung disease 
        regardless of approval;
            ``(4) provide oversight over industrial hygienists, 
        Department of Labor staff physicians, and Department of Labor's 
        consulting physicians and their reports to ensure quality, 
        objectivity, and consistency; and
            ``(5) coordinate exchanges of data and findings with the 
        Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health to the extent 
        necessary (under section 3624).
    ``(c) Staff and Powers.--
            ``(1) In general.--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) Federal agency personnel.--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) Powers.--The Board shall have same powers that the 
        Advisory Board has under section 3624.
            ``(4) Contractors.--The Secretary shall employ outside 
        contractors and specialists selected by the Board to support 
        the work of the Board.
    ``(d) Expenses.--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) Security Clearances.--
            ``(1) Application.--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.
            ``(2) Determination.--The Secretary of Energy should, not 
        later than 180 days after receiving a completed application for 
        a security clearance under this subsection, make a 
        determination whether or not the individual concerned is 
        eligible for the clearance.
            ``(3) Report.--For fiscal year 2015, 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) Information.--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 11(y) of the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(y))) and information covered by the Privacy 
Act.''.
    (b) Department of Labor Response to the Office of the Ombudsman 
Annual Report.--Section 3686 of the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s-15) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``February 15'' and 
        inserting ``July 30''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the following:
    ``(h) Response to Report.--Not later than 180 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.''.
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