[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77487-77490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31692]



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Part VI





The President





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Executive Order 13179--Providing Compensation to America's Nuclear 
Weapons Workers
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 77487]]

                Executive Order 13179 of December 7, 2000

                
Providing Compensation to America's Nuclear 
                Weapons Workers

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including Public Law 106-398, the Energy 
                Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act 
                of 2000 (Public Law 106-398, the ``Act''), and to 
                allocate the responsibilities imposed by that 
                legislation and to provide for further legislative 
                efforts, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. Since World War II, hundreds of 
                thousands of men and women have served their Nation in 
                building its nuclear defense. In the course of their 
                work, they overcame previously unimagined scientific 
                and technical challenges. Thousands of these courageous 
                Americans, however, paid a high price for their 
                service, developing disabling or fatal illnesses as a 
                result of exposure to beryllium, ionizing radiation, 
                and other hazards unique to nuclear weapons production 
                and testing. Too often, these workers were neither 
                adequately protected from, nor informed of, the 
                occupational hazards to which they were exposed.

                Existing workers' compensation programs have failed to 
                provide for the needs of these workers and their 
                families. Federal workers' compensation programs have 
                generally not included these workers. Further, because 
                of long latency periods, the uniqueness of the hazards 
                to which they were exposed, and inadequate exposure 
                data, many of these individuals have been unable to 
                obtain State workers' compensation benefits. This 
                problem has been exacerbated by the past policy of the 
                Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors of 
                encouraging and assisting DOE contractors in opposing 
                the claims of workers who sought those benefits. This 
                policy has recently been reversed.

                While the Nation can never fully repay these workers or 
                their families, they deserve recognition and 
                compensation for their sacrifices. Since the 
                Administration's historic announcement in July of 1999 
                that it intended to compensate DOE nuclear weapons 
                workers who suffered occupational illnesses as a result 
                of exposure to the unique hazards in building the 
                Nation's nuclear defense, it has been the policy of 
                this Administration to support fair and timely 
                compensation for these workers and their survivors. The 
                Federal Government should provide necessary information 
                and otherwise help employees of the DOE or its 
                contractors determine if their illnesses are associated 
                with conditions of their nuclear weapons-related work; 
                it should provide workers and their survivors with all 
                pertinent and available information necessary for 
                evaluating and processing claims; and it should ensure 
                that this program minimizes the administrative burden 
                on workers and their survivors, and respects their 
                dignity and privacy. This order sets out agency 
                responsibilities to accomplish these goals, building on 
                the Administration's articulated principles and the 
                framework set forth in the Energy Employees 
                Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. 
                The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, 
                and Energy shall be responsible for developing and 
                implementing actions under the Act to compensate these 
                workers and their families in a manner that is 
                compassionate, fair, and timely. Other Federal 
                agencies, as appropriate, shall assist in this effort.

[[Page 77488]]

                Sec. 2. Designation of Responsibilities for 
                Administering the Energy Employees' Occupational 
                Illness Compensation Program (``Program'').

                    (a) Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Labor 
                shall have primary responsibility for administering the 
                Program. Specifically, the Secretary shall:

                 (i) Administer and decide all questions arising under 
                the Act not assigned to other agencies by the Act or by 
                this order, including determining the eligibility of 
                individuals

                with covered occupational illnesses and their survivors 
                and adjudicating claims for compensation and benefits;

                 (ii) No later than May 31, 2001, promulgate 
                regulations for the administration of the Program, 
                except for functions assigned to other agencies 
                pursuant to the Act or this order;

                 (iii) No later than July 31, 2001, ensure the 
                availability, in paper and electronic format, of forms 
                necessary for making claims under the Program; and

                 (iv) Develop informational materials, in coordination 
                with the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services, to help potential claimants 
                understand the Program and the application process, and 
                provide these materials to individuals upon request and 
                to the Secretary of Energy and the Attorney General for 
                dissemination to potentially eligible individuals.

                    (b) Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services shall:

                 (i) No later than May 31, 2001, promulgate regulations 
                establishing:

                 (A) guidelines, pursuant to section 3623(c) of the 
                Act, to assess the likelihood that an individual with 
                cancer sustained the cancer in the performance of duty 
                at a Department of Energy facility or an atomic weapons 
                employer facility, as defined by the Act; and

                 (B) methods, pursuant to section 3623(d) of the Act, 
                for arriving at and providing reasonable estimates of 
                the radiation doses received by individuals applying 
                for assistance under this program for whom there are 
                inadequate records of radiation exposure;

                 (ii) In accordance with procedures developed by the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services, consider and 
                issue determinations on petitions by classes of 
                employees to be treated as members of the Special 
                Exposure Cohort;

                 (iii) With the assistance of the Secretary of Energy, 
                apply the methods promulgated under subsection 
                (b)(i)(B) to estimate the radiation doses received by 
                individuals applying for assistance;

                 (iv) Upon request from the Secretary of Energy, 
                appoint members for a physician panel or panels to 
                consider individual workers' compensation claims as 
                part of the Worker Assistance Program under the process 
                established pursuant to subsection (c)(v); and

                 (v) Provide the Advisory Board established under 
                section 4 of this order with administrative services, 
                funds, facilities, staff, and other necessary support 
                services and perform the administrative functions of 
                the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 
                as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), with respect to the 
                Advisory Board.

                    (c) Secretary of Energy. The Secretary of Energy 
                shall:

                 (i) Provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                and the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health 
                access, in accordance with law, to all relevant 
                information pertaining to worker exposures, including 
                access to restricted data, and any other technical 
                assistance needed to carry out their responsibilities 
                under subsection (b)(ii) and section 4(b), 
                respectively.

                 (ii) Upon request from the Secretary of Health and 
                Human Services or the Secretary of Labor, and as 
                permitted by law, require a DOE contractor, 
                subcontractor, or

[[Page 77489]]

                designated beryllium vendor, pursuant to section 
                3631(c) of the Act, to provide information relevant to 
                a claim under this Program;

                 (iii) Identify and notify potentially eligible 
                individuals of the availability of compensation under 
                the Program;

                 (iv) Designate, pursuant to sections 3621(4)(B) and 
                3622 of the Act, atomic weapons employers and additions

                to the list of designated beryllium vendors;

                 (v) Pursuant to Subtitle D of the Act, negotiate 
                agreements with the chief executive officer of each 
                State in which there is a DOE facility, and other 
                States as appropriate, to provide assistance to a DOE 
                contractor employee on filing a State workers' 
                compensation system claim, and establish a Worker 
                Assistance Program to help individuals whose illness is 
                related to employment in the DOE's nuclear weapons 
                complex, or the individual's survivor if the individual 
                is deceased, in applying for State workers' 
                compensation benefits. This assistance shall include:

                 (1) Submittal of reasonable claims to a physician 
                panel, appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services and administered by the Secretary of Energy, 
                under procedures established by the Secretary of 
                Energy, for determination of whether the individual's 
                illness or death arose out of and in the course of 
                employment by the DOE or its contractors and exposure 
                to a toxic substance at a DOE facility; and

                 (2) For cases determined by the physician panel and 
                the Secretary of Energy under section 3661(d) and (e) 
                of the Act to have arisen out of and in the course of 
                employment by the DOE or its contractors and exposure 
                to a toxic substance at a DOE facility, provide 
                assistance to the individual in filing for workers' 
                compensation benefits. The Secretary shall not contest 
                these claims and, to the extent permitted by law, shall 
                direct a DOE contractor who employed the applicant not 
                to contest the claim;

                 (vi) Report on the Worker Assistance Program by making 
                publicly available on at least an annual basis claims- 
                related data, including the number of claims filed, the 
                number of illnesses found to be related to work at a 
                DOE

                facility, job location and description, and number of 
                successful State workers' compensation claims awarded; 
                and

                 (vii) No later than January 15, 2001, publish in the 
                Federal Register a list of atomic weapons employer 
                facilities within the meaning of section 3621(5) of the 
                Act, Department of Energy employer facilities within 
                the meaning of section 3621(12) of the Act, and a list 
                of facilities owned and operated by a beryllium vendor, 
                within the meaning of section 3621(6) of the Act.

                    (d) Attorney General. The Attorney General shall:

                 (i) Develop procedures to notify, to the extent 
                possible, each claimant (or the survivor of that 
                claimant if deceased) whose claim for compensation 
                under section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 
                Act has been or is approved by the Department of 
                Justice, of the availability of supplemental 
                compensation and benefits under the Energy Employees 
                Occupational Illness Compensation Program;

                 (ii) Identify and notify eligible covered uranium 
                employees or their survivors of the availability of 
                supplemental compensation under the Program; and

                 (iii) Upon request by the Secretary of Labor, provide 
                information needed to adjudicate the claim of a covered 
                uranium employee under this Program.

                Sec. 3. Establishment of Interagency Working Group.

                    (a) There is hereby established an Interagency 
                Working Group to be composed of representatives from 
                the Office of Management and Budget, the National 
                Economic Council, and the Departments of Labor, Energy, 
                Health and Human Services, and Justice.

[[Page 77490]]

                    (b) The Working Group shall:

                 (i) By January 1, 2001, develop a legislative proposal 
                to ensure the Program's fairness and efficiency, 
                including provisions to assure adequate administrative 
                resources and swift dispute resolution; and

                 (ii) Address any impediments to timely and coordinated 
                Program implementation.

                Sec. 4. Establishment of Advisory Board on Radiation 
                and Worker Health.

                    (a) Pursuant to Public Law 106-398, there is hereby 
                established an Advisory Board on Radiation and Health 
                (Advisory Board). The Advisory Board shall consist of 
                no more than 20 members to be appointed by the 
                President. Members shall include affected workers and 
                their representatives, and representatives from 
                scientific and medical communities. The President shall 
                designate a Chair for the Board among its members.
                    (b) The Advisory Board shall:

                 (i) Advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                on the development of guidelines under section 2(b)(i) 
                of this order;

                 (ii) Advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                on the scientific validity and quality of dose 
                reconstruction efforts performed for this Program; and

                 (iii) Upon request by the Secretary of Health and 
                Human Services, advise the Secretary on whether there 
                is a class of employees at any Department of Energy 
                facility who were exposed to radiation but for whom it 
                is not feasible to estimate their radiation dose, and 
                on whether there is a reasonable likelihood that such 
                radiation dose may have endangered the health of 
                members of the class.

                Sec. 5. Reporting Requirements. The Secretaries of 
                Labor, Health and Human Services, and Energy shall, as 
                part of their annual budget submissions, report to the 
                Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on their 
                activities under this Program, including total 
                expenditures related to benefits and program 
                administration. They shall also report to the OMB, no 
                later than March 1, 2001, on the manner in which they 
                will carry out their respective responsibilities under 
                the Act and this order. This report shall include, 
                among other things, a description of the administrative 
                structure established within their agencies to 
                implement the Act and this order. In addition, the 
                Secretary of Labor shall annually report on the total 
                number and types of claims for which compensation was 
                considered and other data pertinent to evaluating the 
                Federal Government's performance fulfilling the 
                requirements of the Act and this order.

                Sec. 6. Administration and Judicial Review. (a) This 
                Executive Order shall be carried out subject to the 
                availability of appropriations, and to the extent 
                permitted by law.

                    (b) This Executive Order does not create any right 
                or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 
                law or equity by a party against the United States, its 
                agencies, its officers or employees, or any other 
                person.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                     December 7, 2000.

[FR Doc. 00-31692
Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P