[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19518-19519]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07488]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

20 CFR Part 30

RIN 1240-AA08


Claims for Compensation Under the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation Program Act

AGENCY: Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor is reopening and extending the comment 
period for the notice of proposed rulemaking it published on November 
18, 2015 (80 FR 72296). The Department originally allowed a 60-day 
comment period that was scheduled to close on January 19, 2016, but on 
that date extended the comment period another 30 days through February 
18, 2016 (81 FR 2787). This notice indicates that the comment period is 
being reopened as of April 5, 2016 and extended for an additional 
period. The comment period for the information collection requirements 
in the proposed rule ended on December 18, 2015, and that period is not 
being reopened.

DATES: The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking 
published on November 18, 2015 (80 FR 72296) and extended at 81 FR 2787 
(January 19, 2016) is reopened. The Department will accept written 
comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking from interested parties 
that are submitted from April 5, 2016 through May 9, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Parties may submit comments on the regulations in the 
proposed rule, identified by Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 1240-
AA08, by any ONE of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: The Internet address to submit 
comments on the regulations in the proposed rule is 
www.regulations.gov. Follow the Web site instructions for submitting 
comments. Comments will also be available for public inspection on the 
Web site.
    Mail or Hand Delivery: Submit written comments by mail to Rachel P. 
Leiton, Director, Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Department 
of Labor, Room C-3321, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20210. The Department will only consider mailed comments that have been 
postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service or other delivery service on or 
before the deadline for comments.
    Instructions: All comments must cite RIN 1240-AA08 that has been 
assigned to this rulemaking. Receipt of any comments, whether by 
Internet, mail or hand delivery, will not be acknowledged.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel P. Leiton, Director, Division 
of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation, Office of 
Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room C-3321, 
200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone: 202-693-
0081 (this is not a toll-free number).
    Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access this 
telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information 
Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to requests from members of the 
public, the Department has decided to reopen the public comment period 
for the notice of proposed rulemaking it published on November 18, 2015 
(80 FR 72296). The Department originally allowed a 60-day comment 
period that was scheduled to close on January 19, 2016, but on that 
date extended the comment period another 30 days through February 18, 
2016 (81 FR 2787). The comment period is being reopened as of April 5, 
2016 and extended through May 9, 2016. The comment

[[Page 19519]]

period for the information collection requirements in the proposed rule 
ended on December 18, 2015, and that period is not being reopened.
    The notice of proposed rulemaking contains changes to update the 
regulations governing the administration of the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended 
(EEOICPA or Act), 42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq., which was originally enacted 
on October 30, 2000. The initial version of EEOICPA established a 
compensation program (known as Part B of the Act) to provide a uniform 
lump-sum payment of $150,000 and medical benefits as compensation to 
covered employees who had sustained designated illnesses due to their 
exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica while in the performance of 
duty for DOE and certain of its vendors, contractors and 
subcontractors. Part B of the Act also provides for payment of 
compensation to certain survivors of these covered employees, and for 
payment of a smaller uniform lump-sum ($50,000) to individuals (who 
would also receive medical benefits), or their survivors, who were 
determined to be eligible for compensation under section 5 of the 
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), 42 U.S.C. 2210 note, by the 
Department of Justice. Primary responsibility for the administration of 
Part B of the Act was assigned to DOL by Executive Order 13179 
(``Providing Compensation to America's Nuclear Weapons Workers'') of 
December 7, 2000 (65 FR 77487).
    The initial version of EEOICPA also created a second program (known 
as Part D of the Act) that required DOE to establish a system by which 
DOE contractor employees (and their eligible survivors) could seek 
assistance from DOE in obtaining state workers' compensation benefits 
if a Physicians Panel determined that the employee in question had 
sustained a covered illness as a result of work-related exposure to a 
toxic substance at a DOE facility. A positive panel finding that was 
accepted by DOE required DOE, to the extent permitted by law, to order 
its contractor not to contest the claim for state workers' compensation 
benefits. However, Congress amended EEOICPA in Subtitle E of Title XXXI 
of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2005, Public Law 108-375, 118 Stat. 1811, 2178 (October 28, 2004), 
by abolishing Part D of the Act and creating a new Part E (codified at 
42 U.S.C. 7385s through 7385s-15) that it assigned to DOL for 
administration. Part E established a new system of variable federal 
payments for DOE contractor employees, uranium workers covered by 
section 5 of RECA, and eligible survivors of such employees.
    The Department's proposed rule would amend certain of the existing 
regulations governing its administration of Parts B and E of EEOICPA to 
conform them to current administrative practice, based on its 
experience administering the Act since 2001, to bring further clarity 
to the regulatory description of the claims adjudication process, and 
to improve the administration of the Act.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 29th day of March, 2016.
Leonard J. Howie III,
Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.
[FR Doc. 2016-07488 Filed 4-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-CR-P