Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§7384s Compensation and benefits to be provided

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 84— - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XVI— - ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM › Part Part B— - Program Administration › § 7384s

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A covered employee or that employee’s survivor must get $150,000 if the employee has a disability or dies from an occupational illness. If the illness is established as beryllium sensitivity, the worker gets beryllium sensitivity monitoring instead of the $150,000. The worker also gets medical benefits under section 7384t for the occupational illness. Beryllium sensitivity monitoring means a full medical exam to confirm the condition and regular follow-up exams to watch for chronic beryllium disease. Payments, when approved by the President, come from the compensation fund under section 7384e. If the employee is dead when payment is made, the money goes in this order: surviving spouse, then children, then parents, then grandchildren, then grandparents, with equal shares among those in the same group. A survivor may file a claim if the employee died before filing. “Spouse” means married at least one year before death. “Child,” “parent,” “grandchild,” and “grandparent” are defined to include recognized natural, adopted, and certain step relationships. The rule takes effect July 31, 2001, unless Congress acts before then.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §7384s

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), a covered employee, or the survivor of that covered employee if the employee is deceased, shall receive compensation for the disability or death of that employee from that employee’s occupational illness in the amount of $150,000.
(2)A covered employee shall, to the extent that employee’s occupational illness is established beryllium sensitivity, receive beryllium sensitivity monitoring under subsection (c) in lieu of compensation under paragraph (1).
(b)A covered employee shall receive medical benefits under section 7384t of this title for that employee’s occupational illness.
(c)An individual receiving beryllium sensitivity monitoring under this subsection shall receive the following:
(1)A thorough medical examination to confirm the nature and extent of the individual’s established beryllium sensitivity.
(2)Regular medical examinations thereafter to determine whether that individual has developed established chronic beryllium disease.
(d)The compensation provided under this section, when authorized or approved by the President, shall be paid from the compensation fund established under section 7384e of this title.
(e)(1)In the case of a covered employee who is deceased at the time of payment of compensation under this section, whether or not the death is the result of the covered employee’s occupational illness, such payment may be made only as follows:
(A)If the covered employee is survived by a spouse who is living at the time of payment, such payment shall be made to such surviving spouse.
(B)If there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph (A), such payment shall be made in equal shares to all children of the covered employee who are living at the time of payment.
(C)If there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph (A) and if there are no children described in subparagraph (B), such payment shall be made in equal shares to the parents of the covered employee who are living at the time of payment.
(D)If there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph (A), and if there are no children described in subparagraph (B) or parents described in subparagraph (C), such payment shall be made in equal shares to all grandchildren of the covered employee who are living at the time of payment.
(E)If there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph (A), and if there are no children described in subparagraph (B), parents described in subparagraph (C), or grandchildren described in subparagraph (D), then such payment shall be made in equal shares to the grandparents of the covered employee who are living at the time of payment.
(F)Notwithstanding the other provisions of this paragraph, if there is—
(i)a surviving spouse described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii)at least one child of the covered employee who is living and a minor at the time of payment and who is not a recognized natural child or adopted child of such surviving spouse,
(2)If a covered employee eligible for payment dies before filing a claim under this subchapter, a survivor of that employee who may receive payment under paragraph (1) may file a claim for such payment.
(3)For purposes of this subsection—
(A)the “spouse” of an individual is a wife or husband of that individual who was married to that individual for at least one year immediately before the death of that individual;
(B)a “child” includes a recognized natural child, a stepchild who lived with an individual in a regular parent-child relationship, and an adopted child;
(C)a “parent” includes fathers and mothers through adoption;
(D)a “grandchild” of an individual is a child of a child of that individual; and
(E)a “grandparent” of an individual is a parent of a parent of that individual.
(f)This section shall take effect on July 31, 2001, unless Congress otherwise provides in an Act enacted before that date.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2001—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 107–107 amended heading and text of subsec. (e) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if a covered employee dies before the

Effective Date

specified in subsection (f) of this section, whether or not the death is a result of that employee’s occupational illness, a survivor of that employee may, on behalf of that survivor and any other survivors of that employee, receive the compensation provided for under this section. “(2) The right to receive compensation under this section shall be afforded to survivors in the same order of precedence as that set forth in section 8109 of title 5.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2001 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–107 effective July 1, 2001, see section 3151(a)(4)(D) of Pub. L. 107–107, set out as a note under section 7384l of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 7384s

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73