PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Workers who were at Department of Energy sites or at vendor sites where beryllium was used are treated as having been exposed to beryllium on the job, unless strong evidence shows they were not. People who get certain cancers named elsewhere in the law are treated as having a work-related cancer if a review finds it is at least as likely as not that the cancer came from their work at the listed facility. The President must make rules, after technical review by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, for how to decide if cancer is work-related. The rules must use the worker’s radiation dose and the upper 99 percent confidence interval from the radioepidemiological tables in section 7(b) of the Orphan Drug Act (42 U.S.C. 241 note), include required dose-reconstruction methods, and consider cancer type, smoking, and other factors. For atomic-weapons workers, radiation from nuclear-weapons work or DOE radioactive-material work counts, except for work under Executive Order No. 12344 (Naval Nuclear Propulsion). The President must set dose-estimate methods through a non-DOE agency, have the Advisory Board review those methods and check samples, the Energy Secretary must give each covered cancer patient their estimated dose, and HHS and DOE must publish the methods and data while protecting private medical records.

Title 42, §7384n

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

(a)Beryllium

A covered beryllium employee shall, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, be determined to have been exposed to beryllium in the performance of duty for the purposes of the compensation program if, and only if, the covered beryllium employee was—

(1)employed at a Department of Energy facility; or

(2)present at a Department of Energy facility, or a facility owned and operated by a beryllium vendor, because of employment by the United States, a beryllium vendor, or a contractor or subcontractor of the Department of Energy,

during a period when beryllium dust, particles, or vapor may have been present at such facility.

(b)Cancer

An individual with cancer specified in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of section 7384l(9)(B)(ii) of this title shall be determined to have sustained that cancer in the performance of duty for purposes of the compensation program if, and only if, the cancer specified in that subclause was at least as likely as not related to employment at the facility specified in that subclause, as determined in accordance with the guidelines established under subsection (c).

(c)Guidelines

(1)For purposes of the compensation program, the President shall by regulation establish guidelines for making the determinations required by subsection (b).

(2)The President shall establish such guidelines after technical review by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health under section 7384o of this title.

(3)Such guidelines shall—

(A)be based on the radiation dose received by the employee (or a group of employees performing similar work) at such facility and the upper 99 percent confidence interval of the probability of causation in the radioepidemiological tables published under section 7(b) of the Orphan Drug Act (42 U.S.C. 241 note), as such tables may be updated under section 7(b)(3) of such Act from time to time;

(B)incorporate the methods established under subsection (d); and

(C)take into consideration the type of cancer, past health-related activities (such as smoking), information on the risk of developing a radiation-related cancer from workplace exposure, and other relevant factors.

(4)In the case of an atomic weapons employee described in section 7384l(3)(B) of this title, the following doses of radiation shall be treated, for purposes of paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection, as part of the radiation dose received by the employee at such facility:

(A)Any dose of ionizing radiation received by that employee from facilities, materials, devices, or byproducts used or generated in the research, development, production, dismantlement, transportation, or testing of nuclear weapons, or from any activities to research, produce, process, store, remediate, or dispose of radioactive materials by or on behalf of the Department of Energy (except for activities covered by Executive Order No. 12344, dated February 1, 1982 (42 U.S.C. 7158 note) pertaining to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program).

(B)Any dose of ionizing radiation received by that employee from a source not covered by subparagraph (A) that is not distinguishable through reliable documentation from a dose covered by subparagraph (A).

(d)Methods for radiation dose reconstructions

(1)The President shall, through any Federal agency (other than the Department of Energy) or official (other than the Secretary of Energy or any other official within the Department of Energy) that the President may designate, establish by regulation methods for arriving at reasonable estimates of the radiation doses received by an individual specified in subparagraph (B) of section 7384l(9) of this title at a facility specified in that subparagraph by each of the following employees:

(A)An employee who was not monitored for exposure to radiation at such facility.

(B)An employee who was monitored inadequately for exposure to radiation at such facility.

(C)An employee whose records of exposure to radiation at such facility are missing or incomplete.

(2)The President shall establish an independent review process using the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health to—

(A)assess the methods established under paragraph (1); and

(B)verify a reasonable sample of the doses established under paragraph (1).

(e)Information on radiation doses

(1)The Secretary of Energy shall provide, to each covered employee with cancer specified in section 7384l(9)(B) of this title, information specifying the estimated radiation dose of that employee during each employment specified in section 7384l(9)(B) of this title, whether established by a dosimetry reading, by a method established under subsection (d), or by both a dosimetry reading and such method.

(2)The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Energy shall each make available to researchers and the general public information on the assumptions, methodology, and data used in establishing radiation doses under subsection (d). The actions taken under this paragraph shall be consistent with the protection of private medical records.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 7(b) of the Orphan Drug Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(3)(A), is section 7(b) of Pub. L. 97–414, which is set out in a note under section 241 of this title. Executive Order No. 12344, referred to in subsec. (c)(4)(A), is set out as a note under section 6102 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 108–375 added par. (4).

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions For delegation of certain functions of the President under this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 13179, Dec. 7, 2000, 65 F.R. 77487, set out as a note under section 7384 of this title.

§7384n Exposure in the Performance of Duty