U.S. Department of Labor Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Division of Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation
Washington, DC 20210
DOL Color Seal

SUBJECT: Argonne National Laboratories-West, Scoville Idaho, Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) from April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957.

The purpose of this Circular is to notify all Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) staff of the SEC class designation for the Argonne National Laboratories-West, Scoville, Idaho.

Pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA) and 42 C.F.R. Part 83, a petition was filed on behalf of workers at the Argonne National Laboratories-West Site in Scoville, Idaho to be added to the SEC.

The decision to initiate this petition occurred after the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined that it could not completely reconstruct a dose under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13. NIOSH submitted its findings to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (“the Board”) on February 24, 2016. On May 2, 2016, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) received the Board’s recommendation to add to the SEC a class of employees who worked at Argonne National Laboratory-West in Scoville, Idaho.

On June 3, 2016, the Secretary of HHS designated the following class for addition to the SEC in a report to Congress:

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Argonne National Laboratory-West during the time period from April 10, 1951, through December 31, 1957, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.

A copy of the Secretary’s letter to Congress recommending the designation is included as Attachment 1. Although Congress had the authority to reject the recommendation within a 30-day time frame, Congress took no action. Therefore, the SEC designation for this class became effective as of July 3, 2016, which was 30 days after the Secretary of HHS designated the class for addition to the SEC in the report to Congress.

To qualify under this SEC class, the employee must be an employee of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Argonne National Laboratory-West between April 10, 1951 and December 31, 1957 for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days. In addition, the case file must be reviewed to determine if additional days in the SEC can be found by combining days from employment meeting the criteria for other SEC classes and aggregating them together to meet the 250-workday requirement.

While a new SEC class has been added for the Argonne National Laboratory-West, NIOSH intends to use any internal and external monitoring data that may become available for an individual claim (and that can be interpreted using existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures). Therefore, dose reconstructions for individuals employed at Argonne National Laboratory-West during the period from April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957, but who do not qualify for inclusion in the SEC, may be performed using these data as appropriate. This means that for claims that do not satisfy the SEC membership criteria, a partial dose reconstruction is to be performed by NIOSH.

A copy of the NIOSH letter to affected employees at the facility is included as Attachment 2.

This Circular should be used in conjunction with EEOICPA Bulletin No. 11-07, Special Exposure Cohort Claim Processing. A screening worksheet is included as Attachment 3.

As outlined in EEOICPA Bulletin No. 11-07, the district offices and Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) offices are to use the comprehensive list provided as the basis for an initial screening of cases associated with all SEC classes. The jurisdictional office listed on the comprehensive report as the location of where the case resides is responsible for ensuring that screening occurs for that case. For screening only, the results reflected on the initial screening worksheet must be recorded in ECS using the Screening (SEC/PER/Other) Navigation Panel. From the Screening (SEC/PER/Other) Navigation Panel on the case, select the ‘Create’ button. Based on the result of the review and in accordance with the ‘SEC Class Screening Worksheet’, select the appropriate result of “Likely” if the case is likely an SEC, “Unlikely” if it is unlikely that the case will be an SEC or “Development Needed” if development is needed. The date of the signed worksheet is recorded in the “Date” field. The reason associated with the SEC is selected in the “Reason” field. For this SEC, the reason is “Rvwd per Circular 16-05, Argonne National Laboratory-West in Scoville, Idaho (4/10/1951 - 12/31/1957).” If the CE determines that the case is going to be awarded based on an SEC, a positive SEC causation path must be entered into ECS. This process is the equivalent of the SER/SEF codes discussed in Bulletin 11-07.

RACHEL P. LEITON

Director, Division of Energy Employees

Occupational Illness Compensation

Attachments

Distribution List No. 1: Claims Examiners, Supervisory Claims Examiners, Technical Assistants, Customer Service Representatives, Fiscal Officers, FAB District Managers, Operation Chiefs, Hearing Representatives, District Office Mail & File Section