Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA)
- Fact Sheet - EEOICPA (1.855 MB)
- Flyer - DOL Notice (122 KB)
- Booklet - A Basic Overview of EEOICPA(6.02 MB)
- Brochure - EEOICPA and FWP: Agency Roles/Programs for Assisting DOE Covered Workers (1.4 MB)
- Fact Sheet - How is my EEOICPA claim processed (239 KB)
A separate program, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) is a federal law that was established in 2000 that provides compensation and medical benefits to former workers who were potentially exposed to hazardous materials and have developed certain health conditions as a result of their work for DOE. The EEOICP also offers benefits to living survivors of former AEC workers. The EEOICP is currently administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Participation in the FWP is not required in order to apply for compensation from the EEOICP. However, if the former worker’s medical history and/or Ames Lab-FWP screening results suggest an occupational illness, then they may be used to support a claim for compensation for toxin- or radiation-induced occupational illnesses that may have resulted from work for the DOE, including sensitization to beryllium, chronic beryllium disease, asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and radiogenic cancers.
The Ames Lab-FWP medical screening is an independent and separate program from the DOL-EEOICP. Filing a claim with the DOL is a separate process from completing the Ames Lab-FWP Health and Work History Questionnaire. The Ames Lab-FWP can provide claims forms and guidance on how to fill them out. Once the claim is filed, the Ames Lab-FWP has no further involvement with the claims process.
For more information, you may call us at toll-free at 1-866-282-5818 or the DOL Resource Center directly toll-free at 1-866-540-4977 or visit the DOL-EEOICP website.
For more information about Radiation Dose Reconstruction through NIOSH, please call toll-free 1-877-222-7570, email ocas@cdc.gov or visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/.
Compensation includes:
- Part B: Lump-sum payment of $150,000 plus medical expenses related to accepted condition for certain occupational lung disease and radiation-induced cancers.
- Qualified survivors are also eligible for the lump sum compensation.
- Part E: Medical expenses related to accepted condition plus up to $250,000 based on level of impairment and/or years of qualifying wage loss for any illness due to exposure to radiation, chemicals, solvents, acids and metals while working at a DOE facility.
- If employee qualifies under Part B, then employee is also covered under Part E.
Occupational Lung Diseases Potentially Covered:
- Under Part B: beryllium sensitivity, Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD), chronic silicosis
- Under Part E: asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, pneumoconiosis, COPD
Special Exposure Cohort (SEC)
Ames Lab SEC
Former Ames Laboratory employees are also impacted by the designation of the following class of employees as a Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Act:
- DOE employees and DOE contractor and subcontractor employees who worked in any area of the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University during the period from August 13, 1942 through December 31, 1989, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under the employment, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the SEC.
Under the Act, Congress established the SEC to allow eligible cancer claims to be compensated without the completion of a radiation dose reconstruction or a determination of the probability of causation. In other words, there is a presumption that the cancer is related to work at the facility.
To qualify for compensation under the SEC, a covered employee must have been diagnosed with a "specified cancer" as defined in the governing regulations and must have worked for a specified period of time at an SEC facility.
Specified cancers include: bone cancer; renal cancer; leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia); lung cancer; multiple myeloma; lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease); or primary cancer of the bile ducts, brain, breast (male and female), colon, esophagus, gall bladder, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), laryngeal, ovary, pancreas, pharynx, salivary gland, small intestine, stomach, thyroid, or urinary bladder.
- A claim may also be filed for a cancer other than the specified cancers listed above that has metastasized to the bone, kidney or lung.
- If a previous claim was denied because the radiation dose reconstruction determined the probability of causation was less than 50%, the claim may be re-filed due to the SEC class.
Please note that any type of cancer can potentially be covered outside of the SEC provisions and under Part E.