Title 20

SECTION 30.230

30.230 What are the criteria necessary to establish that an employee contracted a covered illness under Part E of EEOICPA

§ 30.230 What are the criteria necessary to establish that an employee contracted a covered illness under Part E of EEOICPA?

To establish that an employee contracted a covered illness under Part E of the Act, the employee, or his or her survivor, must show one of the following:

(a) That OWCP has determined under Part B of EEOICPA that the employee is a DOE contractor employee as defined in § 30.5(x), and that he or she has been awarded compensation under that Part of the Act for an occupational illness;

(b) That the Attorney General has determined that the employee is entitled to payment of $100,000 as compensation due under section 5 of RECA for a claim made under that statute (however, if a deceased employee's survivor has been determined to be entitled to such an award, his or her survivor(s), if any, will only be entitled to benefits under Part E of EEOICPA in accordance with section 7385s-3 of the Act);

(c) That the Secretary of Energy has accepted a positive determination of a Physicians Panel that the employee sustained an illness or died due to exposure to a toxic substance at a DOE facility under former section 7385o of EEOICPA, or that the Secretary of Energy has found significant evidence contrary to a negative determination of a Physicians Panel; or

(d)(1) That the employee is a civilian DOE contractor employee as defined in § 30.5(x), or a civilian who was employed in a uranium mine or mill located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon or Texas at any time during the period from January 1, 1942 through December 31, 1971, or was employed in the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore from such a mine or mill during that same period, and that he or she:

(i) Has been diagnosed with an illness; and

(ii) That it is at least as likely as not that exposure to a toxic substance at a Department of Energy facility or at a RECA section 5 facility, as appropriate, was a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to, or causing the illness; and

(iii) That it is at least as likely as not that the exposure to such toxic substance was related to employment at a Department of Energy facility or a RECA section 5 facility, as appropriate.

(2) In making the determination under paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section, OWCP will consider:

(i) The nature, frequency and duration of exposure of the covered employee to the substance alleged to be toxic;

(ii) Evidence of the carcinogenic or pathogenic properties of the alleged toxic substance to which the employee was exposed;

(iii) An opinion of a qualified physician with expertise in treating, diagnosing or researching the illness claimed to be caused or aggravated by the alleged exposure; and

(iv) Any other evidence that OWCP determines to have demonstrated relevance to the relation between a particular toxic substance and the claimed illness.

[71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, as amended at 84 FR 3049, Feb. 8, 2019]