Nuclear Weapons Workers, Veterans And Residents Compensation and Health
Act (NWWVARCHA) of 2000
Summary of Discussion Draft
The draft bill provides a full Department of Labor Due Process remedy. It provides for $350,000 lump sum payments to prevailing claimants plus lifetime health care services for Nuclear Weapons Workers, Veterans and Residents injured by DOE operations. This bill uses a more inclusive "interim presumption" than in other pending proposals. Funding is accomplished through a "polluters pay" provision, as under Black Lung: a fund is set up into which those companies responsible for DOE site pollution would pay, based upon measured, reported amounts of pollution, (e.g., including the 4.2 million pounds of mercury DOE's contractor "lost" in Oak Ridge).
The bill is designed to assure that the compensation system: (1) pays for itself by making polluters pay, (2) is run by the Department of Labor rather than DOE to utilize Labor expertise in addressing workplace injuries and (3) compensates a broader range of DOE's victims. For more information, about these peoples' injuries and needs see www.downwinders.org/victims.html. The draft includes much of the May 18, 2000 House of Representatives resolution on DOE victims' compensation and it also includes an apology as in Rep. Kanjorski's original bill and in Secretary Richardson's April 12 statement. The legislation makes clear that it is not a welfare benefit and requires that it be codified with Department of Labor legislation in Title 29, and is enacted pursuant to the United States Constitution, Article I Sect. 8, clauses 1,3,7,9,10,11,12, 13, 14,16,17 & 18; and Amendment I & Amendment XIV, Section 5.
Like the Voinovich-Kennedy bill, NWWVARCHA uses DOL Longshore and Black Lung procedures for claims and compensation, including use of Office of Workers Compensation Programs Deputy Commissioners, and provides for hearings, appeals and judicial review. The bill protects the independence of Department of Labor appellate boards and health care decisions. NWWVARCHA expands the coverage, based upon partial disability, and includes a more inclusive "interim presumption" to benefits for sick miners, based upon illness and employment, following the Black Lung Act precedent. Unlike the DOE bill, this bill unites all claims in one easilyunderstood section, using unified medical and factual criteria. Persons with specified illnesses, exposures and status as DOE nuclear weapons site workers, residents or Atomic Veterans would be presumed qualified for lifetime benefits. The draft';s "interim presumption""responds to DOE and contractor's historic misuse of control over information, providing, for example, that sick workers whose medical files were "lost" would be held entitled to benefits if they are disabled. Baseline and continuing medical studies would be performed on a voluntary basis, with full informed consent, which would help provide better health care for NWWVARCHA beneficiaries. The act also includes provisions for promulgation of future medical standards for compensation. It has a selfimposed timeline for decisions and provides for reconsideration of denied claims in light of new evidence. The bill also provides for national advertising, local field offices, outreach, "Plain English"and use of Native American and Alaska Native languages and translators to assure that all DOE victims benefit. The bill amends the Federal Tort Claims Act to protect rights to jury trial and abolishes "discretionary function" defense for "ultrahazardous activities."