Notifying the EEOICPA when someone dies

Part B (effective July 31, 2001) pays a lump sum of $150,000 plus medical benefits for radiogenic cancer, chronic beryllium disease, beryllium sensitivity, or chronic silicosis caused by exposure at a covered DOE, atomic weapons employer, or beryllium vendor facility. Part E (added October 28, 2004) is limited to DOE contractor and subcontractor employees, uranium workers, and their survivors, and compensates any occupational illness causally linked to toxic exposure in the DOE or covered mining work environment. Part E benefits include wage-loss and impairment compensation, with an aggregate cap of $250,000 per worker (42 U.S.C. 7385s-12).

Part B pays a one-time lump sum of $150,000 to the eligible survivor(s) of a covered worker (42 U.S.C. 7384s). If the surviving spouse claims and was married to the worker for at least one year before death, the spouse receives the full $150,000. If there is no eligible spouse, the payment goes to surviving children in equal shares; if none, to surviving parents; if none, to grandchildren; if none, to grandparents.

Part E survivor benefits are at least $125,000 for eligible survivors of a DOE contractor, subcontractor, or uranium worker whose death was caused by, contributed to, or aggravated by a covered occupational illness. Where the worker had qualifying periods of wage loss before Social Security retirement age, additional survivor compensation is added by tier: $0 for fewer than 10 years of wage loss, $25,000 for 10 to 19 years, and $50,000 for 20 or more years, so total survivor compensation does not exceed $175,000. The aggregate Part E compensation paid for any single worker — across all claimants and conditions — cannot exceed $250,000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s-12). Medical benefits do not count against the cap.

Under Part B (42 U.S.C. 7384s) the priority order is: (1) surviving spouse who was married to the worker for at least one year immediately before death, (2) surviving children in equal shares, (3) surviving parents in equal shares, (4) surviving grandchildren in equal shares, (5) surviving grandparents in equal shares. Part E uses a narrower definition: surviving spouse, or in the absence of a spouse, "covered children" (under 18, under 23 and enrolled in school full-time, or any age if incapable of self-support due to physical or mental disability at the time of the worker's death).

Survivors file Form EE-2 (Claim for Survivor Benefits Under EEOICPA), together with Form EE-3 (Employment History) describing the worker's covered employment. Both Part B and Part E benefits can be claimed on the same Form EE-2. File at the Resource Center nearest the survivor's home, through the Energy Document Portal, or by mail to U.S. Department of Labor OWCP/DEEOIC, P.O. Box 8306, London, KY 40742-8306.

EEOICPA does not impose a statutory filing deadline on survivor claims. However, DEEOIC encourages families to file as soon as possible because employment, exposure, and medical records become harder to gather over time, and many cases turn on records held by the DOE site or contractor decades after the exposure occurred.

A Special Exposure Cohort is a group of covered employees at a specific DOE or atomic weapons employer facility (or work period at that facility) where individual radiation dose reconstruction is not feasible or where the workers were exposed under conditions warranting presumptive coverage. If the worker falls within an approved SEC class and was diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, the cancer is presumed to be radiation-related and the claim moves to compensation without a full NIOSH dose reconstruction. A list of approved SECs is maintained by DEEOIC.

Resource Centers are DOL field offices located near major DOE sites that help workers and survivors file EEOICPA claims at no cost. There are eleven Resource Centers nationwide (California, Denver, Espanola NM, Hanford WA, Idaho Falls, Las Vegas, New York, Oak Ridge TN, Paducah KY, Portsmouth OH, and Savannah River SC). Staff help complete forms, gather employment and exposure documentation, and explain the claim process. Contact 1-866-888-3322 to be referred to the closest center.

A claims examiner at the assigned District Office issues a Recommended Decision. Within 60 calendar days of the date the Recommended Decision is issued (20 C.F.R. 30.310), the claimant may file a written objection with the Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) and request a hearing or a review of the written record. The FAB then issues the Final Decision. Objections go to the FAB office named in the Recommended Decision letter; the DEEOIC toll-free line, 1-866-888-3322, can direct you. Final Decisions denying benefits can be reopened in limited circumstances on new evidence.