Chapter 1-0500 Data Requests from Department of Energy

1. Purpose and Scope. This chapter explains the procedures and policy for the efficient processing of Department of Energy (DOE) requests for DEEOIC claimant files.

2. Policy. The DOE is responsible for development and implementation of Part D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA or Act). Part D includes compensation through the appropriate State workers’ compensation system for an illness or death that arose out of exposure to a toxic substance during the course of employment at a DOE facility. Part D compensation covers a DOE contractor employee or his or her survivor.

3. DEEOIC Role in the Process. Claimants who apply to DEEOIC often apply for assistance under DOE’s Program. Therefore, to assist the claimant in limiting the burden of duplicate requests for case development information, DEEOIC, under the routine use provision of the Privacy Act, will provide case information to the DOE on a case-by-case basis for claimants who have applied to the DOL program and DOE for state assistance.

a. DEEOIC Information. Information released to DOE is limited to the eligible DOE contractor employee or survivor filing the DOE claim.

4. Requests by the DOE for DEEOIC Information. The DOE will submit the form “Request for Department of Labor EEOICPA Case Information” (Exhibit 1) to the designated District Office (DO) Point of Contact (POC) via E-mail or Fax.

a. Assignments for POC’s. POC’s have been established by each DO. Faxed requests from DOE must be date stamped as soon as they are retrieved from the fax machine in the DO and given to the designated POC.

b. Receipt of the request. Upon receipt of the request, the POC must determine if there is a record of the claim in the Energy Case Management System (ECMS).

(1) No Record of a Claim. If the POC determines that ECMS does not have a record of the file, the POC completes section 2 “Acknowledgment of Records Sent” on page 2 of Exhibit 1, marks the box “no records for the named individual,” and mails, faxes or emails the

response to the DOE requestor designated on the request form. The POC must make a copy of the request and response and keep a separate file for such DOE requests.

(2) Case Record is Found. If the POC determines that the DO has a case for the named individual, and that the case file is physically present within the DO, he or she enters the appropriate code into ECMS. The status effective date is the date the request is received by the POC via email. If the request is faxed, the status effective date is the date the document was date stamped as received by the DO. ECMS coding is discussed at length in the ECMS coding chapter of this manual.

(3) Case File is Physically Assigned Somewhere Other Than the DO. There will be instances when the case file is physically outside the DO jurisdiction.

(a) Final Adjudication Branch (FAB). If it is determined the file is with the FAB, the POC must fax or forward the request to the FAB Manager in the appropriate FAB office. The FAB official places a copy of the email or fax cover sheet in the case file. The FAB official is responsible for processing the request, including entering the appropriate code into ECMS.

(b) National Office. If the file is at the National Office (NO), the POC must forward the request to the designated Branch Chief. The POC includes in the email or fax cover sheet the date the request was received and the need to process the request. The NO official places a copy of the email or fax cover sheet in the case file. The NO official will be responsible for processing the request, including entering the appropriate code into ECMS.

5. Information Provided by the Resource Center. The DEEOIC will not provide information to the DOE that the Resource Centers have already provided. Therefore, the processing official must review the request form to determine if the DOE indicated a date in which they received information from the Resource Center. If a date is provided by the DOE, the processing official makes copies of claimant records only after the date indicated by the DOE. The processing official must complete appropriate sections on page 2 of request form. He or she must make a copy of the information requested by the DOE from the claimant’s file.

6. Copy Limitations. The POC must be keenly aware that copies of records are limited to the employee and, if applicable, the survivor named on the DOE request.

a. Personal Liability. DEEOIC Staff may be held personally liable for releases of information that violate the Privacy Act. Therefore, the processing official must review the copies to assure information is limited to the employee and the applicable survivor.

(1) For survivors not named on the DOE request form, a signed release by the survivor(s) must be provided to the DOL granting permission for DEEOIC to release his or her records.

(2) For privacy reasons, when discussing claimant information via email, the processing official cannot use the full name and Social Security Number (SSN) together in an email transmission unless it is in a separate document and password protected.

7. Submitting the Package to the DOE. The processing official prepares and express mails the package to the requesting DOE official to include the signed original of page 2, “Acknowledgment of Records Sent,” and the copied documents.

a. ECMS. The processing official must enter the appropriate code into ECMS signifying the submission of the package to the DOE. The status effective date is the date reflected by the processing official on the request form, section “Acknowledgment of Records Sent.”

8. Claims Files Exempt from a DOE Request for Copy. There may be instances in which DEEOIC has records for an individual; however, it may be inappropriate or unnecessary to copy the file.

a. The File is in the Beginning Phase of Development. If employment verification or medical evidence is still being developed, the DOE may want to resubmit the request at a later date after further DEEOIC development has occurred, depending on the urgency of the claim.

b. The Recommended/Final Decisions Issued is Based on a Non-Covered Condition. DEEOIC does not develop employment information in cases for non-covered conditions and will not have substantial information in the case file to assist the DOE with case development. Additionally, DEEOIC does not develop medical evidence for non-covered conditions and therefore will not have any substantive medical information that will be of benefit to DOE.

(1) Under such circumstances, the processing official calls the requestor in DOE and explains the status of the case. He or she asks DOE whether the DOE wants to reconsider the request. If the DOE still wants a copy of the file, the processing official copies and forwards the package to the DOE according to the procedures in this section, including proper coding in ECMS.

(2) If the DOE determines that they do not need a copy of the file, the processing official must state in the comments section on page 2 of the request form that the “DOE requestor withdrew request." The processing official must then copy the request for the case file and forward the original to the requestor at the DOE and update ECMS with the required coding.

c. Questions Regarding a DOE Request. If at anytime the POC or FAB official has questions regarding the request made by the DOE, he or she may contact the DOE requestor directly via email or telephone.

9. Processing Time. Processing of the DOE request should not take more than 15 days. If at any time the request reaches 15 days outstanding, the processing official must contact the DOE via e-mail, fax or mail explaining the progress and/or delay in processing the DOE’s request. The processing official must place a copy of the email, letter, or transcribed telephone conversation in the claimant’s file.

10. Duplicate Requests. If the processing official receives a duplicative request for file information, the official must check the claimant’s file to determine if any additional information was added to the file since the last request.

a. Additional Information Was Added. If additional information is identified in the file, the official must process the DOE request for the additional information, following the procedures outlined in this section, to include ECMS coding.

b. No Additional Information. If no new information was entered into the file since the DOE’s last request, the official must complete appropriate sections on page 2 of the request form. In addition, in the comments section, he or she states, “No new information added since the DOE’s prior request" and provide the date of the DOE request. The official must then copy the request form for the case file, and forward the original to the requestor at the DOE.

Exhibit 1: Request for Department of Labor EEOICPA Case Information