What's New

October 15, 2008

Radiation Program staff will be joining the Department of Labor in a Town Hall Meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Tuesday October 21, 2008.  The meeting will start at noon and will be held at the Two Rivers Convention Center, located at 159 Main Street, in Grand Junction. The presentation slides are available in Adobe pdf format.

August 11, 2008

Program staff will be traveling to Spokane, Washington, on August 13, 2008, to conduct a Town Hall meeting in conjunction with the Department of Labor. The meeting will be held at 12:00pm at the Doubletree City Center in downtown Spokane.

December 12, 2007:

Expenses and Costs under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act

In light of the Federal Circuit Court decision of Hackwell v. United States, 491 F.3d 1229, 2007 WL 1935621 (10th Cir. 2007), the Justice Department will no longer be enforcing the regulation concerning attorneys fees whereby attorneys are prohibited from receiving reimbursement for expenses and costs in addition to the statutory fee limits, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 79.74(b). Accordingly, attorneys who represent clients under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act may receive reimbursement for expenses and costs related to the claim, in addition to the statutory attorney fee. On October 23, 2008, the Department published a Notice in the Federal Register (73 F.R. 63196) regarding its regulation concerning attorney's fees and costs. The full text of the Notice is attached at the link.

November 5, 2007:

Policy Guidance Regarding the Combination of Periods of Employment for Miners, Millers, and Ore Transporters

It has been the Department's practice to permit claimants to combine periods of employment as miners, millers, and ore transporters to meet the statutory one-year duration of employment requirement. For all three categories of uranium workers (mining, milling, and ore transporting), the Act specifies six common diseases: primary cancer of the lung, fibrosis of the lung, pulmonary fibrosis, cor pulmonale related to fibrosis of the lung, silicosis, and pneumoconiosis. Therefore, in cases involving these six illnesses, the Act’s exposure criteria can be satisfied by combining periods of employment that include mining, milling, and ore transporting. For millers and ore transporters (but not miners), the Act specifies two additional compensable diseases: primary renal cancer and chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury. In cases involving these two illnesses, the Act’s exposure criteria can be satisfied by combining periods of employment that include only milling and ore transporting. The Department will publish a Notice in the Federal Register discussing this statement of policy at the earliest opportunity