(a) Any survivor of an employee who sustained an occupational
illness may file a claim for compensation in writing on or after July
31, 2001. Form EE-2 should be used for this purpose, but any written
communication that requests benefits under the EEOICPA will be
considered a claim. It will, however, be necessary for a claimant to
submit a Form EE-2 for OWCP to adjudicate the claim. Copies of Form EE-
2 may be obtained from OWCP, from DOE, or from OWCP's home page on the
Internet at http://www.dol.gov/esa/owcp_org.htm. The claiming
survivor must file his or her claim with OWCP, or another person may do
so on the survivor's behalf. Although only one survivor need file a
claim under this section to initiate the adjudication process, OWCP
will distribute any monetary benefits paid among all eligible surviving
beneficiaries pursuant to the terms of Sec. 30.501.
(b) A survivor may withdraw his or her claim by so requesting in
writing to OWCP at any time before OWCP determines eligibility for
benefits.
(c) A survivor must be alive to receive any payment; there is no
vested right to such payment.
(d) A survivor's claim is considered to be ``filed'' on the date
that the survivor mails his or her claim to OWCP, as determined by
postmark, or the date that the claim is received by OWCP or DOE,
whichever is the earliest determinable date, but in no event earlier
than July 31, 2001.
(1) Form EE-2 shall be sworn to by the survivor, or by the person
filing the claim on behalf of the survivor.
(2) Except for the survivor of a covered uranium employee, the
survivor
is responsible for submitting, or arranging for the submission of,
evidence to OWCP that establishes that the employee upon whom the
survivor's claim is based was eligible for such benefits, including
medical evidence that establishes that the employee sustained an
occupational illness.
