U.S. Code » Title 42 » Chapter CHAPTER 84— DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XVI— ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM › Part Part B— Program Administration

42 U.S.C. § 7384l

Definitions for program administration

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In this subchapter:(1) The term “covered employee” means any of the following:(A) A covered beryllium employee.(B) A covered employee with cancer.(C) To the extent provided in section 7384r of this title, a covered employee with chronic silicosis (as defined in that section).(2) The term “atomic weapon” has the meaning given that term in section 2014(d) of this title.(3) The term “atomic weapons employee” means any of the following:(A) An individual employed by an atomic weapons employer during a period when the employer was processing or producing, for the use by the United States, material that emitted radiation and was used in the production of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium mining and milling.(B) An individual employed—(i) at a facility with respect to which the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in its report dated October 2003 and titled “Report on Residual Radioactive and Beryllium Contamination at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities and Beryllium Vendor Facilities”, or any update to that report, found that there is a potential for significant residual contamination outside of the period in which weapons-related production occurred;(ii) by an atomic weapons employer or subsequent owner or operators of a facility described in clause (i); and(iii) during a period, as specified in such report or any update to such report, of potential for significant residual radioactive contamination at such facility.(4) The term “atomic weapons employer” means an entity, other than the United States, that—(A) processed or produced, for use by the United States, material that emitted radiation and was used in the production of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium mining and milling; and(B) is designated by the Secretary of Energy as an atomic weapons employer for purposes of the compensation program.(5) The term “atomic weapons employer facility” means a facility, owned by an atomic weapons employer, that is or was used to process or produce, for use by the United States, material that emitted radiation and was used in the production of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium mining or milling.(6) The term “beryllium vendor” means any of the following:(A) Atomics International.(B) Brush Wellman, Incorporated, and its predecessor, Brush Beryllium Company.(C) General Atomics.(D) General Electric Company.(E) NGK Metals Corporation and its predecessors, Kawecki-Berylco, Cabot Corporation, BerylCo, and Beryllium Corporation of America.(F) Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation.(G) StarMet Corporation and its predecessor, Nuclear Metals, Incorporated.(H) Wyman Gordan, Incorporated.(I) Any other vendor, processor, or producer of beryllium or related products designated as a beryllium vendor for purposes of the compensation program under section 7384m of this title.(7) The term “covered beryllium employee” means the following, if and only if the employee is determined to have been exposed to beryllium in the performance of duty in accordance with section 7384n(a) of this title:(A) A current or former employee (as that term is defined in section 8101(1) of title 5) who may have been exposed to beryllium at a Department of Energy facility or at a facility owned, operated, or occupied by a beryllium vendor.(B) A current or former employee of—(i) any entity that contracted with the Department of Energy to provide management and operation, management and integration, or environmental remediation of a Department of Energy facility; or(ii) any contractor or subcontractor that provided services, including construction and maintenance, at such a facility.(C) A current or former employee of a beryllium vendor, or of a contractor or subcontractor of a beryllium vendor, during a period when the vendor was engaged in activities related to the production or processing of beryllium for sale to, or use by, the Department of Energy.(8) The term “covered beryllium illness” means any of the following:(A) Beryllium sensitivity as established by—(i) an abnormal beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test performed on either blood or lung lavage cells; or(ii) three borderline beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests performed on blood cells over a period of 3 years.(B) Established chronic beryllium disease.(C) Any injury, illness, impairment, or disability sustained as a consequence of a covered beryllium illness referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B).(9) The term “covered employee with cancer” means any of the following:(A) An individual with a specified cancer who is a member of the Special Exposure Cohort, if and only if that individual contracted that specified cancer after beginning employment at a Department of Energy facility (in the case of a Department of Energy employee or Department of Energy contractor employee) or at an atomic weapons employer facility (in the case of an atomic weapons employee).(B)(i) An individual with cancer specified in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause (ii), if and only if that individual is determined to have sustained that cancer in the performance of duty in accordance with section 7384n(b) of this title.(ii) Clause (i) applies to any of the following:(I) A Department of Energy employee who contracted that cancer after beginning employment at a Department of Energy facility.(II) A Department of Energy contractor employee who contracted that cancer after beginning employment at a Department of Energy facility.(III) An atomic weapons employee who contracted that cancer after beginning employment at an atomic weapons employer facility.(10) The term “Department of Energy” includes the predecessor agencies of the Department of Energy, including the Manhattan Engineering District.(11) The term “Department of Energy contractor employee” means any of the following:(A) An individual who is or was in residence at a Department of Energy facility as a researcher for one or more periods aggregating at least 24 months.(B) An individual who is or was employed at a Department of Energy facility by—(i) an entity that contracted with the Department of Energy to provide management and operating, management and integration, or environmental remediation at the facility; or(ii) a contractor or subcontractor that provided services, including construction and maintenance, at the facility.(12) The term “Department of Energy facility” means any building, structure, or premise, including the grounds upon which such building, structure, or premise is located—(A) in which operations are, or have been, conducted by, or on behalf of, the Department of Energy (except for buildings, structures, premises, grounds, or operations covered by Executive Order No. 12344, dated February 1, 1982, pertaining to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program); and(B) with regard to which the Department of Energy has or had—(i) a proprietary interest; or(ii) entered into a contract with an entity to provide management and operation, management and integration, environmental remediation services, construction, or maintenance services.(13) The term “established chronic beryllium disease” means chronic beryllium disease as established by the following:(A) For diagnoses on or after January 1, 1993, beryllium sensitivity (as established in accordance with paragraph (8)(A)), together with lung pathology consistent with chronic beryllium disease, including—(i) a lung biopsy showing granulomas or a lymphocytic process consistent with chronic beryllium disease;(ii) a computerized axial tomography scan showing changes consistent with chronic beryllium disease; or(iii) pulmonary function or exercise testing showing pulmonary deficits consistent with chronic beryllium disease.(B) For diagnoses before January 1, 1993, the presence of—(i) occupational or environmental history, or epidemiologic evidence of beryllium exposure; and(ii) any three of the following criteria:(I) Characteristic chest radiographic (or computed tomography (CT)) abnormalities.(II) Restrictive or obstructive lung physiology testing or diffusing lung capacity defect.(III) Lung pathology consistent with chronic beryllium disease.(IV) Clinical course consistent with a chronic respiratory disorder.(V) Immunologic tests showing beryllium sensitivity (skin patch test or beryllium blood test preferred).(14) The term “member of the Special Exposure Cohort” means a Department of Energy employee, Department of Energy contractor employee, or atomic weapons employee who meets any of the following requirements:(A) The employee was so employed for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days before February 1, 1992, at a gaseous diffusion plant located in Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio, or Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and, during such employment—(i) was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges for exposure at the plant of the external parts of employee’s body to radiation; or(ii) worked in a job that had exposures comparable to a job that is or was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges.(B) The employee was so employed before January 1, 1974, by the Department of Energy or a Department of Energy contractor or subcontractor on Amchitka Island, Alaska, and was exposed to ionizing radiation in the performance of duty related to the Long Shot, Milrow, or Cannikin underground nuclear tests.(C)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the employee is an individual designated as a member of the Special Exposure Cohort by the President for purposes of the compensation program under section 7384q of this title.(ii) A designation under clause (i) shall, unless Congress otherwise provides, take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President submits to Congress a report identifying the individuals covered by the designation and describing the criteria used in designating those individuals.(15) The term “occupational illness” means a covered beryllium illness, cancer referred to in paragraph (9)(B), specified cancer, or chronic silicosis, as the case may be.(16) The term “radiation” means ionizing radiation in the form of—(A) alpha particles;(B) beta particles;(C) neutrons;(D) gamma rays; or(E) accelerated ions or subatomic particles from accelerator machines.(17) The term “specified cancer” means any of the following:(A) A specified disease, as that term is defined in section 4(b)(2) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note).(B) Bone cancer.(C) Renal cancers.(D) Leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), if initial occupational exposure occurred before 21 years of age and onset occurred more than two years after initial occupational exposure.(Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [div. C, title XXXVI, § 3621], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–498; Pub. L. 107–20, title II, § 2403(a), July 24, 2001, 115 Stat. 175; Pub. L. 107–107, div. C, title XXXI, § 3151(a)(1), (4)(C), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1371, 1374; Pub. L. 108–375, div. C, title XXXI, §§ 3166(b)(2), 3168(a), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 2189, 2190; Pub. L. 118–31, div. E, title LV, § 5501(b), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 956.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Executive Order No. 12344, referred to in par. (12)(A), is set out as a note under section 6102 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

Section 4(b)(2) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, referred to in par. (17)(A), is section 4(b)(2) of Pub. L. 101–426, which is set out in a note under section 2210 of this title.

Amendments

2023—Par. (8)(A). Pub. L. 118–31 inserted dash after “established by”, designated remainder of existing provisions as cl. (i), and added cl. (ii).

2004—Par. (3). Pub. L. 108–375, § 3168(a), amended par. (3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as follows: “The term ‘atomic weapons employee’ means an individual employed by an atomic weapons employer during a period when the employer was processing or producing, for the use by the United States, material that emitted radiation and was used in the production of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium mining and milling.”

Par. (14)(C)(ii). Pub. L. 108–375, § 3166(b)(2), substituted “30 days” for “180 days”.

2001—Par. (17)(C). Pub. L. 107–20 added subpar. (C).

Par. (17)(D). Pub. L. 107–107, § 3151(a)(1), added subpar. (D).

Par. (18). Pub. L. 107–107, § 3151(a)(4)(C), struck out par. (18) which read as follows: “The term ‘survivor’ means any individual or individuals eligible to receive compensation pursuant to section 8133 of title 5.”

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 2001 Amendments

Pub. L. 107–107, div. C, title XXXI, § 3151(a)(4)(D), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1374, provided that: “The amendments made by this paragraph [amending this section and sections 7384s and 7384u of this title] shall take effect on July 1, 2001.”

Pub. L. 107–20, title II, § 2403(b), July 24, 2001, 115 Stat. 175, provided that: “This section [amending this section] shall be effective on October 1, 2001.”

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2008–2026 · leading case: Stephens v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 571 F. Supp. 2d 186 (D.D.C. 2008).
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Stephens v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 571 F. Supp. 2d 186 (D.D.C. 2008). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(12). Because Stephens does not have sufficient evidence that these contracts exist, this court need not reach the issue of whether these contracts qualify as management and operation or management and integration contracts.”
Lahndorff v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 289 F. Supp. 3d 826 (W.D. Ky. 2017). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(1), (7). When documentation establishes employment at a DOE facility during a period of time when beryllium dust, particles or vapor may have been present, an employee's exposure to beryllium is presumed.”
David Hous. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 318 F. Supp. 3d 1028 (W.D. Ky. 2018). “42 U.S.C § 7384l(13). Under Part E of the Act, a DOE contractor employee can obtain additional benefits due to permanent impairment and/or wage loss due to a covered illness resulting from work-related exposure to toxic substances at a DOE facility.”
Young v. United States Dep't of Labor, No. 2017-2428 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2021). · cites it 3× “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14). The Act also authorized the President to designate additional groups of workers as an SEC class if he determines that “(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the class received; and (2) there is a reasonable…”
Still v. United States Dep't of Labor, No. 2017-1420 (D.D.C. Apr. 13, 2020). “See 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384l– 7384w-1. An individual seeking compensation and benefits under EEOICPA must file a claim with the DOL’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (“OWCP”).”
Reif v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, No. 2023-3689 (D.D.C. Mar. 29, 2026). “See 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(9)(A).2 Under the second pathway, an employee can establish eligibility by showing that (1) he has been diagnosed with cancer, (2) he contracted that cancer after beginning work at certain facilities, (3) the “cancer was at least as likely as not related to…”
Opal Harger v. Dep't of Labor, No. 08-35111 (9th Cir. June 10, 2009). “See 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14); 42 C.F.R. § 83.0 .”
42 U.S.C. § 7384l(1): 1 case
Lahndorff v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 289 F. Supp. 3d 826 (W.D. Ky. 2017). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(1), (7). When documentation establishes employment at a DOE facility during a period of time when beryllium dust, particles or vapor may have been present, an employee's exposure to beryllium is presumed.”
42 U.S.C. § 7384l(12): 1 case
Stephens v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 571 F. Supp. 2d 186 (D.D.C. 2008). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(12). Because Stephens does not have sufficient evidence that these contracts exist, this court need not reach the issue of whether these contracts qualify as management and operation or management and integration contracts.”
42 U.S.C. § 7384l(13): 1 case
David Hous. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 318 F. Supp. 3d 1028 (W.D. Ky. 2018). “42 U.S.C § 7384l(13). Under Part E of the Act, a DOE contractor employee can obtain additional benefits due to permanent impairment and/or wage loss due to a covered illness resulting from work-related exposure to toxic substances at a DOE facility.”
42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14): 2 cases
Young v. United States Dep't of Labor, No. 2017-2428 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2021). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14). The Act also authorized the President to designate additional groups of workers as an SEC class if he determines that “(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the class received; and (2) there is a reasonable…”
Opal Harger v. Dep't of Labor, No. 08-35111 (9th Cir. June 10, 2009). “See 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14); 42 C.F.R. § 83.0 .”
42 U.S.C. § 7384l(9)(A): 2 cases
Young v. United States Dep't of Labor, No. 2017-2428 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2021). “42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14). The Act also authorized the President to designate additional groups of workers as an SEC class if he determines that “(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the class received; and (2) there is a reasonable…”
Reif v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, No. 2023-3689 (D.D.C. Mar. 29, 2026). “See 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(9)(A).2 Under the second pathway, an employee can establish eligibility by showing that (1) he has been diagnosed with cancer, (2) he contracted that cancer after beginning work at certain facilities, (3) the “cancer was at least as likely as not related to…”
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