Bush Proposes Rules for Sick Workers

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

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Index:



Bush Proposes Rules for Sick Workers

Bush Position On Nuclear Test Ban Dangerous - says PSR

EPA wins Emmy award for health hazards of radon announcement

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Bush Proposes Rules for Sick Workers



WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration proposed rules 

Friday to help sick Cold War-era nuclear weapons workers get help 

through state workers' compensation programs, but critics say the 

regulations fall short of what's needed and rely too heavily on state 

standards. 



The draft regulations are designed to help workers who were 

exposed to toxic substances, such as harsh chemicals, while 

employed by contractors at Energy Department facilities around 

the country. 



Those workers were not given direct assistance in a compensation 

bill passed last year that provided medical care and $150,000 to 

sick workers exposed to cancer-causing radiation and silica or 

beryllium. 



But the bill did instruct the Energy Department to help workers 

suffering from toxic exposures file claims under state 

compensation systems. That reversed a decades-old policy in 

which the agency fought such claims. 



The Energy Department is supposed to turn to medical panels for 

assistance in deciding whether workers who say they are suffering 

from toxic exposures got sick on the job. 



If a panel says a worker did get sick that way, and the agency 

agrees, the agency has to help the worker file the claim and can 

direct its contractors not to contest it. 



But worker advocates say they are upset the draft regulations do 

not set a federal standard for determining which workers should 

qualify for compensation because of job-related sicknesses. 

Instead, the regulations defer to worker compensation laws in each 

state. 



David Michaels, an assistant secretary at the Energy Department 

under the Clinton administration who helped craft the law, said 

workers' compensation laws vary by state and often have high 

burdens of proof and strict statutes of limitations. 



That causes problems for people with slow-developing diseases 

and for those who have trouble gathering evidence showing the 

sickness was work-related, Michaels said. 



``Specifically, the legislation intended that the department establish 

one national standard and not defer to state worker compensation 

policies that in the past have contributed to workers being unable 

to receive benefits,'' Michaels said. 



Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said the agency did not 

think Congress gave it the authority to trump state requirements. 



``We don't interpret that law Congress passed as calling for 

federalization of a standard,'' he said. 



Richard Miller followed the bill's progress for the Paper, Allied-

Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Union. He agrees with 

Michaels and says he also is upset the proposed rules say 

physician panels should weigh whether ``it is more likely than not'' 

an exposure to a toxic substance on the job made someone sick. 



``It's going to be hard to build a case that it is more probable than 

not,'' Miller said, adding the agency has a poor track record of 

evaluating workers and keeping documentation. 



Davis said critics should attend a hearing on the proposed rules 

Sept. 24 in Washington. 



``What we have certainly outlined here is draft regulations that we 

would love to have comments on,'' Davis said. 



On the Net: 



U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov/ 

------------------



Bush Position On Nuclear Test Ban Dangerous: U.S. Efforts Will 

Promote Nuclear Testing, Proliferation, Says PSR



WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was 

released today by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR): 



As international delegates gather in New York for a conference on 

the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Bush 

Administration has indicated that the only options for attendance at 

the conference are a 'junior' delegation or none at all. This 

irresponsible action would send a host of dangerous messages to 

our world partners in the very dangerous game of nuclear weapons 

proliferation. 



The proposal to send no U.S. representatives to the CTBT 

conference at the United Nations on Sept. 25-27 continues a 

campaign by this administration to scuttle a treaty signed by this 

nation and 160 others and ratified by 79 nations. 



In a sneak attack over the Labor Day holiday, the Bush 

Administration took a huge step towards compromising the treaty 

by signaling that there wouldn't be objections to a resumption of 

nuclear testing by China. In addition, the new American 

Ambassador to India has said that the U.S. will not be a "nagging 

nanny" on the nuclear issue, which seems to indicate that we will 

abandon sanctions imposed on India since their 1998 series of 

nuclear tests. 



"Nuclear proliferation is acknowledged to be a major threat to U.S. 

and global security," said Martin Butcher, director of security 

programs for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). 

"Achieving a test ban has been a bipartisan U.S. policy goal for 

over 40 years, and sabotaging this conference is a dangerous and 

disgraceful act." 



The purpose of the second conference on entry-into-force of the 

CTBT is to promote the treaty and to examine ways to encourage 

signature and ratification.  The first such conference was held in 

1999. All U.S. allies in NATO have signed and ratified the treaty, as 

has Russia. The U.S. has signed, but not ratified the treaty. It now 

enjoys the unique company of such diplomatic pariahs as China, 

Libya and Iraq in its attitude to the CTBT. 



"There is no conceivable way that encouraging nuclear testing and 

thus promoting proliferation is in the security interests of the United 

States," said Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H., executive director 

and CEO of PSR. "The U.S. decision to openly flaunt this treaty 

can yield only one outcome: a continued return to the darkest days 

of nuclear fear during the Cold War." 

-----------------



EPA WINS EMMY AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE 

ANNOUNCEMENT ON HEALTH HAZARDS OF RADON 



The National Academy of Television, Arts, and Sciences awarded 

an Emmy to EPA on Aug. 29 for its Public Service Announcement, 

"Take the National Radon Test:  Man on the Street." Radon is an 

invisible, odorless gas that can seep up through the earth's crust 

and enter homes through cracks, drains, and other openings in 

foundations.  Breathing high levels of radon may pose a health 

hazard.  Since its release last October, the psa has been aired 

more than 18,000 times by 260 television stations across the 

country, and has helped generate more than 40,000 calls in the 

past year to the national radon hotline, 1-800-SOS-RADON.  The 

announcement was produced by EPA's Office of Radiation and 

Indoor Air, in partnership with the Consumer Federation of America 

Foundation, a national non-profit consumer protection organization, 

and Plowshare, an advertising agency dedicated primarily to 

marketing for the government and nonprofit sector.  The public 

service announcement was recognized in the category of 

Community Service and National Public Service Announcements.  

Criteria for the award included its ability to educate, inspire, and 

improve communities.  To reach as many families as possible, it 

was produced in both English and Spanish.  According to the 

National Academy of Sciences, radon is linked to about 20,000 

lung cancer deaths each year in the United States, and is the 

second leading cause of lung cancer.  High radon levels in homes 

can be reduced, and each year, about 1 million homes are tested.  

Radon tests can be performed for as little as $25. The public 

service announcement can be viewed at  

www.epa.gov/iaq/tvads.html



**************************************************************************

Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	

Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/scperle

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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