§ 79.43 - Proof of employment as a miner.

§ 79.43 Proof of employment as a miner.

(a) The Department will accept, as proof of employment for a designated time period, information contained in any of the following records:

(1) Records created by or gathered by the Public Health Service (PHS) in the course of any health studies of uranium workers during or including the period 1942-1990;

(2) Records of a uranium worker census performed by the PHS at various times during the period 1942-1990;

(3) Records of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), or any of its successor agencies; and

(4) Records of federally supported, health-related studies of uranium workers, including:

(i) Studies conducted by Geno Saccamanno, M.D., St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Junction, Colorado; and

(ii) Studies conducted by Jonathan Samet, M.D., University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

(b) The Program will presume that the employment history for the time period indicated in records listed in paragraph (a) of this section is correct. If the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary wishes to contest the accuracy of such records, then the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary may provide one or more of the records identified in paragraph (c) of this section, and the Assistant Director will determine whether the employment history indicated in the records listed in paragraph (a) is correct.

(c) If the sources in paragraph (a) of this section do not contain information regarding the claimant's uranium mine employment history, do not contain sufficient information to establish exposure to at least 40 working level months of radiation, do not contain sufficient information to establish uranium mining employment for one year during the period identified in § 79.42(b), or if a claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary wishes to contest the accuracy of such records, then the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary may submit records from any of the following sources, and the Assistant Director shall consider such records (in addition to any sources listed in paragraph (a) of this section) in order to determine whether the claimant has established the requisite employment history:

(1) Governmental records of any of the specified states, including records of state regulatory agencies, containing information on uranium mine workers and uranium mines;

(2) Records of any business entity that owned or operated a uranium mine, or its successor-in-interest;

(3) Records of the Social Security Administration reflecting the identity of the employer, the years and quarters of employment, and the wages received during each quarter;

(4) Federal or State income tax records that contain relevant statements regarding the claimant's employer and wages;

(5) Records containing factual findings by any governmental judicial body, state worker's compensation board, or any governmental administrative body adjudicating the claimant's rights to any type of benefits (which will be accepted only to prove the fact of and duration of employment in a uranium mine);

(6) Statements in medical records created during the period 1942-1971 indicating or identifying the claimant's employer and occupation;

(7) Records of an academic or scholarly study, not conducted in anticipation of or in connection with any litigation, and completed prior to 1990; and

(8) Any other contemporaneous record that indicates or identifies the claimant's occupation or employer.

(d) To the extent that the documents submitted from the sources identified in this section do not so indicate, the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary must set forth under oath on the standard claim form the following information, if known:

(1) The names of the mine employers for which the claimant worked during the time period identified in the documents;

(2) The names and locations of any mines in which the claimant worked;

(3) The actual time period the claimant worked in each mine;

(4) The claimant's occupation in each mine; and

(5) Whether the mining employment was conducted aboveground or underground.

(e) If the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary cannot provide the name or location of any uranium mine at which the claimant was employed as required under paragraph (d)(2) of this section, then the Program shall, if possible, determine such information from records reflecting the types of mines operated or owned by the entity for which the claimant worked.

(f) If the information provided under paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section is inadequate to determine the time period during which the claimant was employed in each uranium mine, then the Program will, where possible, calculate such employment periods in the following manner, for purposes of calculating working level months of exposure:

(1) If records of the Social Security Administration exist that indicate the claimant's work history, the Program will estimate the period of employment by dividing the gross quarterly income by the average pay rate per hour for the claimant's occupation;

(2) If such Social Security Administration records do not exist, but other records exist that indicate that the claimant was employed in a uranium mine on the date recorded in the record, but do not indicate the period of employment, then the Program will apply the following presumptions:

(i) If the records indicate that the claimant worked at the same mine or for the same uranium mining company on two different dates at least three months apart but less than 12 months apart, then the Program will presume that the claimant was employed at the mine or for the mining company for the entire 12-month period beginning on the earlier date.

(ii) If the records indicate that the claimant worked at the same mine or for the same uranium mining company on two different dates at least one month apart but less than three months apart, then the Program will presume that the claimant was employed at the mine or for the mining company for the entire six-month period beginning on the earlier date.

(iii) If the records indicate that the claimant worked at any mine or for a uranium mining company on any date within the designated time period, but the presumptions listed in this paragraph (f) are not applicable, then the Program will presume that the claimant was employed at the mine or for the mining company for a six-month period, consisting of three months before and three months after the date indicated.

(g) In determining whether a claimant satisfies the employment and exposure criteria of the Act, the Assistant Director shall resolve all reasonable doubt in favor of the claimant. If the Assistant Director concludes that the claimant has not satisfied the employment or exposure requirements of the Act, the claimant or eligible surviving beneficiary will be notified and afforded the opportunity, in accordance with the provisions of § 79.72(c), to submit additional records to establish that the statutory criteria are satisfied.