16

1 the filing of a claim based on recency of employment, unless 2 the Secretary promulgates a standard under section 5 which

3

4

includes such a time limit.

(o)(1) No compromise or release of any compensation 5 shall be effective unless approved by the State workers' com6 pensation agency, based on a determination by such agency 7 that such compromise or release is in the best interest of the 8 claimant, and will not adversely affect any program of reha9 bilitation.

10 (2) No compromise or release of medical or rehabilita11 tion benefits shall be effective unless approved by the State 12 workers' compensation agency, based on the evaluation of a 13 physical designated by that agency that the compromise and 14 release will sufficiently provide for future medical and reha15 bilitation care necessitated by the employee's injury or dis16 ease, and a determination by the agency that such compro17 mise and release is otherwise in the best interest of the em18 ployee.

19 (3) No waiver, release, or similar instrument relating to 20 future coverage or compensation under any State workers' 21 compensation law that is executed prior to the occurrence of 22 any injury or death shall be effective under any circum23 stances. Any waiver, release or similar instrument which 24 does not comply with the provisions of this paragraph shall 25 be void.

1

2

17

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE STANDARDS

SEC. 5. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and 3 Welfare is authorized and directed to undertake studies of 4 diseases which are or may be employment-related for the 5 purpose of recommending appropriate standards for (1) deter6 mining whether particular diseases arise out of and in the 7 course of employment; (2) establishing criteria for diagnosing 8 diseases; and (3) establishing criteria for determining whether 9 death or disability is due to such diseases. In determining 10 subjects for and design of studies pursuant to this section, the 11 Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall give prior12 ity to the recommendations of the Secretary of Labor and the 13 National Workers' Compensation Advisory Commission es14 tablished under section 17 of this Act (hereinafter called the 15 "Advisory Commission"). In carrying out the studies re16 quired by this section, the Secretary of Health, Education, 17 and Welfare shall consult with the Director of the National 18 Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and such other 19 public and private organizations as are appropriate with re20 spect to diseases that may be employment related. The re21 sults of such studies shall be published and distributed to the 22 States, and shall be furnished to the Secretary of Labor. 23 (b) The Secretary may by rule promulgate, modify, or 24 revoke standards for (1) determining whether diseases arise 25 out of and in the course of employment; (2) establishing the

18

1 criteria for diagnosing such diseases; and (3) establishing cri2 teria for determining whether death or disability is due to 3 such diseases. Such standards may include reasonable rebut4 table presumptions wherever appropriate.

5

(c)(1) Such standards shall be promulgated, modified, or 6 revoked in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 7 States Code (without regard to any reference in such section 8 to sections 556 and 557 of such title), and in accordance with 9 the provisions of the following paragraphs:

10

(2)(A)(i) Whenever the Secretary, upon the basis of 11 studies published under subsection (a) or other information or 12 studies submitted to him by an interested person or by a 13 State or on the basis of information developed by the Secre14 tary, determines that a rule should be promulgated to estab15 lish a minimum standard with regard to an occupational dis16 ease consistent with the purposes of this Act, the Secretary 17 shall prepare a proposed rule, and shall appoint an advisory 18 committee composed of not less than three medical, scientific, 19 or other experts with suitable experience, training, or educa20 tion related to the subject matter of the proposed rule.

21

(ii) When the Secretary receives a recommendation from 22 the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare pursuant to 23 subsection (a), and determines not to propose a rule based on 24 that recommendation, the Secretary shall, within sixty days

19

1 after receipt thereof, publish in the Federal Register his de2 termination not to do so, and his reasons therefor.

3 (B) The Secretary shall forward the proposed rule to the 4 advisory committee established to consider such rule, and 5 shall provide the committee all pertinent information devel6 oped by the Secretary or the Secretary of Health, Education, 7 and Welfare, or otherwise available to the Secretary, includ8 ing the results of research, demonstrations, and experiments 9 and shall publish notification of such action in the Federal 10 Register. The advisory committee shall submit to the Secre11 tary its report which shall state (i) whether in the advisory 12 committee's opinion the proposed rule is consistent with 13 available scientific and medical knowledge concerning the 14 subject matter of the proposed rule or to otherwise improve 15 the proposed rule. The advisory committee shall submit its 16 report to the Secretary within one hundred and eighty days 17 from the date of its appointment or within such shorter period 18 as may be prescribed by the Secretary, but in no event may 19 such period be less than ninety days.

20

(3) After receiving the report of the advisory committee, 21 the Secretary may publish in the Federal Register any pro22 posed rule, either in its original or modified form. If on the 23 basis of the advisory committee's report, the Secretary deter24 mines that a proposed rule should not be promulgated, the 25 Secretary shall publish his determination to that effect in the

20

1 Federal Register. In either event, the Secretary shall at the

2 same time forward a copy of the advisory committee's report

3 to the Advisory Commission.

4

(4)(A) In the event that the Secretary publishes a pro

5 posed rule in the Federal Register, the Secretary shall afford 6 interested persons a period of thirty days after any such pub7 lication to submit written data or comments on the proposed 8 rule. Such comment period may be extended by the Secretary 9 upon a finding of good cause, which the Secretary shall pub10 lish in the Federal Register.

11

(B) on or before the last day of the period provided for 12 the submission of written data or comments under paragraph 13 (3), any interested person may file with the Secretary written 14 objections to the proposed standard, stating the grounds 15 therefor and requesting a public hearing on such objections. 16 Within sixty days after the last day for filing such objections, 17 the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice 18 specifying the standard to which objections have been filed 19 and a hearing requested, and specifying a time and place for 20 such hearing. Any hearing under this subsection for the pur21 pose of hearing relevant information shall commence within 22 sixty days after the date of publication of the notice of hear23 ing. Hearings required by this subsection shall be conducted 24 by the Secretary, who may prescribe rules and make rulings 25 concerning procedures in such hearings to avoid unnecessary