Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Greenstein, A.M.Bucco, Madden and Steinhardt
SYNOPSIS
Provides workers’ compensation benefits for certain public safety workers who developed illness or injury as result of responding to September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning workers’ compensation benefits for certain public safety workers and amending P.L.2019, c.156.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 6 of P.L.2019, c.156 (C.34:15-31.7) is amended to read as follows:
6. a. Any injury, illness or death of a public safety worker which may be caused by exposure to a known carcinogen, cancer-causing radiation or a radioactive substance, including cancer and damage to reproductive organs, shall be presumed to be compensable under the provisions of R.S.34:15-1 et seq., if the worker demonstrates that he was exposed, due to fire, explosion, spill or other means, to a known carcinogen, cancer-causing radiation or radioactive substances in the course of the worker's employment as a public safety worker and demonstrates that the injury, illness or death has manifested during his or her employment as a public safety worker. This prima facie presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that the exposure is not linked to the injury, illness or death. The employer of the public safety worker may require the worker to undergo, at the expense of the employer, reasonable testing, evaluation and monitoring of health conditions of the worker which is relevant to determining whether the exposure is linked to the occurrence, but the presumption of compensability shall not be adversely affected by any failure of the employer to require such testing, evaluation or monitoring. The employer shall maintain records regarding any instance in which any public safety worker in its employ was deployed to a facility or location where the presence of one or more substances which are known carcinogens is indicated in documents provided to local fire or police departments pursuant to the requirements of section 7 of P.L.1983, c.315 (C.34:5A-7) and where fire, explosions, spills or other events occurred which could result in exposure to those carcinogens. The records shall include the identity of each deployed public safety worker and each worker shall be provided notice of the records.
b. (1) Notwithstanding any requirement under any other provision of law limiting the time in which a worker may file a claim for workers compensation, any illness, injury or death of a public service worker caused by, or as a result of, the worker’s participation in response to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center shall be presumed to be compensable under the provisions of R.S.34:15-1 et seq., without respect to when the claim is filed, if the worker has participated in the World Trade Center Program established by Centers for Disease Control. A worker shall be ineligible for benefits under this subsection if the benefits for workers’ compensation are duplicative to benefits for the same injury, illness, or death under another State program or a program for which the worker is eligible in another state, or the worker has already received workers’ compensation benefits for the injury, illness or death caused by or as a result of the worker’s participation in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks under chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
(2) A public safety worker shall file a claim for benefits, in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Labor of Workforce Development, which shall include documentation of the worker’s illness and treatment from the World Trade Center Health Program, with the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development within two years of the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
(3) The department shall provide notice on its internet website, and to all employers in the State in a form to be provided to employees, of the presumption established pursuant to this subsection.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.156, s.6)
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except that the commissioner shall take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill creates a presumption that any injury, illness, or death from any World Trade Center-related health conditions that are certified by the Centers for Disease Control is compensable under workers’ compensation law for public safety workers who participated in the response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and who are being treated or monitored through the World Trade Center Health Program established by the Centers for Disease Control.
While certain workers may already be covered under other eligibility criteria for workers’ compensation benefits, there remains workers who acted heroically on September 11th, who have become ill or injured, but who remain ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Although this bill eliminates any statutes of limitations issues for workers who have not yet filed for their conditions, the bill limits treatment to those individuals who are participating in the World Trade Center Health Program. This program was established by the Centers for Disease Control, and one of the centers of operations is Rutgers University. There is no question that the individuals receiving treatment and monitoring in the program participated in the response to September 11th attacks, and this bill provides benefits for these heroes who have endured serious health consequences as a result of that participation.