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New law breathes new life into WTC benefits
By SHERRY HALBROOK
Tens of thousands of people who responded to the tragic attack on the World
Trade Center five years ago have become eligible, under a new state law that
took effect August 14, for workers’ compensation for illness or injury that
resulted from that response.
The new law extends the deadline for registration and filing of workers’ comp
claims related to the disaster.
“Those who are eligible have until August 14, 2007, to register with the state
Workers’ Compensation Board (NYSWCB),” said PEF activist Bernie Kahn. “We, in
the occupational safety and health community, are very concerned that many of
those who are eligible will not register because they don’t realize the rules
have changed and they are eligible now.”
Who’s eligible; Who’s not?
According to Jonathan Bennett of the NYS Committee on Occupational Safety and
Health (NYCOSH), the new law eliminates barriers preventing workers and
volunteers who did rescue, recovery, or cleanup work after the collapse of the
World Trade Center from registering and receiving workers’ compensation benefits
if they were exposed to toxic substances and became ill or may become ill in the
future.
“The law corrects a deficiency in the workers’ compensation system that was
preventing thousands of people from obtaining benefits,” Bennett said. “Some
workers and volunteers have been prevented from getting compensation because
they only began to become sick after the two-year deadline for filing a claim.
Others who were exposed to the toxic atmosphere in Lower Manhattan appear to be
healthy now, but may develop a 9/11-related disease in the future. Under the old
rules, they would have been prevented from receiving benefits, but that is now
changed.”
The new law applies to most people who did paid or unpaid rescue, recovery or
cleanup work in Lower Manhattan south of Canal or Pike Streets between September
11, 2001, and September 12, 2002. It also applies to rescue, recovery or cleanup
workers who worked at the Staten Island landfill, the barge operation between
Manhattan and Staten Island or the New York City morgue.
You don’t have to live in New York state to be eligible.
Jonathan Rosen, PEF’s director of occupational safety and health, said at least
500 PEF members were directed by their state agencies or volunteered to respond
to the towers’ collapse or the aftermath.
“I know of other PEF members who also responded, such as those who were called
to active military duty and ordered to respond,” Rosen said. “You would not be
covered by the new law if you are not part of the workers’ compensation system.”
Workers who are not covered by the workers’ compensation system include New York
City uniformed services (firefighters, police, sanitation workers) and teachers,
and federal employees.
However, even they are eligible if they performed any rescue, recovery or
cleanup work off-duty, as a volunteer.
Should you re-register?
Anyone who has already filed a claim for 9/11-related workers’ compensation and
been turned down because the claim was filed after the two-year filing deadline
had passed, may register again and file a new claim under the new law.
Or, if you registered, filed a claim for an injury and received workers’ comp
benefits for it, you may want to re-register to provide coverage for illness
that may develop in the future.
Bennett urged workers who have already filed for workers’ compensation for
injuries suffered during the rescue, recovery or cleanup operation to
re-register “in case they become sick in the future because of exposures to
toxic substances. In such a case an established claim for any other condition
would not cover the new condition.”
The registration must be notarized and indicate the dates and locations of the
rescue, recovery or cleanup work performed and the employer’s name, or the
organization for whom the volunteer worked, if applicable.
“It is imperative that anyone who worked within the boundaries or at the sites
detailed in the law register with the NYSWCB, whether they are sick or not,”
said Joel Shufro, also of NYCOSH. “By joining the registry before the new
deadline next summer, workers and volunteers will preserve their rights to
benefits. Failure to register within that time will prevent individuals who may
develop cancer or other slower developing diseases in the future from receiving
benefits.”
The new law was created by a bill supported by both PEF and NYCOSH, and
sponsored by state Assembly Member Jonathan Bing and Senators John Marchi,
Martin Golden, George Maziarz, Nicholas Spano and Caesar Trunzo.
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