20 CFR § 30.231 - How does a claimant prove employment-related exposure to a toxic substance at a DOE facility or a RECA section 5 facility?
To establish employment-related exposure to a toxic substance at a Department of Energy facility or RECA section 5 facility as required by § 30.230(d), an employee, or his or her survivor(s), must prove that the employee was employed at such facility and that he or she was exposed to a toxic substance in the course of that employment.
(a) Proof of employment may be established by any trustworthy records that, on their face or in conjunction with other such records, establish that the employee was so employed and the time period(s) of such employment. If the only evidence of covered employment submitted by the claimant is a written affidavit or declaration subject to penalty of perjury by the employee, survivor or any other person, and DOE or another entity either disagrees with the assertion of covered employment or cannot concur or disagree with the assertion of covered employment, then OWCP will evaluate the probative value of the affidavit in conjunction with the other evidence of employment, and may determine that the claimant has not met his or her burden of proof under § 30.111.
(b) For claimants who have established proof of employment, proof of exposure to a toxic substance may be established by the submission of any appropriate document or information that is evidence that such substance was present at the facility where the employee was employed and that the employee came into contact with such substance. Information from the following sources may be considered as probative factual evidence for purposes of establishing an employee's exposure to a toxic substance at a DOE facility or a RECA section 5 facility:
(1) To the extent practicable and appropriate, from DOE, a DOE-sponsored Former Worker Program, or an entity that acted as a contractor or subcontractor to DOE;
(2) OWCP's Site Exposure Matrices; or
(3) Any other entity deemed by OWCP to be a reliable source of information necessary to establish that the employee was exposed to a toxic substance at a DOE facility or RECA section 5 facility.