NY Governor Paterson has joined state legislators in announcing an agreement to cover additional public workers who risked their health and safety in the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at the World Trade Center after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The changes embrace the unanimous recommendations of the bi-partisan September 11th Worker Protection Task Force.

Under the agreed-upon legislation, submitted to the Legislature by the Governor, the “presumptive accidental disability retirement benefit” now available to some 9/11 first responders will be extended to additional first responders. A panel of experts on the Task Force found that additional workers were exposed to the same toxins and psychological trauma as those originally covered.

“In the weeks that followed the attack on the World Trade Center, it became clear to me that there would be grave health consequences for the men and women who risked their lives by responding to the attack,” said Governor Paterson. “The original legislation addressing this problem was well-intentioned but fell short in covering all first responders. With this agreement, we will fulfill our duty to additional groups of public workers involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup after 9-11 by giving them the same benefits the prior law extended to other 9/11 workers employed by the State and New York City.”

Additional first responders covered under this law include: (i) state and county corrections officers and deputy sheriffs; (ii) the non-uniformed first responders who were not required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination; (iii) 911 dispatchers; (iv) first responders who worked for any period of time within the first 48 hours after the first plane hit the World Trade Center; (v) emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics; (vi) vested members of a public pension system who terminated their employment prior to filing a claim; and (vii) workers who became disabled more than two years after 9/11 but before an extension was granted in the Workers’ Compensation Law which would have covered them.

In addition, the registration deadlines for the accidental disability presumption and the Workers Compensation Law extension will be extended from the current dates of June 14, 2009, and August 14, 2008 to September 11, 2010.

Since many of the non-uniformed NYC and State workers at the site had not been required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination, a prerequisite to receiving benefits under the prior 9/11 legislation, the new law extends benefits to those employees if they provide access to medical records and demonstrate the absence of a prior qualifying condition prior to September 11, 2001.In addition, the geographic boundaries of the 9/11 disability benefits law are being expanded to emergency vehicle garages and emergency call centers, because the Task Force found emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics were exposed to dust and 911 operators experienced psychological trauma that has led to disabilities similar to those suffered by workers at the World Trade Center site.

Finally, current law requires that claimants participated in the WTC rescue, recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of 40 hours, but scientific evidence gathered by the Task Force has shown there was a “substantial risk” of developing respiratory, gastrointestinal and / or mental health disability for first responders at the site during the first 48 hours after the first aircraft hit the World Trade Center Towers. Therefore, the approved legislation covers any first responder who worked during the first 48 hours after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

(Dov Gordon – YWN)