42 U.S.C. § 300mm–31 — Identification and initial health evaluation of screening-eligible and certified-eligible WTC survivors

(a) Identification of screening-eligible and certified-eligible survivors: (1) Screening-eligible WTC survivors — (A) a person is a "screening-eligible WTC survivor" if they fit one of three groups: (i) a currently identified survivor, already found eligible for treatment and monitoring by the WTC Environmental Health Center as of January 2, 2011; (ii) someone who isn't a WTC responder, who claims symptoms of a WTC-related health condition, and who meets the current eligibility criteria in subparagraph (B); or (iii) someone who isn't a responder, who claims symptoms, and who meets modified eligibility criteria the Administrator sets, after consulting the Data Centers, the Advisory Committee, and the Steering Committees. The Administrator cannot set new modified criteria once survivor certifications or responder enrollments reach 80 percent of their caps. (B) The current eligibility criteria: a person qualifies if they (i) were present in the New York City disaster area in the dust or dust cloud on September 11, 2001; (ii) worked, lived, or went to school or daycare there for at least 4 days in the four months after 9/11, or at least 30 days through July 2002; (iii) did cleanup or maintenance work there in that same four-month period and had heavy exposure to WTC dust; (iv) qualified for a Lower Manhattan Development Corporation residential grant, leased or bought a home in the disaster area, and lived there between September 11, 2001 and May 31, 2003; or (v) had a workplace in the disaster area during that same window and qualified for a Lower Manhattan small-business or economic-revitalization grant program. (C) Application and determination process — (i) the Administrator, with the Data Centers, must set up a free application process (for anyone not automatically covered under (A)(i)), decide within 60 days, and can only deny someone or refuse written proof if they don't meet the criteria or the numerical cap has been reached; denied applicants can appeal. (ii) The Administrator must give written proof of screening-eligibility: by July 1, 2011 for currently identified survivors, and at the time of the decision for everyone else. (2) Certified-eligible WTC survivors: (A) a "certified-eligible WTC survivor" is a screening-eligible survivor the Administrator certifies as eligible for followup monitoring and treatment. (B) The Administrator must set up a certification process for survivors found eligible through the initial health evaluation in subsection (b); currently identified survivors must be certified by July 1, 2011, and everyone else at the time they're found eligible. (3) Numerical limitation: (A) no more than 75,000 people, other than currently identified survivors, may be certified as certified-eligible survivors at any one time. (B) The Administrator must keep certifications within this limit and within available funding, and must give priority in the order people applied. (4) Disqualification of individuals on terrorist watch list: anyone on the Department of Homeland Security's terrorist watch list cannot be a screening-eligible or certified-eligible survivor. The Administrator must check that list with the Secretary of Homeland Security before determining eligibility or certifying anyone. (b) Initial health evaluation to determine eligibility for followup monitoring or treatment: (1) A screening-eligible survivor gets an initial health evaluation to see if they have a WTC-related health condition and qualify for followup monitoring and treatment; the evaluation protocols need the Administrator's approval. (2) A Clinical Center of Excellence provides the evaluation. (3) The Program pays for only a single initial health evaluation per screening-eligible survivor — though nothing stops someone from paying for additional evaluations themselves.