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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
NEW YORK--Workers and volunteers injured during the World Trade Center recovery effort in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have an additional year to register with the state workers compensation board under a bill signed by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
The deadline for the filing time of a registration form had been set for Aug. 14.The bill--signed by Gov. Spitzer last week and announced Monday--gives workers and volunteers until Aug. 14, 2008, to submit forms.
The New York Workers' Compensation Board has received approximately 19,000 registration forms so far, according to a spokesman. Filing of the form does not constitute the filing of a claim, but it does extend the timeframe within which an injured worker or volunteer can file a claim.
"They extended it because we just don't know how many people are out there that haven't stepped forward," the spokesman said.
"What the bill does is it gives them the benefit of an occupational disease statute of limitations," which is two years from the date of disablement or the date of a known latent condition that was linked to participating in the WTC rescue, recovery and cleanup operations, said Sheryl Wood, general counsel for the workers comp board.