NJ A5381

Members of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS), Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS), and State Police Retirement System (SPRS) who participated in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations between September 11, 2001 and October 11, 2001 for at least 8 hours can receive accidental disability retirement benefits with a presumption that qualifying health conditions resulted from that service

Qualifying conditions include respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal conditions, PTSD, anxiety, depression, skin diseases, and new onset diseases such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asbestos-related disease, and heavy metal poisoning

Removes prior filing deadline requirements and allows retirees who were previously denied benefits because they missed the registration period to petition for reconsideration

Retirees who already retired under service, special, or ordinary disability retirement can apply to have their allowance recalculated as accidental disability retirement within 180 days of learning of a qualifying World Trade Center-related disability

Members with less than 8 hours of participation may still qualify if they were injured on September 11-12, 2001 in a way that prevented them from continuing operations and that injury is the basis for their disability claim