The 9/11 Notification Act, a bill that will help raise awareness of 9/11-related illnesses and resources, is headed to the governor's desk for approval.
The bill would require past and present businesses and their employees of potential eligibility for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Act and World Trade Center Health Program. Assemblyman Nader Sayegh said the benefits of those programs had been primarily geared toward first responders while others in the local workforce who also breathed in toxic dust became the “forgotten victims.”
“It’s sad to see so many suffering and it’s a question largely of awareness,” says Assemblyman Sayegh.
Sayegh says he received data that showed 80% of first responders knew of the benefits available to them, compared to just 8% of the businesses near Ground Zero.
Sayegh also pushed to extend the notification area into parts of Brooklyn and New Jersey.