Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSIONS.
S.
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To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
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Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. UDALL, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
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A BILL
To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radiation Exposure
5. Compensation Act Amendments of 2019’’.
6. SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
7. Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in
8. this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms
9. of an amendment to or repeal of a section or other provision of law, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Radiation Exposure
3. Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210
4. note).
5. SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF FUND.
6. Section 3(d) is amended—
7. (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting
8. ‘‘The Fund shall terminate 19 years after the date
9. of the enactment of the Radiation Exposure Com-
10. pensation Act Amendments of 2019.’’; and 11 (2) by striking ‘‘22-year’’ and inserting ‘‘19- 12 year’’.
13. SEC. 4. CLAIMS RELATING TO ATMOSPHERIC TESTING.
14. (a) LEUKEMIA CLAIMS RELATING TO TRINITY TEST
15 IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PACIFIC.—Section
16. 4(a)(1)(A) is amended—
17. (1) in clause (i)—
18. (A) in subclause (II)—
19. (i) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’
20. and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon;
B. by redesignating subclause (III) as subclause (V); and
C. by inserting after subclause (II) the following:
3. ‘‘(III) was physically present in
4. an affected area for the period begin5 ning on June 30, 1945, and ending on 6 July 31, 1945; or
7 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in 8 an affected area—
9. ‘‘(aa) for a period of at least
10. 1 year during the period begin-
11. ning on June 30, 1946, and end12 ing on August 19, 1958; or
13. ‘‘(bb) for the period begin-
14. ning on April 25, 1962, and end15 ing on November 5, 1962; or’’;
16. and
17. (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘physical pres18 ence described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i)
19. or onsite participation described in clause (i)(III)’’
20. and inserting ‘‘physical presence described in sub21 clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of clause (i) or onsite 22 participation described in clause (i)(V)’’.
23 (b) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU-
24 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount’’; and 3 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 4 the following:
5. ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—If the conditions de-
6. scribed in subparagraph (C) are met, an indi7 vidual who is described in subparagraph (A)(i) 8 shall receive $150,000.’’.
9 (c) SPECIFIED DISEASES CLAIMS RELATING TO
10 TRINITY TEST IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PA-
11. CIFIC.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended—
12. (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in the af-
13. fected area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’;
14. (2) in subparagraph (B)—
15. (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and
16. inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and
17. (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end;
18. (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub19 paragraph (E); and
20 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(C) was physically present in an affected area for the period beginning on June 30,
1945, and ending on July 31, 1945;
‘‘(D) was physically present in an affected area—
3. ‘‘(i) for a period of at least 2 years
4. during the period beginning on June 30,
5. 1946, and ending on August 19, 1958; or 6 ‘‘(ii) for the period beginning on April
7 25, 1962, and ending on November 5, 8 1962; or’’.
9 (d) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO SPECIFIED
10 DISEASES.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended in the matter fol
11 lowing subparagraph (E) (as redesignated by subsection
12 (c) of this section) by striking ‘‘$50,000 (in the case of
13. an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B)) or
14. $75,000 (in the case of an individual described in subpara
15 graph (C)),’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’.
16. (e) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—Section 4(a) is amended
17. by adding at the end the following:
18. ‘‘(5) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—An individual re-
19. ceiving a payment under this section shall be eligible 20 to receive medical benefits in the same manner and
21. to the same extent as an individual eligible to receive
22. medical benefits under section 3629 of the Energy
23. Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro24 gram Act of 2000 (as enacted into law by Public
25 Law 106–398; 114 Stat. 165A–507).’’.
(f) DOWNWIND STATES.—Section 4(b)(1) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(1) ‘affected area’ means—
4 ‘‘(A) except as provided under subpara5 graphs (B) and (C), Arizona, Colorado, Idaho,
6. Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah;
7. ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim by an indi8 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(III) or
9. (2)(C), only New Mexico; and
10. ‘‘(C) with respect to a claim by an indi11 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) or
12. (2)(D), only Guam.’’.
13. SEC. 5. CLAIMS RELATING TO URANIUM MINING.
14 (a) EMPLOYEES OF MINES AND MILLS.—Section
15. 5(a)(1)(A)(i) is amended—
16. (1) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’;
17. (2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971; and’’ and
18. inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990; or’’; and
19. (3) by adding at the end the following:
20. ‘‘(II) was employed as a core driller in
21. a State referred to in subclause (I) during
the period described in such subclause;
and’’.
(b) MINERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(I) is amended by inserting ‘‘or renal cancer or any other chronic renal disease, including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury’’ after ‘‘nonmalignant respiratory disease’’.
3 (c) MILLERS, CORE DRILLERS, AND ORE TRANS-
4 PORTERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is amended— 5 (1) by inserting ‘‘, core driller,’’ after ‘‘was a
6. miller’’;
7. (2) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘clause (i)’’; and
8. (3) by striking all that follows ‘‘nonmalignant 9 respiratory disease’’ and inserting ‘‘or renal cancer
10 or any other chronic renal disease, including nephri11 tis and kidney tubal tissue injury; or’’.
12 (d) COMBINED WORK HISTORIES.—Section
13. 5(a)(1)(A)(ii) is further amended—
14. (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I);
15. and
16. (2) by adding at the end the following:
17. ‘‘(III)(aa) does not meet the condi18 tions of subclause (I) or (II);
19. ‘‘(bb) worked, during the period de-
20. scribed in clause (i)(I), in two or more of
the following positions: miner, miller, core driller, and ore transporter;
‘‘(cc) meets the requirements of paragraph (4) or (5), or both; and
‘‘(dd) submits written medical documentation that the individual developed lung cancer or a nonmalignant respiratory 4 disease or renal cancer or any other chron5 ic renal disease, including nephritis and
6. kidney tubal tissue injury after exposure to
7. radiation through work in one or more of 8 the positions referred to in item (aa);’’.
9 (e) DATES OF OPERATION OF URANIUM MINE.—Sec-
10 tion 5(a)(2)(A) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 11 1971’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990’’.
12 (f) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COMBINED WORK
13 HISTORIES.—Section 5(a) is amended by adding at the 14 end the following:
15 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED
16 WORK HISTORIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST
17 ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE.—An individual meets
18 the requirements of this paragraph if the individual 19 worked in one or more of the positions referred to
20. in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) for a period of at
21. least one year during the period described in para-
graph (1)(A)(i)(I).
‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED WORK HISTORIES FOR MINERS.—An individual
meets the requirements of this paragraph if the indi-
vidual, during the period described in paragraph
(1)(A)(i)(I), worked as a miner and was exposed to 3 such number of working level months that the Attor-
4 ney General determines, when combined with the ex5 posure of such individual to radiation through work
6. as a miller, core driller, or ore transporter during
7. the period described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), re8 sults in such individual being exposed to a total level 9 of radiation that is greater or equal to the level of
10 exposure of an individual described in paragraph 11 (4).’’.
12 (g) DEFINITION OF CORE DRILLER.—Section 5(b) is 13 amended—
14. (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
15. (7);
16. (2) by striking the period at the end of para-
17. graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
18. (3) by adding at the end the following:
19. ‘‘(9) the term ‘core driller’ means any indi-
20. vidual employed to engage in the act or process of obtaining cylindrical rock samples of uranium or vanadium by means of a borehole drilling machine for the purpose of mining uranium or vanadium.’’.
SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF USE OF AFFIDAVITS IN DETERMINA-
TION OF CLAIMS; REGULATIONS.
(a) AFFIDAVITS.—Section 6(b) is amended by adding
4. at the end the following:
5. ‘‘(3) AFFIDAVITS.—
6 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYMENT HISTORY.—For pur-
7. poses of this Act, the Attorney General shall ac-
8. cept a written affidavit or declaration as evi9 dence to substantiate the employment history of
10 an individual as a miner, miller, core driller, or 11 ore transporter if the affidavit—
12. ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other
13. material that may be used to substantiate 14 the employment history of the individual;
15 ‘‘(ii) attests to the employment history 16 of the individual;
17. ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for
18. perjury; and
19. ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 20 the individual filing the claim.
21 ‘‘(B) PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN AFFECTED
22. AREA.—For purposes of this Act, the Attorney
23. General shall accept a written affidavit or dec-
24. laration as evidence to substantiate an individ-
ual’s physical presence in an affected area dur-
ing a period described in section 4(a)(1)(A)(i) or section 4(a)(2) if the affidavit—
3. ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other
4. material that may be used to substantiate
5. the individual’s presence in an affected
6. area during that time period;
7. ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s pres-
8. ence in an affected area during that pe-
9. riod;
10. ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for
11. perjury; and
12. ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 13 the individual filing the claim.
14 ‘‘(C) PARTICIPATION AT TESTING SITE.—
15. For purposes of this Act, the Attorney General
16. shall accept a written affidavit or declaration as
17. evidence to substantiate an individual’s partici18 pation onsite in a test involving the atmospheric
19 detonation of a nuclear device if the affidavit— 20 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other
21. material that may be used to substantiate
22. the individual’s participation onsite in a
23. test involving the atmospheric detonation
24. of a nuclear device;
‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s participation onsite in a test involving the atmos-
3. pheric detonation of a nuclear device;
4. ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for
5. perjury; and
6. ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 7 the individual filing the claim.’’.
8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
9. Section 6 is amended—
10. (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘section
11. 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(a)(2)(E)’’;
12. (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 13 (A) in subparagraph (A)—
14. (i) in the first sentence, by striking
15. ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) 16 of section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection
17. (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or
18. (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and
19. (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘sub20 section (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of
21. section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection
22. (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or
23. (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and
B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘section 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section
3. 4(a)(2)(E)’’; and
4. (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘subsection
5. (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of section 4’’ and in6 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), or 7 (a)(2)(C) of section 4’’.
8 (c) REGULATIONS.—Section 6(k) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Not later than 180 days
10. after the date of enactment of the Radiation Exposure
11. Compensation Act Amendments of 2019, the Attorney
12. General shall issue revised regulations to carry out this
13. Act.’’.
14. SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS.
15. (a) EXTENSION OF FILING TIME.—Section 8(a) is 16 amended—
17. (1) by striking ‘‘22 years’’ and inserting ‘‘19
18. years’’; and
19. (2) by striking ‘‘2000’’ and inserting ‘‘2019’’.
20. (b) RESUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS.—Section 8(b) is
21. amended to read as follows:
22 ‘‘(b) RESUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS.—
23 ‘‘(1) DENIED CLAIMS.—After the date of enact24 ment of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
25 Amendments of 2019, any claimant who has been denied compensation under this Act may resubmit a claim for consideration by the Attorney General in
3. accordance with this Act not more than three times.
4. Any resubmittal made before the date of the enact5 ment of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
6 Amendments of 2019 shall not be applied to the
7imitation under the preceding sentence.
8 ‘‘(2) PREVIOUSLY SUCCESSFUL CLAIMS.—
9‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After the date of
10 enactment of the Radiation Exposure Compensa11 tion Act Amendments of 2019, any claimant
12. who received compensation under this Act may
3. submit a request to the Attorney General for
14. additional compensation and benefits. Such re-
15. quest shall contain—
16. ‘‘(i) the claimant’s name, social secu-
17. rity number, and date of birth;
18. ‘‘(ii) the amount of award received
19. under this Act before the date of enact-
20. ment of the Radiation Exposure Com21 pensation Act Amendments of 2019;
22 ‘‘(iii) any additional benefits and com23 pensation sought through such request;
24 and
‘‘(iv) any additional information required by the Attorney General.
3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION.—If the 4 claimant received compensation under this Act
5. before the date of enactment of the Radiation
6. Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of
7. 2019 and submits a request under subpara-
8. graph (A), the Attorney General shall—
9. ‘‘(i) pay the claimant the amount that 10 is equal to any excess of—
11. ‘‘(I) the amount the claimant is
12. eligible to receive under this Act (as
13. amended by the Radiation Exposure
14. Compensation Act Amendments of
15 2019); minus
16. ‘‘(II) the aggregate amount paid
17. to the claimant under this Act before
18. the date of enactment of the Radi19 ation Exposure Compensation Act 20 Amendments of 2019; and
21 ‘‘(ii) in any case in which the claimant
was compensated under section 4, provide the claimant with medical benefits under section 4(a)(5).’’.
SEC. 8. ATTORNEY FEES.
Section 9(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘2 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’.
4. SEC. 9. GRANT PROGRAM ON EPIDEMIOLOGICAL IMPACTS
5. OF URANIUM MINING AND MILLING.
6. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
7. (1) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’
8. has the meaning given under section 101 of the
9. Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);
10. (2) the term ‘‘program’’ means the grant pro-
11. gram established under subsection (b); and 12 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 13 of Health and Human Services.
14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 15 a grant program relating to the epidemiological impacts
16. of uranium mining and milling. Grants awarded under the
17. program shall be used for the study of the epidemiological
18. impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occu19 pationally exposed individuals, including family members 20 of uranium miners and millers.
21 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin22 ister the program through the National Institute of Envi23 ronmental Health Sciences.
24 (d) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.—Any institution
25 of higher education or nonprofit private entity shall be eli26 gible to apply for a grant. To apply for a grant an eligible institution or entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 4 reasonably require.
5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
6. are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
7. $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022.
8. SEC. 10. ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS
9. COMPENSATION PROGRAM.
10 (a) COVERED EMPLOYEES WITH CANCER.—Section
11. 3621(9) of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
12. Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l(9))
13. is amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 14 the following:
15. ‘‘(A) An individual with a specified cancer
16. who is a member of the Special Exposure Co-
17. hort, if and only if—
18. ‘‘(i) that individual contracted that
19. specified cancer after beginning employ20 ment at a Department of Energy facility
21 (in the case of a Department of Energy
employee or Department of Energy contractor employee) or at an atomic weapons employer facility (in the case of an atomic weapons employee); or
‘‘(ii) that individual—
‘‘(I) contracted that specified cancer after beginning employment in
4 a uranium mine or uranium mill de5 scribed under section 5(a)(1)(A)(i) of
6. the Radiation Exposure Compensation
7. Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) (including
8. any individual who was employed in
9. core drilling or the transport of ura10 nium ore or vanadium-uranium ore
11. from such mine or mill) located in
12. Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyo13 ming, South Dakota, Washington,
14. Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon,
15. Texas, or any State the Attorney Gen-
16. eral makes a determination under sec17 tion 5(a)(2) of that Act for inclusion
18. of eligibility under section 5(a)(1) of
19. that Act; and
20. ‘‘(II) was employed in a uranium
21. mine or uranium mill described under
subclause (I) (including any individual who was employed in core drilling or the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore from such mine or mill) at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1990.’’.
4 (b) MEMBERS OF SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT.—
5 Section 3626 of the Energy Employees Occupational Ill6 ness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7 7384q) is amended—
8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (1) 9 and inserting the following:
10. ‘‘(1) The Advisory Board on Radiation and
11. Worker Health under section 3624 shall advise the 12 President whether there is a class of employees— 13 ‘‘(A) at any Department of Energy facility
14 who likely were exposed to radiation at that fa15 cility but for whom it is not feasible to estimate
16. with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose they
17. received; and
18. ‘‘(B) employed in a uranium mine or ura19 nium mill described under section 5(a)(1)(A)(i)
20. of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
21. (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) (including any individual
who was employed in core drilling or the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore from such mine or mill) located in Colorado,
New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota,
Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, and any State the Attorney General makes a determination under section 4 5(a)(2) of that Act for inclusion of eligibility
5 under section 5(a)(1) of that Act, at any time 6 during the period beginning on January 1, 7 1942, and ending on December 31, 1990, who
8 likely were exposed to radiation at that mine or 9 mill but for whom it is not feasible to estimate
10 with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose they 11 received.’’; and
12 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 13 following:
14 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.— 15 ‘‘(1) Subject to the provisions of section
16. 3621(14)(C), the members of a class of employees at
17. a Department of Energy facility, or at an atomic
18. weapons employer facility, may be treated as mem19 bers of the Special Exposure Cohort for purposes of
20. the compensation program if the President, upon
21. recommendation of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, determines that—
‘‘(A) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the class received; and
‘‘(B) there is a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered the
3. health of members of the class.
4. ‘‘(2) Subject to the provisions of section
5. 3621(14)(C), the members of a class of employees
6. employed in a uranium mine or uranium mill de7 scribed under section 5(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Radiation 8 Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) 9 (including any individual who was employed in core
10 drilling or the transport of uranium ore or vana11 dium-uranium ore from such mine or mill) located in
12. Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South
13. Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota,
14. Oregon, Texas, and any State the Attorney General
15. makes a determination under section 5(a)(2) of that
16. Act for inclusion of eligibility under section 5(a)(1)
17. of that Act, at any time during the period beginning
18. on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31,
19. 1990, may be treated as members of the Special Ex-
20. posure Cohort for purposes of the compensation pro-
21. gram if the President, upon recommendation of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, determines that—
22
1 ‘‘(A) it is not feasible to estimate with suf2 ficient accuracy the radiation dose that the 3 class received; and
4. ‘‘(B) there is a reasonable likelihood that
5. such radiation dose may have endangered the
6. health of members of the class.’’.
