Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 947 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 MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. UDALL, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BEN- NET, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to im- prove compensation for workers involved in uranium min- ing, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radiation Exposure 4 Compensation Act Amendments of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 6 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 7 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 8 of an amendment to or repeal of a section or other provi- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 947 IS sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made 1 to a section or other provision of the Radiation Exposure 2 Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 3 note). 4 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF FUND. 5 Section 3(d) is amended— 6 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 7 ‘‘The Fund shall terminate 19 years after the date 8 of the enactment of the Radiation Exposure Com- 9 pensation Act Amendments of 2019.’’; and 10 (2) by striking ‘‘22-year’’ and inserting ‘‘19- 11 year’’. 12 SEC. 4. CLAIMS RELATING TO ATMOSPHERIC TESTING. 13 (a) LEUKEMIA CLAIMS RELATING TO TRINITY TEST 14 IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PACIFIC.—Section 15 4(a)(1)(A) is amended— 16 (1) in clause (i)— 17 (A) in subclause (II)— 18 (i) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 20 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi- 21 colon; 22 (B) by redesignating subclause (III) as 23 subclause (V); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 947 IS (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(III) was physically present in 3 an affected area for the period begin- 4 ning on June 30, 1945, and ending on 5 July 31, 1945; or 6 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in 7 an affected area— 8 ‘‘(aa) for a period of at least 9 1 year during the period begin- 10 ning on June 30, 1946, and end- 11 ing on August 19, 1958; or 12 ‘‘(bb) for the period begin- 13 ning on April 25, 1962, and end- 14 ing on November 5, 1962; or’’; 15 and 16 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘physical pres- 17 ence described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 18 or onsite participation described in clause (i)(III)’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘physical presence described in sub- 20 clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of clause (i) or onsite 21 participation described in clause (i)(V)’’. 22 (b) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU- 23 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 947 IS (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an 1 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount’’; and 2 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 3 the following: 4 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—If the conditions de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (C) are met, an indi- 6 vidual who is described in subparagraph (A)(i) 7 shall receive $150,000.’’. 8 (c) SPECIFIED DISEASES CLAIMS RELATING TO 9 TRINITY TEST IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PA- 10 CIFIC.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended— 11 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in the af- 12 fected area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; 13 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and 15 inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 16 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 17 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 18 paragraph (E); and 19 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(C) was physically present in an affected 22 area for the period beginning on June 30, 23 1945, and ending on July 31, 1945; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 947 IS ‘‘(D) was physically present in an affected 1 area— 2 ‘‘(i) for a period of at least 2 years 3 during the period beginning on June 30, 4 1946, and ending on August 19, 1958; or 5 ‘‘(ii) for the period beginning on April 6 25, 1962, and ending on November 5, 7 1962; or’’. 8 (d) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO SPECIFIED 9 DISEASES.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended in the matter fol- 10 lowing subparagraph (E) (as redesignated by subsection 11 (c) of this section) by striking ‘‘$50,000 (in the case of 12 an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B)) or 13 $75,000 (in the case of an individual described in subpara- 14 graph (C)),’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’. 15 (e) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—Section 4(a) is amended 16 by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(5) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—An individual re- 18 ceiving a payment under this section shall be eligible 19 to receive medical benefits in the same manner and 20 to the same extent as an individual eligible to receive 21 medical benefits under section 3629 of the Energy 22 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro- 23 gram Act of 2000 (as enacted into law by Public 24 Law 106–398; 114 Stat. 165A–507).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 947 IS (f) DOWNWIND STATES.—Section 4(b)(1) is amended 1 to read as follows: 2 ‘‘(1) ‘affected area’ means— 3 ‘‘(A) except as provided under subpara- 4 graphs (B) and (C), Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 5 Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah; 6 ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim by an indi- 7 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(III) or 8 (2)(C), only New Mexico; and 9 ‘‘(C) with respect to a claim by an indi- 10 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) or 11 (2)(D), only Guam.’’. 12 SEC. 5. CLAIMS RELATING TO URANIUM MINING. 13 (a) EMPLOYEES OF MINES AND MILLS.—Section 14 5(a)(1)(A)(i) is amended— 15 (1) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; 16 (2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971; and’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990; or’’; and 18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(II) was employed as a core driller in 20 a State referred to in subclause (I) during 21 the period described in such subclause; 22 and’’. 23 (b) MINERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(I) is amended 24 by inserting ‘‘or renal cancer or any other chronic renal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 947 IS disease, including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue in- 1 jury’’ after ‘‘nonmalignant respiratory disease’’. 2 (c) MILLERS, CORE DRILLERS, AND ORE TRANS- 3 PORTERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is amended— 4 (1) by inserting ‘‘, core driller,’’ after ‘‘was a 5 miller’’; 6 (2) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 7 (3) by striking all that follows ‘‘nonmalignant 8 respiratory disease’’ and inserting ‘‘or renal cancer 9 or any other chronic renal disease, including nephri- 10 tis and kidney tubal tissue injury; or’’. 11 (d) COMBINED WORK HISTORIES.—Section 12 5(a)(1)(A)(ii) is further amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I); 14 and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(III)(aa) does not meet the condi- 17 tions of subclause (I) or (II); 18 ‘‘(bb) worked, during the period de- 19 scribed in clause (i)(I), in two or more of 20 the following positions: miner, miller, core 21 driller, and ore transporter; 22 ‘‘(cc) meets the requirements of para- 23 graph (4) or (5), or both; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 947 IS ‘‘(dd) submits written medical docu- 1 mentation that the individual developed 2 lung cancer or a nonmalignant respiratory 3 disease or renal cancer or any other chron- 4 ic renal disease, including nephritis and 5 kidney tubal tissue injury after exposure to 6 radiation through work in one or more of 7 the positions referred to in item (aa);’’. 8 (e) DATES OF OPERATION OF URANIUM MINE.—Sec- 9 tion 5(a)(2)(A) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 10 1971’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990’’. 11 (f) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COMBINED WORK 12 HISTORIES.—Section 5(a) is amended by adding at the 13 end the following: 14 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 15 WORK HISTORIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST 16 ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE.—An individual meets 17 the requirements of this paragraph if the individual 18 worked in one or more of the positions referred to 19 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) for a period of at 20 least one year during the period described in para- 21 graph (1)(A)(i)(I). 22 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 23 WORK HISTORIES FOR MINERS.—An individual 24 meets the requirements of this paragraph if the indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 947 IS vidual, during the period described in paragraph 1 (1)(A)(i)(I), worked as a miner and was exposed to 2 such number of working level months that the Attor- 3 ney General determines, when combined with the ex- 4 posure of such individual to radiation through work 5 as a miller, core driller, or ore transporter during 6 the period described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), re- 7 sults in such individual being exposed to a total level 8 of radiation that is greater or equal to the level of 9 exposure of an individual described in paragraph 10 (4).’’. 11 (g) DEFINITION OF CORE DRILLER.—Section 5(b) is 12 amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 14 (7); 15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 16 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(9) the term ‘core driller’ means any indi- 19 vidual employed to engage in the act or process of 20 obtaining cylindrical rock samples of uranium or va- 21 nadium by means of a borehole drilling machine for 22 the purpose of mining uranium or vanadium.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 947 IS SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF USE OF AFFIDAVITS IN DETERMINA- 1 TION OF CLAIMS; REGULATIONS. 2 (a) AFFIDAVITS.—Section 6(b) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(3) AFFIDAVITS.— 5 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYMENT HISTORY.—For pur- 6 poses of this Act, the Attorney General shall ac- 7 cept a written affidavit or declaration as evi- 8 dence to substantiate the employment history of 9 an individual as a miner, miller, core driller, or 10 ore transporter if the affidavit— 11 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 12 material that may be used to substantiate 13 the employment history of the individual; 14 ‘‘(ii) attests to the employment history 15 of the individual; 16 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 17 perjury; and 18 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 19 the individual filing the claim. 20 ‘‘(B) PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN AFFECTED 21 AREA.—For purposes of this Act, the Attorney 22 General shall accept a written affidavit or dec- 23 laration as evidence to substantiate an individ- 24 ual’s physical presence in an affected area dur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 947 IS ing a period described in section 4(a)(1)(A)(i) 1 or section 4(a)(2) if the affidavit— 2 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 3 material that may be used to substantiate 4 the individual’s presence in an affected 5 area during that time period; 6 ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s pres- 7 ence in an affected area during that pe- 8 riod; 9 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 10 perjury; and 11 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 12 the individual filing the claim. 13 ‘‘(C) PARTICIPATION AT TESTING SITE.— 14 For purposes of this Act, the Attorney General 15 shall accept a written affidavit or declaration as 16 evidence to substantiate an individual’s partici- 17 pation onsite in a test involving the atmospheric 18 detonation of a nuclear device if the affidavit— 19 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 20 material that may be used to substantiate 21 the individual’s participation onsite in a 22 test involving the atmospheric detonation 23 of a nuclear device; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 947 IS ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s partici- 1 pation onsite in a test involving the atmos- 2 pheric detonation of a nuclear device; 3 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 4 perjury; and 5 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 6 the individual filing the claim.’’. 7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 8 Section 6 is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘section 10 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(a)(2)(E)’’; 11 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 12 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 13 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 14 ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) 15 of section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 16 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or 17 (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and 18 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘sub- 19 section (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of 20 section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 21 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or 22 (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 947 IS (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sec- 1 tion 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2 4(a)(2)(E)’’; and 3 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘subsection 4 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of section 4’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), or 6 (a)(2)(C) of section 4’’. 7 (c) REGULATIONS.—Section 6(k) is amended by add- 8 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Not later than 180 days 9 after the date of enactment of the Radiation Exposure 10 Compensation Act Amendments of 2019, the Attorney 11 General shall issue revised regulations to carry out this 12 Act.’’. 13 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 14 (a) EXTENSION [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]