Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3783 To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2019 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. STANTON, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. CROW, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. SOTO, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. TITUS, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HECK, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PERLMUTTER, and Ms. JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3783 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radiation Exposure 2 Compensation Act Amendments of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND APOLOGY. 4 Section 2(a)(1) of the Radiation Exposure Com- 5 pensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 6 note) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including individuals in 7 New Mexico, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Wyo- 8 ming, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, North Dakota, 9 Nevada, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands,’’ after 10 ‘‘tests exposed individuals’’. 11 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF FUND. 12 Section 3(d) of the Radiation Exposure Compensa- 13 tion Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is 14 amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘22 years’’ and inserting ‘‘45 16 years’’; and 17 (2) by striking ‘‘22-year’’ and inserting ‘‘45- 18 year’’. 19 SEC. 4. CLAIMS RELATING TO ATMOSPHERIC TESTING. 20 (a) LEUKEMIA CLAIMS RELATING TO TRINITY TEST 21 IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PACIFIC.—Section 22 4(a)(1)(A) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 23 (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amend- 24 ed— 25 (1) in clause (i)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3783 IH (A) in subclause (II)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 3 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi- 4 colon; 5 (B) by redesignating subclause (III) as 6 subclause (V); and 7 (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(III) was physically present in an af- 10 fected area for a period of at least 1 year 11 during the period beginning on June 30, 12 1945, and ending on July 31, 1962; 13 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in an af- 14 fected area— 15 ‘‘(aa) for a period of at least 1 16 year during the period beginning on 17 June 30, 1946, and ending on August 18 19, 1958; or 19 ‘‘(bb) for the period beginning on 20 April 25, 1962, and ending on No- 21 vember 5, 1962; or’’; and 22 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘physical pres- 23 ence described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 24 or onsite participation described in clause (i)(III)’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3783 IH and inserting ‘‘physical presence described in sub- 1 clause (I), (II), (III), of (IV) of clause (i) or onsite 2 participation described in clause (i)(V)’’. 3 (b) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU- 4 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1) of the Radiation Exposure Com- 5 pensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 6 note) is amended— 7 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an 8 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount’’; and 9 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 10 the following: 11 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—If the conditions de- 12 scribed in subparagraph (C) are met, an indi- 13 vidual who is described in subparagraph (A)(i) 14 shall receive $150,000.’’. 15 (c) SPECIFIED DISEASES CLAIMS RELATING TO 16 TRINITY TEST IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PA- 17 CIFIC.—Section 4(a)(2) of the Radiation Exposure Com- 18 pensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 19 note) is amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in the af- 21 fected area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; 22 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3783 IH (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 1 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 2 paragraph (E); and 3 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(C) was physically present in an affected 6 area for a period of at least 1 year during the 7 period beginning on June 30, 1945, and ending 8 on July 31, 1962; 9 ‘‘(D) was physically present in an affected 10 area— 11 ‘‘(i) for a period of at least 2 years 12 during the period beginning on June 30, 13 1946, and ending on August 19, 1958; or 14 ‘‘(ii) for the period beginning on April 15 25, 1962, and ending on November 5, 16 1962; or’’. 17 (d) CLAIMS RELATED TO RADIATION EXPOSURE 18 DURING CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL.—Subpara- 19 graph (E) of section 4(a)(2) of the Radiation Exposure 20 Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 21 note) (as redesignated by subsection (c) of this section) 22 is amended by striking ‘‘a test involving the atmospheric 23 detonation of a nuclear device,’’ and inserting the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3783 IH ‘‘(i) a test involving the atmospheric 1 detonation of a nuclear device, or 2 ‘‘(ii) the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll 3 during the period beginning on January 1, 4 1977, and ending on December 31, 5 1980,’’. 6 (e) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO SPECIFIED 7 DISEASES.—Section 4(a)(2) of the Radiation Exposure 8 Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 9 note) is amended in the matter following subparagraph 10 (E) (as redesignated by subsection (c) of this section) by 11 striking ‘‘$50,000 (in the case of an individual described 12 in subparagraph (A) or (B)) or $75,000 (in the case of 13 an individual described in subparagraph (C)),’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘$150,000’’. 15 (f) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—Section 4(a) of the Radi- 16 ation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 17 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended by adding at the end 18 the following: 19 ‘‘(5) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—An individual re- 20 ceiving a payment under this section shall be eligible 21 to receive medical benefits in the same manner and 22 to the same extent as an individual eligible to receive 23 medical benefits under section 3629 of the Energy 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3783 IH Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro- 1 gram Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384t).’’. 2 (g) DOWNWIND STATES.—Section 4(b)(1) of the Ra- 3 diation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 101– 4 426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(1) ‘affected area’ means— 6 ‘‘(A) except as provided under subpara- 7 graphs (B) and (C), Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 8 Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah; 9 ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim by an indi- 10 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(III) or 11 (a)(2)(C), only New Mexico; and 12 ‘‘(C) with respect to a claim by an indi- 13 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) or 14 (a)(2)(D), only Guam.’’. 15 SEC. 5. CLAIMS RELATING TO URANIUM MINING. 16 (a) EMPLOYEES OF MINES AND MILLS.—Section 17 5(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 18 Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is 19 amended— 20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; 21 (2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971; and’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990; or’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3783 IH ‘‘(II) was employed as a core driller in 1 a State referred to in subclause (I) during 2 the period described in such subclause; 3 and’’. 4 (b) MINERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(I) of the Radi- 5 ation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 6 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended by inserting ‘‘or renal 7 cancer, renal failure, or any other chronic renal disease, 8 including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury’’ after 9 ‘‘nonmalignant respiratory disease’’. 10 (c) MILLERS, CORE DRILLERS, ORE TRANSPORTERS, 11 AND REMEDIATION WORKERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(II) 12 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 13 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 14 (1) by inserting ‘‘, core driller,’’ after ‘‘was a 15 miller’’; 16 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or was involved in remedi- 17 ation efforts at such a uranium mine or uranium 18 mill,’’ after ‘‘ore transporter’’; 19 (3) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 20 (4) by striking all that follows ‘‘nonmalignant 21 respiratory disease’’ and inserting ‘‘or renal cancer, 22 renal failure, or any other chronic renal disease, in- 23 cluding nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury; or’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3783 IH (d) COMBINED WORK HISTORIES.—Section 1 5(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 2 Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is further 3 amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I); 5 and 6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(III)(aa) does not meet the condi- 8 tions of subclause (I) or (II); 9 ‘‘(bb) worked, during the period de- 10 scribed in clause (i)(I), in two or more of 11 the following positions: miner, miller, core 12 driller, and ore transporter; 13 ‘‘(cc) meets the requirements of para- 14 graph (4) or (5), or both; and 15 ‘‘(dd) submits written medical docu- 16 mentation that the individual developed 17 lung cancer or a nonmalignant respiratory 18 disease or renal cancer, renal failure, or 19 any other chronic renal disease, including 20 nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury, 21 after exposure to radiation through work 22 in one or more of the positions referred to 23 in item (bb);’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3783 IH (e) DATES OF OPERATION OF URANIUM MINE.—Sec- 1 tion 5(a)(2)(A) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 2 Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is 3 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘December 31, 1990’’. 5 (f) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COMBINED WORK 6 HISTORIES.—Section 5(a) of the Radiation Exposure 7 Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 8 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 10 WORK HISTORIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST 11 ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE.—An individual meets 12 the requirements of this paragraph if the individual 13 worked in one or more of the positions referred to 14 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) for a period of at 15 least one year during the period described in para- 16 graph (1)(A)(i)(I). 17 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 18 WORK HISTORIES FOR MINERS.—An individual 19 meets the requirements of this paragraph if the indi- 20 vidual, during the period described in paragraph 21 (1)(A)(i)(I), worked as a miner and was exposed to 22 such number of working level months of radiation 23 that the Attorney General determines, when com- 24 bined with the exposure of such individual to radi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3783 IH ation through work as a miller, core driller, or ore 1 transporter during the period described in paragraph 2 (1)(A)(i)(I), results in such individual being exposed 3 to a total level of radiation that is greater or equal 4 to the level of exposure of an individual described in 5 paragraph (4).’’. 6 (g) DEFINITION OF CORE DRILLER.—Section 5(b) of 7 the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 8 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 10 (7); 11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 12 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(9) the term ‘core driller’ means any indi- 15 vidual employed to engage in the act or process of 16 obtaining cylindrical rock samples of uranium or va- 17 nadium by means of a borehole drilling machine for 18 the purpose of mining uranium or vanadium.’’. 19 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF USE OF AFFIDAVITS IN DETERMINA- 20 TION OF CLAIMS; REGULATIONS. 21 (a) AFFIDAVITS.—Section 6(b) of the Radiation Ex- 22 posure Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 23 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended by adding at the end the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.IH H3783 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3783 IH ‘‘(3) AFFIDAVITS.— 1 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYMENT HISTORY.—For pur- 2 poses of this Act, the Attorney General shall ac- 3 cept a written affidavit or declaration as evi- 4 dence to substantiate the employment history of 5 an individual as a miner, miller, core driller, or 6 ore transporter if the affidavit— 7 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 8 material that may be used to substantiate 9 the employment history of the individual; 10 ‘‘(ii) attests to the employment history 11 of the individual; 12 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 13 perjury; and 14 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 15 the individual filing the claim. 16 [Text truncated for display. 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