Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2820 To provide financial assistance to schools impacted by radioactive contaminants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Ms. BUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide financial assistance to schools impacted by radioactive contaminants, 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 ‘‘Justice for Jana Ele- 4 mentary Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2820 IH (1) COVERED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘covered 1 school’’ means a school that is part of the Hazel- 2 wood School District in the State of Missouri. 3 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ra- 4 dioactive School Assistance Fund established under 5 section 4(a). 6 (3) IMPACTED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘impacted 7 school’’ means a public elementary school or sec- 8 ondary school— 9 (A) that closed on or after January 1, 10 2020; and 11 (B) where the Formerly Utilized Sites Re- 12 medial Action Program of the Corps of Engi- 13 neers detected radiation above background lev- 14 els— 15 (i) on school property; or 16 (ii) otherwise, within 1000 feet of a 17 building containing classrooms or other 18 educational facilities of the school. 19 (4) JANA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term 20 ‘‘Jana Elementary School’’ means the school located 21 at 405 Jana Drive in Florissant, Missouri. 22 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 23 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2820 IH the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 2 (6) NATIONAL CONTINGENCY PLAN.—The term 3 ‘‘National Contingency Plan’’ means the National 4 Contingency Plan— 5 (A) prepared and published under section 6 311(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 7 Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(d)); or 8 (B) revised under section 105 of the Com- 9 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa- 10 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 11 9605). 12 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 13 the Radioactive School Assistance Program estab- 14 lished in accordance with section 4(b). 15 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Energy. 17 (9) VICINITY PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘vicinity 18 property’’ has the meaning given the term in the 19 Engineer Regulation ER 200–1–4 of the Corps of 20 Engineers entitled ‘‘Formerly Utilized Sites Reme- 21 dial Action Program’’ and dated August 29, 2014 22 (or a successor document). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2820 IH SEC. 3. REMEDIATION OF JANA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 1 Consistent with the requirements and obligations 2 under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Pro- 3 gram of the Corps of Engineers, the Secretary of the 4 Army shall— 5 (1) not later than 120 days after the date of 6 the enactment of this Act, establish new remediation 7 goals for Jana Elementary School that will result in 8 the removal of all radioactive contamination at Jana 9 Elementary School such that no portion of the site 10 is subjected to radiation above background levels; 11 and 12 (2) after establishing remediation goals under 13 paragraph (1), carry out activities necessary to 14 achieve those goals. 15 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOLS WITH RA- 16 DIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION. 17 (a) RADIOACTIVE SCHOOL ASSISTANCE FUND.— 18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 19 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 20 known as the Radioactive School Assistance Fund to 21 carry out the reimbursement program described in 22 subsection (b). 23 (2) FUNDING.—The Fund shall consist of 24 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization 25 of appropriations under section 7. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2820 IH (b) RADIOACTIVE SCHOOL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 1 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 2 of this Act, the Secretary shall establish and implement 3 a program to be known as the ‘‘Radioactive School Assist- 4 ance Program’’ to provide financial assistance in accord- 5 ance with subsection (c) to local educational agencies that 6 have been financially impacted by the presence of radio- 7 active contaminants stemming from the atomic energy ac- 8 tivities of the United States Government. 9 (c) APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 10 (1) REIMBURSEMENT FOR TESTING.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 12 provide financial assistance to each local edu- 13 cational agency that submits to the Secretary 14 an application that includes— 15 (i) a certification that the local edu- 16 cational agency incurred expenses while 17 testing for radioactive contaminants at an 18 impacted school; 19 (ii) proof of such expenses; and 20 (iii) proof that such testing— 21 (I) led to further testing under 22 the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial 23 Action Program of the Corps of Engi- 24 neers; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2820 IH (II) was undertaken following 1 testing by a private entity that found 2 radioactive contamination. 3 (B) LIMITATIONS.—Financial assistance 4 provided to a local educational agency under 5 this paragraph shall not exceed the amount ex- 6 pended by such local educational agency to test 7 for radioactive contamination. 8 (2) FUNDING FOR CONSTRUCTION.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 10 provide financial assistance for the construction 11 of a new school building to each local edu- 12 cational agency that submits to the Secretary 13 an application that includes the following: 14 (i) A plan for the construction of a 15 new school building. 16 (ii) Documentation that a school 17 under the jurisdiction of the local edu- 18 cational agency is an impacted school. 19 (iii) A budget for the construction of 20 a new school building. 21 (iv) A certification that the local edu- 22 cational agency shall only use financial as- 23 sistance provided under this paragraph for 24 1 or more of the following purposes: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2820 IH (I) To purchase land for the con- 1 struction of a new school building. 2 (II) To construct a new school 3 building to replace an impacted 4 school. 5 (B) LIMITATIONS.— 6 (i) AMOUNT OF FUNDING.—Financial 7 assistance provided to a local educational 8 agency under this paragraph shall not ex- 9 ceed $20,000,000 for each impacted 10 school. 11 (ii) USE OF FUNDS.—A local edu- 12 cational agency that receives financial as- 13 sistance under this paragraph may only 14 use such financial assistance for 1 or more 15 of the following purposes: 16 (I) To purchase land for the con- 17 struction of a new school building. 18 (II) To construct a new school 19 building to replace an impacted 20 school. 21 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary may not 22 reject an application submitted by a local edu- 23 cational agency for financial assistance under this 24 subsection due to prior remediation by the Corps of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2820 IH Engineers or any other relevant Federal agency of 1 an impacted school under the jurisdiction of such 2 local educational agency. 3 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 5 to Congress a report on the Program, which shall in- 6 clude— 7 (1) a description of the number of applications 8 submitted under this section; and 9 (2) a description of the amount of financial as- 10 sistance provided to local educational agencies under 11 this section. 12 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATION OF SCHOOLS IN HAZELWOOD 13 SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR CONTAMINANTS. 14 (a) DESIGNATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 15 vision of law, each covered school shall be designated as 16 a vicinity property of the St. Louis Airport Site of the 17 Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program of the 18 Corps of Engineers. 19 (b) INVESTIGATION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army 21 shall investigate and characterize each covered 22 school in accordance with the Comprehensive Envi- 23 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 24 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2820 IH tional Contingency Plan, including, at a minimum, 1 carrying out a preliminary assessment and site in- 2 spection of each covered school. 3 (2) INCLUSION.—An investigation of a covered 4 school under paragraph (1) shall include on-site in- 5 vestigatory efforts and sampling in accordance with 6 section 300.420(c)(2) of title 40, Code of Federal 7 Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 8 of this Act). 9 (c) REPORTS.—The Secretary of the Army shall de- 10 velop and make available to the public, for each covered 11 school, a report that includes the results of the investiga- 12 tion under subsection (b), including— 13 (1) the results of the on-site investigatory ef- 14 forts; 15 (2) a summary of the results of sampling under 16 paragraph (2) of that subsection for contaminants of 17 concern, including the average and highest detected 18 levels of each contaminant of concern; and 19 (3) an evaluation of the danger posed to stu- 20 dents and employees of the covered school by the 21 levels of contamination. 22 (d) COMMUNITY RELATIONS.—In carrying out this 23 section, the Secretary of the Army shall comply with all 24 applicable requirements relating to community relations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2820 IH and public notification under the Comprehensive Environ- 1 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 2 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), section 311 of the Federal 3 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321), and sec- 4 tions 300.415, 300.430, and 300.435 of title 40, Code of 5 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 6 of this Act). 7 SEC. 6. REVIEW AND REPORT OF RADIOACTIVE TESTING AT 8 JANA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 9 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after the date 10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall review 11 the methodology and results of all tests for radioactive 12 contaminants conducted at Jana Elementary School, in- 13 cluding— 14 (1) tests conducted by the Corps of Engineers; 15 (2) tests conducted by Boston Chemical Data 16 Corporation; and 17 (3) tests commissioned by the Hazelwood 18 School District in the State of Missouri. 19 (b) REPORT.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22 shall submit to Congress a report on the review re- 23 quired by subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2820 IH (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para- 1 graph (1) shall include— 2 (A) for each test described in subsection 3 (a), an evaluation of— 4 (i) the reliability of the methodology 5 used— 6 (I) to conduct such test; and 7 (II) to evaluate the results of 8 such test; and 9 (ii) the reliability of the opinions con- 10 tained in any report summarizing the test; 11 and 12 (B) an evaluation of the danger posed to 13 children by any radioactive contaminants found 14 at Jana Elementary School. 15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 16 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 17 2023 $25,000,000 to carry out this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2820.IH H2820 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS