Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1751 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 MAY 18, 2023 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. HEIN- RICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. KELLY, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. RISCH, Ms. SINEMA, and Mr. BENNET) 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 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 6 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 7 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1751 IS of an amendment to or repeal of a section or other provi- 1 sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made 2 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 2023.’’; and 11 (2) by striking ‘‘2-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 AT THE NEVADA SITE AND 16 IN THE PACIFIC.—Section 4(a)(1)(A) is amended— 17 (1) in clause (i)— 18 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘October 19 31, 1958’’ and inserting ‘‘November 6, 1962’’; 20 (B) in subclause (II)— 21 (i) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi- 24 colon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1751 IS (C) by redesignating subclause (III) as 1 subclause (V); and 2 (D) by inserting after subclause (II) the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(III) was physically present in an af- 5 fected area for a period of at least 1 year 6 during the period beginning on September 7 24, 1944, and ending on November 6, 8 1962; 9 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in an af- 10 fected area— 11 ‘‘(aa) for a period of at least 1 12 year during the period beginning on 13 July 1, 1946, and ending on Novem- 14 ber 6, 1962; or 15 ‘‘(bb) for the period beginning on 16 April 25, 1962, and ending on No- 17 vember 6, 1962; or’’; and 18 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘physical pres- 19 ence described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 20 or onsite participation described in clause (i)(III)’’ 21 and inserting ‘‘physical presence described in sub- 22 clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of clause (i) or onsite 23 participation described in clause (i)(V)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1751 IS (b) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU- 1 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1) is amended— 2 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘an 3 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount’’; and 4 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 5 the following: 6 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—If the conditions de- 7 scribed in subparagraph (C) are met, an indi- 8 vidual who is described in subparagraph (A) 9 shall receive $150,000.’’. 10 (c) CONDITIONS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU- 11 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1)(C) is amended— 12 (1) by striking clause (i); and 13 (2) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as 14 clauses (i) and (ii), respectively. 15 (d) SPECIFIED DISEASES CLAIMS RELATING TO 16 TRINITY TEST IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS AT THE NE- 17 VADA SITE AND IN THE PACIFIC.—Section 4(a)(2) is 18 amended— 19 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; 22 (B) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘1 23 year’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1751 IS (C) by striking ‘‘October 31, 1958’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘November 6, 1962’’; 2 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 5 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 6 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 7 paragraph (E); and 8 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(C) was physically present in an affected 11 area for a period of at least 1 year during the 12 period beginning on September 24, 1944, and 13 ending on November 6, 1962; 14 ‘‘(D) was physically present in an affected 15 area— 16 ‘‘(i) for a period of at least 1 year 17 during the period beginning on July 1, 18 1946, and ending on November 6, 1962; or 19 ‘‘(ii) for the period beginning on April 20 25, 1962, and ending on November 6, 21 1962; or’’. 22 (e) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO SPECIFIED 23 DISEASES.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended in the matter fol- 24 lowing subparagraph (E) (as redesignated by subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1751 IS (d) of this section) by striking ‘‘$50,000 (in the case of 1 an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B)) or 2 $75,000 (in the case of an individual described in subpara- 3 graph (C)),’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’. 4 (f) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—Section 4(a) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(5) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—An individual re- 7 ceiving a payment under this section shall be eligible 8 to receive medical benefits in the same manner and 9 to the same extent as an individual eligible to receive 10 medical benefits under section 3629 of the Energy 11 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro- 12 gram Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384t).’’. 13 (g) DOWNWIND STATES.—Section 4(b)(1) is amend- 14 ed to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(1) ‘affected area’ means— 16 ‘‘(A) except as provided under subpara- 17 graphs (B) and (C), Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 18 Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and 19 Guam; 20 ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim by an indi- 21 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(III) or sub- 22 section (a)(2)(C), only New Mexico; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1751 IS ‘‘(C) with respect to a claim by an indi- 1 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) or sub- 2 section (a)(2)(D), only Guam.’’. 3 (h) CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA AS A SPECI- 4 FIED DISEASE.—Section 4(b)(2) is amended by striking 5 ‘‘other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘including chronic lymphocytic leukemia’’. 7 SEC. 5. CLAIMS RELATING TO URANIUM MINING. 8 (a) EMPLOYEES OF MINES AND MILLS.—Section 9 5(a)(1)(A)(i) is amended— 10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; 11 (2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971; and’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990; or’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(II) was employed as a core driller in 15 a State referred to in subclause (I) during 16 the period described in such subclause; 17 and’’. 18 (b) MINERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(I) is amended 19 by inserting ‘‘or renal cancer or any other chronic renal 20 disease, including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue in- 21 jury’’ after ‘‘nonmalignant respiratory disease’’. 22 (c) MILLERS, CORE DRILLERS, AND ORE TRANS- 23 PORTERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1751 IS (1) by inserting ‘‘, core driller,’’ after ‘‘was a 1 miller’’; 2 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or was involved in remedi- 3 ation efforts at such a uranium mine or uranium 4 mill,’’ after ‘‘ore transporter’’; 5 (3) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 6 (4) by striking all that follows ‘‘nonmalignant 7 respiratory disease’’ and inserting ‘‘or renal cancer 8 or any other chronic renal disease, including nephri- 9 tis and kidney tubal tissue injury; or’’. 10 (d) COMBINED WORK HISTORIES.—Section 11 5(a)(1)(A)(ii) is further amended— 12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I); 13 and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(III)(aa) does not meet the condi- 16 tions of subclause (I) or (II); 17 ‘‘(bb) worked, during the period de- 18 scribed in clause (i)(I), in two or more of 19 the following positions: miner, miller, core 20 driller, and ore transporter; 21 ‘‘(cc) meets the requirements of para- 22 graph (4) or (5), or both; and 23 ‘‘(dd) submits written medical docu- 24 mentation that the individual developed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1751 IS lung cancer or a nonmalignant respiratory 1 disease or renal cancer or any other chron- 2 ic renal disease, including nephritis and 3 kidney tubal tissue injury after exposure to 4 radiation through work in one or more of 5 the positions referred to in item (bb);’’. 6 (e) DATES OF OPERATION OF URANIUM MINE.—Sec- 7 tion 5(a)(2)(A) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 8 1971’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990’’. 9 (f) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COMBINED WORK 10 HISTORIES.—Section 5(a) is amended by adding at the 11 end the following: 12 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 13 WORK HISTORIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST 14 ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE.—An individual meets 15 the requirements of this paragraph if the individual 16 worked in one or more of the positions referred to 17 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) for a period of at 18 least one year during the period described in para- 19 graph (1)(A)(i)(I). 20 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED 21 WORK HISTORIES FOR MINERS.—An individual 22 meets the requirements of this paragraph if the indi- 23 vidual, during the period described in paragraph 24 (1)(A)(i)(I), worked as a miner and was exposed to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1751 IS such number of working level months that the Attor- 1 ney General determines, when combined with the ex- 2 posure of such individual to radiation through work 3 as a miller, core driller, or ore transporter during 4 the period described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), re- 5 sults in such individual being exposed to a total level 6 of radiation that is greater or equal to the level of 7 exposure of an individual described in paragraph 8 (4).’’. 9 (g) DEFINITION OF CORE DRILLER.—Section 5(b) is 10 amended— 11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 12 (7); 13 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 14 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(9) the term ‘core driller’ means any indi- 17 vidual employed to engage in the act or process of 18 obtaining cylindrical rock samples of uranium or va- 19 nadium by means of a borehole drilling machine for 20 the purpose of mining uranium or vanadium.’’. 21 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF USE OF AFFIDAVITS IN DETERMINA- 22 TION OF CLAIMS; REGULATIONS. 23 (a) AFFIDAVITS.—Section 6(b) is amended by adding 24 at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1751 IS ‘‘(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 ‘‘(B) PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN AFFECTED 17 AREA.—For purposes of this Act, the Attorney 18 General shall accept a written affidavit or dec- 19 laration as evidence to substantiate an individ- 20 ual’s physical presence in an affected area dur- 21 ing a period described in section 4(a)(1)(A)(i) 22 or section 4(a)(2) if the affidavit— 23 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 24 material that may be used to substantiate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1751 IS the individual’s presence in an affected 1 area during that time period; 2 ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s pres- 3 ence in an affected area during that pe- 4 riod; 5 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 6 perjury; and 7 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 8 the individual filing the claim. 9 ‘‘(C) PARTICIPATION AT TESTING SITE.— 10 For purposes of this Act, the Attorney General 11 shall accept a written affidavit or declaration as 12 evidence to substantiate an individual’s partici- 13 pation onsite in a test involving the atmospheric 14 detonation of a nuclear device if the affidavit— 15 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 16 material that may be used to substantiate 17 the individual’s participation onsite in a 18 test involving the atmospheric detonation 19 of a nuclear device; 20 ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s partici- 21 pation onsite in a test involving the atmos- 22 pheric detonation of a nuclear device; 23 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 24 perjury; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1751.IS S1751 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1751 IS ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 1 the individual filing the claim.’’. 2 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 Section 6 is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘section 5 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(a)(2)(E)’’; 6 (2) in subse [Text truncated for display. 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