I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1332

To establish certain policies and responsibilities with respect to the administration of the Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 28, 1995

Mr. GALLEGLY (for himself and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish certain policies and responsibilities with respect

to the administration of the Rongelap Resettlement

Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rongelap Recovery and

5 Community Self-Reliance Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. POLICY REGARDING ASSISTANCE FOR RESETTLE7 MENT OF PEOPLE OF RONGELAP.

8 The purposes of this Act are to improve the legal and

9 policy framework for fulfillment of the objectives of section
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1 103(i) of Public Law 99–239 (99 Stat. 1783) and to pre2 scribe the manner in which the Rongelap Resettlement

3 Trust Fund established pursuant to Public Law 102–154

4 (105 Stat. 1009) shall be administered in order to achieve

5 the goal of early and safe resettlement of the people of

6 Rongelap. The measures set forth in this Act are appro7 priate and necessary in light of the results of scientific

8 studies on the habitability of Rongelap conducted pursu9 ant to section 103(i) of Public Law 99–239 and are in10 tended to enable the people of Rongelap to exercise greater

11 self-determination and local self-government, and to take

12 control of their own destiny and become more self-reliant,

13 through a resettlement program consistent with the wishes

14 of the Rongelapese people themselves. United States as15 sistance to the people of Rongelap for purposes of resettle16 ment shall be as directed by Congress and will be com17 pleted upon determination by Congress that the United

18 States has provided the total of its contribution to the re19 habilitation of Rongelap Island and resettlement of the

20 Rongelap people pursuant to section 103(i) of Public Law

21 99–239 and applicable provisions of Public Law 102–154.

22 All such assistance shall be subject to the financial ac23 countability provisions of this Act and shall be provided

24 within the framework of the government-to-government

25 relationship between the Republic of the Marshall Islands
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1 and the United States as defined by the Compact of Free

2 Association Act of 1985.

3 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES RELATING TO RONGELAP RE4 SETTLEMENT TRUST FUND.

5 (a) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—

6 (1) TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO TRUSTEE OF

7 RONGELAP RESETTLEMENT TRUST FUND.—Consist8 ent with the Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund

9 agreement between the Department of the Interior,

10 the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the

11 Rongelap Atoll Local Government, dated May 13,

12 1992, funds appropriated in any fiscal year for the

13 purpose of increasing the corpus of the Rongelap

14 Resettlement Trust Fund shall be transferred by the

15 Secretary of the Interior to the trustee thereof, and

16 the Department of the Interior shall be administra17 tively responsible for effecting all such transfers of

18 funds appropriated for this purpose as required by

19 law.

20 (2) LIMITATION OF DEPARTMENT OF THE IN21 TERIOR ACTIVITIES TO THOSE PROVIDED BY TRUST

22 FUND AGREEMENT.—The activities of the Depart23 ment of the Interior with respect to management of

24 the Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund shall be lim25 ited to those provided for in the trust fund agree-
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1 ment referred to in paragraph (1), as it may from

2 time to time be amended.

3 (b) TRUSTEE.—

4 (1) DUTIES, OBLIGATIONS AND LEGAL RESPON5 SIBILITIES.—The duties, obligations and legal re6 sponsibilities of the trustee with respect to the

7 Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund shall be as set

8 forth in the trust fund agreement referred to in sub9 section (a)(1), to which the United States, the Re10 public of the Marshall Islands and the Rongelap

11 Atoll Local Government are parties with legal rights

12 and powers to enforce the terms of the trust as set

13 forth therein, and in applicable law.

14 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—All funds con15 tributed to the Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund

16 referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall be

17 distributed by the trustee and used as determined by

18 the Rongelap Atoll Local Government consistent

19 with applicable provisions of this Act, Public Law

20 102–154, and the resettlement plan submitted to the

21 United States Congress on March 15, 1995, in ac22 cordance with Report 103–551 of the House of Rep23 resentatives, and referred to in Rongelap Atoll Local

24 Government Council Resolution No. 95–20.

25 (c) AUDITS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition, management or

2 use of trust assets shall be subject to the authority

3 of the Comptroller General of the United States to

4 conduct financial audits of all trust transactions and

5 activities, in the same manner as provided in section

6 110(c) of Public Law 99–239. The Inspector Gen7 eral of the Department of the Interior also shall be

8 authorized to audit the use of Rongelap Resettle9 ment Trust Fund assets.

10 (2) NOTICE REGARDING USE OF FUNDS OUT11 SIDE SCOPE OF TRUST.—If at any time it is deter12 mined by the cognizant audit authority that funds

13 distributed by the trustee to the Rongelap Atoll

14 Local Government have been used for purposes out15 side the statutory scope of the trust, such audit au16 thority shall, at a time and in a manner which is

17 lawful and does not interfere with any ongoing in18 vestigative process, law enforcement activity or other

19 activities or operations required under applicable

20 regulations and procedures, notify the chairman of

21 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

22 the United States Senate, the chairman of the Com23 mittee on Resources of the United States House of

24 Representatives, the Republic of the Marshall Is25 lands, the Rongelap Atoll Local Government, and
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1 the trustee, of such determination so that the trust2 ee and the parties to the trust agreement may exer3 cise their legal rights and powers, including recovery

4 of such funds.

5 (d) RETENTION OF UNITED STATES AUTHORITY

6 OVER TRUST FUND.—The United States Congress shall

7 retain its authority over the trust fund as set forth in the

8 trust agreement referred to in subsection (a)(1) and appli9 cable statutes, including Public Law 102–154.

10 SEC. 4. TRUSTEE AND OTHER FUND PERSONNEL.

11 (a) TRUSTEE QUALIFICATIONS.—The trustee of the

12 Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund shall be a qualified

13 United States financial institution with considerable expe14 rience in the administration of similar trusts and which

15 serves as the trustee manager or custodian of over

16 $1,000,000,000 in assets. If the trustee on the date of

17 enactment of this Act does not meet the qualification cri18 teria, a new trustee which does satisfy these requirements

19 shall in due course be appointed subject to the procedures

20 set forth in the trust fund agreement referred to in section

21 3(a).

22 (b) INVESTMENT FUND MANAGERS AND ADVISERS

23 AND CONSULTANTS.—Investment fund managers and ad24 visers or consultants designated by the Rongelap Atoll

25 Local Government in accordance with the trust agreement
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1 to provide services in connection with management of the

2 Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund must be registered

3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and be in

4 compliance with applicable provisions of the Investment

5 Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–1 et seq.)

6 SEC. 5. RESETTLEMENT EXPENDITURES AND ACTIVITIES.

7 (a) ACTIVITIES.—The Rongelap Atoll Local Govern8 ment shall have the discretion, to the extent determined

9 by the Rongelap Atoll Local Government Council acting

10 within its lawful authority, to include in the resettlement

11 program activities described in the Memorandum of Un12 derstanding of February 21, 1992, between the Depart13 ment of the Interior, Department of Energy, the Republic

14 of the Marshall Islands, and the Rongelap Atoll Local

15 Government.

16 (b) USE OF ANNUAL INCOME.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each fiscal

18 year following the establishment of the Rongelap Re19 settlement Trust Fund pursuant to Public Law

20 102–154, the authority of the Rongelap Atoll Local

21 Government and the trustee, within the statutory

22 scope and purpose of the trust, shall include dis23 tribution of up to 50 percent of the annual income

24 (interest and earnings) of the trust fund, but in no

25 year more than $500,000, increased in accordance
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1 with paragraph (2), to provide local government sup2 port and programs for the benefit of the people of

3 Rongelap, including funding for food, shelter, medi4 cine, infant care, sanitation, personal hygiene and

5 other basic human needs arising from dislocation

6 and adjustment during resettlement, as well as local

7 government administrative and operations costs and

8 expenses arising directly from or which are directly

9 connected to the resettlement process.

10 (2) ADJUSTMENT.—The amount referred to in para11 graph (1) shall be increased annually by the same propor12 tion as the percentage increase in the United States

13 Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers (pub14 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of

15 Labor) for the most recent year preceding the date on

16 which the increase, if any, is calculated.

17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE FOR RESETTLE18 MENT IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS OTHER THAN ON

19 RONGELAP.—

20 (1) GOAL OF RESETTLEMENT ON RONGELAP.—

21 The Congress supports the goal of enabling the en22 tire Rongelap community to achieve resettlement in

23 accordance with Resolution Number 95–20 adopted

24 by the Rongelap Atoll Local Government Council on

25 March 9, 1995, consistent with the findings of sci-
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1 entific studies conducted pursuant to section 103(i)

2 of Public Law 99–239 which indicate that agreed

3 upon radiation exposure limits can be met at

4 Rongelap Island if certain risk mitigation measures

5 are taken.

6 (2) RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE.—(A) To en7 sure that members of the Rongelap community who

8 do not choose to return to Rongelap in light of these

9 scientific findings are able to end their dislocation

10 and settle somewhere in the Marshall Islands, assist11 ance for construction of family housing and other re12 settlement assistance may be provided to members

13 of the Rongelap community who elect to settle at a

14 location in the Marshall Islands other than Rongelap

15 Atoll on the same basis as assistance provided for

16 those who elect to return to Rongelap, subject to the

17 authority and discretion of the Rongelap Atoll Local

18 Government to determine the schedule, terms, speci19 fications and scope of such assistance in the context

20 of the overall community resettlement program at

21 Rongelap Atoll, which shall remain the primary ob22 jective for management and use of trust fund assets.

23 (B) Assistance provided pursuant to subpara24 graph (A) to those who elect to resettle at a place

25 other than Rongelap shall not include measures to
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1 be employed or benefits to be provided for those re2 settling at Rongelap Atoll for the purpose of mitigat3 ing risks posed by radiological conditions at

4 Rongelap.

5 (C) Any Rongelapese person receiving assist6 ance for resettlement at a location other than

7 Rongelap Atoll pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall

8 be ineligible for such assistance for the purposes of

9 resettling again later at Rongelap Atoll. The preced10 ing sentence shall cease to apply once all members

11 of the Rongelap community, as defined and recog12 nized by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal established

13 pursuant to section 177 of the Compact of Free As14 sociation (as contained in Public Law 99–239), have

15 received resettlement assistance at Rongelap or as16 sistance on the same basis, except as provided in

17 subparagraph (B), at another location of their

18 choosing.

19 (3) SCOPE OF TRUST.—The assistance activities

20 authorized in this section shall be deemed to be

21 within the scope of the trust notwithstanding any

22 provision of Public Law 102–154 to the contrary.

23 (d) FOOD IMPORTATION.—The trustee of the

24 Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund shall make no dis25 tribution from the corpus of the Trust which as a matter
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1 of prudent financial management in the judgment of the

2 trustee would be inconsistent with the objective of ensur3 ing that funds will be available for as long as the trust

4 fund agreement referred to in section 3(a)(1) is in effect

5 for the purpose of providing imported food and locally pro6 duced food which meets relevant health and safety stand7 ards in amounts sufficient to meet the nutritional needs

8 of the Rongelap community residing at Rongelap Atoll.

9 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF UNEXPENDED AND UNOBLIGATED

10 FUNDS.

11 All funds appropriated pursuant to the authorization

12 contained in section 103(i) of Public Law 99–239 for sci13 entific radiological studies to determine the habitability of

14 Rongelap Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,

15 or which have been obligated for use by the ‘‘Rongelap

16 Resettlement Project’’ to support such studies, which as

17 of the date of enactment of this Act have not been ex18 pended shall be transferred to the Rongelap Atoll Local

19 Government and expended only pursuant to a budget ap20 proved by the Rongelap Local Government Council and

21 for activities consistent with the purposes for which such

22 funds were appropriated, including scientific research and

23 island rehabilitation measures connected to resettlement

24 of Rongelap.

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