I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2114 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act of 2000 to include certain former nuclear weapons program workers 

in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. LEE of New York, and Mr. 

MASSA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to include certain former 

nuclear weapons program workers in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational 

Illness Compensation Program, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ed Walker Memorial 

3 Act for Improvements to the Energy Employees Occupa4 tional Illness Compensation Program’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress makes the following findings: 

7 (1) Beginning in the mid-1940s, workers at 

8 hundreds of facilities owned by the Federal Govern9 ment and entities in the private sector produced and 

10 processed radioactive materials for use in the nu11 clear weapons program of the United States. 

12 (2) Those workers at nuclear weapons facilities 

13 helped to build the nuclear arsenal that served as a 

14 deterrent to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, 

15 but many of those workers paid a high price in 

16 terms of their health. 

17 (3) During the Cold War, many workers at nu18 clear weapons facilities were exposed to radiation 

19 and placed in harm’s way by the Department of En20 ergy and contractors, subcontractors, and vendors of 

21 the Department— 

22 (A) without the knowledge and consent of 

23 the workers; 

24 (B) without adequate radiation monitoring; 

25 and 

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1 (C) without necessary protections from in2 ternal or external occupational radiation expo3 sures. 

4 (4) Because of the inequities described in para5 graph (3) and the resulting potential harm to work6 ers employed at nuclear weapons facilities, Congress 

7 designated classes of Cold War-era workers at the 

8 Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio, Oak Ridge 

9 K–25, and Amchitka Island test sites as members of 

10 the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Em11 ployees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

12 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq.). 

13 (5) The contribution of the State of New York 

14 to the security of the United States throughout the 

15 Cold War was very significant. 

16 (6) Thirty-six former atomic weapons employer 

17 facilities or Department of Energy facilities that 

18 produced and processed radioactive materials, car19 ried out classified research, operated nuclear reac20 tors, and processed high level nuclear waste are lo21 cated in New York. Fourteen of those facilities are 

22 located in the western region of New York. 

23 (7) Research by the Department of Energy, the 

24 National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

25 Health, the Advisory Board on Radiation and Workmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 er Health, and congressional committees indicates 

2 that— 

3 (A) workers at certain atomic weapons em4 ployer facilities and Department of Energy fa5 cilities were not adequately monitored for inter6 nal or external exposures to ionizing radiation 

7 to which the workers were exposed during the 

8 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s; and 

9 (B) at other facilities, records were not 

10 maintained, or the records from those facilities 

11 are not reliable or failed to measure the radio12 active isotopes to which workers were exposed. 

13 (8) No personal radiation dosimetry monitoring 

14 records are available from the Bethlehem Steel site 

15 in Lackawanna, New York, which falls within the 

16 definition of an atomic weapons employer facility 

17 under section 3621 of the Energy Employees Occu18 pational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

19 (42 U.S.C. 7384l). 

20 (9) Section 3626(b) of the Energy Employees 

21 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 

22 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384q(b)) authorizes the President, 

23 upon the recommendation of the Advisory Board on 

24 Radiation and Worker Health, to designate addi25 tional classes of employees in the Special Exposure 

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1 Cohort if it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient 

2 accuracy the radiation dose that the class received 

3 and there is a reasonable likelihood that the radi4 ation dose may have endangered the health of mem5 bers of the class. 

6 (10) On May 28, 2004, the Secretary of Health 

7 and Human Services issued a final rule establishing 

8 procedures for designating additional classes of em9 ployees in the Special Exposure Cohort (69 Fed. 

10 Reg. 30,764). 

11 (11) Legislation is needed to provide additional 

12 parameters to the President, the Secretary of Health 

13 and Human Services, and the Advisory Board on 

14 Radiation and Worker Health for evaluating peti15 tions for inclusion in the Special Exposure Cohort of 

16 classes of employees with respect to which there was 

17 limited or nonexistent individual radiation exposure 

18 monitoring or an absence of records. 

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1 SEC. 3. ADDITION OF CLASSES OF FORMER NUCLEAR 

2 WEAPONS PROGRAM WORKERS TO THE SPE3 CIAL EXPOSURE COHORT UNDER ENERGY 

4 EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COM5 PENSATION PROGRAM. 

6 Section 3626(b) of the Energy Employees Occupa7 tional Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 

8 U.S.C. 7384q(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subpara11 graph (B); 

12 (3) by striking the period at the end and insert13 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of a class of employees em16 ployed at a Department of Energy facility or an 

17 atomic weapons employer facility during a period (in 

18 the aggregate) of at least 250 days (or a shorter du19 ration connected to discrete events, as determined by 

20 the President) during which— 

21 ‘‘(i) the employees in the class had the po22 tential for exposure to occupational ionizing ra23 diation from production or processing materials 

24 related to atomic weapons, or engaged in re25 search, development, testing, assembly, dis26 assembly, decontamination, decommissioning, or 

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1 waste management, or work related to such ac2 tivities; and 

3 ‘‘(ii)(I) fewer than 50 percent of the em4 ployees in the class were individually monitored 

5 on a regular basis (using reliable methods and 

6 procedures) under a formal health physics pro7 gram for exposure to internal and external ion8 izing radiation for the types of radiation and 

9 specific radioactive isotopes to which the em10 ployees had the potential for exposure during 

11 the period when the employees were exposed; 

12 ‘‘(II) individual internal and external expo13 sure records for the types of radiation and spe14 cific radioactive isotopes to which the employees 

15 in the class were potentially exposed at the fa16 cility during the period when the employees 

17 were exposed are nonexistent or are not avail18 able; or 

19 ‘‘(III) to the extent that a portion of indi20 vidual internal or external records are available 

21 for the period from the facility, individual radi22 ation doses cannot be reliably determined for 

more than 2 23 ⁄3 of the employees in the class 

24 using the individual internal and external moni25 toring records from the facility; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a class of employees em2 ployed at a facility with respect to which the Direc3 tor of the National Institute for Occupational Safety 

4 and Health has made the determination described in 

5 section 3169(b)(4) of the Ronald W. Reagan Na6 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

7 2005 (Public Law 108–375; 42 U.S.C. 7384 note) 

8 during the residual contamination period described 

9 in such section, the employees at the facility met the 

10 criteria described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara11 graph (A).’’. 

12 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

15 and Human Services shall issue regulations for desig16 nating additional classes of employees as members of the 

17 Special Exposure Cohort under section 3626(b)(2) of the 

18 Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

19 Program Act of 2000, as amended by section 3. 

20 (b) BETHLEHEM STEEL SITE.—Not later than 90 

21 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of Health and Human Services shall determine 

23 under 3626(b)(2) of the Energy Employees Occupational 

24 Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended 

25 by section 3, whether workers employed at the Bethlehem 

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1 Steel site in Lackawanna, New York, meet the require2 ments of such section for membership in the Special Expo3 sure Cohort. 

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services shall submit to Congress a report that 

7 identifies each of the following: 

8 (1) Any Department of Energy facilities or 

9 atomic weapons employer facilities (as those terms 

10 are defined in section 3621 of the Energy Employees 

11 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 

12 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l)) at which classes of employ13 ees were employed that meet the requirements for 

14 membership in the Special Exposure Cohort under 

15 section 3626(b)(2) of the Energy Employees Occu16 pational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, 

17 as amended by section 3. 

18 (2) The number of such classes. 

19 (3) The number of employees in each such 

20 class. 

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