II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1852

To bar class action lawsuits against Department of Energy contractors for

nonphysical injuries, to bar the award of punitive damages against Department of Energy contractors for incidents occurring before August

20, 1988, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 7, 1996

Mr. JOHNSTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To bar class action lawsuits against Department of Energy

contractors for nonphysical injuries, to bar the award

of punitive damages against Department of Energy contractors for incidents occurring before August 20, 1988,

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 ‘‘Department of Energy

5 Class Action Lawsuit Act’’.
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S 1852 IS

1 SEC. 2. CLASS ACTIONS.

2 Section 170n. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

3 U.S.C. 2210(n)) is amended by adding after paragraph

4 (3) the following:

5 ‘‘(4)(A) An action may not be maintained as a

6 class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of

7 Civil Procedure against any person indemnified by

8 the United States under section 170d. with respect

9 to any claim for a nonphysical injury that arises

10 from a nuclear incident or precautionary evacuation

11 regardless of when it occurred.

12 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, ‘nonphys13 ical injury’ includes—

14 ‘‘(i) emotional distress and any mental or

15 emotional harm (such as fright or anxiety) that

16 is not directly brought about by a physical in17 jury even though it may manifest itself in phys18 ical symptoms; and

19 ‘‘(ii) diminution of value of property result20 ing from fear or reputation and not from phys21 ical injury or loss.

22 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph and para23 graph (5), the term ‘person indemnified by the Unit24 ed States under section 170d.’ means any person in25 demnified by the United States—

26 ‘‘(i) under section 170d.; or
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S 1852 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) under any other authority that obli2 gates the United States to make payments re3 lating to a nuclear incident or precautionary

4 evacuation that arises from activities conducted

5 under contract with the Department of Energy

6 or any of its predecessor agencies.’’.

7 SEC. 3. MEDICAL MONITORING.

8 Section 170n. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

9 U.S.C. 2210(n)) is further amended by adding at the end

10 the following:

11 ‘‘(5)(A) Except in the case of an extraordinary

12 nuclear occurrence, medical monitoring provided by

13 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg14 istry under section 104(i) of the Comprehensive En15 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)) shall be the exclusive rem17 edy for any claim for medical monitoring in a public

18 liability action against a person indemnified by the

19 United States under section 170d. No court may

20 grant a remedy for a claim for medical monitoring

21 in a public liability action except in the case of an

22 extraordinary nuclear occurrence or as provided in

23 section 310(a)(2) of the Comprehensive Environ24 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

25 (42 U.S.C. 9659(a)(2)).
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1 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, ‘medical

2 monitoring’ includes any medical screening, testing,

3 or surveillance program intended to detect, study,

4 prevent, or treat bodily injury, sickness, disease, or

5 death that may arise from a nuclear incident or pre6 cautionary evacuation.’’.

7 SEC. 4. PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

8 Section 170s. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

9 U.S.C. 2210(s)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘s. LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—No court

11 may award punitive damages in any action with respect

12 to a nuclear incident or precautionary evacuation against

13 a person on behalf of whom the United States is obligated

14 to make payments under any agreement of indemnifica15 tion covering the incident or evacuation, regardless of—

16 ‘‘(1) when the incident or evacuation occurred;

17 or

18 ‘‘(2) whether the agreement of indemnification

19 was entered into under this Act or under any other

20 authority.’’.

21 SEC. 5. ACTIONS COVERED.

22 The provisions of this Act shall apply to any public

23 liability action (as defined in section 11hh. of the Atomic

24 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(hh)) that is pending
5

S 1852 IS

1 on the date of the enactment of this Act or commenced

2 on or after such date.

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