I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1516

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide for payment

of compensation to individuals exposed to radiation as the result of

working in uranium mines and mills which provided uranium for the

use and benefit of the United States Government, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1999

Mr. SKEEN (for himself, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. CANNON, Mr. HAYWORTH, and

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide for payment of compensation to individuals exposed

to radiation as the result of working in uranium mines

and mills which provided uranium for the use and benefit

of the United States Government, 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 AND REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Radiation Workers Justice Act of 1999’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

3 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

4 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi5 sion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (42

6 U.S.C. 2210 note).

7 (c) FINDINGS.—In amending the Radiation Exposure

8 Compensation Act, the Congress finds that—

9 (1) since the passage of the Radiation Exposure

10 Compensation Act in 1990, additional scientific in11 formation has become available to support the view

12 that criteria imposed upon qualifications for com13 pensation for uranium miners are too restrictive and

14 exclude individuals who have suffered injury as a re15 sult of work performed for the use and benefit of the

16 United States Government;

17 (2) documentation requirements to provide a re18 construction of a uranium miner’s work history and

19 radiation exposure in order to qualify for compensa20 tion have proved too burdensome and unfair and are

21 thus is in need of modification;

22 (3) miners working in aboveground uranium

23 mines and uranium millers should be provided com24 pensation similar to that for underground uranium

25 miners where such individuals have suffered injury
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1 and death as a result of work performed for the pri2 mary use and benefit of the United States Govern3 ment; and

4 (4) compensation should be provided to ura5 nium miners whose constitutional rights were vio6 lated as a result of their having been, without their

7 knowledge or consent, intentionally placed at unnec8 essary risk and subsequently studied under false

9 pretenses by United States public health officials

10 and other agencies of the Federal Government.

11 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF TRUST FUND.

12 Section 3(d) is amended by striking ‘‘of this Act’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘of the Radiation Workers Justice Act of 1999’’.

14 SEC. 3. AFFECTED AREA.

15 Section 4(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

16 end of subparagraph (B) and by adding after subpara17 graph (C) the following:

18 ‘‘(D) those parts of Arizona, Utah, and

19 New Mexico comprising the Navajo Nation Res20 ervation which were subjected to fallout from

21 nuclear weapons testing conducted in Nevada;

22 and’’.

23 SEC. 4. URANIUM MINING AND MILLING.

24 (a) MILLING.—Section 5 is amended—
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1 (1) in the section heading by adding ‘‘OR

2 MILLING’’ after ‘‘URANIUM MINING’’; and

3 (2) in subsection (a), by inserting after ‘‘Utah’’

4 the following: ‘‘or any other State in which uranium

5 was mined or milled’’.

6 (b) MINES.—Section 5(a) is amended by striking ‘‘a

7 uranium mine’’ and inserting ‘‘a uranium mine, including

8 a mine located above ground and an open pit mine in

9 which uranium miners worked, or a uranium mill’’.

10 (c) DATES.—Section 5(a) is amended by striking

11 ‘‘January 1, 1947, and ending on December 31, 1971’’

12 and inserting ‘‘January 1, 1942, and ending on December

13 31, 1990’’.

14 (d) REDEFINITION OF PERIOD OF EXPOSURE, EX15 PANSION OF COVERAGE, INCREASE IN COMPENSATION

16 AWARDS, AND REMOVAL OF SMOKING DISTINCTION.—

17 Section 5(a) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and

18 all that follows through clause (ii) and inserting:

19 ‘‘(1) was exposed to 40 or more working level

20 months of radiation or worked in such uranium

21 mines or mills for a period of at least one year and

22 submits written medical documentation that such in23 dividual, after such exposure, developed lung cancer,

24 or
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1 ‘‘(2) was exposed to 40 or more working level

2 months of radiation or worked in such uranium

3 mines or mills for a period of at least one year and

4 submits written medical documentation that such in5 dividual, after such exposure, developed a nonmalig6 nant respiratory disease or other medical condition

7 associated with uranium mining or milling,

8 shall receive up to $200,000 if the claim for such payment

9 is filed with the Attorney General by or on behalf of such

10 individual and the Attorney General determines, in accord11 ance with section 6, that the claim meets the requirements

12 of this Act.’’.

13 (e) CLAIMS RELATED TO HUMAN USE RESEARCH,

14 OTHER WORK-RELATED DEATH CLAIMS.—Section 5 is

15 amended by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (d)

16 and by inserting after subsection (a) the following:

17 ‘‘(b) CLAIMS RELATING TO HUMAN USE RESEARCH

18 AND DEATH RESULTING FROM NONRADIOLOGICAL

19 CAUSES.—Any individual who was employed in a uranium

20 mine or mill located in any State referred to in subsection

21 (a) at any time during the period referred to therein, and

22 who—

23 ‘‘(1) in the course of such employment, without

24 the individual’s knowledge or informed consent, was

25 intentionally exposed to radiation for purposes of
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1 testing, research, study, or experimentation by the

2 Federal Government or any agency thereof to deter3 mine the effects of such exposure on the human

4 body, or

5 ‘‘(2) suffered death, not otherwise compensable

6 under subsection (a), arising out of or in the course

7 of the individual’s employment,

8 shall receive $50,000, if the claim for such payment is

9 filed with the Attorney General by or on behalf of such

10 individual and the Attorney General determines, in accord11 ance with section 6, that the claim meets the requirements

12 of this Act. Payments under this subsection may be made

13 only in accordance with section 6.’’.

14 (f) OTHER INJURY OR DISABILITY.—Section 5 (as

15 amended by subsection (e)) is amended by adding after

16 subsection (b) the following:

17 ‘‘(c) OTHER INJURY OR DISABILITY.—Any individual

18 who was employed in a uranium mine or mill located in

19 any State referred to in subsection (a) at any time during

20 the period referred to therein, and who submits written

21 medical documentation that such individual suffered in22 jury or disability, not otherwise compensable under sub23 section (a), arising out of or in the course of the individ24 ual’s employment, shall receive $20,000, if the claim for

25 such payment is filed with the Attorney General by or on
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1 behalf of such individual and the Attorney General deter2 mines, in accordance with section 6, that the claim meets

3 the requirements of this Act. Payments under this sub4 section may be made only in accordance with section 6.’’.

5 (g) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (d) (as so redesig6 nated) of section 5 is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘radiation ex8 posure’’ and inserting ‘‘exposure to radon and radon

9 progeny’’, and by inserting after ‘‘every work day for

10 a month,’’ the following: ‘‘based on a 6-day work11 week,’’;

12 (2) paragraph (2) is amended to read as fol13 lows:

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘working level’ means the con15 centration of the short half-life daughters (progeny)

of radon that will release (1.3 x 105 16 ) million electron

17 volts of alpha energy per liter of air;’’;

18 (3) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4), and by

19 adding after paragraph (2) the following:

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘nonmalignant respiratory dis21 ease’ means fibrosis of the lung, pulmonary fibrosis,

22 corpulmonale related to pulmonary fibrosis, or mod23 erate or severe silicosis or pneumoconiosis;

24 ‘‘(4) the term ‘affected Indian tribe’ means any

25 Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other orga-
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1 nized group or community, that is recognized as eli2 gible for special programs and services provided by

3 the United States to Indian tribes because of their

4 status as Native Americans, whose people engaged

5 in uranium mining or milling or where uranium min6 ing or milling was conducted;

7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘lung cancer’ means any physio8 logical condition of the lung, trachea, and bronchus

9 that is recognized under that name or nomenclature

10 by the National Cancer Institute, including in situ

11 cancers;

12 ‘‘(6) the term ‘uranium mine’ means any under13 ground excavation, including ‘dog holes’, as well as

14 open pit, strip, rim, surface, or other aboveground

15 mines, where uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore

16 was mined or otherwise extracted;

17 ‘‘(7) the term ‘uranium mill’ includes milling

18 operations involving the processing of uranium ore

19 or vanadium-uranium ore, including both carbonate

20 and acid leach plants;

21 ‘‘(8) the term ‘course of employment’ means

22 and shall include any period of employment in either

23 a uranium mine or uranium mill either prior to or

24 after December 31, 1971, or the cumulative period
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1 of employment in both a uranium mine and mill

2 should the individual have been employed in both;

3 ‘‘(9) the term ‘written medical documentation’

4 for purposes of proving a nonmalignant respiratory

5 disease means, where the claimant is alive—

6 ‘‘(A) a chest x-ray administered in accord7 ance with standard techniques and the interpre8 tive reports thereof by 2 certified ‘B’ readers

9 classifying the existence of the nonmalignant

10 respiratory disease of category 1/0 or higher ac11 cording to the ILO 1989, or subsequent revi12 sions;

13 ‘‘(B) high resolution computed tomography

14 scans and interpretive reports thereof;

15 ‘‘(C) pathology reports of tissue biopsies;

16 ‘‘(D) pulmonary function tests indicating a

17 20 percent or more reduction in lung function

18 as defined by the American Thoracic Society; or

19 ‘‘(E) an arterial blood gas study; and

20 ‘‘(10) the term ‘other medical condition associ21 ated with uranium mining or milling’ means any

22 medical condition associated with exposure to radi23 ation, heavy metals, chemicals, or other toxic sub24 stances to which miners and millers are exposed in

25 the mining and milling of uranium.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.

2 (a) DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS,

3 GENERALLY.—Section 6 is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end

5 the following: ‘‘All reasonable doubt with regard to

6 whether a claim meets the requirements of this Act

7 shall be resolved in favor of the claimant.’’;

8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) of sub9 section (b) as paragraph (5) and by inserting after

10 paragraph (1) the following:

11 ‘‘(2) EVIDENCE.—In support of a claim for

12 compensation under section 5 of this Act, the Attor13 ney General shall permit the introduction of, and a

14 claimant may use and rely upon, affidavits and other

15 documentary evidence, including medical evidence, to

16 the same extent as permitted by the Federal Rules

17 of Evidence.

18 ‘‘(3) INTERPRETATION OF RADIOGRAPHS.—

19 Where radiographs are required in support of a

20 claim under section 5(a), the submission by claimant

21 of interpretive reports thereof by at least 2 certified

22 ‘B’ readers shall be considered conclusive. To ensure

23 the proper interpretation of radiographs by ‘B’ read24 ers, the Attorney General may establish a fair and

25 random audit procedure.’’;
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1 (3) in subsection (c)(2)(A)(ii), by inserting after

2 ‘‘uranium mine’’ the following: ‘‘or uranium mill’’;

3 (4) in subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘by

4 the Federal Government’’ and inserting ‘‘through

5 the Department of Veterans Affairs’’;

6 (5) in subsection (d), by inserting at the end

7 the following: ‘‘For purposes of determining when

8 the 12 month period has run, a claim under this Act

9 shall be deemed filed as of the date of its receipt by

10 the Attorney General. In the event of the denial of

11 a claim, the claimant shall be permitted a reasonable

12 period in which to seek administrative review of the

13 denial by the Attorney General. The Attorney Gen14 eral shall make a final determination with respect to

15 any administrative review within 90 days of the re16 ceipt of the claimant’s request for such review. In

17 the event the Attorney General fails to render a de18 termination within 12 months, the claim shall be

19 deemed awarded as a matter of law and paid.’’;

20 (6) in subsection (e), by inserting after ‘‘ura21 nium mine’’ the following: ‘‘or uranium mill’’;

22 (7) in subsection (k), by inserting after ‘‘this

23 Act’’ each place it occurs the following: ‘‘or any sub24 sequent amendment to this Act’’; and
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1 (8) in subsection (l), by adding at the end the

2 following: ‘‘In the event the reviewing court sets

3 aside the denial of a claim under this Act as unlaw4 ful, the court shall award claimant reasonable attor5 ney’s fees and costs incurred with respect to the

6 court’s review. In the event that claimant subse7 quently prevails upon remand on the claimant’s

8 claim, claimant shall be awarded 8 percent per

9 annum on the claimant’s claim from the date of the

10 original denial of the claim. Attorney’s fees, costs,

11 and interest awarded pursuant to this section shall

12 be considered costs incurred by the Attorney General

13 and shall not be paid from the Fund, or set off

14 against, or otherwise deducted from, any payment

15 under this section to a claimant.’’.

16 (b) FURTHERANCE OF SPECIAL TRUST RESPONSI17 BILITY TO AFFECTED INDIAN TRIBES; SELF-DETERMINA18 TION PROGRAM ELECTION.—In furtherance of, and con19 sistent with, the trust responsibility of the United States

20 to Native American uranium workers recognized by the

21 Congress upon adoption of the Radiation Exposure Com22 pensation Act in 1990, section 6 (as amended by sub23 section (a)) is amended—

24 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the

25 following: ‘‘Any such procedures shall take into con-
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1 sideration and incorporate, to the fullest extent fea2 sible, Native American law, tradition, and custom

3 with respect to the submission and processing of

4 claims by Native Americans.’’;

5 (2) in subsection (b), by adding after paragraph

6 (3) the following:

7 ‘‘(4) PULMONARY FUNCTION STANDARDS.—In

8 determining the pulmonary impairment of a claim9 ant, the Attorney General shall evaluate the degree

10 of impairment based on ethnic-specific pulmonary

11 function standards.’’;

12 (3) in subsection (b)(5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

13 the end of subparagraph (B), by striking the period

14 at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘;

15 and’’, and by inserting after subparagraph (C) the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(D) in consultation with any affected In18 dian tribe, establish guidelines for the deter19 mination of claims filed by Native American

20 uranium miners and millers pursuant to section

21 5.’’;

22 (4) by adding after paragraph (5) of subsection

23 (b) the following:

24 ‘‘(6) SELF-DETERMINATION PROGRAM ELEC25 TION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) The Attorney General is authorized,

2 upon the request of any affected Indian tribe by

3 tribal resolution, to enter into a self-determina4 tion contract or contracts pursuant to the In5 dian Self-Determination and Education Assist6 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) with a tribal

7 organization of any such Indian tribe to plan,

8 conduct, and administer the disposition and

9 award of claims under this Act insofar as mem10 bers of the affected Indian tribe are concerned.

11 ‘‘(B) Upon request of an affected Indian

12 tribe to enter into such a self-determination

13 contract, the Attorney General shall approve or

14 reject the request pursuant to and consistent

15 with section 102 of such Act (25 U.S.C. 450f).

16 Such Act shall govern in all respects both as to

17 the approval and subsequent implementation of

18 the self-determination contract or in the event

19 the request for such contract is rejected.

20 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision

21 of law, funds authorized for use by the Attorney

22 General to carry out the Attorney General’s

23 functions under section 6(i) are eligible for the

24 planning, training, implementation, and admin25 istration of any self-determination contract en-
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1 tered into with an affected Indian tribe pursu2 ant to this section.’’; and

3 (5) in subsection (c)(4), by adding at the end

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN

6 LAW.—In determining those individuals eligible

7 to receive compensation by virtue of marriage,

8 relationship, or survivorship, such determina9 tion shall take into consideration and give effect

10 to established law, tradition, and custom of the

11 particular affected Indian tribe.’’.

12 SEC. 6. CHOICE OF REMEDIES.

13 Section 7(b) is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(b) CHOICE OF REMEDIES.—Payment of an award

15 under any provision of this Act does not preclude payment

16 of an award under any other provision of this Act, except

17 that no individual may receive more than 1 award pay18 ment for any compensable cancer or other compensable

19 disease.’’.

20 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS; RETROACTIVE APPLICA21 TION OF AMENDMENTS.

22 Section 8 is amended to read as follows:—

23 ‘‘SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS.

24 ‘‘(a) BAR.—A claim to which this Act applies shall

25 be barred unless the claim is filed within 20 years of the
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1 date of the enactment of the Radiation Workers Justice

2 Act of 1999.

3 ‘‘(b) AMENDMENTS.—The amendments made by the

4 Radiation Workers Justice Act of 1999 shall be retroactive

5 to October 5, 1990. The amendments shall apply to any

6 claim filed under this Act, whether accrued before or after

7 the date of enactment of such Act, regardless of whether

8 such claim may have been previously awarded as the result

9 of previous filing and prior payment under this Act.’’.

Æ