II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1756 

To provide supplemental ex gratia compensation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for impacts of the nuclear testing program of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2007 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. AKAKA, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide supplemental ex gratia compensation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for impacts of the nuclear 

testing program of the United States, 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 ‘‘Republic of the Mar5 shall Islands Supplemental Nuclear Compensation Act of 

6 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONTINUED MONITORING ON RUNIT ISLAND. 

2 Section 103(f)(1) of the Compact of Free Association 

3 Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED MONITORING ON RUNIT

11 ISLAND.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Effective begin13 ning January 1, 2008, the Secretary of 

14 Energy shall, as a part of the Marshall Is15 lands program conducted under subpara16 graph (A), periodically (but not less fre17 quently than every 4 years) survey radio18 logical conditions on Runit Island. 

19 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Energy and 

21 Natural Resources of the Senate, and the 

22 Committee on Natural Resources of the 

23 House of Representatives, a report that de24 scribes the results of each survey con25 ducted under clause (i), including any sigVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:07 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1756.IS S1756

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1 nificant changes in conditions on Runit Is2 land.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY UNDER ENERGY 

4 EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COM5 PENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.— 

7 Section 3621 of the Energy Employees Occupational Ill8 ness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

9 7384l) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(18) The terms ‘covered employee’, ‘atomic 

11 weapons employee’, and ‘Department of Energy con12 tractor employee’ (as defined in paragraphs (1), (3), 

13 and (11), respectively) include a citizen of the Trust 

14 Territory of the Pacific Islands who is otherwise cov15 ered by that paragraph.’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITION OF COVERED DOE CONTRACTOR

17 EMPLOYEE.—Section 3671(1) of the Energy Employees 

18 Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

19 (42 U.S.C. 7385s(1)) is amended by inserting before the 

20 period at the end the following: ‘‘, including a citizen of 

21 the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands who is otherwise 

22 covered by this paragraph’’. 

23 (c) COORDINATION OF BENEFITS WITH RESPECT TO

24 THE COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION.—Subtitle E of the 

25 Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 


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1 Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7385s et seq.) is amend2 ed by inserting after section 3682 (42 U.S.C. 7385s–11) 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 3682a. COORDINATION OF BENEFITS WITH RESPECT 

5 TO THE COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIA7 TION.—In this section, the term ‘Compact of Free Asso8 ciation’ means— 

9 ‘‘(1) the Compact of Free Association between 

10 the Government of the United States of America 

11 and the Governments of the Marshall Islands and 

12 the Federated States of Micronesia (48 U.S.C. 1901 

13 note); and 

14 ‘‘(2) the Compact of Free Association between 

15 the Government of the United States of America 

16 and the Government of Palau (48 U.S.C. 1931 

17 note). 

18 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—Subject to subsection (c), an 

19 individual who has been awarded compensation under this 

20 subtitle, and who has also received compensation benefits 

21 under the Compact of Free Association by reason of the 

22 same covered illness, shall receive the compensation 

23 awarded under this subtitle reduced by the amount of any 

24 compensation benefits received under the Compact of Free 

25 Association, other than medical benefits and benefits for 


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1 vocational rehabilitation that the individual received by 

2 reason of the covered illness, after deducting the reason3 able costs (as determined by the Secretary) of obtaining 

4 those benefits under the Compact of Free Association. 

5 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the applica6 tion of subsection (b) if the Secretary determines that the 

7 administrative costs and burdens of applying subsection 

8 (b) to a particular case or class of cases justifies the waiv9 er.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. FOUR ATOLL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM. 

11 Section 103(h) of the Compact of Free Association 

12 Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S.C. 1921b(h)) is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(4) SUPPLEMENTAL HEALTH CARE FUND15 ING.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to 

17 amounts provided under section 211 of the 

18 U.S.–RMI Compact (48 U.S.C. 1921 note), the 

19 Secretary of the Interior shall annually use the 

20 amounts made available under subparagraph 

21 (B) to supplement health care in the commu22 nities affected by the nuclear testing program 

23 of the United States, including capital and 

24 operational support of outer island primary 

25 healthcare facilities of the Ministry of Health of 


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1 the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the 

2 communities of— 

3 ‘‘(i) Enewetak Atoll, 

4 ‘‘(ii) Kili (until the resettlement of Bi5 kini); 

6 ‘‘(iii) Majetto Island in Kwajalein 

7 Atoll (until the resettlement of Rongelap 

8 Atoll); and 

9 ‘‘(iv) Utrik Atoll. 

10 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—As authorized by section 

11 105(c), there is appropriated to the Secretary 

12 of the Interior, out of funds in the Treasury not 

13 otherwise appropriated, to carry out this para14 graph $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 

15 through 2023, as adjusted for inflation in ac16 cordance with section 218 of the U.S.–FSM 

17 Compact and the U.S.–RMI Compact, to re18 main available until expended.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF THE 

20 MARSHALL ISLANDS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

22 enter into an agreement with the National Academy of 

23 Sciences under which the National Academy of Sciences 

24 shall conduct an assessment of the health impacts of the 

25 United States nuclear testing program conducted in the 


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1 Republic of the Marshall Islands on the residents of the 

2 Republic of the Marshall Islands. 

3 (b) REPORT.—On completion of the assessment 

4 under subsection (a), the National Academy of Sciences 

5 shall submit to Congress, the Secretary, the Committee 

6 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the 

7 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep8 resentatives, a report on the results of the assessment. 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec11 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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