I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3864 

To provide coverage under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program for individuals employed at atomic weapons employer 

facilities during periods of residual contamination. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2004 

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. QUINN, Mr. STRICKLAND, and Mr. 

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

and the Workforce, 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 provide coverage under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program for individuals employed at atomic weapons employer facilities during periods of residual contamination. 

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 ‘‘Residual Radioactive 

5 Contamination Compensation Act’’. 
2 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Beginning in the early 1940s, the Depart4 ment of Energy and its predecessors, the Atomic 

5 Energy Commission and the Manhattan Engineering 

6 District, relied upon hundreds of private-sector fac7 tories and laboratories to develop, test, and produce 

8 atomic weapons for use by the military, and these 

9 facilities became contaminated with radioactive ma10 terials during the atomic weapons production proc11 ess. 

12 (2) The Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

13 Compensation Program Act of 2000 (in this section 

14 referred to as ‘‘EEOICPA’’) provides health care 

15 and lump-sum benefits for radiation-related cancers 

16 and other illnesses to certain covered workers made 

17 sick while they toiled in the nation’s nuclear weap18 ons factories, including vendor facilities. EEOICPA 

19 defines these private-sector vendor facilities as 

20 ‘‘atomic weapons employer facilities’’, and employees 

21 working in such facilities while their employers were 

22 under contract to process nuclear weapons materials 

23 are defined as ‘‘atomic weapons employees’’. 

24 (3) Many of the atomic weapons employer fa25 cilities were not properly decontaminated after proc26 essing radioactive materials such as thorium, ura-
3 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 nium, and radium and retained significant levels of 

2 contamination. Workers who were hired and em3 ployed in such atomic weapons employer facilities 

4 after the date that contracts ended for production 

5 were potentially exposed to significant amounts of 

6 radiation. Congress was not aware of the presence of 

7 residual radioactive contamination in these facilities 

8 when it enacted EEOICPA, thus inadvertently deny9 ing coverage under the law to those who were unwit10 tingly exposed to radiation left over from nuclear 

11 weapons activities. 

12 (4) In December 2001, the National Defense 

13 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 

14 107–107) was enacted, which required in section 

15 3151(b) that the National Institute for Occupational 

16 Safety and Health study and issue a final report to 

17 Congress by December 2002 describing which of the 

18 atomic weapons employer facilities had significant 

19 residual radioactive contamination remaining in 

20 them after processing materials for use in atomic 

21 weapons and during what time periods such radio22 active contamination remained. 

23 (5) In October 2003, the Institute issued a re24 port, titled ‘‘Report on Residual Radioactive and Be25 ryllium Contamination in Atomic Weapons Employer 
4 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 and Beryllium Vendor Facilities’’. The report found 

2 that, out of 219 atomic weapons employer facili3 ties— 

4 (A) 97 (44 percent) of such facilities have 

5 potential for significant residual radioactive 

6 contamination outside of the periods in which 

7 atomic weapons-related production occurred; 

8 (B) 88 (40 percent) of such facilities have 

9 little potential for significant residual radio10 active contamination outside of the periods in 

11 which atomic weapons-related production oc12 curred; and 

13 (C) 34 (16 percent) of such facilities have 

14 insufficient information to make a determina15 tion. 

16 (6) Congress is now aware that workers were 

17 employed in a substantial number of atomic weapons 

18 employer facilities years after the Manhattan Project 

19 ended. These workers were potentially harmed by 

20 legacy residual radioactive contamination that per21 meated the walls, the floors, and the air of their 

22 worksites well after the Atomic Energy Commission 

23 and the Department of Energy terminated contracts 

24 for production activities. This exposure to residual 
5 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 radioactive contamination took place without the 

2 knowledge or consent of these workers. 

3 (7) Congress therefore declares that, based on 

4 the scientific assessment by the Institute, those 

5 workers hired and employed in such facilities during 

6 the period after Cold War production stopped but 

7 during which the Institute found there was signifi8 cant residual radioactive contamination should be 

9 defined as ‘‘atomic weapons employees’’ under 

10 EEOICPA, should be eligible to apply for compensa11 tion under subtitle B of EEOICPA, and should have 

12 their claims evaluated on the same basis as those 

13 atomic weapons employees who were employed dur14 ing the period when processing of radioactive mate15 rials was underway as part of the atomic weapons 

16 program. 

17 SEC. 3. COVERAGE UNDER ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPA18 TIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM 

19 OF INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED AT ATOMIC 

20 WEAPONS EMPLOYER FACILITIES DURING 

21 PERIODS OF RESIDUAL CONTAMINATION. 

22 Paragraph (3) of section 3621 of the Energy Employ23 ees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 

24 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l) is amended to read as follows: 
6 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘atomic weapons employee’ 

2 means any of the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) An individual employed at an atomic 

4 weapons employer facility during a period when 

5 the employer was processing or producing, for 

6 the use by the United States, material that 

7 emitted radiation and was used in the produc8 tion of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium 

9 mining and milling. 

10 ‘‘(B) An individual employed— 

11 ‘‘(i) at an atomic weapons employer 

12 facility with respect to which the National 

13 Institute for Occupational Safety and 

14 Health, in its report dated October 2003 

15 and titled ‘Report on Residual Radioactive 

16 and Beryllium Contamination at Atomic 

17 Weapons Employer Facilities and Beryl18 lium Vendor Facilities’, or any update to 

19 that report, found that there is a potential 

20 for significant residual contamination out21 side of the period in which weapons-related 

22 production occurred; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) during a period, as specified in 

24 such report or any update to such report, 
7 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 of significant residual contamination at 

2 that facility.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. UPDATE TO REPORT. 

4 In each of 2005, 2006, and 2007, the Director of the 

5 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

6 shall submit to Congress, not later than December 31 of 

7 that year, an update to the report required by section 

8 3151(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

9 Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–107; 42 U.S.C. 7384 

10 note). Each such update shall— 

11 (1) for each facility for which such report, or 

12 any update to such report, found that insufficient 

13 information was available to determine whether sig14 nificant residual contamination was present, deter15 mine whether significant residual contamination was 

16 present; 

17 (2) for each facility for which such report, or 

18 any update to such report, found that significant re19 sidual contamination remained present as of the 

20 date of the report, determine the date on which such 

21 contamination ceased to be present; 

22 (3) for each facility for which such report, or 

23 any update to such report, found that significant re24 sidual contamination was present but for which the 

25 Director has been unable to determine the extent to 
8 

•HR 3864 IH 

1 which such contamination is attributable to beryl2 lium or atomic weapons-related activities, identify 

3 the specific dates of coverage attributable to such 

4 activities and, in so identifying, presume that such 

5 contamination is attributable to such activities until 

6 there is evidence of decontamination of residual con7 tamination identified with beryllium or atomic weap8 ons-related activities; and 

9 (4) if new information that pertains to the re10 port has been made available to the Director since 

11 that report was submitted, identify and describe 

12 such information. 

13 SEC. 5. PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER. 

14 The Director shall ensure that the report referred to 

15 in section 4, and each update required by section 4, are 

16 published in the Federal Register not later than 15 days 

17 after being released. 

Æ