II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3224 

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation 

for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

UDALL of Colorado, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, 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 ‘‘Radiation Exposure 

5 Compensation Act Amendments of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

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1 sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made 

2 to a section or other provision of the Radiation Exposure 

3 Compensation Act (Public Law 101–426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 

4 note). 

5 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF FUND. 

6 Section 3(d) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

8 ‘‘The Fund shall terminate 19 years after the date 

9 of the enactment of the Radiation Exposure Com10 pensation Act Amendments of 2010.’’; and 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘22-year’’ and inserting ‘‘19- 

12 year’’. 

13 SEC. 4. CLAIMS RELATING TO ATMOSPHERIC TESTING. 

14 (a) LEUKEMIA CLAIMS RELATING TO TRINITY TEST

15 IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PACIFIC.—Section 

16 4(a)(1)(A) is amended— 

17 (1) in clause (i)— 

18 (A) in subclause (II)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi22 colon; 

23 (B) by redesignating subclause (III) as 

24 subclause (V); and 

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1 (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(III) was physically present in 

4 an affected area for the period begin5 ning on June 30, 1945, and ending on 

6 July 31, 1945; or 

7 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in 

8 an affected area— 

9 ‘‘(aa) for a period of at least 

10 1 year during the period begin11 ning on June 30, 1946, and end12 ing on August 19, 1958; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) for the period begin14 ning on April 25, 1962, and end15 ing on November 5, 1962; or’’; or 

16 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘physical pres17 ence described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 

18 or onsite participation described in clause (i)(III)’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘physical presence described in sub20 clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of clause (i) or onsite 

21 participation described in clause (i)(V)’’. 

22 (b) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO LEU23 KEMIA.—Section 4(a)(1) is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an 

25 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the amount’’; and 

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1 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—If the conditions de4 scribed in subparagraph (C) are met, an indi5 vidual who is described in subparagraph (A)(i) 

6 shall receive $150,000.’’. 

7 (c) SPECIFIED DISEASES CLAIMS RELATING TO

8 TRINITY TEST IN NEW MEXICO AND TESTS IN THE PA9 CIFIC.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in the af11 fected area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘in the affected area’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘in an affected area’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

16 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub17 paragraph (E); and 

18 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(C) was physically present in an affected 

21 area for the period beginning on June 30, 

22 1945, and ending on July 31, 1945; 

23 ‘‘(D) was physically present in an affected 

24 area— 

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1 ‘‘(i) for a period of at least 2 years 

2 during the period beginning on June 30, 

3 1946, and ending on August 19, 1958; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) for the period beginning on April 

5 25, 1962, and ending on November 5, 

6 1962; or’’. 

7 (d) AMOUNTS FOR CLAIMS RELATED TO SPECIFIED

8 DISEASES.—Section 4(a)(2) is amended in the matter fol9 lowing subparagraph (D) (as redesignated by subsection 

10 (c) of this section) by striking ‘‘$50,000 (in the case of 

11 an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B)) or 

12 $75,000 (in the case of an individual described in subpara13 graph (C)),’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’. 

14 (e) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—Section 4(a) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) MEDICAL BENEFITS.—An individual re17 ceiving a payment under this section shall be eligible 

18 to receive medical benefits in the same manner and 

19 to the same extent as an individual eligible to receive 

20 medical benefits under section 3629 of the Energy 

21 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro22 gram Act (as enacted into law by Public Law 106– 

23 398; 114 Stat. 165A–507).’’. 

24 (f) DOWNWIND STATES.—Section 4(b)(1) is amended 

25 to read as follows: 

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1 ‘‘(1) ‘affected area’ means— 

2 ‘‘(A) except as provided under subpara3 graphs (B) and (C), Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 

4 Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah; 

5 ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim by an indi6 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(III) or 

7 (2)(C), only New Mexico; and 

8 ‘‘(C) with respect to a claim by an indi9 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) or 

10 (2)(D), only Guam.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. CLAIMS RELATING TO URANIUM MINING. 

12 (a) EMPLOYEES OF MINES AND MILLS.—Section 

13 5(a)(1)(A)(i) is amended— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1971; and’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990; or’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(II) was employed as a core driller in 

19 a State referred to in subclause (I) during 

20 the period described in such subclause; 

21 and’’. 

22 (b) MINERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(I) is amended 

23 by inserting ‘‘or renal cancer or any other chronic renal 

24 disease, including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue in25 jury’’ after ‘‘nonmalignant respiratory disease’’. 

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1 (c) MILLERS, CORE DRILLERS, AND ORE TRANS2 PORTERS.—Section 5(a)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is amended— 

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘, core driller,’’ after ‘‘was a 

4 miller’’; 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘ clause (i)’’; and 

6 (3) by striking all that follows ‘‘nonmalignant 

7 respiratory disease’’ and inserting ‘‘or renal cancer 

8 or any other chronic renal disease, including nephri9 tis and kidney tubal tissue injury; or’’. 

10 (d) COMBINED WORK HISTORIES.—Section 

11 5(a)(1)(A)(ii) is further amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I); 

13 and 

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

15 ‘‘(III)(aa) does not meet the con16 ditions of subclause (I) or (II); 

17 ‘‘(bb) worked, during the period 

18 described in clause (i)(I), in two or 

19 more of the following positions: miner, 

20 miller, core driller, and ore trans21 porter; 

22 ‘‘(cc) meets the requirements of 

23 paragraph (4) or (5), or both; and 

24 ‘‘(dd) submits written medical 

25 documentation that the individual demmaher on DSK3CLS3C1PROD with BILLS

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1 veloped lung cancer or a nonmalig2 nant respiratory disease or renal can3 cer or any other chronic renal disease, 

4 including nephritis and kidney tubal 

5 tissue injury after exposure to radi6 ation through work in one or more of 

7 the positions referred to in item 

8 (aa);’’. 

9 (e) DATES OF OPERATION OF URANIUM MINE.—Sec10 tion 5(a)(2)(A) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 

11 1971’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 1990’’. 

12 (f) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COMBINED WORK

13 HISTORIES.—Section 5(a) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED

16 WORK HISTORIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST

17 ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE.—An individual meets 

18 the requirements of this paragraph if the individual 

19 worked in one or more of the positions referred to 

20 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) for a period of at 

21 least one year during the period described in para22 graph (1)(A)(i)(I). 

23 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO COMBINED

24 WORK HISTORIES FOR MINERS.—An individual 

25 meets the requirements of this paragraph if the indimmaher on DSK3CLS3C1PROD with BILLS

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1 vidual, during the period described in paragraph 

2 (1)(A)(i)(I), worked as a miner and was exposed to 

3 such number of working level months that the Attor4 ney General determines, when combined with the ex5 posure of such individual to radiation through work 

6 as a miller, core driller, or ore transporter during 

7 the period described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), re8 sults in such individual being exposed to a total level 

9 of radiation that is greater or equal to the level of 

10 exposure of an individual described in paragraph 

11 (4).’’. 

12 (g) DEFINITION OF CORE DRILLER.—Section 5(b) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (7); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(9) the term ‘core driller’ means any indi20 vidual employed to engage in the act or process of 

21 obtaining cylindrical rock samples of uranium or va22 nadium by means of a borehole drilling machine for 

23 the purpose of mining uranium or vanadium.’’. 

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1 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF USE OF AFFIDAVITS IN DETERMINA2 TION OF CLAIMS; REGULATIONS. 

3 (a) AFFIDAVITS.—Section 6(b) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) AFFIDAVITS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYMENT HISTORY.—For pur7 poses of this Act, the Attorney General shall ac8 cept a written affidavit or declaration as evi9 dence to substantiate the employment history of 

10 an individual as a miner, miller, core driller, or 

11 ore transporter if the affidavit— 

12 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 

13 material that may be used to substantiate 

14 the employment history of the individual; 

15 ‘‘(ii) attests to the employment history 

16 of the individual; 

17 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 

18 perjury; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 

20 the individual filing the claim. 

21 ‘‘(B) PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN AFFECTED

22 AREA.—For purposes of this Act, the Attorney 

23 General shall accept a written affidavit or dec24 laration as evidence to substantiate an individ25 ual’s physical presence in an affected area durmmaher on DSK3CLS3C1PROD with BILLS

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1 ing a period described in section 4(a)(1)(A)(i) 

2 or section 4(a)(2) if the affidavit— 

3 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 

4 material that may be used to substantiate 

5 the individual’s presence in an affected 

6 area during that time period; 

7 ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s pres8 ence in an affected area during that pe9 riod; 

10 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 

11 perjury; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 

13 the individual filing the claim. 

14 ‘‘(C) PARTICIPATION AT TESTING SITE.— 

15 For purposes of this Act, the Attorney General 

16 shall accept a written affidavit or declaration as 

17 evidence to substantiate an individual’s partici18 pation onsite in a test involving the atmospheric 

19 detonation of a nuclear device if the affidavit— 

20 ‘‘(i) is provided in addition to other 

21 material that may be used to substantiate 

22 the individual’s participation onsite in a 

23 test involving the atmospheric detonation 

24 of a nuclear device; 

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1 ‘‘(ii) attests to the individual’s partici2 pation onsite in a test involving the atmos3 pheric detonation of a nuclear device; 

4 ‘‘(iii) is made subject to penalty for 

5 perjury; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) is made by a person other than 

7 the individual filing the claim.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 Section 6 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘section 

11 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(a)(2)(E)’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

15 ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) 

16 of section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

17 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or 

18 (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and 

19 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘sub20 section (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of 

21 section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

22 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), or 

23 (a)(2)(D) of section 4’’; and 

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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sec2 tion 4(a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

3 4(a)(2)(E)’’; and 

4 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘subsection 

5 (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), or (a)(2)(B) of section 4’’ and in6 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), or 

7 (a)(2)(C) of section 4’’. 

8 (c) REGULATIONS.—Section 6(k) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of enactment of the Radiation Exposure 

11 Compensation Act Amendments of 2010, the Attorney 

12 General shall issue revised regulations to carry out this 

13 Act.’’. 

14 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 

15 (a) EXTENSION OF FILING TIME.—Section 8(a) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘22 years’’ and inserting ‘‘19 

18 years’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘2000’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’. 

20 (b) RESUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS.—Section 8(b) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(b) RESUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DENIED CLAIMS.—After the date of enact24 ment of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 

25 Amendments of 2010, any claimant who has been 

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1 denied compensation under this Act may resubmit a 

2 claim for consideration by the Attorney General in 

3 accordance with this Act not more than three times. 

4 Any resubmittal made before the date of the enact5 ment of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 

6 Amendments of 2010 shall not be applied to the lim7 itation under the preceding sentence. 

8 ‘‘(2) PREVIOUSLY SUCCESSFUL CLAIMS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After the date of en10 actment of the Radiation Exposure Compensa11 tion Act Amendments of 2010, any claimant 

12 who received compensation under this Act may 

13 submit a request to the Attorney General for 

14 additional compensation and benefits. Such re15 quest shall contain— 

16 ‘‘(i) the claimant’s name, social secu17 rity number, and date of birth; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the amount of award received 

19 under this Act before the date of enact20 ment of the Radiation Exposure Com21 pensation Act Amendments of 2010; 

22 ‘‘(iii) any additional benefits and com23 pensation sought through such request; 

24 and 

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1 ‘‘(iv) any additional information re2 quired by the Attorney General. 

3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION.—If the 

4 claimant received compensation under this Act 

5 before the date of enactment of the Radiation 

6 Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 

7 2010 and submits a request under subpara8 graph (A), the Attorney General shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) pay the claimant the amount that 

10 is equal to any excess of— 

11 ‘‘(I) the amount the claimant is 

12 eligible to receive under this Act (as 

13 amended by the Radiation Exposure 

14 Compensation Act Amendments of 

15 2010); minus 

16 ‘‘(II) the aggregate amount paid 

17 to the claimant under this Act before 

18 the date of enactment of the Radi19 ation Exposure Compensation Act 

20 Amendments of 2010; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in any case in which the claimant 

22 was compensated under section 4, provide 

23 the claimant with medical benefits under 

24 section 4(a)(5).’’. 

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1 SEC. 8. ATTORNEY FEES. 

2 Section 9(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘2 percent’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’. 

4 SEC. 9. GRANT PROGRAM ON EPIDEMIOLOGICAL IMPACTS 

5 OF URANIUM MINING AND MILLING. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

8 has the meaning given under section 101 of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); 

10 (2) the term ‘‘program’’ means the grant pro11 gram established under subsection (b); and 

12 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

13 of Health and Human Services. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

15 a grant program relating to the epidemiological impacts 

16 of uranium mining and milling. Grants awarded under the 

17 program shall be used for the study of the epidemiological 

18 impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occu19 pationally exposed individuals, including family members 

20 of uranium miners and millers. 

21 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin22 ister the program through the National Institute of Envi23 ronmental Health Sciences. 

24 (d) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.—Any institution 

25 of higher education or nonprofit private entity shall be eli26 gible to apply for a grant. To apply for a grant an eligible 

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1 institution or entity shall submit to the Secretary an appli2 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing or 

3 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

4 reasonably require. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

7 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. 

Æ 

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