I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3481
To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
Act of 2000 to include certain former nuclear weapons program workers 
in the Special Exposure Cohort under the energy employees occupational 
illness compensation program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2005
Mr. REYNOLDS (for himself, Mr. HIGGINS, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Com-
pensation Program Act of 2000 to include certain former 
nuclear weapons program workers in the Special Expo-
sure Cohort under the energy employees occupational 
illness compensation program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) employees working on Cold War-era nuclear 
weapons were employed in hundreds of facilities 
owned by the Federal Government and private sector 
producing and processing radioactive materials for 
use in the nuclear weapons program of the United 
States beginning in the mid-1940’s; 
(2) those atomic workers helped to build the 
nuclear arsenal that served as a deterrent to the So-
viet Union during the Cold War, but many paid a 
high price in terms of their health; 
(3) during the Cold War, many atomic workers 
were exposed to radiation and placed in harm’s way 
by the Department of Energy and contractors, sub-
contractors, and vendors of the Department—
(A) without the knowledge and consent of 
the workers; 
(B) without adequate radiation monitoring; 
and 
(C) without necessary protections from in-
ternal or external occupational radiation expo-
sures; 
(4) due to the inequities posed by the factors 
described in paragraph (3) and the resulting poten-
tial harm, Congress legislatively designated classes 
of Cold War-era workers at the Paducah, Kentucky,
Portsmouth, Ohio, Oak Ridge K–25, and the Am-
chitka Island test sites as members of the Special 
Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occu-
pational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 
(42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq.); 
(5)(A) the contribution of the State of New 
York to the security of the United States throughout 
the Cold War was very significant; and 
(B) New York is home to 36 former atomic 
weapons employer facilities and sites of the Depart-
ment of Energy that produced and processed radio-
active materials, carried out classified research, op-
erated nuclear reactors, and processed high level nu-
clear waste, 14 of which are located in the western 
region of New York; 
(6) research by the Department of Energy, the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health, the Advisory Board on Radiation and Work-
er Health, and congressional committees indicates 
that—
(A) workers at certain facilities were not 
adequately monitored for internal or external 
exposures to ionizing radiation to which the 
workers were exposed during the 1940’s to 
1960’s; and
(B) at other facilities, records were not 
maintained, are not reliable, or fail to measure 
the radioactive isotopes to which workers were 
exposed; 
(7) at Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, New 
York, an atomic weapons employer facility (as de-
fined in section 3621 of the Energy Employees Oc-
cupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 
2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l)), no personal radiation do-
simetry monitoring records are available; 
(8) if it is determined that it is not feasible to 
estimate radiation dose with sufficient accuracy and 
there is a reasonable likelihood that a class of work-
ers may have been endangered, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services is authorized, after re-
ceiving advice from the Advisory Board on Radiation 
and Worker Health, to designate additional classes 
of workers as members of the Special Exposure Co-
hort under section 3626 of the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 
2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384q); 
(9) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices promulgated regulations on May 28, 2004, to 
establish procedures for classes of individuals to pe-
tition for membership in the Special Exposure Co-
hort; 
(10) section 3626(b) of the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 
2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384q(b)) provides for the designa-
tion of an additional class of employees in the Spe-
cial Exposure Cohort if it is not feasible to estimate 
with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the 
class received and there is a reasonable likelihood 
that the radiation dose may have endangered the 
health of members of the class; and 
(11) legislation is needed to provide additional 
parameters to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services and the Advisory Board on Radiation and 
Worker Health for evaluating petitions for the Spe-
cial Exposure Cohort in cases in which there is lim-
ited or nonexistent individual radiation exposure 
monitoring or an absence of records.
SEC. 2. ADDITION OF CLASSES OF FORMER NUCLEAR 
WEAPONS PROGRAM WORKERS IN THE SPE-
CIAL EXPOSURE COHORT UNDER ENERGY 
EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COM-
PENSATION PROGRAM. 
Section 3626(b) of the Energy Employees Occupa-
tional Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 
U.S.C. 7384q(b)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subpara-
graph (B); 
(3) by striking the period at the end and insert-
ing ‘‘; or’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) subject to subparagraph (B), in the 
case of a class of employees employed at an atomic 
weapons employer facility or a Department of En-
ergy facility during a period (in the aggregate) of at 
least 250 days (or a shorter duration connected to 
discrete events, as determined by the Secretary) dur-
ing which—
‘‘(i) the employees in the class had the po-
tential for exposure to occupational ionizing ra-
diation from production or processing materials 
related to atomic weapons, or engaged in re-
search, development, testing, assembly, dis-
assembly, decontamination, decommissioning, or 
waste management, or work related to such ac-
tivities; and 
‘‘(ii)(I) fewer than 50 percent of the em-
ployees in the class were individually monitored 
on a regular basis (using reliable methods and 
procedures) under a formal health physics pro-
gram for exposure to internal and external ion-
izing radiation for the types of radiation and 
specific radioactive isotopes to which the em-
ployees had the potential for exposure during 
the period when the employees were exposed; 
‘‘(II) individual internal and external expo-
sure records for the types of radiation and spe-
cific radioactive isotopes to which the employees 
in the class were potentially exposed at the fa-
cility during the period when the employees 
were exposed are nonexistent or are not avail-
able; or 
‘‘(III) to the extent that a portion of indi-
vidual internal or external records are available 
for the period from the facility, individual radi-
ation doses cannot be reliably determined for 
greater than 2⁄3 of the employees in the class
using the individual internal and external moni-
toring records from the facility; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a class of employees em-
ployed at a facility for which the National Institute 
for Occupational Safety and Health has updated the 
report and made the determination described in sec-
tion 3169(b)(4) of the Ronald W. Reagan National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 
(Public Law 108–375; 42 U.S.C. 7384 note) during 
a period determined under the report, during which 
(as determined by the Secretary) the employees at 
the facility met the criteria described in clauses (i) 
and (ii) of subparagraph (A).’’. 
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall modify the regulations and proce-
dures of the Secretary relating to the Special Exposure 
Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384 et 
seq.) to conform the regulations and procedures to section 
3626(b)(2) of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000 (as amended by sec-
tion 2). 
(b) BETHLEHEM STEEL SITE.—
(1) INITIATION OF PETITION.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall ini-
tiate a petition to include workers employed at the 
Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna, New York as 
a class to be included in the Special Exposure Co-
hort in accordance with section 3626(b)(2) of the 
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensa-
tion Program Act of 2000 (as amended by section 
2). 
(2) EVALUATION.—The evaluation of the peti-
tion shall be conducted in accordance with section 
3626 of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 
7384q). 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall submit to Congress a report that 
identifies the facilities, classes, and the number of claim-
ants in each class who meet the criteria established under 
section 3626(b)(2) of the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (as amended 
by section 2) for membership in the Special Exposure Co-
hort.
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