I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3495
To establish a compensation program for Department of Energy employees
injured in Federal nuclear activities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 18, 1999
Mr. STRICKLAND (for himself, Mr. GORDON, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr.
WHITFIELD, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.
PHELPS, Mr. FORBES, Mr. PALLONE, and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and
in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a compensation program for Department of
Energy employees injured in Federal nuclear activities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Energy
Nuclear Employees Exposure Compensation Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal nuclear activities have long been ex-
plicitly recognized by the Government as an ultra-
hazardous activity under law.
(2) Since the inception of the Federal nuclear
weapons program, the Department of Energy and its
predecessors have self-regulated worker safety and
health, which places a unique responsibility upon the
Department to ensure a safe working environment.
(3) Since the inception of the nuclear weapons
program, nuclear workers at sites operated by the
Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies
were put at risk of exposure to harmful substances
without the knowledge or consent of the workers.
(4) For decades the Department of Energy and
its predecessor agencies withheld information about
worker health risks for reasons that were not in the
national interest—while actively resisting efforts by
workers to seek compensation.
(5) The Department of Energy currently does
not have accurate and complete records of exposure
to radioactive and hazardous substances—which un-
fairly places the burden of proof of harm upon work-
ers.
(6) Current remedies under State compensation
programs are ill-suited to address chronic diseases
and those that have long latency periods which are
associated with exposure to radioactive and haz-
ardous substances at Department of Energy facili-
ties.
(7) Scientific evidence shows that ionizing radi-
ation is a carcinogenic substance and that specific
types of cancer are considered radiogenic by the sci-
entific and medical community.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—The term ‘‘De-
partment of Energy’’ includes the predecessor agen-
cies of the Department.
(2) DOE 
NUCLEAR
EMPLOYEE.—The term
DOE nuclear employee‘‘ means an individual em-
ployed by—
(A) the Department of Energy;
(B) an entity that contracted with the De-
partment of Energy to provide management
and operations, management and integration,
production, testing, research, development, envi-
ronmental remediation, or waste management
at facilities at locations, including the following:
(i) Portsmouth, Ohio;
(ii) Paducah, Kentucky.
(iii) O.R. K-25, Tennessee;
(iv) O.R. Y-12, Tennessee;
(v) O.R. X-10, Tennessee;
(vi) Hanford, Washington;
(vii) Idaho National Engineering Lab-
oratory;
(viii) Rocky Flats, Colorado;
(ix) Fernald, Ohio;
(x) Miamisburg, Ohio;
(xi) Los Alamos National Laboratory,
New Mexico;
(xii) Pinellas, Florida;
(xiii) Pantex, Texas;
(xiv) Nevada Test Site;
(xv) Brookhaven, New York;
(xvi) Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory;
(xvii) Sandia National Laboratory,
New Mexico
(xviii) Burlington, Iowa;
(xix) Fermi Nuclear Facility, Illinois;
(xx) Weldon Spring, Maryland; or
(xxi) Savannah River, South Carolina
(xxii) Argonne National Lab, Illinois
(C) a supplier that supplied uranium con-
version or manufacturing services, including Al-
lied Signal Facility in Metropolis, Illinois, Nu-
clear Fuels Services in Erwin, Tennessee, Linde
Air Products, Tonowanda, New York, and Re-
active Metals in Ashtabula, Ohio.
(3) SPECIFIED DISEASE.—The term ‘‘specified
disease’’ means—
(A) 
leukemia 
(other 
than 
chronic
lymphocytic leukemia);
(B) the following diseases;
(i) multiple myeloma;
(ii) lymphomas (other than Hodgkins
disease); and
(iii) primary cancer or a pre-can-
cerous condition of the bone, lung, thyroid,
male or female breast, esophagus, kidney,
salivary gland, skin, urinary bladder, stom-
ach pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile
ducts, gall bladder, or liver; and
(C) additional diseases covered by the Nu-
clear Claims Tribunal of the Marshall Islands.
SEC. 4. DOE NUCLEAR FACILITY EMPLOYEES’ EXPOSURE
COMPENSATION FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the
Treasury the DOE Nuclear Employees’ Exposure Com-
pensation Fund (hereafter in this Act referred to as the
‘‘Fund’’).
(b) PURPOSE.—The amounts in the Fund are avail-
able only for disbursement by the Attorney General under
section 6.
(c) TERMINATION.—The Fund shall terminate 22
years after the date of enactment of this Act. If all of
the amounts in the Fund have not been expended by the
end of the 22-year period, amounts remaining in the Fund
shall be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts account
in the Treasury.
(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act. Amounts appro-
priated to the fund shall remain available until expended
or deposited in the Treasury.
(e) AUTHORITY.—Authority under this Act to enter
into contracts or to make payments is effective in any fis-
cal year only to the extent, or in the amounts, provided
in advance in an appropriation Act.
SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.
A DOE nuclear employee who—
(1) was employed at a DOE nuclear facility for
at least a year;
(2) during the employees’ employment period—
(A) was or should have been monitored
through the use of dosimetry badges for expo-
sure of the employees’s body to radiation at the
facility, and
(B) submits written medical documentation
as to having contracted a specified disease after
beginning employment as described in para-
graph (1) and after beginning being monitored
or beginning work,
is authorized to receive $100,000 and first dollar coverage
for all medical and diagnostic costs related to a claim for
a specified disease, including complicating factors, if the
claim for payment is filed with the Attorney General and
the Attorney General determines, in accordance with sec-
tion 6, that the claim meets the requirements of this Act.
SEC. 6. DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.
(a) FILING PROCEDURES.—The Attorney General
shall establish procedures under which an eligible em-
ployee may submit a claim for payment under this section.
(b) DETERMINATION.—The Attorney General shall
determine if each claim filed under this section meets the
requirements of this Act. In making a determination of
eligibility for compensation, the Attorney General may
consult with the Surgeon General and the Secretary of En-
ergy. The Attorney General shall—
(1) in consultation with the Surgeon General,
establish guidelines for determining what constitutes
written medical documentation under section 5 that
an individual contracted a specified disease; and
(2) in consultation with the Secretary of En-
ergy, establish guidelines for determinations of em-
ployment and exposure, as described in section 5.
(c) PAYMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is au-
thorized to pay, from amounts available in the Fund,
claims filed under this section that the Attorney
General determines meets the requirements of this
Act.
(2) SUBROGATION.—Upon payment of a claim
under paragraph (1), the United States is sub-
rogated for the amount of the payment to a right or
claim that the individual to whom the payment was
made may have against any person on account of a
specified disease contracted following employment
and exposure as described in section 5.
(3) DECEASED OR DYING EMPLOYEE.—
(A) DECEASED.—In the case of a DOE
nuclear employee who is deceased at the time of
payment under this section, the payment may
be made only as follows:
(i) If the DOE nuclear employee is
survived by a spouse who is living at the
time of payment, the payment shall be
made to the surviving spouse.
(ii) If there is no surviving spouse at
the time of payment, the payment shall be
made in equal shares to all the children of
the DOE nuclear employee who are living
at the time of payment.
(iii) If there is no spouse or children
living at the time of payment, the payment
shall be made in equal shares to the par-
ents of the DOE nuclear employee who are
living at the time of payment.
(iv) If there are no spouse, children,
or parents living at the time of payment,
the payment shall be made in equal shares
to all grandchildren of the DOE nuclear
employee who are living at the time of pay-
ment.
(v) If there are no spouse, children,
parents, or grandchildren living at the time
of payment, the payment shall be made in
equal shares to the grandparents of the
DOE nuclear employee who are living at
the time of payment.
(vi) If there are no spouse, children,
parents, grandchildren, or grandparents
living at the time of payment, the amount
of the payment shall remain in the Fund
for future claimants.
(B) DIES.—If the DOE nuclear employee
eligible for payment under this section dies be-
fore filing a claim under this Act, a survivor of
that employee who may receive payment under
subparagraph (A) may file a claim for payment
for such employee.
(C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of sub-
paragraph (A)—
(i) the term ‘‘spouse’’ of a DOE nu-
clear employee is a wife or husband of that
employee who was married to that em-
ployee for at least one year immediately
before the death of that employee;
(ii) the term ‘‘child’’ includes a nat-
ural child, a step-child in a regular parent-
child relationship, and an adopted child;
(iii) the term ‘‘parent’’ includes fa-
thers and mothers through adoption.
(iv) the term ‘‘grandchild’’ of a DOE
nuclear employee is a child of a child of
that employee;
(v) the term ‘‘grandparent’’ of a DOE
nuclear employee is a parent of a parent of
that employee.
(d) ACTION ON CLAIM.—
(1) DETERMINATION
PERIOD.—The Attorney
General shall complete the determination of each
claim filed under subsection (a) not later than 12
months after the date the claim is filed.
(2) ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
AND
DOCU-
MENTATION.—The Attorney General may request
from a claimant, or from an individual or entity on
behalf of a claimant, additional information or docu-
mentation necessary to complete the determination
of the claim under subsection (b). The period of time
from the Attorney General’s request for additional
information or documentation until the time the in-
formation or documentation is provided, or the re-
quested individual or entity informs the Attorney
General the information or documentation cannot or
will not be provided, is not counted toward the 12-
month period established under paragraph (1). A
claimant may sue the Department of Energy or its
contractor in a district court of the United States to
compel the production of information or documenta-
tion requested by the Attorney General if (A) it is
more than 60 days after the date the Attorney Gen-
eral’s request was made, and (B) the information or
documentation has not been provided.
(3) PAYMENTS
UNDER
OTHER
ACTS
LIM-
ITED.—An individual may not receive payment
under this Act and under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) or under
the Veterans’ Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Com-
pensation Standards Act (38 U.S.C 354 note).
(e) COSTS
OF
ADMINISTERING
THE
ADJUDICA-
TIONS.—
(1) LIMITATION.—Costs incurred by the Attor-
ney General in carrying out this section shall not be
paid from the Fund or set off against, or otherwise
deducted from, a payment under this section.
(2) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Department of En-
ergy shall reimburse the Attorney General for the
costs incurred by the Attorney General in connection
with establishing and administering the program of
compensation under this Act until the duties of the
Attorney General terminate under subsection (f).
(f) TERMINATION.—The duties of the Attorney Gen-
eral under this section terminate when the Fund termi-
nates.
(g) TREATMENT
OF
PAYMENTS
UNDER
OTHER
LAWS.—An amount paid to an individual under this
section—
(1) shall not be subject to Federal income tax
under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(2) shall not be included as income or resources
for purposes of determining eligibility to receive ben-
efits described in section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31,
United States Code; and
(3) shall not be subject to the offset under
chapter 37 of title 31, United States Code.
(h) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Attorney Gen-
eral may issue regulations to carry out this Act.
(i) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS GUIDELINES, AND
PROCEDURES.—Regulations, guidelines, and procedures
to carry out this Act shall be issued not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(j) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS PROCEDURE AND JU-
DICIAL REVIEW.—
(1) DECISION DENYING CLAIM.—A decision de-
nying a claim under this Act may be appealed to an
appeals officer designated by the Attorney General.
(2) If the designated appeals officer affirms a
decision denying a claim under this Act, the indi-
vidual who submitted such claim may seek review of
such affirmation by a district court of the United
States.
SEC. 7. CLAIMS NOT ASSIGNABLE OR TRANSFERABLE.
A claim cognizable under this Act is not assignable
or transferable.
SEC. 8. LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.
A claim to which this Act applies is barred unless
the claim is filed within 20 years after the date of enact-
ment of this Act.
SEC. 9. ATTORNEY FEES.
Notwithstanding any contract, the representative of
an individual filing a claim under this Act may not receive
for services rendered in connection with such claim more
than 10 percent of a payment made for such claim. A rep-
resentative who violates this section shall be fined not
more than $5,000.
SEC. 10. CLAIMS NOT AFFECTED BY AWARDS OF DAMAGES.
A payment made under this Act shall not be consid-
ered as any form of compensation or reimbursement for
a loss for purposes of imposing liability on the individual
receiving the payment to repay any insurance carrier for
insurance payments made. A payment under this Act does
not affect any claim against any insurance carrier with
respect to insurance.
Æ