Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2017

Bill: 115-hr-2049
Sponsor: Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3]
Introduced: 2017-04-06 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Arizona
Cancer
Civil actions and liability
Colorado
Department of Justice
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Education programs funding
Environmental health
Government information and archives
Government liability
Government trust funds
Guam
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health care costs and insurance
Higher education
Idaho
Legal fees and court costs
Marshall Islands
Medical research
Military history
Mining
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota
Nuclear weapons
Oregon
Personnel records
Public contracts and procurement
Radiation
Research administration and funding
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Washington State
Worker safety and health
Wyoming

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: 

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2017

 
This bill amends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 19 years after this bill's enactment. The trust fund compensates individuals who contract cancer or other diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation during nuclear testing undertaken by the United States during the Cold War.
 
The bill revises the requirements of that Act, including by:
 
 
increasing the amount of compensation that an individual may receive;
 
 expanding the affected area to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico;
 
 expanding eligibility requirements to include additional individuals, such as certain employees of uranium mines or mills, or individuals who participated onsite in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll (a ring of islands in the Pacific Ocean where nuclear testing occurred) from 1977 through 1980; and 
 
 extending until 19 years after this bill's enactment the statute of limitations for the filing of claims.
 
 
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences must establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occupationally exposed individuals.
 
The bill amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 by expanding eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to chronic beryllium disease.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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.
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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.
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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.
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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.
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2017-04-06
text: Introduced in House