Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

Bill: 116-hr-3783
Sponsor: Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3]
Introduced: 2019-07-16 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Arizona
Cancer
Colorado
Department of Justice
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Education programs funding
Environmental health
Federal-Indian relations
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
Northern Mariana Islands
Nuclear weapons
Oregon
Personnel records
Public contracts and procurement
Radiation
Radioactive wastes and releases
Research administration and funding
South Dakota
Texas
U.S. territories and protectorates
Utah
Washington State
Worker safety and health
Wyoming

Summary:
action_date: 2019-07-16
text: 

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

 
This bill increases the amount of compensation provided to individuals exposed to radiation and expands eligibility requirements for compensation to include additional individuals.
 
Specifically, the bill extends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 45 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 governing the compensation of individuals who were exposed to radiation, 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; and 
 
 extending until 45 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 also expands eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to certain employees with a specified cancer.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-08-06
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
action_date: 2019-07-17
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2019-07-16
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, 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: 2019-07-16
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, 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: 2019-07-16
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, 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: 2019-07-16
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2019-07-16
text: Introduced in House