Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021

Bill: 117-hr-5338
Sponsor: Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3]
Introduced: 2021-09-22 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
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
U.S. territories and protectorates
Utah
Washington State
Worker safety and health
Wyoming

Summary:
action_date: 2021-09-22
text: 

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021

 
This bill expands two programs that compensate individuals who were exposed to radiation during certain nuclear testing or uranium mining and subsequently developed medical conditions, including cancers.
 
First, the bill expands and extends a program that compensates individuals who were exposed to radiation from atmospheric nuclear testing or other sources and subsequently developed specified cancers. Under current law, this program compensates individuals who were present in a designated geographic area during a period of nuclear testing and certain individuals employed in uranium mining. The bill
 
 
expands the designated areas to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Guam and additional areas in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah;
 
makes more individuals who worked in uranium mining eligible for the program;
 
increases the amount of compensation awarded to and provides medical benefits for eligible claimants; and
 
extends for 19 years following the bill's enactment the fund that supports this program and the statute of limitations for filing claims (currently, the program terminates on July 10, 2022).
 
 
Second, the bill makes certain individuals employed in uranium mines or mills eligible for a program that compensates workers, including Department of Energy employees and contractors, for illnesses caused by occupational exposure to radiation and hazardous substances during development and testing of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
 
The bill also establishes a grant program in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among individuals without occupational exposure.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-12-08
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 8.
action_date: 2021-12-08
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2021-09-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
action_date: 2021-09-22
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: 2021-09-22
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: 2021-09-22
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: 2021-09-22
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2021-09-22
text: Introduced in House