[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1852 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1852

 To bar class action lawsuits against Department of Energy contractors 
for nonphysical injuries, to bar the award of punitive damages against 
Department of Energy contractors for incidents occurring before August 
                   20, 1988, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 7, 1996

 Mr. Johnston introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To bar class action lawsuits against Department of Energy contractors 
for nonphysical injuries, to bar the award of punitive damages against 
Department of Energy contractors for incidents occurring before August 
                   20, 1988, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy Class Action 
Lawsuit Act''.

SEC. 2. CLASS ACTIONS.

    Section 170n. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(n)) 
is amended by adding after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4)(A) An action may not be maintained as a class action 
        under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure against 
        any person indemnified by the United States under section 170d. 
        with respect to any claim for a nonphysical injury that arises 
        from a nuclear incident or precautionary evacuation regardless 
        of when it occurred.
            ``(B) For purposes of this paragraph, `nonphysical injury' 
        includes--
                    ``(i) emotional distress and any mental or 
                emotional harm (such as fright or anxiety) that is not 
                directly brought about by a physical injury even though 
                it may manifest itself in physical symptoms; and
                    ``(ii) diminution of value of property resulting 
                from fear or reputation and not from physical injury or 
                loss.
            ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (5), the 
        term `person indemnified by the United States under section 
        170d.' means any person indemnified by the United States--
                    ``(i) under section 170d.; or
                    ``(ii) under any other authority that obligates the 
                United States to make payments relating to a nuclear 
                incident or precautionary evacuation that arises from 
                activities conducted under contract with the Department 
                of Energy or any of its predecessor agencies.''.

SEC. 3. MEDICAL MONITORING.

    Section 170n. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(n)) 
is further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5)(A) Except in the case of an extraordinary nuclear 
        occurrence, medical monitoring provided by the Agency for Toxic 
        Substances and Disease Registry under section 104(i) of the 
        Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)) shall be the exclusive remedy 
        for any claim for medical monitoring in a public liability 
        action against a person indemnified by the United States under 
        section 170d. No court may grant a remedy for a claim for 
        medical monitoring in a public liability action except in the 
        case of an extraordinary nuclear occurrence or as provided in 
        section 310(a)(2) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
        Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9659(a)(2)).
            ``(B) For purposes of this paragraph, `medical monitoring' 
        includes any medical screening, testing, or surveillance 
        program intended to detect, study, prevent, or treat bodily 
        injury, sickness, disease, or death that may arise from a 
        nuclear incident or precautionary evacuation.''.

SEC. 4. PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

    Section 170s. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(s)) 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``s. Limitation on Punitive Damages.--No court may award punitive 
damages in any action with respect to a nuclear incident or 
precautionary evacuation against a person on behalf of whom the United 
States is obligated to make payments under any agreement of 
indemnification covering the incident or evacuation, regardless of--
            ``(1) when the incident or evacuation occurred; or
            ``(2) whether the agreement of indemnification was entered 
        into under this Act or under any other authority.''.

SEC. 5. ACTIONS COVERED.

    The provisions of this Act shall apply to any public liability 
action (as defined in section 11hh. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 
(42 U.S.C. 2014(hh)) that is pending on the date of the enactment of 
this Act or commenced on or after such date.
                                 <all>