[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3495 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 subsequently 
   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 Representatives 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 explicitly 
        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 unfairly places the burden of proof 
        of harm upon workers.
            (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 hazardous substances at Department of Energy 
        facilities.
            (7) Scientific evidence shows that ionizing radiation is a 
        carcinogenic substance and that specific types of cancer are 
        considered radiogenic by the scientific and medical community.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Department of energy.--The term ``Department of 
        Energy'' includes the predecessor agencies of the Department.
            (2) DOE nuclear employee.--The term DOE nuclear employee`` 
        means an individual employed by--
                    (A) the Department of Energy;
                    (B) an entity that contracted with the Department 
                of Energy to provide management and operations, 
                management and integration, production, testing, 
                research, development, environmental 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 
                        Laboratory;
                            (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 conversion or 
                manufacturing services, including Allied Signal 
                Facility in Metropolis, Illinois, Nuclear Fuels 
                Services in Erwin, Tennessee, Linde Air Products, 
                Tonowanda, New York, and Reactive 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-cancerous 
                        condition of the bone, lung, thyroid, male or 
                        female breast, esophagus, kidney, salivary 
                        gland, skin, urinary bladder, stomach pharynx, 
                        small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall 
                        bladder, or liver; and
                    (C) additional diseases covered by the Nuclear 
                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 Compensation Fund (hereafter in this Act 
referred to as the ``Fund'').
    (b) Purpose.--The amounts in the Fund are available 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 appropriated 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 fiscal 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 exposure 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 paragraph (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 section 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 employee 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 
Energy. 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 Energy, establish 
        guidelines for determinations of employment and exposure, as 
        described in section 5.
    (c) Payment.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General is authorized 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 subrogated 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 parents 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 payment.
                            (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 before 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 subparagraph 
                (A)--
                            (i) the term ``spouse'' of a DOE nuclear 
                        employee is a wife or husband of that employee 
                        who was married to that employee for at least 
                        one year immediately before the death of that 
                        employee;
                            (ii) the term ``child'' includes a natural 
                        child, a step-child in a regular parent-child 
                        relationship, and an adopted child;
                            (iii) the term ``parent'' includes fathers 
                        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 documentation.--The Attorney 
        General may request from a claimant, or from an individual or 
        entity on behalf of a claimant, additional information or 
        documentation 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 information or documentation 
        is provided, or the requested 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 
        documentation requested by the Attorney General if (A) it is 
        more than 60 days after the date the Attorney General's request 
        was made, and (B) the information or documentation has not been 
        provided.
            (3) Payments under other Acts limited.--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 Compensation Standards 
        Act (38 U.S.C 354 note).
    (e) Costs of Administering the Adjudications.--
            (1) Limitation.--Costs incurred by the Attorney 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 Energy 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 General under this 
section terminate when the Fund terminates.
    (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 benefits 
        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 General 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 Judicial Review.--
            (1) Decision denying claim.--A decision denying 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 individual 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 enactment 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 representative 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 considered 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.
                                 <all>