Short title

This Act may be cited as the

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Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Beginning in the early 1940s, the Department of Energy and its predecessors, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Manhattan Engineering District, relied upon hundreds of private-sector factories and laboratories to develop, test, and produce atomic weapons for use by the military, and these facilities became contaminated with radioactive materials during the atomic weapons production process. (2)The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (in this section referred to as EEOICPA) provides health care and lump-sum benefits for radiation-related cancers and other illnesses to certain covered workers made sick while they toiled in the nation's nuclear weapons factories, including vendor facilities. EEOICPA defines these private-sector vendor facilities as atomic weapons employer facilities, and employees working in such facilities while their employers were under contract to process nuclear weapons materials are defined as atomic weapons employees. (3)Many of the atomic weapons employer facilities were not properly decontaminated after processing radioactive materials such as thorium, uranium, and radium and retained significant levels of contamination. Workers who were hired and employed in such atomic weapons employer facilities after the date that contracts ended for production were potentially exposed to significant amounts of radiation. Congress was not aware of the presence of residual radioactive contamination in these facilities when it enacted EEOICPA, thus inadvertently denying coverage under the law to those who were unwittingly exposed to radiation left over from nuclear weapons activities. (4)In December 2001, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–107) was enacted, which required in section 3151(b) that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study and issue a final report to Congress by December 2002 describing which of the atomic weapons employer facilities had significant residual radioactive contamination remaining in them after processing materials for use in atomic weapons and during what time periods such radioactive contamination remained. (5)In October 2003, the Institute issued a report, titled Report on Residual Radioactive and Beryllium Contamination in Atomic Weapons Employer and Beryllium Vendor Facilities. The report found that, out of 219 atomic weapons employer facilities— (A)97 (44 percent) of such facilities have potential for significant residual radioactive contamination outside of the periods in which atomic weapons-related production occurred; (B)88 (40 percent) of such facilities have little potential for significant residual radioactive contamination outside of the periods in which atomic weapons-related production occurred; and (C)34 (16 percent) of such facilities have insufficient information to make a determination. (6)Congress is now aware that workers were employed in a substantial number of atomic weapons employer facilities years after the Manhattan Project ended. These workers were potentially harmed by legacy residual radioactive contamination that permeated the walls, the floors, and the air of their worksites well after the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy terminated contracts for production activities. This exposure to residual radioactive contamination took place without the knowledge or consent of these workers. (7)Congress therefore declares that, based on the scientific assessment by the Institute, those workers hired and employed in such facilities during the period after Cold War production stopped but during which the Institute found there was significant residual radioactive contamination should be defined as atomic weapons employees under EEOICPA, should be eligible to apply for compensation under subtitle B of EEOICPA, and should have their claims evaluated on the same basis as those atomic weapons employees who were employed during the period when processing of radioactive materials was underway as part of the atomic weapons program.

Coverage under Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program of individuals employed at atomic weapons employer facilities during periods of residual contamination

Paragraph (3) of section 3621 of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l) is amended to read as follows:

(3)The term atomic weapons employee means any of the following: (A)An individual employed at an atomic weapons employer facility during a period when the employer was processing or producing, for the use by the United States, material that emitted radiation and was used in the production of an atomic weapon, excluding uranium mining and milling. (B)An individual employed— (i)at an atomic weapons employer facility with respect to which the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in its report dated October 2003 and titled Report on Residual Radioactive and Beryllium Contamination at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities and Beryllium Vendor Facilities, or any update to that report, found that there is a potential for significant residual contamination outside of the period in which weapons-related production occurred; and (ii)during a period, as specified in such report or any update to such report, of significant residual contamination at that facility.

Update to report

In each of 2005, 2006, and 2007, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shall submit to Congress, not later than December 31 of that year, an update to the report required by section 3151(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–107; 42 U.S.C. 7384 note). Each such update shall— (1)for each facility for which such report, or any update to such report, found that insufficient information was available to determine whether significant residual contamination was present, determine whether significant residual contamination was present; (2)for each facility for which such report, or any update to such report, found that significant residual contamination remained present as of the date of the report, determine the date on which such contamination ceased to be present; (3)for each facility for which such report, or any update to such report, found that significant residual contamination was present but for which the Director has been unable to determine the extent to which such contamination is attributable to beryllium or atomic weapons-related activities, identify the specific dates of coverage attributable to such activities and, in so identifying, presume that such contamination is attributable to such activities until there is evidence of decontamination of residual contamination identified with beryllium or atomic weapons-related activities; and (4)if new information that pertains to the report has been made available to the Director since that report was submitted, identify and describe such information.

Publication in Federal Register

The Director shall ensure that the report referred to in section 4, and each update required by section 4, are published in the Federal Register not later than 15 days after being released.