[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2439 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2439

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
 Act of 2000 to provide for certain nuclear weapons program workers to 
   be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the compensation 
                    program established by that Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 16 (legislative day, March 15), 2006

   Mr. Reid introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
 Act of 2000 to provide for certain nuclear weapons program workers to 
   be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the compensation 
                    program established by that Act.

    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 ``Nevada Test Site Veterans' 
Compensation Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Employees working on Cold War-era nuclear weapons 
        programs were employed in facilities owned by the Federal 
        Government and the private sector producing and testing nuclear 
        weapons and engaging in related atomic energy defense 
        activities for the national defense beginning in the 1940s.
            (2) These Cold War atomic energy veterans helped to build 
        and test the nuclear arsenal that served as a deterrent during 
        the Cold War, sacrificing their personal health and well-being 
        in service of their country.
            (3) During the Cold War, many of these workers were exposed 
        to radiation and placed in harm's way by the Department of 
        Energy and contractors, subcontractors, and vendors of the 
        Department without their knowledge and consent, without 
        adequate radiation monitoring, and without necessary 
        protections from internal or external occupational radiation 
        exposure.
            (4) The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 
        Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq.) (in this section 
        referred to as ``EEOICPA'') was enacted to ensure fairness and 
        equity for the men and women who, during the past 60 years, 
        performed duties uniquely related to the nuclear weapons 
        production and testing programs of the Department of Energy, 
        its predecessor agencies, and contractors by establishing a 
        program that would provide timely, uniform, and adequate 
        compensation for beryllium- and radiation-related health 
        conditions.
            (5) Research by the Department of Energy, the National 
        Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), NIOSH 
        contractors, the President's Advisory Board on Radiation and 
        Worker Health, and congressional committees indicates that at 
        certain nuclear weapons facilities--
                    (A) workers were not adequately monitored for 
                internal or external exposure to ionizing radiation; 
                and
                    (B) records were not maintained, are not reliable, 
                are incomplete, or fail to indicate the radioactive 
                isotopes to which workers were exposed.
            (6) Due to the inequities posed by the factors described 
        above and the resulting harm to the workers, Congress 
        designated classes of atomic weapons employees at the Paducah, 
        Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio, Oak Ridge K-25, Tennessee, and the 
        Amchitka Island, Alaska, sites as members of the Special 
        Exposure Cohort under EEOICPA.
            (7) The contribution of the State of Nevada to the security 
        of the United States throughout the Cold War and since has been 
        unparalleled.
            (8) In 1950, President Harry S Truman designated what would 
        later be called the Nevada Test Site as the country's nuclear 
        proving grounds and, a month later, the first atmospheric test 
        at the Nevada Test Site was detonated.
            (9) The United States conducted 100 above-ground and 828 
        underground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 
        1992.
            (10) Out of the 1,054 nuclear tests conducted in the United 
        States, 928, or 88 percent, were conducted at the Nevada Test 
        Site.
            (11) The Nevada Test Site has served, and continues to 
        serve, as the premier research, testing, and development site 
        for our nuclear defense capabilities.
            (12) The Nevada Test Site and its workers are an essential 
        and irreplaceable part of our nation's defense capabilities.
            (13) It has become evident that it is not feasible to 
        estimate with sufficient accuracy in a timely manner the 
        radiation dose received by employees at the Department of 
        Energy facility at the Nevada Test Site for many reasons, 
        including the following:
                    (A) The NIOSH Technical Basis Document, the 
                threshold document for radiation dose reconstruction 
                under EEOICPA, has incomplete radionuclide lists.
                    (B) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it can estimate 
                dose from exposure to large, nonrespirable hot 
                particles.
                    (C) There are significant gaps in environmental 
                measurement and exposure data.
                    (D) Resuspension doses are seriously 
                underestimated.
                    (E) NIOSH has not been able to estimate accurately 
                exposures to bomb assembly workers and radon levels.
                    (F) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it can 
                accurately sample tritiated water vapor.
                    (G) External dose records lack integrity.
                    (H) There are no beta dose data until 1966.
                    (I) There are no neutron dose data until 1966 and 
                only partial data after such date.
                    (J) There are no internal dose data until late 1955 
                or 1956, and limited data until well into the 1960s.
                    (K) NIOSH has ignored exposure from more than a 
                dozen underground tests that vented, including Bianca, 
                Des Moines, Baneberry, Camphor, Diagonal Line, Riola, 
                Agrini, Midas Myth, Misty Rain, and Mighty Oak.
                    (L) Instead of monitoring individuals, groups were 
                monitored, resulting in unreliable personnel 
                monitoring.
            (14) Amchitka Island, where only 3 underground nuclear 
        tests were conducted, has been designated a Special Exposure 
        Cohort under EEOICPA.
            (15) Some Nevada Test Site workers, despite having worked 
        with significant amounts of radioactive materials and having 
        known exposures leading to serious health effects, have been 
        denied compensation under EEOICPA as a result of flawed 
        calculations based on records that are incomplete, in error, or 
        based on faulty assumptions and incorrect models.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM WORKERS IN SPECIAL 
              EXPOSURE COHORT UNDER ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL 
              ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 3621(14) of the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 
7384l(14)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(C) The employee was so employed at the Nevada 
                Test Site or other similar sites located in Nevada 
                during the period beginning on January 1, 1950, and 
                ending on December 31, 1993, and, during such 
                employment--
                            ``(i) was present during an atmospheric or 
                        underground nuclear test or performed 
                        drillbacks, re-entry, or clean-up work 
                        following such a test (without regard to the 
                        duration of employment);
                            ``(ii) was present during an episodic event 
                        involving radiation releases (without regard to 
                        the duration of employment); or
                            ``(iii) was employed at the Nevada Test 
                        Site for a number of work days aggregating at 
                        least 250 work days and was employed in a job 
                        activity that--
                                    ``(I) was monitored through the use 
                                of dosimetry badges or bioassays for 
                                exposure to ionizing radiation; or
                                    ``(II) worked in a job activity 
                                that is or was, comparable to a job 
                                that is, was, or should have been 
                                monitored for exposure to ionizing 
                                radiation through the use of dosimetry 
                                badges or bioassay.''.
    (b) Deadline for Claims Adjudication.--Claims for compensation 
under section 3621(14)(C) of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000, as added by subsection (a), shall be 
adjudicated and a final decision issued--
            (1) in the case of claims pending as of the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after such date; 
        and
            (2) in the case of claims filed after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after the date of 
        such filing.
                                 <all>