Bill > S947

Introduced Session

A bill to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes. This bill increases the amount of compensation provided to individuals exposed to radiation and expands eligibility requirements for compensation to include additional individuals. Specifically, the bill extends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 19 years after this bill's enactment. The trust fund compensates individuals who contract cancer or other diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation during nuclear testing undertaken by the United States during the Cold War. The bill revises the requirements governing the compensation of individuals who were exposed to radiation, including by increasing the amount of compensation that an individual may receive; expanding the affected area to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico; expanding eligibility requirements to include additional individuals, such as certain employees of uranium mines or mills; and extending until 19 years after this bill's enactment the statute of limitations for the filing of claims. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences must establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occupationally exposed individuals. The bill expands eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to chronic beryllium disease.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Mike Crapo (R)*,  Michael Bennet (D),  Cory Booker (D),  Maggie Hassan (D),  Martin Heinrich (D),  Martha McSally (R),  Jim Risch (R),  Jacky Rosen (D),  Kyrsten Sinema (I),  Jon Tester (D),  Tom Udall (D), 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (on 03/28/2019)

Official Document