Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2015
Latest action · Apr 29, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 13, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2015
Amends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 19 years after enactment of this Act.
Prescribes additional periods of required presence in an affected area during atmospheric nuclear testing for individuals filing leukemia or specified disease claims. Increases the amount of compensation an individual filing a claim may receive to $150,000.
Expands "affected area" to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico, as well as any county in Arizona, Nevada, or Utah.
Extends to December 31, 1990, the period during which an individual employed at any time in a uranium mine or uranium mill is made eligible to receive compensation for a disease claim due to radiation exposure. Makes a core driller eligible to receive compensation upon filing of a disease claim.
Makes miners, core drillers, and ore transporters who suffer renal cancer or any other chronic renal disease, including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury, eligible for compensation due to exposure to radiation while on the job.
Requires the Attorney General to accept written affidavits meeting specified requirements regarding employment history, physical presence in an affected area, or participation at a nuclear testing site in determining the eligibility of claimants.
Extends until 19 years after enactment of this Act the statute of limitations for the filing of such claims.
Increases from 2% to 10% of the payment received by a claimant the maximum amount of attorneys fees that can be charged for the filing of an initial claim.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, to establish a program of grants to institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occupationally exposed individuals, including family members of uranium miners and millers.
Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to include as a member of the Special Exposure Cohort entitled to compensation with respect to chronic beryllium disease under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program any Department of Energy employee or contractor who contracted cancer after beginning employment between January 1, 1942, and December 31, 1990, in a uranium mine or mill located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, or any other state the Attorney General includes.
Cosponsors 19
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 13, 2015 to Nov 29, 2016; 6 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-AZ | Ann Kirkpatrick | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| D-CO | Ed Perlmutter | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| D-NM | Michelle Lujan Grisham | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| R-NM | Stevan Pearce | Original | Feb 13, 2015 |
| D-GU | Madeleine Z. Bordallo | Apr 22, 2015 | |
| D-CO | Diana DeGette | Jun 10, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Jul 21, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Tony Cárdenas | Jul 21, 2015 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-CO | Jared Polis | Jul 28, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Nov 16, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Nov 16, 2015 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Feb 13, 2015 |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred Mar 16, 2015 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Feb 13, 2015 |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred Apr 29, 2015 | |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Feb 13, 2015 |
| Energy Subcommittee | Referred Feb 20, 2015 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 29, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Mar 16, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
- Feb 20, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
- Feb 13, 2015Introduced in House
- Feb 13, 2015Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E1074 | Ben Ray Luján D-NM | Jul 15, 2015 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 25, February 13, 2015, page H1071.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 331 | Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2015 | Related bill | Feb 2, 2015 |
| HR 2049 | Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2017 | Reintroduced Bill | May 1, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2015
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Arizona
- Cancer
- Civil actions and liability
- Colorado
- Department of Justice
- Digestive and metabolic diseases
- Education programs funding
- Environmental health
- Government information and archives
- Government liability
- Government trust funds
- Guam
- Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
- Health care costs and insurance
- Higher education
- Idaho
- Labor and Employment
- Legal fees and court costs
- Medical research
- Military history
- Mining
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Nuclear weapons
- Oregon
- Personnel records
- Public contracts and procurement
- Radiation
- Research administration and funding
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington State
- Worker safety and health
- Wyoming
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 13, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
