RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT EXPANSION IN SENATE VERSION OF THE RECONCILIATION BILL
The Senate Judiciary Committee section of the Senate's Reconciliation Bill includes an expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which has been stalled for years and has been advocated for to expand the coverage of Missouri and other states and parties, including by many ECA members.
To date (6/16) it has not moved forward due to the cost. The summary of the Reconciliation Bill language is listed below along with a link:
Subtitle D—Radiation Exposure Compensation Matters Sec.
Sec. 401. Extension of Fund. This section reauthorizes the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and sunsets the RECA Trust Fund on December 31, 2028.
Sec. 402. Claims Relating to Atmospheric Testing. This section makes changes to eligibility under the existing RECA statute for victims and on-site participants (e.g. military personnel) exposed to fallout due to atmospheric testing prior to 1962 at the Nevada Test Site. It adds affected areas and permits first-time eligibility for claims related to the Trinity Test. It modifies qualifying cancers and adjusts one-time compensation levels to account for inflation including New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona (specific counties).
Sec. 403. Claims Relating to Uranium Mining. This section permits eligibility for RECA compensation for uranium mine workers who worked in mines across the United States related to the government’s nuclear program and developed cancers. It makes changes to eligibility standards such as work history, permitted occupations at the mines, dates employed in the mines (e.g. permitted up to the end of the Cold War), and the eligible disease list. located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, or Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1990
Sec. 404. Claims Relating to Manhattan Project Waste. This section permits eligibility for RECA compensation for other victims of negligently disposed nuclear material. It provides for one-time compensation and defines standards for receiving such compensation if an individual develops certain cancers after a residency period in affected areas (certain zip codes in Missouri, Kentucky, Alaska, and Tennessee)
Sec. 405. Limitation on Claims This section sunsets the window for filing new claims on December 31, 2027
To see the document, click here.
Reconciliation Bill Status Update (Monday 6/16)
Committees have released their legislation title-by-title, giving the Committees and Leadership time to move forward on a Byrd Rule review, working to determine procedural eligibility for the bill in discussions before the Senate Parliamentarian.
Once finalized, the ten separate pieces would be aggregated into a unified (and likely at least somewhat modified) Senate Amendment to the House bill.
While things may slip, the Senate is targeting floor activity next week of 6/23, preserving at least the possibility of the bill being signed into law by July 4th, although insiders say that target will be increasingly difficult to hit at this point.
Majority Leader Thune announced last week that the Senate would stay in session into the recess week of July 4th if the bill were not yet passed (some good motivation for Members to move quickly towards passage out of Senate).
Conference remains an open question – if the Senate’s changes are sufficiently narrow and/or pre-negotiated, there is the possibility that the House may simply process the Senate bill without a Conference. However, some Members remain interested in pursuing a Conference to resolve any differences with the Senate bill.
ECA looks forward to providing more updates on the reconciliation bill as they develop - to stay up to date, make sure to subscribe to the ECA Update.