Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019

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 45 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 45 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 also expands eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to certain employees with a specified cancer.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov