Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act
Sponsored By: Senator Josh Hawley
Introduced
Summary
Expands compensation and eligibility for people harmed by radiation. The bill raises award amounts, adds covered jobs and places, and extends deadlines and program authority to help more exposed individuals get payments and care.
Show full summary
- Families and survivors: Living individuals with Manhattan Project waste–related specified cancers are eligible for a base payment of at least $50,000 and surviving spouses or children can receive $25,000 when criteria are met.
- Uranium workers and downwind communities: Miners, millers, core drillers, and ore transporters can combine work histories to meet exposure rules, covered employment dates extend to December 31, 1990, and many atmospheric and specified-disease claims increase to $100,000.
- Process, research, and local safeguards: Claim filing windows extend to 5 years and the RECA Fund is extended to 6 years after enactment. The bill funds epidemiological grants at $3 million per year for FY2025–FY2027 and requires a cooperative agreement to safeguard Amchitka, Alaska with tribal participation.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Higher payouts for nuclear test illnesses
If enacted, the bill would raise fixed awards for many nuclear atmospheric-test disease claims to $100,000. It would move several cutoff dates to November 6, 1962 and add one-year physical-presence windows for many subcategories. The bill expands the listed affected areas to include several Western states and Guam for certain claims. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia would be included among covered diseases where it had been excluded. These changes could let more people qualify and increase one-time awards.
Payments for Manhattan Project exposures
If enacted, the bill would create a new payment program for people exposed to Manhattan Project waste. You would need at least two years of presence after January 1, 1949 in listed ZIP codes and a listed disease after that period. Living claimants would get the greater of $50,000 or their full eligible compensation. You could also be reimbursed for out-of-pocket medical bills not covered by insurance. Surviving spouses would get $25,000, or surviving children would split $25,000 if no spouse exists. Claims must be filed with the Attorney General and require specified documentary proof.
More cancer coverage for uranium workers
If enacted, the bill would expand who qualifies for worker cancer coverage. It would require that covered cancers occur after employment began and extend qualifying mine and mill work through December 31, 1990. The bill adds a defined "core driller" job and may treat some remediation workers as ore transporters. Renal cancers and chronic renal diseases would be added to covered diseases. It would also let workers combine different job histories to meet exposure rules.
More time and easier proof for claims
If enacted, the bill would lengthen the RECA fund termination to 6 years after enactment. It would extend the filing window from 2 years to 5 years. Denied claimants could resubmit up to three times after enactment. People who already got payments could ask for any extra money to which they become newly eligible. The Attorney General would have to accept sworn third-party affidavits as supplemental evidence and issue new rules within 180 days.
Grants and monitoring for uranium sites
If enacted, the Department of Energy would award a cooperative agreement by September 30, 2025 to an eligible Alaska association to help monitor and safeguard Amchitka. The agreement would fund research, monitoring, and local workforce development and should include Indigenous knowledge and tribal participation. The bill would also require HHS to set up a NIEHS grant program to study uranium mining health effects for non-workers. Congress is authorized to appropriate $3,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 for that grant program.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Josh Hawley
MO • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 1/24/2025
Eric Schmitt
MO • R
Sponsored 1/24/2025
Martin Heinrich
NM • D
Sponsored 1/24/2025
Mark Kelly
AZ • D
Sponsored 1/24/2025
Mike Crapo
ID • R
Sponsored 1/24/2025
John Hickenlooper
CO • D
Sponsored 1/27/2025
Jacky Rosen
NV • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Ruben Gallego
AZ • D
Sponsored 6/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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