PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Requires the Secretary and the Service to work with other federal agencies and with Indian tribes and groups to study the health dangers to Indian miners and to people living on or near reservations from nuclear resource development. The study must look at current health problems and their causes, the likely effects of ongoing and future nuclear activities, the kinds of work or conditions that cause problems (for example, uranium mining and milling, tailings, power plant work, and waste disposal), federal and state findings from the five years before December 17, 1980, and what education efforts have been done by agencies and companies. After the study, the Secretary and the Service must make a health care plan that explains how to diagnose and treat affected Indians, how to prevent and monitor exposures (including radiation), and how to educate people at risk. The study must be sent to Congress no later than 18 months after December 17, 1980, and the plan must be sent within one year after the study is sent. An Intergovernmental Task Force made up of the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Secretary of the Interior must meet at least twice a year to find and fix hazards and try to reduce future problems. If an Indian has a work-related illness from a uranium mine or mill, is eligible for Service care, and the employer must pay for care, the Service must provide care on request and may recover costs from the employer; this does not stop the Indian from seeking other damages.

Title 25, §1677

Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Study

The Secretary and the Service shall conduct, in conjunction with other appropriate Federal agencies and in consultation with concerned Indian tribes and organizations, a study of the health hazards to Indian miners and Indians on or near Indian reservations and in Indian communities as a result of nuclear resource development. Such study shall include—

(1)an evaluation of the nature and extent of nuclear resource development related health problems currently exhibited among Indians and the causes of such health problems;

(2)an analysis of the potential effect of ongoing and future nuclear resource development on or near Indian reservations and communities;

(3)an evaluation of the types and nature of activities, practices, and conditions causing or affecting such health problems, including uranium mining and milling, uranium mine tailing deposits, nuclear powerplant operation and construction, and nuclear waste disposal;

(4)a summary of any findings and recommendations provided in Federal and State studies, reports, investigations, and inspections during the five years prior to December 17, 1980, that directly or indirectly relate to the activities, practices, and conditions affecting the health or safety of such Indians; and

(5)the efforts that have been made by Federal and State agencies and mining and milling companies to effectively carry out an education program for such Indians regarding the health and safety hazards of such nuclear resource development.

(b)Health care plan; development

Upon completion of such study the Secretary and the Service shall take into account the results of such study and develop a health care plan to address the health problems studied under subsection (a). The plan shall include—

(1)methods for diagnosing and treating Indians currently exhibiting such health problems;

(2)preventive care for Indians who may be exposed to such health hazards, including the monitoring of the health of individuals who have or may have been exposed to excessive amounts of radiation, or affected by other nuclear development activities that have had or could have a serious impact upon the health of such individuals; and

(3)a program of education for Indians who, by reason of their work or geographic proximity to such nuclear development activities, may experience health problems.

(c)Reports to Congress

The Secretary and the Service shall submit to Congress the study prepared under subsection (a) no later than the date eighteen months after December 17, 1980. The health care plan prepared under subsection (b) shall be submitted in a report no later than the date one year after the date that the study prepared under subsection (a) is submitted to Congress. Such report shall include recommended activities for the implementation of the plan, as well as an evaluation of any activities previously undertaken by the Service to address such health problems.

(d)Intergovernmental Task Force; establishment and functions

(1)There is established an Intergovernmental Task Force to be composed of the following individuals (or their designees): the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Secretary of the Interior.

(2)The Task Force shall identify existing and potential operations related to nuclear resource development that affect or may affect the health of Indians on or near an Indian reservation or in an Indian community and enter into activities to correct existing health hazards and insure that current and future health problems resulting from nuclear resource development activities are minimized or reduced.

(3)The Secretary shall be Chairman of the Task Force. The Task Force shall meet at least twice each year. Each member of the Task Force shall furnish necessary assistance to the Task Force.

(e)Medical care

In the case of any Indian who—

(1)as a result of employment in or near a uranium mine or mill, suffers from a work related illness or condition;

(2)is eligible to receive diagnosis and treatment services from a Service facility; and

(3)by reason of such Indian’s employment, is entitled to medical care at the expense of such mine or mill operator;

the Service shall, at the request of such Indian, render appropriate medical care to such Indian for such illness or condition and may recover the costs of any medical care so rendered to which such Indian is entitled at the expense of such operator from such operator. Nothing in this subsection shall affect the rights of such Indian to recover damages other than such costs paid to the Service from the employer for such illness or condition.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1992—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 102–573, § 813(b), struck out subsec. (f) which authorized appropriation of $300,000 to carry out the study as provided in subsec. (a), such amount to be expended by the date eighteen months after Dec. 17, 1980.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“United States Bureau of Mines” substituted for “Bureau of Mines” in subsec. (d)(1) pursuant to section 10(b) of Pub. L. 102–285, set out as a note under section 1 of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining. For provisions relating to closure and

Transfer of Functions

of the United States Bureau of Mines, see note set out under section 1 of Title 30, Minerals and Mining. Nuclear Resource Development Health Hazards; Study and Report Pub. L. 100–713, title VII, § 717, Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4837, provided for a study to determine the number of active nuclear resource development sites on Indian lands in the United States and the health hazards that exist as a result of such sites and required a report to Congress describing the findings and conclusions of the study by no later than 2 years after Nov. 23, 1988.

§1677 Nuclear Resource Development Health Hazards