Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 1.djvu/954

 104 STAT. 920 PUBLIC LAW 101-426—OCT. 15, 1990 Public Law 101-426 101st Congress Oct. 15, 1990 [H.R. 2372] Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. State listing. 42 USC 2210 note. 42 USC 2210 note. 42 USC 2210 note. An Act To provide jurisdiction and procedures for claims for compassionate payments for iAJuries due to exposure to radiation from nuclear testing. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Radiation Exposure Compensation Act". SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND APOLOGY. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— (1) fallout emitted during the Government's above-ground nuclear tests in Nevada exposed individuals who lived in the downwind affected area in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona to radiation that is presumed to have generated an excess of cancers among these individuals; (2) the health of the individuals who were imwitting participants in these tests was put at risk to serve the national security interests of the United States; (3) radiation released in underground uranium mines that were providing uranium for the primary use and benefit of the nuclear weapons program of the United States Government exposed miners to large doses of radiation and other airborne hazards in the mine environment that t(^ether are presumed to have produced an increased incidence of lung cancer and respiratory diseases among these miners; (4) the United States should recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to these individuals; and (5) the Congress recognizes that the lives and health of uranium miners and of innocent individuals who lived downwind from the Nevada tests were involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of the United States. (b) PURPOSE. —It is the purpose of this Act to establish a procedure to make partial restitution to the individuals described in subsection (a) for the burdens they have borne for the Nation as a whole. (c) APOLOGY.—The Congress apolc^izes on behalf of the Nation to the individuals described in subsection (a) and their families for the hardships they have endured. SEC. 3. TRUST FUND. (a) ESTABLISHMENT. —T here is established in the Treasury of the United States, a trust fund to be known as the "Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund" (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the Fund"), which shall be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury. (b) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS IN THE FUND.— Amounts in the Fund shall be invested in accordance with section 9702 of title 31, United 49-139 O - 90(426)

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