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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Pinto

DATE TYPED 02/09/05 HB

SHORT TITLE Radiation Exposure Victim Benefits

SB 686

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$100.0

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB 702

Relates to SM 5

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department

Health policy commission

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 686 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the Indian Affairs Depart-

ment to provide case management services to victims of radiation exposure or their surviving

families so they can access benefits due to the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act

(RECA).

Significant Issues

The Indian Affairs Department reports.

The need for compensation resulting from the effects of uranium mining operations in

northwestern New Mexico has long been established with the enactment of RECA. Since

Senate Bill 686 -- Page 2

RECA’s enactment and subsequent amendments, however, the needs of the large number

of eligible recipients remain unmet. Only 558 of 6,000 potentially eligible Navajo claim-

ants have received some type of compensation in the past fourteen years. And, only

3,755 of these claimants are successfully registered. Approximately 5,000 claims are not

currently filed. A large reason for these high numbers of unprocessed claims is the lack

of adequate staff to process the Navajo claims. Currently, there are only three casework-

ers that process the more than 4,000 Navajo claims that have been submitted to their of-

fice.

The Health Policy Commission adds.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 provides for payments to individuals

who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases as a result of their exposure to

radiation released during above-ground nuclear weapons tests or as a result of their expo-

sure to radiation during employment in underground uranium mines. The act provides

for fixed payments to eligible individuals who meet requirements outlined in the act.

The act, in its 2002 amendment, provides the amounts of available entitlements to eligi-

ble individuals in the following categories:

•

Uranium Miners. $100,000 to eligible individuals employed in above- ground or

underground uranium mines located in New Mexico and other states at any time

during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31,

1971.

•

Uranium Mill Workers. $100,000 to eligible individuals employed in uranium

mills located in New Mexico and other states at any time during the period begin-

ning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971.

•

Downwinders. $50,000 to an eligible individual who was physically present in

one of the affected areas downwind of the Nevada Test Site during a period of

atmospheric nuclear testing, and later contracted a specified compensable disease.

•

Onsite Participants. A payment of $75,000 is available to eligible individuals

who participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear

device, and later developed a specified compensable disease.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100.0 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to

the general fund.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Navajo Nation Shiprock Uranium Workers Program receives $42,500 appropriated through

the Indian Affairs Department to assist Navajo claimants with the filing of their claims. This

funding is used to pay for a full-time caseworker/interpreter position.

MW/njw