25 U.S.C. § 1677 — Nuclear resource development health hazards
submitted 46 years ago by Pub. L. 94-437 to r/title-25-INDIANS · 757 words · no verdicts yet
This section requires a study of nuclear-development health hazards affecting Indians and a health-care plan based on that study. It also establishes a task force and provides for certain medical care.
(a) The Secretary* and the Service*, with other appropriate federal agencies and after consulting affected Indian tribes and organizations, must study health hazards to Indian miners and Indians on or near reservations and in Indian communities caused by nuclear resource development. The study must include: (1) the nature, extent, and causes of current related health problems; (2) possible effects of current and future development; (3) activities, practices, and conditions causing or affecting problems, including uranium mining and milling, mine tailings, nuclear powerplant construction and operation, and nuclear-waste disposal; (4) findings and recommendations in federal and state studies, reports, investigations, and inspections during the five years before December 17, 1980 that directly or indirectly concern these Indians’ health or safety; and (5) federal, state, and mining or milling-company efforts to educate these Indians about the hazards.
(b) After the study, the Secretary and Service must use its results to develop a health-care plan addressing the studied problems. It must include (1) diagnosis and treatment methods for Indians who now have the problems; (2) preventive care for Indians who may be exposed, including monitoring people exposed or potentially exposed to excessive radiation or seriously harmful nuclear-development activities; and (3) education for Indians whose work or location may expose them to these problems.
(c) The study must be sent to Congress no later than 18 months after December 17, 1980. The plan must be reported no later than one year after the study is sent. That report must recommend implementation activities and evaluate Service activities already taken to address the problems.
(d)(1) An Intergovernmental Task Force is established, made up of the listed officials or designees: the Energy Secretary, EPA Administrator, Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, and Interior Secretary. (2) It must identify current and possible nuclear-resource operations affecting or potentially affecting Indians on or near reservations or in Indian communities, and act to correct existing hazards and minimize or reduce current and future problems. (3) The Secretary chairs it; it must meet at least twice a year; and each member must provide needed assistance.
(e) If an Indian (1) becomes ill or has a condition from employment in or near a uranium mine or mill, (2) qualifies for diagnosis and treatment at a Service facility, and (3) is entitled because of that employment to medical care paid by the mine or mill operator, the Service must, on request, provide appropriate care and may recover from the operator the costs that the operator must pay. This does not affect the Indian’s right to recover other damages from the employer.
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—
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;
an analysis of the potential effect of ongoing and future nuclear resource development on or near Indian reservations and communities;
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;
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
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.
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—
methods for diagnosing and treating Indians currently exhibiting such health problems;
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
a program of education for Indians who, by reason of their work or geographic proximity to such nuclear development activities, may experience health problems.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the case of any Indian who—
as a result of employment in or near a uranium mine or mill, suffers from a work related illness or condition;
is eligible to receive diagnosis and treatment services from a Service facility; and
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.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 94–437, title VIII, § 807, formerly title VII, § 707, as added Pub. L. 96–537, § 8(b), Dec. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 3179; amended Pub. L. 102–285, § 10(b), May 18, 1992, 106 Stat. 172; renumbered title VIII, § 807, and amended Pub. L. 102–573, title VII, § 701(a), (b), title VIII, § 813(b), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4572, 4590.)
- 1980Enacted · Pub. L. 94-437 · 94 Stat. 3179
- 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-285 · 106 Stat. 172
- 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-573 · 106 Stat. 4572, 4590
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 94-437 on 1980-12-17.
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