Public Law 96-205
96th Congress
[H.R. 3756]
An Act
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
United States insular areas. Appropriation authorization.TITLE I—TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
Sec. 101. Section 2 of the Act of June 30, 1954 (68 Stat. 330),48 USC 1681 note. is amended by inserting after “for fiscal year 1980, $112,000,000;” the following: “for fiscal years after fiscal year 1980, such sums as may be necessary, including, but not limited to, sums needed for completion of the capital improvement program, for a basic communications system, and for a feasibility study and construction of a hydroelectric project on Ponape;”.
Sec. 102. The Act entitled “An Act to authorize certain appropriations for the territories of the United States, to amend certain Acts relating thereto, and for other purposes” (91 Stat. 1159; Public Law 95-134) is amended by inserting after section 105, the following new section:
“Sec. 106.Radiation exposure, compensation, research, and medical care.
48 USC 1681 note. (a) In addition to any other payments or benefits provided by law to compensate inhabitants of the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik, in the Marshall Islands, for radiation exposure or other losses sustained by them as a result of the United States nuclear weapons testing program at or near their atolls during the period 1946 to 1958, the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall provide for the people of the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik and for the people of such other atolls as may be found to be or to have been exposed to radiation from the nuclear weapons testing program, a program of medical care and treatment and environmental research and monitoring for any injury, illness, or condition which may be the result directly or indirectly of such nuclear weapons testing program. The program shall be implemented according to a plan developed by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense, Energy, and Health, Education, and Welfare and with the direct involvement of representatives from the people of each of the affected atolls and from the government of the Marshall Islands. The plan shall set forth, as appropriate to the situation, condition, and needs of the individual atoll peoples:
- “(1) an integrated, comprehensive health care program including primary, secondary, and tertiary care with special emphasis upon the biological effects of ionizing radiation;
- “(2) a schedule for the periodic comprehensive survey and analysis of the radiological status of the atolls to and at appropriate intervals, but not less frequently than once every five years, the development of an updated radiation dose assessment, together with an estimate of the risks associated with the predicted human exposure, for each such atoll; and
