A congressman from Utah and one from Idaho have taken the first step that may result in expansion of federal fallout compensation.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, have written to the House Judiciary Committee, requesting a hearing on possible expansion of coverage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The measure was amended in July 2000, but they believe it may not be adequate in light of recent scientific studies.

"When the original counties were set up to be eligible for radiation exposure compensation, that was an arbitrary decision," Matheson said during a telephone interview. Since then, even since the law was clarified later, "a lot of new information and data" have come out, he said.

Asked what areas might be included that were not earlier, he said, "we're looking at the rest of Utah that was not in the first" act, "and southern Idaho if not all of Idaho."

Also, it "merits discussion" to see if other conditions should be added to those for which compensation is available, he said.

"We ought to have a hearing, and we should hear from the scientists," Matheson said.

RECA provides $50,000 to people who lived or worked downwind of the Nevada Test Site during the period of open-air nuclear testing, which took place from the 1950s through the early '60s, and who developed certain types of cancer. Workers who participated in above-ground tests could receive $75,000, and uranium workers could receive $100,000.

Areas that qualify as downwind sites under the act are, in Utah: Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne counties; in Nevada: Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye and White Pine counties and part of Clark County; in Arizona: Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties and the area north of the Grand Canyon.

Data indicate that cancers linked to fallout may have occurred in other regions than those designated, Matheson said. In some northern Utah counties "there were higher rates of cancer ... and also fallout" than in some that are on the list, he said. But residents of the northern counties are not given compensation under the law.

The two representatives wrote to Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, requesting the hearing. They are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Judiciary Committee.

Eligibility for compensation under the act's present form "is limited to certain counties in just a few states," the letter says.

"These geological boundaries are, quite frankly, arbitrary boundaries that do not account for the fact that radioactive fallout does not abide by lines on (the) map."

J Truman, founder of the activist group Downwinders, said people across the West who lived in the fallout areas would be "delighted to see this new move toward getting discussions going to expand RECA compensation to all downwinders. ...

"It is heartening to see joint work by the elected representatives of Utah and Idaho taking the lead," he said.

A former resident of southwestern Utah who now lives in Idaho, Truman said the Gem State's senators "have been trying to build interest among their counterparts across the West but have not had the needed support from some states."

He hopes that the letter to the House Judiciary Committee will help in the Senate effort, too.

Asked when a congressional hearing might be held on the issue, Matheson said, "I'm hesitant to make a prediction for you because my crystal ball has been wrong in the past."

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