	Background

RECA established a procedure to make partial restitution to individuals  who contracted serious diseases, such as certain types of cancers,  presumably resulting from their exposure to radiation from aboveground  nuclear tests or as a result of their employment in the uranium industry. On November 2, 2002, the 21st Century Department of Justice  Appropriations Authorization Act was enacted. Since Fiscal Year 2000, RECA Claims Increased Significantly, Processing Time Has Slowed, and the Number of Pending Claims Has Grown

The enactment of the RECA Amendments of 2000 was followed by a  significant increase in the number of claims. Of the total   14,987 claims filed, RECP reached a disposition on 12,333. Number of Pending Claims Is Growing

Since the amendments of 2000, RECA claims are coming in more rapidly,  and the processing of these claims is taking longer. Funds Appropriated to the RECA Trust Fund for the Next 10 Fiscal Years

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002 provided  funding for the RECA Trust Fund to cover a 10-year period—fiscal years  2002 through 2011 up to a specified maximum amount per fiscal year. According  to a budget official, this has led to upward pressure on the overall costs to  administer the program. Administrative Expenses May Have Exceeded Its Appropriations for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002

Since fiscal year 1993, funding for DOJ administration of the program has  been provided in a separate appropriation account for Radiation Exposure  Compensation administrative expenses. The administrative expense  appropriation for the program was $1.996 million each for fiscal years   2001 and 2002. Specifically, whereas fiscal year 2002 appropriations provided for  “necessary administrative expenses in accordance with the Radiation  Exposure Compensation Act, $1,996,000,” the fiscal year 2003  appropriation provides, in part, that “not less than $1,996,000 shall be  available for necessary administrative expenses in accordance with the  Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.” In accompanying Conference  Report language, the conferees said that they “expect the Civil Division to  absorb any additional requirements for processing RECA claims from  other resources available to the Civil Division.”

	Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to the Attorney General for review and  comment. Conclusions

Funding available to pay claims under the RECA may be inadequate to  meet projected needs. Since the end of fiscal year 2000, the number of  unadjudicated claims has grown 300 percent from 653 to 2,654, and nearly  3,200 new claims are anticipated during fiscal year 2003. Both CBO and  DOJ estimate that money in the Trust Fund will be insufficient to pay all  the claims that are projected to be approved over the 2003-2011 period.
Why GAO Did This Study

On October 15, 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was enacted providing for payments to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases presumably as a result of their exposure to radiation released during aboveground nuclear weapons tests or as a result of their employment associated with the uranium mining industry during the Cold War era. The RECA Amendments of 2000 required that GAO report to the Congress on the Department of Justice's administration of RECA not later than 18 months after the enactment of the amendments and every 18 months thereafter. GAO originally reported on the status of the program in September 2001. The objectives of this report are to update information on claims processing, payments from the Trust Fund, and administrative expenses.

What GAO Found

Since the enactment of the RECA Amendments of 2000, which expanded eligibility for benefits, the RECA program has experienced a significant increase in the number of claims filed. Claims also are taking longer to process, and the number of pending claims has grown sharply. Since we last reported in September 2001, claims have increased from 7,819 to 14,987. Pending claims have increased 300 percent, from 653 to 2,654. About 3,200 new claims are anticipated in fiscal year 2003. In addition, the average time to process claims increased for each category of claimant. Given these circumstances, current funding for the RECA program to pay claims may be inadequate to meet projected needs. In fiscal year 2002, RECA was appropriated funds to cover a 10-year period--fiscal years 2002 through 2011 up to a specified amount per year--totaling $655 million. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) estimate that funding levels appropriated to the Trust Fund are insufficient to meet the projected claims. As a result, claims may be delayed, particularly through 2007. Since 1993, funding for DOJ administration of the program has been provided in a separate appropriation account for Radiation Exposure Compensation administrative expenses. There has been upward pressure on the program's administrative costs in recent years. For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, the RECA program may have exceeded its budget authority for administrative expenses. According to a program budget official, the RECA program spent about $100,000 in fiscal year 2001 and about $1 million for fiscal year 2002 in administrative expenses over the $1.996 million appropriated to the Radiation Exposure Compensation administrative expenses account in those fiscal years.