Veterans’ Right to Breathe Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2371 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of service connection for certain diseases in veterans who were exposed to burn pits. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 5, 2021 Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of service connection for certain diseases in veterans who were exposed to burn pits. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Right to 4 Breathe Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2371.IH H2371 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2371 IH SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR CER- 1 TAIN DISEASES IN VETERANS WHO WERE EX- 2 POSED TO BURN PITS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1112 of title 38, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing new subsection: 6 ‘‘(d)(1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, 7 and subject to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, 8 a disease specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection be- 9 coming manifest in a burn pit-exposed veteran shall be 10 considered to have been incurred in or aggravated during 11 active military, naval, or air service, notwithstanding that 12 there is no record of evidence of such disease during a 13 period of such service. 14 ‘‘(2) The diseases referred to in paragraph (1) of this 15 subsection are the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Asthma. 17 ‘‘(B) Chronic bronchitis. 18 ‘‘(C) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 19 ‘‘(D) Constrictive bronchiolitis. 20 ‘‘(E) Emphysema. 21 ‘‘(F) Granulomatous disease. 22 ‘‘(G) Interstitial lung disease. 23 ‘‘(H) Lung cancer. 24 ‘‘(I) Pneumonia. 25 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2371.IH H2371 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2371 IH ‘‘(A) The term ‘burn pit-exposed veteran’ 1 means a veteran who, on or after January 1, 1990, 2 served as a member of the Armed Forces in support 3 of a contingency operation and was based or sta- 4 tioned at a location where an open air burn pit was 5 in use. 6 ‘‘(B) The term ‘open burn pit’ means an area 7 of land located that— 8 ‘‘(i) is designated by the Secretary of De- 9 fense to be used for disposing solid waste by 10 burning in the outdoor air; and 11 ‘‘(ii) does not contain a commercially man- 12 ufactured incinerator or other equipment spe- 13 cifically designed and manufactured for the 14 burning of solid waste. 15 ‘‘(C) The term ‘contingency operation’ has the 16 meaning given that term in section 101(a)(13) of 17 title 10. 18 ‘‘(D) The term ‘solid waste’ has the meaning 19 given such term in section 1004(27) of the Solid 20 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903(27)).’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 22 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 23 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2371.IH H2371 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS