Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1174 To amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to create a presumption that a disability or death of a Federal employee in fire protection activi- ties caused by any of certain diseases is the result of the performance of such employee’s duty, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to create a presumption that a disability or death of a Federal employee in fire protection activities caused by any of certain diseases is the result of the performance of such employee’s duty, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Federal Firefighters 4 Fairness Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1174 IH SEC. 2. CERTAIN DISEASES PRESUMED TO BE WORK-RE- 1 LATED CAUSE OF DISABILITY OR DEATH FOR 2 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN FIRE PROTECTION 3 ACTIVITIES. 4 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 8101 of title 5, United 5 States Code, is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 7 (19); 8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 9 graph (20) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(21) ‘employee in fire protection activi- 12 ties’ means a firefighter, paramedic, emergency 13 medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance 14 personnel, or hazardous material worker, who— 15 ‘‘(A) is trained in fire suppression; 16 ‘‘(B) has the legal authority and re- 17 sponsibility to engage in fire suppression; 18 ‘‘(C) is engaged in the prevention, 19 control, and extinguishment of fires or re- 20 sponse to emergency situations where life, 21 property, or the environment is at risk; 22 and 23 ‘‘(D) performs such activities as a pri- 24 mary responsibility of his or her job.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1174 IH (b) PRESUMPTION RELATING TO EMPLOYEES IN 1 FIRE PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.—Section 8102 of title 5, 2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(c)(1) With regard to an employee in fire protection 5 activities, a disease specified in paragraph (3) shall be pre- 6 sumed to be proximately caused by the employment of 7 such employee, subject to the length of service require- 8 ments specified. The disability or death of an employee 9 in fire protection activities due to such a disease shall be 10 presumed to result from personal injury sustained while 11 in the performance of such employee’s duty. Such pre- 12 sumptions may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evi- 13 dence. 14 ‘‘(2) Such presumptions apply only if the employee 15 in fire protection activities is diagnosed with the disease 16 for which presumption is sought within 10 years of the 17 last active date of employment as an employee in fire pro- 18 tection activities. 19 ‘‘(3) The following diseases shall be presumed to be 20 proximately caused by the employment of the employee in 21 fire protection activities: 22 ‘‘(A) If the employee has been employed for a 23 minimum of 5 years in aggregate as an employee in 24 fire protection activities: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1174 IH ‘‘(i) Heart disease. 1 ‘‘(ii) Lung disease. 2 ‘‘(iii) The following cancers: 3 ‘‘(I) Brain cancer. 4 ‘‘(II) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic 5 systems. 6 ‘‘(III) Leukemia. 7 ‘‘(IV) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin’s 8 disease). 9 ‘‘(V) Multiple myeloma. 10 ‘‘(VI) Bladder cancer. 11 ‘‘(VII) Kidney cancer. 12 ‘‘(VIII) Testicular cancer. 13 ‘‘(IX) Cancer of the digestive system. 14 ‘‘(X) Colon cancer. 15 ‘‘(XI) Liver cancer. 16 ‘‘(XII) Skin cancer. 17 ‘‘(XIII) Lung cancer. 18 ‘‘(XIV) Breast cancer. 19 ‘‘(iv) Any other cancer the contraction of 20 which the Secretary of Labor through regula- 21 tions determines to be related to the hazards to 22 which an employee in fire protection activities 23 may be subject. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1174 IH ‘‘(B) Regardless of the length of time an em- 1 ployee in fire protection activities has been em- 2 ployed, any uncommon infectious disease, including 3 but not limited to tuberculosis, hepatitis A, B, or C, 4 the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and any 5 other uncommon infectious disease the contraction 6 of which the Secretary of Labor through regulations 7 determines to be related to the hazards to which an 8 employee in fire protection activities may be sub- 9 ject.’’. 10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 11 of enactment of this Act, the National Institute of Occupa- 12 tional Safety and Health in the Centers for Disease Con- 13 trol and Prevention shall examine the implementation of 14 this Act and appropriate scientific and medical data re- 15 lated to the health risks associated with firefighting and 16 submit to Congress a report which shall include— 17 (1) an analysis of the injury claims made under 18 this Act; 19 (2) an analysis of the available research related 20 to the health risks associated with firefighting; and 21 (3) recommendations for any administrative or 22 legislative actions necessary to ensure that those dis- 23 eases most associated with firefighting are included 24 in the presumption created by this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1174 IH (d) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 1 section shall apply to a covered disability or death that 2 occurs on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1174.IH H1174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS