PFAS Registry Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1105 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a registry for certain individuals who may have been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances due to the environmental release of aque- ous film-forming foam on military installations. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 10, 2019 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. ROUNDS, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a registry for certain individuals who may have been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances due to the environmental release of aqueous film-forming foam on military installations. 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 ‘‘PFAS Registry Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1105 IS SEC. 2. REGISTRY OF INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO PER- AND 1 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES ON MILI- 2 TARY INSTALLATIONS. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall— 7 (A) establish and maintain a registry for 8 eligible individuals who may have been exposed 9 to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (in this 10 section referred to as ‘‘PFAS’’) due to the envi- 11 ronmental release of aqueous film-forming foam 12 (in this section referred to as ‘‘AFFF’’) on mili- 13 tary installations to meet the requirements of 14 military specification MIL–F–24385F; 15 (B) include any information in such reg- 16 istry that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs de- 17 termines necessary to ascertain and monitor the 18 health effects of the exposure of members of the 19 Armed Forces to PFAS associated with AFFF; 20 (C) develop a public information campaign 21 to inform eligible individuals about the registry, 22 including how to register and the benefits of 23 registering; and 24 (D) periodically notify eligible individuals 25 of significant developments in the study and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1105 IS treatment of conditions associated with expo- 1 sure to PFAS. 2 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Vet- 3 erans Affairs shall coordinate with the Secretary of 4 Defense in carrying out paragraph (1). 5 (b) REPORTS.— 6 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than two years 7 after the date on which the registry under subsection 8 (a) is established, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 9 shall submit to Congress an initial report containing 10 the following: 11 (A) An assessment of the effectiveness of 12 actions taken by the Secretary of Veterans Af- 13 fairs and the Secretary of Defense to collect 14 and maintain information on the health effects 15 of exposure to PFAS. 16 (B) Recommendations to improve the col- 17 lection and maintenance of such information. 18 (C) Using established and previously pub- 19 lished epidemiological studies, recommendations 20 regarding the most effective and prudent means 21 of addressing the medical needs of eligible indi- 22 viduals with respect to exposure to PFAS. 23 (2) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than five 24 years after submitting the initial report under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1105 IS graph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 1 submit to Congress a follow-up report containing the 2 following: 3 (A) An update to the initial report sub- 4 mitted under paragraph (1). 5 (B) An assessment of whether and to what 6 degree the content of the registry established 7 under subsection (a) is current and scientif- 8 ically up-to-date. 9 (3) INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZA- 10 TION.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter 11 into an agreement with an independent scientific or- 12 ganization to prepare the reports under paragraphs 13 (1) and (2). 14 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL EXPO- 15 SURES TO BE INCLUDED.—Not later than five years after 16 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every five years 17 thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consulta- 18 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator 19 of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall submit to 20 Congress recommendations for additional chemicals with 21 respect to which individuals exposed to such chemicals 22 should be included in the registry established under sub- 23 section (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1105 IS (d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means any individual 2 who, on or after a date specified by the Secretary of Vet- 3 erans Affairs through regulations, served or is serving in 4 the Armed Forces at a military installation where AFFF 5 was used or at another location of the Department of De- 6 fense where AFFF was used. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1105.IS S1105 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS