Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1942 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 the duty of the employee, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2019 Mr. CARPER (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. KING, Mr. BROWN, Mr. COONS, Mr. BENNET, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. TESTER, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 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 the duty of the employee, 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 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1942 IS 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) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 7 end; 8 (2) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 9 end; 10 (3) in paragraph (20), by striking the period at 11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (4) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(21) ‘employee in fire protection activities’ 14 means an employee— 15 ‘‘(A) serving as a firefighter, a paramedic, 16 an emergency medical technician, a rescue 17 worker, ambulance personnel, or a hazardous 18 material worker; and 19 ‘‘(B) who— 20 ‘‘(i) is trained in fire suppression; 21 ‘‘(ii) has the legal authority and re- 22 sponsibility to engage in fire suppression; 23 ‘‘(iii) is engaged in the prevention, 24 control, and extinguishment of fires or re- 25 sponse to emergency situations in which 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1942 IS life, property, or the environment is at 1 risk; and 2 ‘‘(iv) performs such activities as a pri- 3 mary responsibility of the duty of the em- 4 ployee.’’. 5 (b) PRESUMPTION RELATING TO EMPLOYEES IN 6 FIRE PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.—Section 8102 of title 5, 7 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), and any length of 10 service limitation under paragraph (3), with respect to an 11 employee in fire protection activities— 12 ‘‘(A) a disease described in paragraph (3) shall 13 be presumed to be proximately caused by the em- 14 ployment of the employee; and 15 ‘‘(B) the disability or death of the employee due 16 to a disease described in paragraph (3) shall be pre- 17 sumed to result from personal injury sustained while 18 in the performance of the duty of the employee. 19 ‘‘(2) With respect to any presumption described in 20 paragraph (1)— 21 ‘‘(A) the presumption shall apply with respect 22 to an employee in fire protection activities only if the 23 employee is diagnosed with the disease with respect 24 to which the presumption is sought not later than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1942 IS 10 years after the last day on which the employee 1 is an active employee in fire protection activities; 2 and 3 ‘‘(B) the presumption may be rebutted by a 4 preponderance of the evidence. 5 ‘‘(3) The following diseases shall be presumed to be 6 proximately caused by the employment of an employee in 7 fire protection activities: 8 ‘‘(A) If the employee has been employed for not 9 less than 5 years in the aggregate as an employee 10 in fire protection activities: 11 ‘‘(i) Heart disease. 12 ‘‘(ii) Lung disease. 13 ‘‘(iii) The following cancers: 14 ‘‘(I) Brain cancer. 15 ‘‘(II) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic 16 systems. 17 ‘‘(III) Leukemia. 18 ‘‘(IV) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin’s 19 disease). 20 ‘‘(V) Multiple myeloma. 21 ‘‘(VI) Bladder cancer. 22 ‘‘(VII) Kidney cancer. 23 ‘‘(VIII) Testicular cancer. 24 ‘‘(IX) Cancer of the digestive system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1942 IS ‘‘(X) Colon cancer. 1 ‘‘(XI) Liver cancer. 2 ‘‘(XII) Skin cancer. 3 ‘‘(XIII) Lung cancer. 4 ‘‘(XIV) Breast cancer. 5 ‘‘(iv) Any other cancer, the contraction of 6 which the Secretary of Labor, by rule, deter- 7 mines to be related to the hazards to which an 8 employee in fire protection activities may be 9 subject. 10 ‘‘(B) Without regard to the length of time that 11 an employee in fire protection activities has been 12 employed, any uncommon infectious disease, includ- 13 ing— 14 ‘‘(i) tuberculosis; 15 ‘‘(ii) hepatitis A, B, or C; 16 ‘‘(iii) the human immunodeficiency virus 17 (commonly known as ‘HIV’); and 18 ‘‘(iv) any other uncommon infectious dis- 19 ease, the contraction of which the Secretary of 20 Labor, by rule, determines to be related to the 21 hazards to which an employee in fire protection 22 activities may be subject.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1942 IS (c) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National In- 2 stitute for Occupational Safety and Health shall— 3 (1) examine the implementation of this Act, and 4 the amendments made by this Act, and appropriate 5 scientific and medical data relating to the health 6 risks associated with firefighting; and 7 (2) submit to Congress a report, which shall in- 8 clude— 9 (A) an analysis of the claims for com- 10 pensation made under the amendments made 11 by this Act; 12 (B) an analysis of the available research 13 relating to the health risks associated with fire- 14 fighting; and 15 (C) recommendations for any administra- 16 tive or legislative actions necessary to ensure 17 that those diseases most associated with fire- 18 fighting are included in the presumptions under 19 subsection (c) of section 8102 of title 5, United 20 States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this 21 section. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1942 IS (d) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 1 section shall apply to a disability or death that occurs on 2 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS