Protection for Veterans’ Burn Pit Exposure Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4086 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to determine presumptions of service connection for illnesses associated with open burn pits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 26, 2019 Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to determine presumptions of service connection for illnesses associ- ated with open burn pits, 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 ‘‘Protection for Vet- 4 erans’ Burn Pit Exposure Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4086 IH SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE 1 CONNECTION FOR ILLNESSES ASSOCIATED 2 WITH OPEN BURN PITS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 4 (1) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Not later 5 than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary 6 of Veterans Affairs receives the results of a covered 7 study, the Secretary shall make a determination 8 whether a positive association exists between— 9 (A) the exposure of humans to toxic air- 10 borne chemicals and fumes caused by open air 11 burn pits and other airborne hazards; and 12 (B) the occurrence of a diagnosed illness in 13 humans. 14 (2) BASES OF DETERMINATION.—In making a 15 determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary 16 shall consider— 17 (A) whether the evidence is statistically 18 significant, capable of replication, and able to 19 withstand peer review demonstrating that there 20 is positive association between the exposure and 21 the occurrence of a diagnosed illness; 22 (B) the results of a covered study; and 23 (C) all other sound medical and scientific 24 evidence available to the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4086 IH (3) PRESUMPTION.—If the Secretary deter- 1 mines that a positive association exists between ex- 2 posure and a diagnosed illness pursuant to para- 3 graph (1), the Secretary shall prescribe regulations 4 providing that— 5 (A) a presumption of service connection is 6 warranted for the illness covered by that deter- 7 mination if the illness first becomes manifest 8 within the period, if any, prescribed in such 9 regulations in a covered veteran; and 10 (B) such covered veteran shall be pre- 11 sumed to have been exposed to toxic airborne 12 chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits 13 unless there is conclusive evidence to establish 14 that— 15 (i) the covered veteran was not ex- 16 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 17 fumes caused by open burn pits in the 18 course of service in the Armed Forces de- 19 scribed in subsection (c)(1); or 20 (ii) the illness first became manifest 21 prior to the covered veteran’s exposure. 22 (4) SUBMISSION.—Upon the date on which the 23 Secretary makes the determination under paragraph 24 (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4086 IH Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 1 and the Senate an explanation of such determina- 2 tion. 3 (b) REGULATIONS.— 4 (1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.— 5 (A) TIMING.—If the Secretary determines 6 under subsection (a)(1) that a presumption of 7 service connection is warranted for an illness, 8 the Secretary shall, not later than 180 days 9 after making such determination— 10 (i) issue proposed regulations setting 11 forth the determination; or 12 (ii) submit the initial report under 13 subparagraph (B). 14 (B) REPORTS.—If the Secretary does not 15 issue proposed regulations by the deadline es- 16 tablished in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 17 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 18 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 19 Senate a report on the status of such proposed 20 regulations. On a quarterly basis thereafter 21 until the date on which the Secretary issues 22 such proposed regulations, the Secretary shall 23 submit to such committees an update on such 24 status. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4086 IH (2) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 1 days after the date on which the Secretary issues 2 any proposed regulations under this subsection, the 3 Secretary shall prescribe final regulations. Such reg- 4 ulations shall be effective on the date of issuance. 5 (3) PRESUMPTION NOT WARRANTED.— 6 (A) PUBLICATION.—If the Secretary deter- 7 mines under subsection (a) that a presumption 8 of service connection is not warranted for an ill- 9 ness, or proposes to remove a previously estab- 10 lished presumption, the Secretary shall publish 11 in the Federal Register a notice of that deter- 12 mination not later than 180 days after making 13 the determination. The notice shall include an 14 explanation of the evidence and scientific basis 15 for that determination. 16 (B) REMOVAL OF PREVIOUS PRESUMP- 17 TION.—If an illness already presumed to be 18 service connected under this section is subject 19 to a notice published under subparagraph (A), 20 the Secretary shall issue proposed regulations 21 removing the presumption for the illness not 22 later than 180 days after publication of such 23 notice. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4086 IH (4) EFFECT OF REMOVAL.—Whenever the pre- 1 sumption of service connection for an illness under 2 this section is removed under this subsection— 3 (A) a veteran who was awarded compensa- 4 tion for the illness on the basis of the presump- 5 tion before the effective date of the removal of 6 the presumption shall continue to be entitled to 7 receive compensation on that basis; and 8 (B) a survivor of a veteran who was 9 awarded dependency and indemnity compensa- 10 tion for the death of a veteran resulting from 11 the illness on the basis of the presumption be- 12 fore that date shall continue to be entitled to 13 receive dependency and indemnity compensation 14 on that basis. 15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF BENEFIT AWARDS.—The 16 effective date of any benefit awarded by reason of this sec- 17 tion shall be determined in accordance with section 5110 18 of title 38, United States Code, but shall in no case be 19 earlier than the effective date of the final regulations pre- 20 scribed pursuant to subsection (b)(2). 21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) The term ‘‘covered study’’ includes— 23 (A) the study conducted by the National 24 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4086 IH cine titled ‘‘Respiratory Health Effects of Air- 1 borne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest 2 Asia Theater of Military Operations’’; and 3 (B) any subsequent study conducted by the 4 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 5 and Medicine regarding the effects of exposure 6 of humans to toxic airborne chemicals and 7 fumes caused by open air burn pits and other 8 airborne hazards. 9 (2) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet- 10 eran who, on or after September 11, 2001— 11 (A) was deployed in support of a contin- 12 gency operation while serving in the Armed 13 Forces; and 14 (B) during such deployment, was based or 15 stationed at a location where an open burn pit 16 was used. 17 (3) The term ‘‘open burn pit’’ means an area 18 of land that— 19 (A) is designated by the Secretary of De- 20 fense to be used for disposing of solid waste by 21 burning in the outdoor air; and 22 (B) does not contain a commercially manu- 23 factured incinerator or other equipment specifi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4086 IH cally designed and manufactured for the burn- 1 ing of solid waste. 2 SEC. 3. ACCESS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF 3 SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE TO 4 INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF 5 DEFENSE. 6 Upon request by the National Academies of Sciences, 7 Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as 8 the ‘‘Academies’’), the Secretary of Defense shall provide 9 to the Academies information in the possession of the De- 10 partment of Defense that the Academies determine useful 11 in performing a covered study, as that term is defined in 12 section 2(d). Such information includes, at a minimum, 13 all environmental sampling data relative to any location 14 included in the study. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS