SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7072 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress regularly of reported cases of burn pit exposure, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2020 Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Con- gress regularly of reported cases of burn pit exposure, 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 ‘‘SFC Heath Robinson 4 Burn Pit Transparency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATIONS AND REPORTS REGARDING RE- 6 PORTED CASES OF BURN PIT EXPOSURE. 7 (a) QUARTERLY NOTIFICATIONS.— 8 (1) REQUIREMENT.—On a quarterly basis, the 9 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the ap- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7072 IH propriate congressional committees a report on each 1 case of burn pit exposure reported during the pre- 2 vious quarter. Each such report shall include, with 3 respect to such cases, the following: 4 (A) Notice of the case, including the med- 5 ical facility at which the case was reported. 6 (B) Notice of, as available— 7 (i) the enrollment status of the cov- 8 ered veteran with respect to the patient en- 9 rollment under section 1705(a) of title 38, 10 United States Code; 11 (ii) a summary of all health care visits 12 by the covered veteran at the medical facil- 13 ity at which the case was reported that are 14 related to the case; 15 (iii) the demographics of the covered 16 veteran, including age, sex, and race; 17 (iv) identification of any non-Depart- 18 ment of Veterans Affairs health care bene- 19 fits that the covered veteran receives; 20 (v) the Armed Force in which the cov- 21 ered veteran served and the rank of the 22 covered veteran; 23 (vi) the period in which the covered 24 veteran served; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7072 IH (vii) each location of an open burn pit 1 from which the covered veteran was ex- 2 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 3 fumes caused by open burn pits during 4 such service; 5 (viii) the medical diagnoses of the cov- 6 ered veteran and the treatment provided to 7 the veteran; and 8 (ix) whether the covered veteran is 9 registered in the Airborne Hazards and 10 Open Burn Pit Registry. 11 (2) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec- 12 retary shall ensure that the reports submitted under 13 paragraph (1) do not include the identity of covered 14 veterans or contain other personally identifiable 15 data. 16 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON CASES.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 19 nually thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 20 in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, shall 21 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 22 a report detailing the following: 23 (A) The total number of covered veterans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7072 IH (B) The total number of claims for dis- 1 ability compensation under chapter 11 of title 2 38, United States Code, approved and denied 3 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re- 4 spect to covered veterans, and for each such de- 5 nial, the rationale of the denial. 6 (C) A comprehensive list of— 7 (i) the conditions for which covered 8 veterans seek treatment; and 9 (ii) the locations of the open burn pits 10 to which the covered veterans were exposed 11 to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes 12 caused by open burn pits. 13 (D) Identification of any illnesses relating 14 to exposure to open burn pits which formed the 15 basis for the Secretary to award benefits, in- 16 cluding but not limited to, entitlement to serv- 17 ice connection or an increase in disability rat- 18 ing. 19 (E) Any updates or trends with respect to 20 the information described in subparagraphs (A), 21 (B), and (C) that the Secretary determines ap- 22 propriate. 23 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED IN FIRST REPORT.— 24 The Secretary shall include in the first report under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7072 IH paragraph (1) notifications containing the informa- 1 tion specified in subsection (a)(1) with respect to re- 2 ported cases of burn pit exposure made during the 3 period beginning January 1, 1990, and ending on 4 the day before the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 (c) INFORMATION REGARDING REGISTRY.—Section 6 201(a) of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ Bene- 7 fits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 8 U.S.C. 527 note) is amended by adding at the end the 9 following new paragraph: 10 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.— 11 ‘‘(A) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall ensure 12 that a medical professional of the Department 13 of Veterans Affairs informs a veteran of the 14 registry under paragraph (1) if the veteran pre- 15 sents at a medical facility of the Department 16 for treatment that the veteran describes as 17 being related to, or ancillary to, the exposure of 18 the veteran to toxic airborne chemicals and 19 fumes caused by open burn pits. 20 ‘‘(B) DISPLAY.—In making information 21 public regarding the number of participants in 22 the registry under paragraph (1), the Secretary 23 shall display such numbers by both State and 24 by congressional district.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7072 IH (d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 1 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 2 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 3 to the appropriate congressional committees a report con- 4 taining an assessment of the effectiveness of any memo- 5 randum of understanding or memorandum of agreement 6 entered into by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re- 7 spect to— 8 (1) the processing of reported cases of burn pit 9 exposure; and 10 (2) the coordination of care and provision of 11 health care relating to such cases at medical facili- 12 ties of the Department and at non-Department fa- 13 cilities. 14 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) The term ‘‘Airborne Hazards and Open 16 Burn Pit Registry’’ means the registry established 17 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 18 201 of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ 19 Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 20 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 note). 21 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 22 mittees’’ means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7072 IH (A) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 1 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 2 House of Representatives; and 3 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 4 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 5 Senate. 6 (3) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet- 7 eran described in paragraph (5). 8 (4) The term ‘‘open burn pit’’ has the meaning 9 given that term in section 201(c) of the Dignified 10 Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement 11 Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 12 note). 13 (5) The term ‘‘reported case of burn pit expo- 14 sure’’ means each instance in which a veteran pre- 15 sents at a medical facility of the Department of Vet- 16 erans Affairs (or in a non-Department facility pur- 17 suant to section 1703 or 1703A of title 38, United 18 States Code) for treatment that the veteran de- 19 scribes as being related to, or ancillary to, the expo- 20 sure of the veteran to toxic airborne chemicals and 21 fumes caused by open burn pits at any time while 22 serving in the Armed Forces. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS