Military Personnel Toxic Exposure Registry Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to establish and administer a system to identify members of the Armed Forces who were potentially exposed to a hazardous disposal site, as well as any negative health effects that may be related to such exposure.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) administer the system using existing medical surveillance systems; (2) notify a member and his or her commanding officer of a potential exposure; (3) for each member notified, collect information for purposes of the system; (4) for each member notified, annually provide a complete physical examination and related consultation and counseling; and (5) report annually to the congressional defense committees on the status of system implementation and incidences of illnesses which may have been caused by such exposure.
Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 to: (1) include solid waste containing plastics within the definition of "covered waste" for purposes of a prohibition against the disposal by the Armed Forces of covered waste in open-air burn pits during contingency operations; and (2) include in a required report concerning the use of such pits those situations in which such pits were used to dispose of waste during military exercises and operations worldwide during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4477 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4477
To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical surveillance
system to identify members of the Armed Forces exposed to chemical
hazards resulting from the disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan,
to prohibit the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner that
would produce dangerous levels of toxins, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 20, 2010
Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself and Ms. Shea-Porter) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical surveillance
system to identify members of the Armed Forces exposed to chemical
hazards resulting from the disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan,
to prohibit the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner that
would produce dangerous levels of toxins, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Military Personnel Toxic Exposure
Registry Act''.
SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF HEALTH EFFECTS RELATED TO HAZARDOUS DISPOSAL
SITE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish and
administer a system to identify members of the Armed Forces who were
potentially exposed to a hazardous disposal site and any negative
health effects that may be related to such exposure. The Secretary
shall administer such system using existing medical surveillance
systems.
(b) Notification.--If the Secretary learns that a member of the
Armed Forces was potentially exposed to a hazardous disposal site, the
Secretary shall--
(1) give notice of the potential exposure to--
(A) the member;
(B) the commanding officer of the unit to which the
member belonged at the time of potential exposure; and
(C) in the case of a member of the National Guard,
the Adjutant General of the State concerned; and
(2) inform the member that the member may be included in
the system required by subsection (a).
(c) Registration.--For each member of the Armed Forces notified of
a potential exposure under subsection (b), the Secretary shall collect
information for purposes of the system required by subsection (a). Such
information shall include--
(1) the locations where the member was deployed, including
the dates of such deployment;
(2) the approximate distance of the living and working
quarters of the member from a hazardous disposal site;
(3) the types of materials disposed of at the site;
(4) the length of time the member was exposed to such site;
(5) any symptoms experienced by the member while deployed;
(6) any symptoms the member experiences at the time of
submitting such information to the Secretary; and
(7) other information the Secretary considers appropriate.
(d) Examination.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which
the Secretary learns that a member of the Armed Forces was potentially
exposed to a hazardous disposal site, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary shall--
(1) provide such member--
(A) a complete physical examination; and
(B) consultation and counseling with respect to the
results of such physical examination; and
(2) ensure that documentation of the potential exposure is
placed in the medical record of the member maintained by the
Department of Defense.
(e) Annual Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report
describing--
(1) the status of implementing the system required by
subsection (a); and
(2) the incidences of illnesses among members of the Armed
Forces notified under subsection (b) and whether such illnesses
may have been caused by exposure to a hazardous disposal site.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``existing medical surveillance systems''
means medical surveillance systems and other data in the
possession of the Secretary as of the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(2) The term ``exposure to a hazardous disposal site''
includes the following:
(A) Exposure to the fumes emanating from a
hazardous disposal site for--
(i) more than six months, in the case of a
member of the Armed Forces who was deployed to
a military installation that made use of open
pits to burn waste; or
(ii) any period of time when exposure to
such fumes was intensive.
(B) A situation where a member of the Armed Forces
with service-related health problems demonstrates
significant exposure to fumes emanating from a
hazardous disposal site.
(3) The term ``hazardous disposal site'' means a location
where hazardous methods of disposing of mass amounts of waste
were used during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operations Iraqi
Freedom, including the use of open pits to burn waste.
(4) The term ``member of the Armed Forces'' includes former
members of the Armed Forces.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL OF COVERED WASTE IN OPEN AIR BURN PITS.
(a) Inclusion of Solid Waste Containing Plastics in Definition of
Covered Waste.--Subsection (c)(2) of section 317 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as
subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new
subparagraph (B):
``(B) solid waste containing plastics;''.
(b) Inclusion of Information on Past Use of Open Air Burn Pits in
Report to Congress.--Subsection (b) of such section is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (7) as
paragraphs (3) through (8), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new
paragraph (2):
``(2) an explanation of the situations and circumstances
under which open-air burn pits were used to dispose of waste
during military exercises and operations worldwide during the
period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on the date
of the enactment of this Act;''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line