II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 726 

To require the Secretary of Defense to declassify certain documents related 

to incidents in which members of the Armed Forces were exposed to 

toxic substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2017 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to declassify certain 

documents related to incidents in which members of the 

Armed Forces were exposed to toxic substances. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gary Deloney and 

5 John Olsen Toxic Exposure Declassification Act’’. 


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•S 726 IS

1 SEC. 2. DECLASSIFICATION BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

2 OF CERTAIN INCIDENTS OF EXPOSURE OF 

3 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES TO TOXIC 

4 SUBSTANCES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

6 declassify documents related to any known incident in 

7 which not fewer than 100 members of the Armed Forces 

8 were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least 

9 one case of a disability that a member of the medical pro10 fession has determined to be associated with that toxic 

11 substance. 

12 (b) LIMITATION.—The declassification required by 

13 subsection (a) shall be limited to information necessary 

14 for an individual who was potentially exposed to a toxic 

15 substance to determine the following: 

16 (1) Whether that individual was exposed to that 

17 toxic substance. 

18 (2) The potential severity of the exposure of 

19 that individual to that toxic substance. 

20 (3) Any potential health conditions that may 

21 have resulted from exposure to that toxic substance. 

22 (c) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Defense is not re23 quired to declassify documents if the Secretary determines 

24 that declassification of those documents would materially 

25 and immediately threaten the security of the United 

26 States. 


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•S 726 IS

1 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed 

3 Forces’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

4 101 of title 10, United States Code. 

5 (2) EXPOSED.—The term ‘‘exposed’’ means, 

6 with respect to a toxic substance, that an individual 

7 came into contact with that toxic substance in a 

8 manner that could be hazardous to the health of 

9 that individual, that may include if that toxic sub10 stance was inhaled, ingested, or touched the skin or 

11 eyes. 

12 (3) EXPOSURE.—The term ‘‘exposure’’ means, 

13 with respect to a toxic substance, an event during 

14 which an individual was exposed to that toxic sub15 stance. 

16 (4) TOXIC SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘toxic sub17 stance’’ means any substance determined by the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

19 to be harmful to the environment or hazardous to 

20 the health of an individual if inhaled or ingested by 

21 or absorbed through the skin of that individual. 

Æ 


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