II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3885 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress regularly 

of reported cases of burn pit exposure by veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress regularly of reported cases of burn pit exposure 

by veterans, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘SFC Heath Robinson 

5 Burn Pit Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATIONS AND REPORTS REGARDING RE7 PORTED CASES OF BURN PIT EXPOSURE. 

8 (a) QUARTERLY NOTIFICATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—On a quarterly basis, the 

10 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:45 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3885.IS S3885

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1 propriate congressional committees a report on each 

2 case of burn pit exposure by a covered veteran re3 ported during the previous quarter. 

4 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under 

5 paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to each 

6 case of burn pit exposure of a covered veteran in7 cluded in the report, the following: 

8 (A) Notice of the case, including the med9 ical facility at which the case was reported. 

10 (B) Notice of, as available— 

11 (i) the enrollment status of the cov12 ered veteran with respect to the patient en13 rollment system of the Department of Vet14 erans Affairs under section 1705(a) of title 

15 38, United States Code; 

16 (ii) a summary of all health care visits 

17 by the covered veteran at the medical facil18 ity at which the case was reported that are 

19 related to the case; 

20 (iii) the demographics of the covered 

21 veteran, including age, sex, and race; 

22 (iv) any non-Department of Veterans 

23 Affairs health care benefits that the cov24 ered veteran receives; 


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1 (v) the Armed Force in which the cov2 ered veteran served and the rank of the 

3 covered veteran; 

4 (vi) the period in which the covered 

5 veteran served; 

6 (vii) each location of an open burn pit 

7 from which the covered veteran was ex8 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 

9 fumes during such service; 

10 (viii) the medical diagnoses of the cov11 ered veteran and the treatment provided to 

12 the veteran; and 

13 (ix) whether the covered veteran is 

14 registered in the Airborne Hazards and 

15 Open Burn Pit Registry. 

16 (3) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec17 retary shall ensure that the reports submitted under 

18 paragraph (1) do not include the identity of covered 

19 veterans or contain other personally identifiable 

20 data. 

21 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON CASES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an24 nually thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

25 in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, shall 


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1 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

2 a report detailing the following: 

3 (A) The total number of covered veterans. 

4 (B) The total number of claims for dis5 ability compensation under chapter 11 of title 

6 38, United States Code, approved and the total 

7 number denied by the Secretary of Veterans Af8 fairs with respect to a covered veteran, and for 

9 each such denial, the rationale of the denial. 

10 (C) A comprehensive list of— 

11 (i) the conditions for which covered 

12 veterans seek treatment; and 

13 (ii) the locations of the open burn pits 

14 from which the covered veterans were ex15 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 

16 fumes. 

17 (D) Identification of any illnesses relating 

18 to exposure to open burn pits that formed the 

19 basis for the Secretary to award benefits, in20 cluding entitlement to service connection or an 

21 increase in disability rating. 

22 (E) Any updates or trends with respect to 

23 the information described in subparagraphs (A), 

24 (B), and (C) that the Secretary determines ap25 propriate. 


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1 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED IN FIRST REPORT.— 

2 The Secretary shall include in the first report under 

3 paragraph (1) information specified in subsection 

4 (a)(2) with respect to reported cases of burn pit ex5 posure made during the period beginning January 1, 

6 1990, and ending on the day before the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 (c) INFORMATION REGARDING REGISTRY.—Section 

9 201(a) of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ Bene10 fits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 

11 U.S.C. 527 note) is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) NOTICE.—The Secretary of Veterans 

15 Affairs shall ensure that a medical professional 

16 of the Department of Veterans Affairs informs 

17 a veteran of the registry under paragraph (1) 

18 if the veteran presents at a medical facility of 

19 the Department for treatment that the veteran 

20 describes as being related to, or ancillary to, the 

21 exposure of the veteran to toxic airborne chemi22 cals and fumes caused by open burn pits. 

23 ‘‘(B) DISPLAY.—In making information 

24 public regarding the number of participants in 

25 the registry under paragraph (1), the Secretary 


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1 shall display such numbers by both State and 

2 by congressional district.’’. 

3 (d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

4 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

6 to the appropriate congressional committees a report con7 taining an assessment of the effectiveness of any memo8 randum of understanding or memorandum of agreement 

9 entered into by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re10 spect to— 

11 (1) the processing of reported cases of exposure 

12 to open burn pits; and 

13 (2) the coordination of care and provision of 

14 health care relating to such cases at medical facili15 ties of the Department of Veterans Affairs and at 

16 non-Department facilities. 

17 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) The term ‘‘Airborne Hazards and Open 

19 Burn Pit Registry’’ means the registry established 

20 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 

21 201 of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ 

22 Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 

23 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 note). 

24 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

2 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

3 Senate; and 

4 (B) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet8 eran who presents at a medical facility of the De9 partment of Veterans Affairs (or in a non-Depart10 ment facility pursuant to section 1703 or 1703A of 

11 title 38, United States Code) for treatment that the 

12 veteran describes as being related to, or ancillary to, 

13 the exposure of the veteran to toxic airborne chemi14 cals and fumes caused by open burn pits at any time 

15 while serving in the Armed Forces. 

16 (4) The term ‘‘open burn pit’’ has the meaning 

17 given that term in section 201(c) of the Dignified 

18 Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement 

19 Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 

20 note). 

21 (5) The term ‘‘reported case of burn pit expo22 sure’’ means each instance in which a veteran pre23 sents at a medical facility of the Department of Vet24 erans Affairs (or in a non-Department facility pur25 suant to section 1703 or 1703A of title 38, United 


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1 States Code) for treatment that the veteran de2 scribes as being related to, or ancillary to, the expo3 sure of the veteran to toxic airborne chemicals and 

4 fumes caused by open burn pits at any time while 

5 serving in the Armed Forces. 

Æ 


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