I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2419 

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 

MAY 14, 2009 

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. 

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 ‘‘Military Personnel 

5 War Zone Toxic Exposure Prevention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF HEALTH EFFECTS RELATED TO 

2 HAZARDOUS DISPOSAL SITE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 

4 shall establish and administer a system to identify mem5 bers of the Armed Forces who were potentially exposed 

6 to a hazardous disposal site and any negative health ef7 fects that may be related to such exposure. The Secretary 

8 shall administer such system using existing medical sur9 veillance systems. 

10 (b) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary learns that a 

11 member of the Armed Forces was potentially exposed to 

12 a hazardous disposal site, the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) give notice of the potential exposure to— 

14 (A) the member; 

15 (B) the commanding officer of the unit to 

16 which the member belonged at the time of po17 tential exposure; and 

18 (C) in the case of a member of the Na19 tional Guard, the Adjutant General of the State 

20 concerned; and 

21 (2) inform the member that the member may be 

22 included in the system required by subsection (a). 

23 (b) REGISTRATION.—For each member of the Armed 

24 Forces notified of a potential exposure under subsection 

25 (b), the Secretary shall collect information for purposes 


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1 of the system required by subsection (a). Such information 

2 shall include— 

3 (1) the locations that the member was deployed, 

4 including dates of such deployment; 

5 (2) the approximate distance of the living and 

6 working quarters of the member from a hazardous 

7 disposal site; 

8 (3) the types of materials disposed of at the 

9 site; 

10 (4) the length of time the member was exposed 

11 to such site; 

12 (5) any symptoms experienced by the member 

13 while deployed; 

14 (6) any symptoms the member experiences at 

15 the time of submitting such information to the Sec16 retary; and 

17 (7) other information the Secretary considers 

18 appropriate. 

19 (c) EXAMINATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

20 date on which the Secretary learns that a member of the 

21 Armed Forces was potentially exposed to a hazardous dis22 posal site, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) provide such member— 

24 (A) a complete physical examination; and 


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1 (B) consultation and counseling with re2 spect to the results of such physical examina3 tion; and 

4 (2) ensure that documentation of the potential 

5 exposure is placed in the medical record of the mem6 ber maintained by the Department of Defense. 

7 (d) PROPOSED CAPABILITIES.— 

8 (1) SUFFICIENCY.—The Secretary shall deter9 mine if existing medical surveillance systems are suf10 ficient to identify all potential negative health effects 

11 resulting from exposure to a hazardous disposal site. 

12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than six months after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

14 shall submit to Congress a report with any rec15 ommendations to change existing medical surveil16 lance systems in order to improve the identification 

17 of negative health effects resulting from exposure to 

18 a hazardous disposal site. 

19 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

21 submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the House 

22 of Representatives and the Senate a report describing— 

23 (1) the status of implementing the system re24 quired by subsection (a); and 


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1 (2) the incidences of illnesses among members 

2 of the Armed Forces notified under subsection (b) 

3 and whether such illnesses may have been caused by 

4 exposure to a hazardous disposal site. 

5 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘existing medical surveillance sys7 tems’’ means medical surveillance systems and other 

8 data in the possession of the Secretary as of the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) The term ‘‘exposure to a hazardous disposal 

11 site’’ includes the following: 

12 (A) Exposure to the fumes emanating from 

13 a hazardous disposal site for— 

14 (i) more than one year if the member 

15 of the Armed Forces was deployed to a 

16 military installation that made use of open 

17 pits to burn waste; or 

18 (ii) any period of time when exposure 

19 to such fumes was intensive. 

20 (B) A situation where a member of the 

21 Armed Forces with service-related health prob22 lems demonstrates significant exposure to 

23 fumes emanating from a hazardous disposal 

24 site. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘hazardous disposal site’’ means 

2 a location where hazardous methods of disposing of 

3 mass amounts of waste were used during Operation 

4 Enduring Freedom or Operations Iraqi Freedom, in5 cluding the use of open pits to burn waste. 

6 (4) The term ‘‘member of the Armed Forces’’ 

7 includes former members of the Armed Forces. 

8 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL OF WASTES IN A MAN9 NER THAT PRODUCES DANGEROUS LEVELS 

10 OF TOXINS. 

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

12 prohibit the disposal of waste during contingency oper13 ations lasting more than six months in a manner that ex14 poses members of the Armed Forces or civilian employees 

15 of the Department of Defense to the following: 

16 (1) Environmental toxins, including dioxin, ben17 zene, and other carcinogens. 

18 (2) Combinations of toxins that may lead to 

19 long-term negative health effects. 

20 (3) Low levels of toxins that exceed military ex21 posure guidelines for exposures of over one year. 

22 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

24 shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to Congress a report on the status of waste disposal tech4 niques used by members of the Armed Forces in Iraq and 

5 Afghanistan, including, for each military department, an 

6 assessment of the compliance with the regulations re7 quired under this section. 

Æ 


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