II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1798 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish an open burn pit 

registry to ensure that members of the Armed Forces who may have 

been exposed to toxic chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits 

while deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq receive information regarding 

such exposure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. CORKER, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

BINGAMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, and Mr. ALEXANDER) 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 establish an 

open burn pit registry to ensure that members of the 

Armed Forces who may have been exposed to toxic 

chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits while 

deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq receive information regarding such exposure, 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 ‘‘Open Burn Pit Reg5 istry Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

4 (1) establish and maintain an open burn pit 

5 registry for eligible individuals who may have been 

6 exposed to toxic chemicals and fumes caused by open 

7 burn pits; 

8 (2) include any information in such registry 

9 that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines 

10 necessary to ascertain and monitor the health effects 

11 of the exposure of members of the Armed Forces to 

12 toxic chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits; 

13 (3) develop a public information campaign to 

14 inform eligible individuals about the open burn pit 

15 registry, including how to register and the benefits 

16 of registering; and 

17 (4) periodically notify eligible individuals of sig18 nificant developments in the study and treatment of 

19 conditions associated with exposure to toxic chemi20 cals and fumes caused by open burn pits. 

21 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

22 (a) REPORT BY INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC ORGANI23 ZATION.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter 

24 into an agreement with an independent scientific organiza25 tion to develop a report containing the following: 


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1 (1) An assessment of the effectiveness of ac2 tions taken by the Secretaries to collect and main3 tain information on the health effects of exposure to 

4 toxic chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits. 

5 (2) Recommendations to improve the collection 

6 and maintenance of such information. 

7 (3) Using established and previously published 

8 epidemiological studies, recommendations regarding 

9 the most effective and prudent means of addressing 

10 the medical needs of eligible individuals with respect 

11 to conditions that are likely to result from exposure 

12 to open burn pits. 

13 (b) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date on which the registry under section 

15 2 is established, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

16 submit to Congress the report developed under subsection 

17 (a). 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘open burn pit’’ means an area 

21 of land located in Afghanistan or Iraq that— 

22 (A) is designated by the Secretary of De23 fense to be used for disposing solid waste by 

24 burning in the outdoor air; and 


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1 (B) does not contain a commercially manu2 factured incinerator or other equipment specifi3 cally designed and manufactured for the burn4 ing of solid waste. 

5 (2) The term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means any 

6 individual who, on or after September 11, 2001— 

7 (A) was deployed in support of a contin8 gency operation while serving in the Armed 

9 Forces; and 

10 (B) during such deployment, was based or 

11 stationed at a location where an open burn pit 

12 was used. 

Æ 


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