IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2499 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2022 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to 

create a presumption that a disability or death of a 

Federal employee in fire protection activities caused by 

any of certain diseases is the result of the performance 

of such employees duty, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Firefighters 

3 Fairness Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CERTAIN DISEASES PRESUMED TO BE WORK-RE5 LATED CAUSE OF DISABILITY OR DEATH FOR 

6 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN FIRE PROTECTION 

7 ACTIVITIES. 

8 (a) PRESUMPTION RELATING TO EMPLOYEES IN

9 FIRE PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.—Subchapter I of chapter 

10 81 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

11 after section 8143a the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 8143b. Employees in fire protection activities. 

13 ‘‘(a) CERTAIN DISEASES DEEMED TO BE PROXI14 MATELY CAUSED BY EMPLOYMENT IN FIRE PROTECTION

15 ACTIVITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For a claim under this sub17 chapter of disability or death of an employee who 

18 has been employed for a minimum of 5 years in ag19 gregate as an employee in fire protection activities, 

20 a disease specified on the list established under 

21 paragraph (2) shall be deemed to be proximately 

22 caused by the employment of such employee. 

23 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF INITIAL LIST.—There 

24 is established under this section the following list of 

25 diseases: 

26 ‘‘(A) Bladder cancer. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Brain cancer. 

2 ‘‘(C) Chronic obstructive pulmonary dis3 ease. 

4 ‘‘(D) Colorectal cancer. 

5 ‘‘(E) Esophageal cancer. 

6 ‘‘(F) Kidney cancer. 

7 ‘‘(G) Leukemias. 

8 ‘‘(H) Lung cancer. 

9 ‘‘(I) Mesothelioma. 

10 ‘‘(J) Multiple myeloma. 

11 ‘‘(K) Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

12 ‘‘(L) Prostate cancer. 

13 ‘‘(M) Skin cancer (melanoma). 

14 ‘‘(N) A sudden cardiac event or stroke 

15 while, or not later than 24 hours after, engag16 ing in the activities described in subsection 

17 (b)(1)(C). 

18 ‘‘(O) Testicular cancer. 

19 ‘‘(P) Thyroid cancer. 

20 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONS TO THE LIST.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

22 periodically review the list established under 

23 this section in consultation with the Director of 

24 the National Institute on Occupational Safety 

25 and Health and shall add a disease to the list 


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1 by rule, upon a showing by a petitioner or on 

2 the Secretary’s own determination, in accord3 ance with this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR DETERMINATION.—The 

5 Secretary shall add a disease to the list upon a 

6 showing by a petitioner or the Secretary’s own 

7 determination, based on the weight of the best 

8 available scientific evidence, that there is a sig9 nificant risk to employees in fire protection ac10 tivities of developing such disease. 

11 ‘‘(C) AVAILABLE EXPERTISE.—In deter12 mining significant risk for purposes of subpara13 graph (B), the Secretary may accept as authori14 tative and may rely upon recommendations, risk 

15 assessments, and scientific studies (including 

16 analyses of National Firefighter Registry data 

17 pertaining to Federal firefighters) by the Na18 tional Institute for Occupational Safety and 

19 Health, the National Toxicology Program, the 

20 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

21 and Medicine, and the International Agency for 

22 Research on Cancer. 

23 ‘‘(4) PETITIONS TO ADD TO THE LIST.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person may peti2 tion the Secretary to add a disease to the list 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF PETITION.—Such peti5 tion shall provide information to show that 

6 there is sufficient evidence of a significant risk 

7 to employees in fire protection activities of de8 veloping such illness or disease from their em9 ployment. 

10 ‘‘(C) TIMELY AND SUBSTANTIVE DECI11 SIONS.—Not later than 18 months after receipt 

12 of a petition, the Secretary shall either grant or 

13 deny the petition by publishing in the Federal 

14 Register a written explanation of the reasons 

15 for the Secretary’s decision. The Secretary may 

16 not deny a petition solely on the basis of com17 peting priorities, inadequate resources, or insuf18 ficient time for review. 

19 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not 

20 later than 30 days after making any decision to 

21 approve or deny a petition under this para22 graph, the Secretary shall notify the Committee 

23 on Education and Labor of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland 


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1 Security and Government Affairs of the Senate 

2 of such decision. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) EMPLOYEE IN FIRE PROTECTION ACTIVI5 TIES.—The term ‘employee in fire protection activi6 ties’ means an employee employed as a firefighter, 

7 paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue 

8 worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous material 

9 worker, who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is trained in fire suppression; 

11 ‘‘(B) has the legal authority and responsi12 bility to engage in fire suppression; 

13 ‘‘(C) is engaged in the prevention, control, 

14 and extinguishment of fires or response to 

15 emergency situations where life, property, or 

16 the environment is at risk, including the pre17 vention, control, suppression, or management of 

18 wildland fires; and 

19 ‘‘(D) performs such activities as a primary 

20 responsibility of his or her job. 

21 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

22 Secretary of Labor.’’. 

23 (b) RESEARCH COOPERATION.—Not later than 120 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

25 of Labor shall establish a process by which a Federal emVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2499.RFS H2499

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1 ployee in fire protection activities filing a claim related to 

2 a disease on the list established by section 8143b of title 

3 5, United States Code, will be informed about and offered 

4 the opportunity to contribute to science by voluntarily en5 rolling in the National Firefighter Registry or a similar 

6 research or public health initiative conducted by the Cen7 ters for Disease Control and Prevention. 

8 (c) AGENDA FOR FURTHER REVIEW.—Not later than 

9 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall— 

11 (1) evaluate the best available scientific evi12 dence of the risk to an employee in fire protection 

13 activities of developing breast cancer, gynecological 

14 cancer, and rhabdomyolysis; 

15 (2) add breast cancer, gynecological cancer, and 

16 rhabdomyolysis to the list established under section 

17 8143b of title 5, United States Code, by rule in ac18 cordance with subsection (a)(3) of such section, if 

19 the Secretary determines that such evidence sup20 ports such addition; and 

21 (3) submit a report of the Secretary’s findings 

22 under paragraph (1) and the Secretary’s determina23 tion under paragraph (2) to the Committee on Edu24 cation and Labor of the House and the Committee 


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1 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

2 the Senate. 

3 (d) REPORT ON FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE4 FIGHTERS.—The Director of the National Institute for 

5 Occupational Safety and Health shall conduct a com6 prehensive study on long-term health effects that Federal 

7 wildland firefighters who are eligible to receive workers’ 

8 compensation under chapter 81 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, experience after being exposed to fires, smoke, and 

10 toxic fumes when in service. Such study shall include— 

11 (1) the race, ethnicity, age, gender, and time of 

12 service of such Federal wildland firefighters partici13 pating in the study; and 

14 (2) recommendations to Congress on what legis15 lative actions are needed to support such Federal 

16 wildland firefighters in preventing health issues from 

17 this toxic exposure, similar to veterans that are ex18 posed to burn pits. 

19 (e) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

20 section shall apply to claims for compensation filed on or 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (f) REPORT ON AFFECTED EMPLOYEES.—Beginning 

23 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary shall include in each annual report on implementa25 tion of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2499.RFS H2499

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1 gram and issues arising under it that the Secretary makes 

2 pursuant to section 8152 of title 5, United States Code, 

3 the total number and demographics of employees with dis4 eases and conditions described in the amendments made 

5 by this Act as of the date of such annual report, 

6 disaggregated by the specific condition or conditions, for 

7 the purposes of understanding the scope of the problem. 

8 The Secretary may include any information they deem 

9 necessary and, as appropriate, may make recommenda10 tions for additional actions that could be taken to mini11 mize the risk of adverse health impacts for Federal em12 ployees in fire protection activities. 

13 SEC. 3. SUBROGATION OF CONTINUATION OF PAY. 

14 (a) SUBROGATION OF THE UNITED STATES.—Sec15 tion 8131 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘continuation 

17 of pay or’’ before ‘‘compensation’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘continuation 

19 of pay or’’ before ‘‘compensation already paid’’. 

20 (b) ADJUSTMENT AFTER RECOVERY FROM A THIRD

21 PERSON.—Section 8132 of title 5, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘continuation of pay or’’ before 

24 ‘‘compensation’’ the first and second place it ap25 pears; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘in his behalf’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘on his behalf’’; 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘continuation of pay and’’ be4 fore ‘‘compensation’’ the third place it appears; and 

5 (4) by striking the 4th sentence and inserting 

6 the following: ‘‘If continuation of pay or compensa7 tion has not been paid to the beneficiary, the money 

8 or property shall be credited against continuation of 

9 pay or compensation payable to him by the United 

10 States for the same injury.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF FIREFIGHTERS FROM TOXIC 

12 CHEMICALS AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

15 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

16 Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and 

17 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen18 sions of the Senate a report that evaluates the health and 

19 safety impacts on employees engaged in fire protection ac20 tivities that result from the employees’ exposure to toxic 

21 chemicals and other contaminants that could cause human 

22 health problems. The report may include information on— 

23 (1) the degree to which such programs and poli24 cies include consideration of the possibility of toxic 

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1 tact with residue from fibers, combusted building 

2 materials such as asbestos, household chemicals, 

3 polymers, flame-retardant chemicals, and other po4 tentially toxic contaminants; 

5 (2) the availability and proper maintenance of 

6 professional protective equipment and secure storage 

7 of such equipment in employees’ homes and auto8 motive vehicles; 

9 (3) the availability of home instructions for em10 ployees regarding toxins and contaminants, and the 

11 appropriate procedures to counteract exposure to 

12 same; 

13 (4) the employees’ interests in protecting the 

14 health and safety of family members from exposure 

15 to toxic chemicals and other contaminants to which 

16 the employees may have been exposed; and 

17 (5) other related factors. 

18 (b) CONTEXT.—In preparing the report required 

19 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the 

20 United States may, as appropriate, provide information in 

21 a format that delineates high risk urban areas from rural 

22 communities. 

23 (c) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR CONSIDERATION.— 

24 After issuance of the report required under subsection (a), 

25 the Secretary of Labor shall consider such report’s findVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2499.RFS H2499

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1 ings and assess its applicability for purposes of the amend2 ments made by section 2. 

3 SEC. 5. INCREASE IN TIME-PERIOD FOR FECA CLAIMANT 

4 TO SUPPLY SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 

5 TO OFFICE OF WORKER’S COMPENSATION. 

6 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall— 

8 (1) amend section 10.121 of title 20, Code of 

9 Federal Regulations, by striking ‘‘30 days’’ and in10 serting ‘‘60 days’’; and 

11 (2) modify the Federal Employees Compensa12 tion Act manual to reflect the changes to such sec13 tion made by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph 

14 (1). 

Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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