I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7072 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress regularly 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2020 

Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which 

was 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, 

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) REQUIREMENT.—On a quarterly basis, the 

10 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7072.IH H7072

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1 propriate congressional committees a report on each 

2 case of burn pit exposure reported during the pre3 vious quarter. Each such report shall include, with 

4 respect to such cases, the following: 

5 (A) Notice of the case, including the med6 ical facility at which the case was reported. 

7 (B) Notice of, as available— 

8 (i) the enrollment status of the cov9 ered veteran with respect to the patient en10 rollment under section 1705(a) of title 38, 

11 United States Code; 

12 (ii) a summary of all health care visits 

13 by the covered veteran at the medical facil14 ity at which the case was reported that are 

15 related to the case; 

16 (iii) the demographics of the covered 

17 veteran, including age, sex, and race; 

18 (iv) identification of any non-Depart19 ment of Veterans Affairs health care bene20 fits that the covered veteran receives; 

21 (v) the Armed Force in which the cov22 ered veteran served and the rank of the 

23 covered veteran; 

24 (vi) the period in which the covered 

25 veteran served; 


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1 (vii) each location of an open burn pit 

2 from which the covered veteran was ex3 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 

4 fumes caused by open burn pits during 

5 such service; 

6 (viii) the medical diagnoses of the cov7 ered veteran and the treatment provided to 

8 the veteran; and 

9 (ix) whether the covered veteran is 

10 registered in the Airborne Hazards and 

11 Open Burn Pit Registry. 

12 (2) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec13 retary shall ensure that the reports submitted under 

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

15 veterans or contain other personally identifiable 

16 data. 

17 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON CASES.— 

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

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an20 nually thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

21 in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, shall 

22 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

23 a report detailing the following: 

24 (A) The total number of covered veterans. 


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1 (B) The total number of claims for dis2 ability compensation under chapter 11 of title 

3 38, United States Code, approved and denied 

4 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re5 spect to covered veterans, and for each such de6 nial, the rationale of the denial. 

7 (C) A comprehensive list of— 

8 (i) the conditions for which covered 

9 veterans seek treatment; and 

10 (ii) the locations of the open burn pits 

11 to which the covered veterans were exposed 

12 to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes 

13 caused by open burn pits. 

14 (D) Identification of any illnesses relating 

15 to exposure to open burn pits which formed the 

16 basis for the Secretary to award benefits, in17 cluding but not limited to, entitlement to serv18 ice connection or an increase in disability rat19 ing. 

20 (E) Any updates or trends with respect to 

21 the information described in subparagraphs (A), 

22 (B), and (C) that the Secretary determines ap23 propriate. 

24 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED IN FIRST REPORT.— 

25 The Secretary shall include in the first report under 


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1 paragraph (1) notifications containing the informa2 tion specified in subsection (a)(1) with respect to re3 ported cases of burn pit exposure made during the 

4 period beginning January 1, 1990, and ending on 

5 the day before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (c) INFORMATION REGARDING REGISTRY.—Section 

7 201(a) of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ Bene8 fits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 

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

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall ensure 

13 that a medical professional of the Department 

14 of Veterans Affairs informs a veteran of the 

15 registry under paragraph (1) if the veteran pre16 sents at a medical facility of the Department 

17 for treatment that the veteran describes as 

18 being related to, or ancillary to, the exposure of 

19 the veteran to toxic airborne chemicals and 

20 fumes caused by open burn pits. 

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

22 public regarding the number of participants in 

23 the registry under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

24 shall display such numbers by both State and 

25 by congressional district.’’. 


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1 (d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

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

3 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

4 to the appropriate congressional committees a report con5 taining an assessment of the effectiveness of any memo6 randum of understanding or memorandum of agreement 

7 entered into by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re8 spect to— 

9 (1) the processing of reported cases of burn pit 

10 exposure; and 

11 (2) the coordination of care and provision of 

12 health care relating to such cases at medical facili13 ties of the Department and at non-Department fa14 cilities. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

17 Burn Pit Registry’’ means the registry established 

18 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 

19 201 of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ 

20 Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 

21 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 note). 

22 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

2 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

3 House of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet8 eran described in paragraph (5). 

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

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

11 Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement 

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

13 note). 

14 (5) The term ‘‘reported case of burn pit expo15 sure’’ means each instance in which a veteran pre16 sents at a medical facility of the Department of Vet17 erans Affairs (or in a non-Department facility pur18 suant to section 1703 or 1703A of title 38, United 

19 States Code) for treatment that the veteran de20 scribes as being related to, or ancillary to, the expo21 sure of the veteran to toxic airborne chemicals and 

22 fumes caused by open burn pits at any time while 

23 serving in the Armed Forces. 

Æ 


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