II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1779 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide health care to veterans 

exposed in the line of duty to occupational and environmental health 

chemical hazards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 14, 2009 

Mr. BAYH (for himself, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. BYRD, Mr. SPECTER, 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide health 

care to veterans exposed in the line of duty to occupational and environmental health chemical hazards, 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 ‘‘Health Care for Vet5 erans Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REVISION IN AUTHORITIES FOR PROVISION OF 

2 HEALTH CARE FOR CERTAIN VETERANS EX3 POSED TO OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRON4 MENTAL HEALTH CHEMICAL HAZARDS. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZED INPATIENT CARE.—Section 

6 1710(e) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(F) A veteran who was exposed in the line of duty 

10 to an occupational and environmental health chemical haz11 ard of particular concern is eligible (subject to paragraph 

12 (2)) for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home 

13 care under subsection (a)(2)(F) for any disability, not14 withstanding that there is insufficient medical evidence to 

15 conclude that such disability may be associated with such 

16 exposure.’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(C) In the case of a veteran described in paragraph 

20 (1)(F), hospital care, medical services, and nursing home 

21 care may not be provided under subsection (a)(2)(F) with 

22 respect to— 

23 ‘‘(i) a disability that is found, in accordance 

24 with guidelines issued by the Under Secretary for 

25 Health, to have resulted from a cause other than an 

26 exposure described in paragraph (1)(F); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a health effect for which the National 

2 Academy of Sciences, in a report, has determined 

3 that there is limited or suggestive evidence of the 

4 lack of a positive association between occurrence of 

5 the health consequences in humans and exposure to 

6 an occupational and environmental health chemical 

7 hazard of particular concern.’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(C) The term ‘occupational and environmental 

11 health chemical hazard of particular concern’ means 

12 an occupational and environmental health chemical 

13 hazard that the Secretary of Defense determines is 

14 of particular concern after considering appropriate 

15 guidelines and standards for exposure, including the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(i) The military exposure guidelines speci18 fied in the January 2002 Chemical Exposure 

19 Guidelines for Deployed Military Personnel, 

20 United States Army Center for Health Pro21 motion and Preventive Medicine Technical 

22 Guide 230 (or any successor technical guide 

23 that establishes military exposure guidelines for 

24 the assessment of the significance of field expoVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:00 Oct 15, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1779.IS S1779

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1 sures to occupational and environmental health 

2 chemical hazards during deployments). 

3 ‘‘(ii) Occupational and environmental 

4 health chemical exposure standards promul5 gated by the Occupational Safety and Health 

6 Administration.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1710(e)(4) 

8 of such title is amended in the matter before subparagraph 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘For purposes of this subsection—’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘In this subsection:’’. 

Æ 


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