I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1645 

To construct a specialty hospital and toxins research center on the island 

of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 

Committees on Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To construct a specialty hospital and toxins research center 

on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, 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 ‘‘Vieques Recovery and 

5 Development Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto 

2 Rico, measuring approximately 21 miles long by 4 

3 miles wide, and located approximately 8 miles east 

4 of the main island of Puerto Rico. 

5 (2) Vieques is home to nearly 10,000 United 

6 States citizens, about 65 percent of whom live below 

7 the Federal poverty line. 

8 (3) The average monthly unemployment rate in 

9 Vieques was 21.9 percent in 2009, 17.7 percent in 

10 2010, and 15.7 percent in January 2011. 

11 (4) Residents of Vieques are currently served by 

12 a single primary and urgent care facility, the Susana 

13 Centeno Family Health Center, and residents must 

14 travel off-island to obtain many essential medical 

15 services, including most types of emergency care. 

16 (5) The predominant means of transporting 

17 passengers and goods between Vieques and the main 

18 island of Puerto Rico is by ferry boat service, and 

19 over the years the efficacy of this service has fre20 quently been disrupted by launch delays and me21 chanical problems. 

22 (6) The United States Navy maintained a pres23 ence on the eastern and western portions of the is24 land of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for nearly 60 years 

25 and used parts of the island as a training range durVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 ing those years, dropping over 80 million pounds of 

2 ordnance and employing virtually every type of am3 munition and ordnance available to the Navy since 

4 World War II. 

5 (7) Residents living on the areas expropriated 

6 by the Federal Government for the Navy’s use were 

7 required to relocate to the central portion of the is8 land. 

9 (8) According to records of the Federal Govern10 ment and testimony of Navy personnel, the island of 

11 Vieques, Puerto Rico, has high levels of heavy met12 als and has been exposed to chemical weapons and 

13 toxic chemicals, including napalm, agent orange, de14 pleted uranium, white phosphorous, arsenic, mer15 cury, lead, aluminum, cadmium, antimony, magne16 sium, TNT, PCBs, RDX, barium, cyanide, solvents, 

17 and pesticides. All of these weapons and chemicals 

18 have been deployed on the island of Vieques, Puerto 

19 Rico, in the interest of training for the defense of 

20 our Nation. 

21 (9) The Navy established the Vieques Naval 

22 Training Range in eastern Vieques, which consisted 

23 of two facilities: (1) the Atlantic Fleet Weapons 

24 Training Facility, which was used for ship-to-shore 

25 and aerial bombing exercises, and comprised a Live 


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1 Impact Area and a Secondary Impact Area; and (2) 

2 the Eastern Maneuver Area, which was used pri3 marily for ground-based training involving smaller 

4 munitions. 

5 (10) The Navy also established the Naval Am6 munition Support Detachment in western Vieques to 

7 store munitions used in its training in eastern 

8 Vieques and to dispose of obsolete or damaged muni9 tions. 

10 (11) In 2000, the Navy reported that it had 

11 used 1,862 tons of ordnance annually in training ex12 ercises on Vieques from 1983 to 1998. 

13 (12) In the National Defense Authorization Act 

14 for Fiscal Year 2001, Congress directed the Navy to 

15 close its facilities in western Vieques and to transfer 

16 approximately 4,000 acres of that property to the 

17 Municipality of Vieques, approximately 3,100 acres 

18 to the Department of the Interior, and approxi19 mately 800 acres to the Puerto Rico Conservation 

20 Trust. 

21 (13) In the National Defense Authorization Act 

22 for Fiscal Year 2002, Congress authorized the Navy 

23 to close its training facilities on eastern Vieques if 

24 equivalent training facilities were made available 

25 elsewhere and directed the Navy, upon closure, to 


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1 transfer the nearly 15,000 acres of that property to 

2 the Department of the Interior. 

3 (14) In January 2003, the Navy certified to 

4 Congress that alternative training sites had been 

5 identified and confirmed that training operations 

6 would cease on Vieques by May 2003. 

7 (15) The Navy continues to be responsible for 

8 administering and funding the cleanup of munitions 

9 and contamination that resulted from its past activi10 ties on Vieques, subject to oversight by the Environ11 mental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Puerto 

12 Rico Environmental Quality Board, an agency of the 

13 government of Puerto Rico. 

14 (16) Following the closure of the Navy’s facili15 ties in 2003, public concerns were raised as to how 

16 funding for the cleanup of Vieques would be 

17 prioritized among the hundreds of other contami18 nated military installations in the United States for 

19 which the Navy is responsible. 

20 (17) Factors motivating these concerns included 

21 the safety risks from explosives in munitions that 

22 had accumulated over decades of live-fire training, 

23 and the potential human health and ecological risks 

24 from contaminants that may have leached from muVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 nitions and other hazardous wastes into the environ2 ment. 

3 (18) In February 2005, EPA listed Vieques on 

4 the National Priorities List (NPL) of the most haz5 ardous sites in the United States, elevating its pri6 ority for federally-funded cleanup. 

7 (19) The NPL site listing includes the former 

8 Vieques Naval Training Range in eastern Vieques 

9 and the former Naval Ammunition Support Detach10 ment in western Vieques, as well as off-shore areas 

11 where munitions may have entered the water during 

12 past training exercises. 

13 (20) As of August 2010, the Navy had recov14 ered and destroyed 34,642 live munitions on 

15 Vieques. 

16 (21) Through the end of Fiscal Year 2009, the 

17 Navy had spent a total of $120.4 million to support 

18 the cleanup of its former facilities on Vieques, and 

19 had estimated that an additional $269.9 million 

20 would be needed from Fiscal Year 2010 into the fu21 ture to complete all planned cleanup actions. 

22 (22) The Navy has estimated that remedial ac23 tions to clean up unexploded ordnance, other dis24 carded munitions, and munitions constituents will 

25 not be completed until Fiscal Year 2020, and has esVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 timated that the entire cleanup of Vieques will not 

2 be completed until Fiscal Year 2045. 

3 (23) Although cleanup efforts are underway on 

4 Vieques, island residents have continued to express 

5 concern about the health impacts from long-term ex6 posure to environmental contamination as a result of 

7 decades of Navy operations on Vieques. 

8 (24) In 2007, after exhausting their adminis9 trative remedies, over 7,000 residents of Vieques 

10 brought a lawsuit against the United States under 

11 the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), seeking mone12 tary compensation for damages to their health that 

13 they claimed were caused by exposure to contamina14 tion resulting from past Navy operations. 

15 (25) The residents of Vieques have based their 

16 tort claims on EPA-documented past violations by 

17 the Navy of Clean Water Act discharge permit re18 quirements and other environmental statutes; find19 ings by independent researchers who have attributed 

20 elevated levels of contaminants on Vieques to dec21 ades of Navy operations; insufficient notification by 

22 the Navy of the release of these contaminants into 

23 the environment; and higher rates of occurrence of 

24 certain diseases among residents of Vieques, includVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 ing cancer, cirrhosis, hypertension, and diabetes, as 

2 reported by numerous researchers. 

3 (26) The residents of Vieques originally filed 

4 their claims in the United States District Court for 

5 the District of Columbia, which subsequently trans6 ferred those claims to the United States District 

7 Court for the District of Puerto Rico. 

8 (27) In July 2009, the United States filed a 

9 motion to dismiss the claims based on a lack of sub10 ject matter jurisdiction under the Federal Tort 

11 Claims Act (FTCA), asserting that the Navy’s train12 ing activities on Vieques fell within the Act’s ‘‘dis13 cretionary function exception’’, which is generally in14 tended to prevent the United States from being held 

15 liable for the performance of actions involved in car16 rying out the role of the Federal Government and 

17 which immunizes the United States for acts or omis18 sions of its employees that involve policy decisions, 

19 even when such decisions cause harm to United 

20 States Citizens. 

21 (28) In March 2010, a district court judge in 

22 the United States District Court for the District of 

23 Puerto Rico, in a brief sympathetic to the people of 

24 Vieques, nonetheless granted the United States’ mo25 tion to dismiss based on lack of subject matter jurisVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 diction, without ruling on the merits of plaintiffs’ 

2 substantive claims. 

3 (29) Plaintiffs have appealed that decision to 

4 the United States Court of Appeals for the First 

5 Circuit, and such appeal is currently pending. 

6 (30) In a report published in November 2009, 

7 the Puerto Rico Cancer Registry, then a part of the 

8 Puerto Rico Department of Health, found elevated 

9 levels of various cancers among residents of Vieques 

10 relative to cancer levels in mainland Puerto Rico. 

11 (31) Numerous other non-Federal studies of 

12 Vieques in the last 2 decades have found elevated 

13 levels of contaminants in the hair samples of Vieques 

14 residents, as well as in the island’s soil, food supply, 

15 and water. 

16 (32) A 1999 study conducted by Dr. Colon de 

17 Jorge reported that 34 percent of the residents of 

18 the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, have toxic levels 

19 of mercury in their blood stream, 55 percent are 

20 contaminated with lead, 69 percent are contami21 nated with arsenic, 69 percent are contaminated 

22 with cadmium, 90 percent are contaminated with 

23 aluminum, and 93 percent are contaminated with 

24 antimony. 


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1 (33) A February 2001 analysis by Carmen 

2 Ortiz Roque, MD., M.P.H., M.S. reported that the 

3 residents of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, when 

4 compared to the inhabitants of the main island of 

5 Puerto Rico, are suffering with 30 percent higher 

6 rates of cancer, 381 percent higher rates of hyper7 tension, 95 percent higher rates of cirrhosis of the 

8 liver, and 41 percent higher rates of diabetes. 

9 (34) Such analysis also reported that the infant 

10 mortality rate on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, 

11 when compared to infants born on the main island 

12 of Puerto Rico, is 25 percent higher. 

13 (35) The Agency for Toxic Substances and Dis14 ease Registry (ATSDR) conducted a series of Public 

15 Health Assessments on Vieques from 2001 through 

16 2003, examining the potential for human exposure 

17 to contaminants through the air, soil, drinking water 

18 supplies and groundwater, and consumption of fish 

19 and shellfish, and issued a finding of ‘‘No Apparent 

20 Public Health Hazard’’ for each of these pathways. 

21 (36) The ATSDR’s analytic methods and find22 ings with respect to Vieques have been subject to 

23 criticism. 

24 (37) Critics of ATSDR’s methods and findings 

25 include Dr. John P. Wargo, the Chair of the Yale 


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1 College Environmental Studies Program and an ex2 pert in assessing human exposure to hazardous sub3 stances. 

4 (38) Dr. Wargo, in his 2009 book entitled 

5 ‘‘Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That 

6 Protect Human Health’’, expressed the view that the 

7 Federal Government has yet to conduct a ‘‘scientif8 ically defensible study’’ with respect to environ9 mental contamination on Vieques and its possible 

10 health effects on the island’s residents. 

11 (39) Various non-Federal researchers who have 

12 studied Vieques in recent years have concluded that 

13 environmental contamination levels are higher than 

14 the ATSDR has reported, that the potential health 

15 hazards are therefore likely to be greater overall 

16 than the ATSDR has found, and that there is a 

17 more definitive link between the Navy’s past activi18 ties and the various health problems that have been 

19 cited by the island’s residents. 

20 (40) In March 2009, the House Committee on 

21 Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Inves22 tigations and Oversight held a hearing in which 

23 members of the Subcommittee questioned the 

24 ATSDR’s findings about Vieques, raising questions 

25 about the manner in which ATSDR conducted its 


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1 Public Health Assessments and the accuracy of the 

2 conclusions reached by the agency. 

3 (41) In the summer of 2009, ATSDR indicated 

4 that it would re-examine its prior findings in order 

5 to determine whether the available evidence revealed 

6 a greater risk of human exposure to contamination 

7 than previously understood. 

8 (42) In a November 2009 progress report, 

9 ATSDR announced that it expected to ‘‘change some 

10 of its earlier conclusions regarding the safety of en11 vironmental exposures on Vieques’’. 

12 (43) ATSDR further announced in its Novem13 ber 2009 progress report that it expected: to rec14 ommend biomonitoring to determine whether persons 

15 living on Vieques have been exposed to harmful 

16 chemicals, and, if so, at what levels those chemicals 

17 may be in their bodies; to work with health officials 

18 from Puerto Rico to conduct more in-depth evalua19 tion of health outcomes; to work with community 

20 members and health officials from Puerto Rico to 

21 issue science-based, precautionary recommendations 

22 to protect public health; and to work with partners 

23 in Puerto Rico’s health care community to encour24 age improved access to health care for residents of 

25 Vieques. 


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1 (44) In a February 2008 letter to the Governor 

2 of Puerto Rico, then-presidential candidate Barack 

3 Obama stated that his Administration would ‘‘closely 

4 monitor the health of the people of Vieques and pro5 mote appropriate remedies to health conditions 

6 caused by military activities conducted by the U.S. 

7 Navy on Vieques’’ and ‘‘work to evaluate and expand 

8 the existing land use plan for the former U.S. Navy 

9 lands to prioritize improving the lives of the Island’s 

10 residents and the sustainable economic development 

11 of the people of Vieques’’. 

12 (45) The March 2011 Report by the President’s 

13 Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status stated that 

14 ‘‘better health care facilities are an urgent need for 

15 the people of Vieques,’’ recommended that ‘‘HHS 

16 should work closely with the governments of Puerto 

17 Rico and Vieques to improve the quality of health 

18 care for the residents of Vieques,’’ and concluded 

19 that ‘‘a needs assessment should be completed to 

20 identify the most effective and efficient way to en21 sure that the people of Vieques receive the care, in22 cluding expertise in environmental medicine, that 

23 they need’’. 

24 (46) The March 2011 Report by the President’s 

25 Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status further stated 


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1 that ‘‘there is much that the Federal Government 

2 can do to improve the quality of life for the people 

3 of Vieques’’. 

4 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF A SPECIALTY HOSPITAL AND 

5 TOXINS RESEARCH CENTER. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, in consultation 

7 with the Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons 

8 of the University of Puerto Rico, Surgeon General of the 

9 Navy, Director of the National Institutes of Health, Direc10 tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ad11 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

12 other appropriate agencies (as determined by the Presi13 dent), shall acquire or convert real property located within 

14 the Municipality of Vieques for the purpose of con15 structing a specialty hospital and toxins research center 

16 that— 

17 (1) with respect to the specialty hospital, pro18 vides treatment for the sick and injured, including 

19 treatment of illnesses and diseases that are prevalent 

20 in the Municipality of Vieques, such as cancer, hy21 pertension, and heavy metals poisoning; and 

22 (2) with respect to the toxins research center— 

23 (A) studies the existence and prevalence of 

24 toxins in the Municipality of Vieques and the 


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1 impact of such toxins on plant, animal, and 

2 human life; 

3 (B) provides specific recommendations to 

4 the local government and residents of the Mu5 nicipality of Vieques regarding the prevention of 

6 exposure to harmful levels of toxins in air, 

7 water, and food supplies; and 

8 (C) coordinates research activities and 

9 shares findings on an ongoing basis with med10 ical personnel at the hospital constructed pursu11 ant to this subsection. 

12 (b) OPERATIONS.—The President, or his designee, 

13 shall operate and maintain the quality of the hospital and 

14 research center described in subsection (a) on a continuing 

15 basis. In operating such hospital and research center, the 

16 President, or his designee, shall consider the needs of the 

17 residents of the Municipality of Vieques, taking into ac18 count the chemical weapons, toxic chemicals, and heavy 

19 metals used by the Department of the Navy on the island 

20 of Vieques and the potential health impacts associated 

21 with use of such weapons, chemicals, and metals. 

22 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The President, or his designee, 

23 shall encourage partnerships with research universities for 

24 the purpose of building interest in researching— 


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1 (1) the many health problems experienced by 

2 the residents of the Municipality of Vieques; and 

3 (2) the long-term effect that the use of the 

4 weapons, chemicals, and heavy metals described in 

5 subsection (b) may have on such residents. 

6 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 there are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 

10 this section. 

11 (2) LIMITATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The 

12 President may not carry out the provisions of this 

13 section or section 4 until the administrative claims 

14 filed on May 18, 2009, by the Mayor of the Munici15 pality of Vieques for money damages against the De16 partment of the Navy have been settled or com17 promised pursuant to section 2672 of title 28, 

18 United States Code. 

19 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COM20 PREHENSIVE FEDERAL INTERAGENCY PLAN 

21 FOR THE MUNICIPALITY OF VIEQUES. 

22 (a) FEDERAL INTERAGENCY PLAN.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

25 shall develop a comprehensive Federal interagency 


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1 plan to ensure that the residents of the Municipality 

2 of Vieques benefit from improved access to Federal 

3 programs, Federal discretionary funding sources, 

4 and Federal agency technical assistance. 

5 (2) PLAN CONTENTS.—The Federal interagency 

6 plan described in paragraph (1) shall include— 

7 (A) a timeline, if appropriate, for the im8 plementation of any specific recommendations, 

9 with respect to the island of Vieques, provided 

10 by the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s 

11 Status; 

12 (B) additional specific recommendations 

13 and instructions to Federal agencies to utilize 

14 resources within their existing authority to as15 sist the people of the Municipality of Vieques in 

16 more expeditiously achieving their own eco17 nomic development, education, environmental, 

18 infrastructure, health care, and community 

19 goals, including a specific plan under which the 

20 Federal Government shall convey to the Munici21 pality all lands that are administered by the 

22 Secretary of the Interior as of the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act and are determined by 

24 the Administrator of the Environmental ProtecVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645

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1 tion Agency to be appropriate to be placed 

2 under control of the Municipality; and 

3 (C) a requirement for the development of 

4 and entering into memoranda of understandings 

5 between the Municipality and individual Federal 

6 agencies for the purpose of specifically defining 

7 duties and responsibilities with regard to the 

8 implementation of such plan. 

9 (b) APPOINTMENT OF OMBUDSMAN.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall appoint 

11 a Federal ombudsman for the Municipality of 

12 Vieques who shall monitor the development and im13 plementation of the Federal interagency plan de14 scribed in subsection (a). 

15 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

16 date of the completion of the Federal interagency 

17 plan described in subsection (a), the Federal om18 budsman shall submit to Congress a report that in19 cludes— 

20 (A) a status update on the implementation 

21 of such plan; and 

22 (B) recommendations for optimizing the 

23 impact of such plan. 


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1 SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED 

2 STATES FOR CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF THE IS3 LAND OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be awarded 

5 $10,000 for a claim made under this section if such indi6 vidual— 

7 (1) can demonstrate that he or she was a resi8 dent on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, during 

9 or after the Department of the Navy’s usage of 

10 chemical weapons, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals 

11 for military training operations on the island; and 

12 (2) filed a claim on or before the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act against the United States 

14 Government for personal injury, including illness or 

15 death arising from such usage of such weapons, 

16 chemicals, and metals. 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL AWARD AMOUNTS RELATED TO

18 SPECIFIED DISEASES.—Any individual who— 

19 (1) meets the requirements under subsection 

20 (a); and 

21 (2) submits written medical documentation that 

22 he or she contracted a specified disease during or 

23 after the Department of the Navy’s usage of chem24 ical weapons, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals for 

25 military training operations on the island of Vieques, 

26 Puerto Rico, 


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1 shall, in addition to the amount awarded under subsection 

2 (a), be awarded $50,000 (in the case of an individual who 

3 is diagnosed with 1 such disease), $80,000 (in the case 

4 of an individual who is diagnosed with 2 such diseases), 

5 or $110,000 (in the case of an individual who is diagnosed 

6 with 3 or more such diseases). 

7 (c) APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER.—The Presi8 dent shall appoint a special master to resolve expeditiously 

9 any disputes between the Attorney General and an indi10 vidual with respect to the determination of an award 

11 under this section. 

12 (d) GUIDANCE.—The Attorney General may use as 

13 guidance the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Pub14 lic Law 101–426) and any regulation prescribed to inter15 pret, implement, or administer such Act— 

16 (1) in determining whether a claim filed under 

17 this section meets the requirements of this section; 

18 (2) to establish procedures whereby individuals 

19 may submit claims for payments under this section; 

20 and 

21 (3) for any other reason that the Attorney Gen22 eral determines that such guidance is necessary, ex23 cept that the provisions of chapter 171 of title 28, 

24 United States Code (relating to settlements and 


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1 compromises of claims), shall apply to claims cog2 nizable under this section. 

3 (e) SOURCE OF AWARD.—A payment of an award 

4 made to an individual under this section shall be payable 

5 out of any moneys authorized for appropriation under sec6 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code, as if a settle7 ment had been entered into between claimants and the 

8 Government. 

9 (f) RELEASE.—The acceptance by an individual of a 

10 payment of an award under this section shall— 

11 (1) be final and conclusive on the individual; 

12 (2) be deemed to be in full settlement of the 

13 claim described in subsection (a)(2); and 

14 (3) constitute a complete release by the indi15 vidual of such claim against the United States and 

16 against any employee of the United States acting in 

17 the course of his employment who is involved in the 

18 matter giving rise to the claim. 

19 (g) SPECIFIED DISEASE DEFINED.—In this section, 

20 the term ‘‘specified disease’’ means any disease that is life 

21 threatening, chronic, or is related to heavy metals toxicity. 

Æ 


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