I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1279 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a center 

of excellence in the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and 

rehabilitation of health conditions relating to exposure to burn pits. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2017 

Ms. ESTY (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, and Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 

on Armed Services, 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 amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a center of excellence in the 

prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and rehabilitation of health conditions relating to exposure to burn 

pits. 

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 ‘‘Helping Veterans Ex3 posed to Burn Pits Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN 

5 PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, MITIGATION, 

6 TREATMENT, AND REHABILITATION OF 

7 HEALTH CONDITIONS RELATING TO EXPO8 SURE TO BURN PITS AND OTHER ENVIRON9 MENTAL EXPOSURES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of 

11 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 7330C. Center of excellence in prevention, diag14 nosis, mitigation, treatment, and rehabili15 tation of health conditions relating to ex16 posure to burn pits and other environ17 mental exposures 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary shall es19 tablish within the Department a center of excellence in 

20 the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and reha21 bilitation of health conditions relating to exposure to burn 

22 pits and other environmental exposures to carry out the 

23 responsibilities specified in subsection (d). 

24 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall establish the center of excel25 lence under paragraph (1) through the use of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the directives and policies of the Depart2 ment in effect as of the date of the enactment of the 

3 Helping Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits Act; 

4 ‘‘(B) the recommendations of the Comptroller 

5 General of the United States and Inspector General 

6 of the Department in effect as of such date; and 

7 ‘‘(C) guidance issued by the Secretary of De8 fense under section 313 of the National Defense Au9 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 

10 112–239; 10 U.S.C. 1074 note). 

11 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF SITE.—In selecting the site for 

12 the center of excellence established under subsection (a), 

13 the Secretary shall consider entities that— 

14 ‘‘(1) are equipped with the specialized equip15 ment needed to study, diagnose, and treat health 

16 conditions relating to exposure to burn pits and 

17 other environmental exposures; 

18 ‘‘(2) have a track record of publishing informa19 tion relating to post-deployment health exposures 

20 among veterans who served in the Armed Forces in 

21 support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 

22 Enduring Freedom; 

23 ‘‘(3) have access to animal models and in vitro 

24 models of dust immunology and lung injury con25 sistent with the injuries of members of the Armed 


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1 Forces who served in support of Operation Iraqi 

2 Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom; and 

3 ‘‘(4) have expertise in allergy, immunology, and 

4 pulmonary diseases. 

5 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 

6 that the center of excellence collaborates, to the maximum 

7 extent practicable, with the Secretary of Defense, institu8 tions of higher education, and other appropriate public 

9 and private entities (including international entities) to 

10 carry out the responsibilities specified in subsection (d). 

11 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The center of excellence 

12 shall have the following responsibilities: 

13 ‘‘(1) To provide for the development, testing, 

14 and dissemination within the Department of best 

15 practices for the treatment of health conditions re16 lating to exposure to burn pits and other environ17 mental exposures. 

18 ‘‘(2) To provide guidance for the health systems 

19 of the Department and the Department of Defense 

20 in determining the personnel required to provide 

21 quality health care for members of the Armed 

22 Forces and veterans with health conditions relating 

23 to exposure to burn pits and other environmental ex24 posures. 


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1 ‘‘(3) To establish, implement, and oversee a 

2 comprehensive program to train health professionals 

3 of the Department and the Department of Defense 

4 in the treatment of health conditions relating to ex5 posure to burn pits and other environmental expo6 sures. 

7 ‘‘(4) To facilitate advancements in the study of 

8 the short-term and long-term effects of exposure to 

9 burn pits and other environmental exposures. 

10 ‘‘(5) To disseminate within medical facilities of 

11 the Department best practices for training health 

12 professionals with respect to health conditions relat13 ing to exposure to burn pits and other environmental 

14 exposures. 

15 ‘‘(6) To conduct basic science and translational 

16 research on health conditions relating to exposure to 

17 burn pits and other environmental exposures for the 

18 purposes of understanding the etiology of such con19 ditions and developing preventive interventions and 

20 new treatments. 

21 ‘‘(7) To provide medical treatment to veterans 

22 diagnosed with medical conditions specific to expo23 sure to burn pits and other environmental exposures. 

24 ‘‘(e) USE OF BURN PITS REGISTRY DATA.—In car25 rying out its responsibilities under subsection (d), the cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1279.IH H1279

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1 ter of excellence shall have access to and make use of the 

2 data accumulated by the burn pits registry established 

3 under section 201 of the Dignified Burial and Other Vet4 erans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 

5 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 note). 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) The term ‘burn pit’ means an area of land 

8 located in Afghanistan or Iraq that— 

9 ‘‘(A) is designated by the Secretary of De10 fense to be used for disposing solid waste by 

11 burning in the outdoor air; and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not contain a commercially man13 ufactured incinerator or other equipment spe14 cifically designed and manufactured for the 

15 burning of solid waste. 

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘other environmental exposures’ 

17 means exposure to environmental hazards, including 

18 burn pits, dust or sand, hazardous materials, and 

19 waste at any site in Afghanistan or Iraq that emits 

20 smoke containing pollutants present in the environ21 ment or smoke from fires or explosions. 

22 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—(1) There is authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this section $4,100,000 for each of 

24 the first five fiscal years beginning after the date of the 


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1 enactment of the Helping Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits 

2 Act. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may award additional amounts on 

4 a competitive basis to the center of excellence from the 

5 medical and prosthetics research account of the Depart6 ment for the purpose of conducting research under this 

7 section relating to clinical and scientific investigation.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 

10 by inserting after the item relating to section 7330B the 

11 following new item: 

‘‘7330C. Center of excellence in prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, 

and rehabilitation of health conditions relating to exposure to 

burn pits and other environmental exposures.’’. 

Æ 


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