I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4477 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical surveillance system 

to identify members of the Armed Forces exposed to chemical hazards 

resulting from the disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prohibit 

the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner that would 

produce dangerous levels of toxins, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2010 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself and Ms. SHEA-PORTER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical 

surveillance system to identify members of the Armed 

Forces exposed to chemical hazards resulting from the 

disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prohibit 

the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner 

that would produce dangerous levels of toxins, 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 ‘‘Military Personnel 

5 Toxic Exposure Registry Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF HEALTH EFFECTS RELATED TO 

2 HAZARDOUS DISPOSAL SITE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 

4 shall establish and administer a system to identify mem5 bers of the Armed Forces who were potentially exposed 

6 to a hazardous disposal site and any negative health ef7 fects that may be related to such exposure. The Secretary 

8 shall administer such system using existing medical sur9 veillance systems. 

10 (b) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary learns that a 

11 member of the Armed Forces was potentially exposed to 

12 a hazardous disposal site, the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) give notice of the potential exposure to— 

14 (A) the member; 

15 (B) the commanding officer of the unit to 

16 which the member belonged at the time of po17 tential exposure; and 

18 (C) in the case of a member of the Na19 tional Guard, the Adjutant General of the State 

20 concerned; and 

21 (2) inform the member that the member may be 

22 included in the system required by subsection (a). 

23 (c) REGISTRATION.—For each member of the Armed 

24 Forces notified of a potential exposure under subsection 

25 (b), the Secretary shall collect information for purposes 


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1 of the system required by subsection (a). Such information 

2 shall include— 

3 (1) the locations where the member was de4 ployed, including the dates of such deployment; 

5 (2) the approximate distance of the living and 

6 working quarters of the member from a hazardous 

7 disposal site; 

8 (3) the types of materials disposed of at the 

9 site; 

10 (4) the length of time the member was exposed 

11 to such site; 

12 (5) any symptoms experienced by the member 

13 while deployed; 

14 (6) any symptoms the member experiences at 

15 the time of submitting such information to the Sec16 retary; and 

17 (7) other information the Secretary considers 

18 appropriate. 

19 (d) EXAMINATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

20 date on which the Secretary learns that a member of the 

21 Armed Forces was potentially exposed to a hazardous dis22 posal site, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) provide such member— 

24 (A) a complete physical examination; and 


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1 (B) consultation and counseling with re2 spect to the results of such physical examina3 tion; and 

4 (2) ensure that documentation of the potential 

5 exposure is placed in the medical record of the mem6 ber maintained by the Department of Defense. 

7 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

9 submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Sen10 ate and House of Representatives a report describing— 

11 (1) the status of implementing the system re12 quired by subsection (a); and 

13 (2) the incidences of illnesses among members 

14 of the Armed Forces notified under subsection (b) 

15 and whether such illnesses may have been caused by 

16 exposure to a hazardous disposal site. 

17 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) The term ‘‘existing medical surveillance sys19 tems’’ means medical surveillance systems and other 

20 data in the possession of the Secretary as of the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) The term ‘‘exposure to a hazardous disposal 

23 site’’ includes the following: 

24 (A) Exposure to the fumes emanating from 

25 a hazardous disposal site for— 


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1 (i) more than six months, in the case 

2 of a member of the Armed Forces who was 

3 deployed to a military installation that 

4 made use of open pits to burn waste; or 

5 (ii) any period of time when exposure 

6 to such fumes was intensive. 

7 (B) A situation where a member of the 

8 Armed Forces with service-related health prob9 lems demonstrates significant exposure to 

10 fumes emanating from a hazardous disposal 

11 site. 

12 (3) The term ‘‘hazardous disposal site’’ means 

13 a location where hazardous methods of disposing of 

14 mass amounts of waste were used during Operation 

15 Enduring Freedom or Operations Iraqi Freedom, in16 cluding the use of open pits to burn waste. 

17 (4) The term ‘‘member of the Armed Forces’’ 

18 includes former members of the Armed Forces. 

19 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL OF COVERED WASTE IN 

20 OPEN AIR BURN PITS. 

21 (a) INCLUSION OF SOLID WASTE CONTAINING PLAS22 TICS IN DEFINITION OF COVERED WASTE.—Subsection 

23 (c)(2) of section 317 of the National Defense Authoriza24 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2010 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

2 (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol4 lowing new subparagraph (B): 

5 ‘‘(B) solid waste containing plastics;’’. 

6 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON PAST USE OF

7 OPEN AIR BURN PITS IN REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Sub8 section (b) of such section is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

10 (7) as paragraphs (3) through (8), respectively; and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol12 lowing new paragraph (2): 

13 ‘‘(2) an explanation of the situations and cir14 cumstances under which open-air burn pits were 

15 used to dispose of waste during military exercises 

16 and operations worldwide during the period begin17 ning on September 11, 2001, and ending on the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act;’’. 

Æ 


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