I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6946 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a compensation fund for 

military firefighters exposed to PFAS. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2024 

Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a 

compensation fund for military firefighters exposed to PFAS. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. COMPENSATION FUND FOR MILITARY FIRE4 FIGHTERS. 

5 (a) PROGRAM AND FUND ESTABLISHED.—Not later 

6 than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

7 the Secretary of Defense shall establish a program and 

8 fund to be known as the ‘‘Military Firefighters Compensa9 tion Fund’’. 

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1 (b) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of the 

2 compensation program is to provide for timely, uniform, 

3 and adequate compensation to current and former military 

4 firefighters and, where applicable, survivors of such em5 ployees, suffering from illnesses incurred by such employ6 ees in the performance of duty for the Department of De7 fense and certain of its contractors and subcontractors due 

8 to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or 

9 PFAS. 

10 (c) PFAS EXPOSURE.—Current and former military 

11 firefighters shall, in the absence of substantial evidence 

12 to the contrary, be determined to have been exposed to 

13 PFAS in the performance of duty for the purposes of the 

14 compensation program if such firefighter was employed at 

15 a military installation, facility of the National Guard, of 

16 formerly used defense site during a period when PFAS 

17 would have been present at such facility. 

18 (d) COMPENSATION PROVIDED.—A current or former 

19 military firefighter, or the survivor of such firefighter if 

20 the firefighter is deceased, shall receive compensation for 

21 the disability or death of that employee from that employ22 ee’s occupational illness. 

23 (e) PAYMENTS IN THE CASE OF DECEASED PER24 SONS.— 

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1 (1) CLAIM FILED.—In the case of a military 

2 firefighter who is deceased at the time of payment 

3 of compensation under this section, whether or not 

4 the death is the result of the firefighter’s occupa5 tional illness, such payment may be made only as 

6 follows: 

7 (A) If the military firefighter is survived 

8 by a spouse who is living at the time of pay9 ment, such payment shall be made to such sur10 viving spouse. 

11 (B) If there is no surviving spouse de12 scribed in subparagraph (A), such payment 

13 shall be made in equal shares to all children of 

14 the military firefighter who are living at the 

15 time of payment. 

16 (C) If there is no surviving spouse de17 scribed in subparagraph (A) and if there are no 

18 children described in subparagraph (B), such 

19 payment shall be made in equal shares to the 

20 parents of the military firefighter who are living 

21 at the time of payment. 

22 (D) If there is no surviving spouse de23 scribed in subparagraph (A), and if there are 

24 no children described in subparagraph (B) or 

25 parents described in subparagraph (C), such 

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1 payment shall be made in equal shares to all 

2 grandchildren of the military firefighter who are 

3 living at the time of payment. 

4 (E) If there is no surviving spouse de5 scribed in subparagraph (A), and if there are 

6 no children described in subparagraph (B), par7 ents described in subparagraph (C), or grand8 children described in subparagraph (D), then 

9 such payment shall be made in equal shares to 

10 the grandparents of the military firefighter who 

11 are living at the time of payment. 

12 (F) Notwithstanding the other provisions 

13 of this paragraph, if there is— 

14 (i) a surviving spouse described in 

15 subparagraph (A); and 

16 (ii) at least one child of the military 

17 firefighter who is living and a minor at the 

18 time of payment and who is not a recog19 nized natural child or adopted child of 

20 such surviving spouse, then half of such 

21 payment shall be made to such surviving 

22 spouse, and the other half of such payment 

23 shall be made in equal shares to each child 

24 of the military firefighter who is living and 

25 a minor at the time of payment. 

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1 (2) BEFORE FILING OF CLAIM.—If a current or 

2 former military firefighter eligible for payment dies 

3 before filing a claim under this section, a survivor of 

4 that firefighter who may receive payment under 

5 paragraph (1) may file a claim for such payment. 

6 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 (A) The term ‘‘child’’ includes a recognized 

8 natural child, a stepchild who lived with an in9 dividual in a regular parent-child relationship, 

10 or an adopted child. 

11 (B) The term ‘‘grandchild’’ means the 

12 child of a child of an individual. 

13 (C) The term ‘‘grandparent’’ means the 

14 parent of a parent of an individual. 

15 (D) The term ‘‘parent’’ includes fathers 

16 and mothers through adoption. 

17 (E) The term ‘‘spouse’’ means the wife or 

18 husband of a deceased individual who was mar19 ried to such individual for at least one year im20 mediately before such death. 

21 (f) MEDICAL BENEFITS PROVIDED.—The Secretary 

22 shall furnish, to an individual receiving medical benefits 

23 under this section for an illness, the services, appliances, 

24 and supplies prescribed or recommended by a qualified 

25 physician for that illness. 

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1 (g) TRANSPORTATION AND EXPENSES.—The indi2 vidual may be furnished necessary and reasonable trans3 portation and expenses incident to the securing of such 

4 services, appliances, and supplies. 

5 (h) COMMENCEMENT OF BENEFITS.—An individual 

6 receiving benefits under this section shall be furnished 

7 those benefits as of the date on which that individual sub8 mitted the claim for those benefits in accordance with this 

9 section. 

10 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘military firefighter’’ means a 

12 member of the Armed Forces or a civilian employee 

13 of the Department of Defense whose military occu14 pational specialty or primary duties are fire suppres15 sion and prevention. 

16 (2) The term ‘‘military installation’’ has the 

17 meaning given such term in section 2801(c)(4) of 

18 title 10, United States Code. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘PFAS’’ means perfluoroalkyl 

20 and polyfluoroalkyl substances. 

21 (4) The term ‘‘perfluoroalkyl substance’’ means 

22 a man-made chemical of which all the carbon atoms 

23 are fully fluorinated carbon atoms. 

24 (5) The term ‘‘polyfluoroalkyl substance’’ 

25 means a man-made chemical with at least one fully 

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1 fluorinated carbon atom and at least one 

2 nonfluorinated carbon atom. 

3 (j) AUTHORIZATION FOR COMPENSATION FUND.— 

4 There is hereby authorized such sums as may be necessary 

5 to carry out this section. 

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