I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2558 

To authorize the provision of health care for certain individuals exposed 

to environmental hazards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, to establish an 

advisory board to examine exposures to environmental hazards at such 

Air Facility, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. SCHRADER (for himself and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 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 authorize the provision of health care for certain individuals exposed to environmental hazards at Atsugi Naval 

Air Facility, to establish an advisory board to examine 

exposures to environmental hazards at such Air Facility, 

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 ‘‘Examination of Expo5 sures to Environmental Hazards During Military Service 


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1 and Health Care for Atsugi Naval Air Facility Veterans 

2 and their Families Act of 2015’’. 

3 SEC. 2. ADVISORY BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL EXPO4 SURES AT ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense and 

6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly establish an 

7 advisory board (to be known as the ‘‘Advisory Board on 

8 Environmental Exposures at Atsugi Naval Air Facility’’) 

9 to provide expert advice to the Department of Defense and 

10 the Department of Veterans Affairs on matters relating 

11 to the exposure of current and former members of the 

12 Armed Forces and their dependants to environmental haz13 ards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, during the pe14 riod beginning in 1983, as determined by the Advisory 

15 Board, in which the air, water, or soil at Atsugi Naval 

16 Air Facility was contaminated due to an incinerator. 

17 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Board shall consist 

18 of seven members, appointed by the President, in consulta19 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

20 Veterans Affairs, of whom— 

21 (1) two members shall be members of military 

22 service organizations or organizations recognized by 

23 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 5902 

24 of title 38, United States Code (commonly referred 

25 to as ‘‘veterans service organizations’’); 


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1 (2) two members shall be officials of appro2 priate Federal agencies, other than the Department 

3 of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

4 with experience in environmental exposure or envi5 ronmental exposure assessments, health monitoring, 

6 or other relevant fields; and 

7 (3) three members shall be scientists who— 

8 (A) have backgrounds in environmental ex9 posure or environmental exposure assessments, 

10 health monitoring, or other relevant fields; and 

11 (B) are not officials or employees of the 

12 Federal Government. 

13 (c) APPOINTMENTS.— 

14 (1) DEADLINE.—All members of the Advisory 

15 Board shall be appointed not later than 90 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (2) DURATION.—Members of the Advisory 

18 Board shall serve for three-year terms, subject to re19 newal, but not longer than six years in total. 

20 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Advisory 

21 Board shall be filled in the manner in which the 

22 original appointment was made. 

23 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Advisory 

24 Board shall select from among its membership a Chair25 person to serve a one-year term. 


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1 (e) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

2 Board shall constitute a quorum. 

3 (f) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the call of 

4 the Chairperson. 

5 (g) COMPENSATION.— 

6 (1) OFFICERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERN7 MENT.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Board 

9 who is an employee of the Federal Government 

10 may not receive additional pay, allowances, or 

11 benefits by reason of the member’s service on 

12 the Board. 

13 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each such mem14 ber of the Board shall receive travel expenses, 

15 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac16 cordance with applicable provisions under sub17 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (2) OTHER MEMBERS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), a member of the Advisory 

22 Board who is not an employee of the Federal 

23 Government— 

24 (i) shall be paid compensation out of 

25 funds made available for the purposes of 


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1 this title at the daily equivalent of the 

2 highest rate payable under section 5332 of 

3 title 5, United States Code, for each day 

4 (including travel time) during which the 

5 member is engaged in the actual perform6 ance of duties as a member of the Advisory 

7 Board; and 

8 (ii) while away from the member’s 

9 home or regular place of business on nec10 essary travel in the actual performance of 

11 duties as a member of the Advisory Board, 

12 shall be paid per diem, travel, and trans13 portation expenses in the same manner as 

14 is provided under subchapter I of chapter 

15 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

16 (B) LIMITATION.—A member of the Advi17 sory Board may not be paid compensation 

18 under subparagraph (A)(ii) for more than 120 

19 days in any calendar year. 

20 (h) STAFF.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the Ad22 visory Board may, without regard to the civil service 

23 laws and regulations, appoint an executive director 

24 of the Advisory Board, who shall be a civilian em25 ployee of the Department of Defense, and such other 


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1 personnel as may be necessary to enable the Advi2 sory Board to perform its duties. The appointment 

3 of an executive director shall be subject to approval 

4 by the Advisory Board. 

5 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 

6 Advisory Board may fix the compensation of the ex7 ecutive director and other personnel without regard 

8 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III 

9 of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 

10 to classification of positions and General Schedule 

11 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu12 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 

13 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

14 under section 5316 of such title. 

15 (i) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

16 request of the Chairperson of the Advisory Board, the 

17 head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on 

18 a nonreimbursable basis, any personnel of that depart19 ment or agency to the Advisory Board to assist it in car20 rying out its duties. 

21 (j) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding section 14 of 

22 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the 

23 Advisory Board shall terminate on the date that is 12 

24 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES 

2 AT ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, JAPAN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of the Advisory 

4 Board established under section 3 is to consider and study 

5 cases of exposure of current and former members of the 

6 Armed Forces and their dependants to potential environ7 mental hazards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, dur8 ing the period beginning in 1983, as determined by the 

9 Advisory Board, in which the air, water, or soil at Atsugi 

10 Naval Air Facility was contaminated due to an inciner11 ator. The Advisory Board shall evaluate claims related to 

12 hazardous environmental exposures at such Air Facility 

13 that are submitted to the Advisory Board by members of 

14 the Armed Forces, veterans, dependants of members of 

15 the Armed Forces and veterans, veterans advocacy groups, 

16 and officials of the Department of Defense and the De17 partment of Veterans Affairs with responsibility or experi18 ence monitoring the health of current and former members 

19 of the Armed Forces. 

20 (b) CONSIDERATION OF EXPOSURE CLAIMS.—Not 

21 later than 180 days after receiving such a claim, the Advi22 sory Board shall consider the claim and take one of the 

23 following actions: 

24 (1) If the Advisory Board determines that fur25 ther consideration of the claim is necessary to ade26 quately assess the extent of exposure, the Advisory 


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1 Board shall convene a science review panel under 

2 subsection (c) to make such assessment and report 

3 its findings to the Advisory Board. 

4 (2) If the Advisory Board determines that the 

5 extent of exposure is insufficient to warrant further 

6 consideration of the claim, the Advisory Board shall 

7 make a recommendation of such finding to the Sec8 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs. 

10 (3) If the Advisory Board determines that dur11 ing the time period covered by such claim, members 

12 of the Armed Forces and their dependants were ex13 posed to sufficient amounts of environmental haz14 ards to warrant health care or compensation, the 

15 Advisory Board shall submit to the Secretary of De16 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs a report 

17 that includes the following: 

18 (A) Recommendations that— 

19 (i) such members should receive— 

20 (I) health care benefits through 

21 the Department of Defense specifi22 cally designed to address such expo23 sure, as determined by the Secretary 

24 of Defense; or 


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1 (II) veterans health care or com2 pensation specifically designed to ad3 dress such exposure; and 

4 (ii) dependants of such members 

5 should receive health care benefits through 

6 the Department of Defense specifically de7 signed to address such exposure, as deter8 mined by the Secretary of Defense, or fi9 nancial compensation, or both. 

10 (B) Information on cost and attributable 

11 exposure, as defined in regulations prescribed 

12 pursuant to this Act. 

13 (c) SCIENCE ADVISORY PANELS.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Advisory Board 

15 may convene a science advisory panel to assist in the 

16 consideration of a claim under this section. 

17 (2) COMPOSITION.—A science advisory panel 

18 convened under this subsection shall consist of seven 

19 scientists who— 

20 (A) have backgrounds in environmental ex21 posure or environmental exposure assessments, 

22 health monitoring, or other relevant fields; and 

23 (B) are not officials or employees of the 

24 Federal Government. 


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1 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

2 Advisory Board shall select from among the mem3 bership of a science advisory panel an individual to 

4 serve as Chairperson of the panel. The individual so 

5 selected shall serve a one-year term as Chairperson 

6 of the panel. 

7 (4) CONSIDERATION OF MILITARY EXPOSURE

8 CLAIMS.—Not later than 180 days after requested 

9 by the Advisory Board to review a claim, a science 

10 advisory panel shall submit a report to the Advisory 

11 Board with one of the following recommendations: 

12 (A) A recommendation that there is insuf13 ficient exposure to warrant further consider14 ation of the claim. 

15 (B) A recommendation that further study 

16 of the claim is necessary, to be carried out by, 

17 or under the direction of, the science advisory 

18 panel in coordination with the Advisory Board. 

19 (C) A recommendation that, during the 

20 time period covered by such claim, members of 

21 the Armed Forces and their dependants were 

22 exposed to a sufficient risk of exposure to envi23 ronmental hazards to warrant compensation or 

24 health care. 


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1 (d) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—The Advisory Board 

2 and each science advisory panel convened by the Advisory 

3 Board under subsection (c) are authorized to require by 

4 subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses nec5 essary to consider hazardous environmental exposure 

6 cases under this section. 

7 (e) COOPERATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

8 head of each relevant Federal agency, including the Ad9 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall 

10 cooperate fully with the Advisory Board and each science 

11 advisory panel convened by the Advisory Board under sub12 section (c) for purposes of considering hazardous environ13 mental exposure cases under this section. 

14 (f) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding section 14 of 

15 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the 

16 Advisory Board shall terminate on the date that is 12 

17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 4. HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR CERTAIN INDIVID19 UALS AT ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, 

20 JAPAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De23 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Af24 fairs, shall establish procedures for identifying and com25 piling a list of individuals exposed to environmental hazVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2558.IH H2558

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1 ards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, during the pe2 riod beginning in 1983, as determined by the Secretaries, 

3 in which the air, water, or soil at Atsugi Naval Air Facility 

4 was contaminated due to an incinerator. The list may in5 clude individuals who were exposed to such hazards as 

6 fetuses in utero. 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH CARE.—Individuals 

8 included on the list compiled under subsection (a) shall 

9 be immediately eligible for health care as follows: 

10 (1) Dependants shall be eligible for health care 

11 benefits through the Department of Defense, as de12 termined by the Secretary of Defense, for any condi13 tion, or any disability that is associated with such 

14 condition, that is associated with exposure to the 

15 contaminants in the air from an incinerator at 

16 Atsugi Naval Air Facility. 

17 (2) Current and former members of the Armed 

18 Forces shall be eligible to receive one of the fol19 lowing: 

20 (A) Health care benefits through the De21 partment of Defense specifically designed to ad22 dress such exposure, as determined by the Sec23 retary of Defense. 


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1 (B) Health care benefits through the De2 partment of Veterans Affairs specifically de3 signed to address such exposure. 

4 (c) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

6 compiling the list required under subsection (a), the 

7 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Sec8 retary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the Com9 mittee on Armed Services and the Committee on 

10 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

11 on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ 

12 Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on 

13 the compilation of such list. 

14 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

15 paragraph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) the evidence considered in selecting the 

17 covered period of air contamination at Atsugi 

18 Naval Air Facility; and 

19 (B) the criteria used to determine whether 

20 an individual was exposed to a contaminant 

21 during the covered period and the rationale for 

22 using those criteria. 

23 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 


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1 the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Sec2 retary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the Committee 

3 on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ Af4 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services 

5 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

6 Representatives a report on health care and other benefits 

7 provided under this Act. 

8 (b) CONTENT.—The report required under subsection 

9 (a) shall include the following: 

10 (1) A description of the classes of individuals 

11 who have received health care and other benefits 

12 under this Act during the reporting period. 

13 (2) A description of the health care benefits 

14 that have been provided to such individuals. 

15 (3) A description of the procedures used to 

16 identify individuals exposed to environmental haz17 ards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan. 

18 (4) Recommendations for any additional legisla19 tion necessary to implement this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 

21 The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet22 erans Affairs shall jointly prescribe regulations to carry 

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1 uted to hazardous environmental exposures at Atsugi 

2 Naval Air Facility, Japan. 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

5 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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