I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2195 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a 

registry for certain individuals who may have been exposed to perand polyfluoroalkyl substances due to the environmental release of aqueous film-forming foam on military installations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. KUSTER

of New Hampshire) 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 require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 

and maintain a registry for certain individuals who may 

have been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances 

due to the environmental release of aqueous film-forming 

foam on military installations. 

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 ‘‘PFAS Registry Act 

5 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REGISTRY OF INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO PER- AND 

2 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES ON MILI3 TARY INSTALLATIONS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

8 (A) establish and maintain a registry for 

9 eligible individuals who may have been exposed 

10 to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (in this 

11 section referred to as ‘‘PFAS’’) due to the envi12 ronmental release of aqueous film-forming foam 

13 (in this section referred to as ‘‘AFFF’’) on mili14 tary installations to meet the requirements of 

15 military specification MIL–F–24385F; 

16 (B) include any information in such reg17 istry that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs de18 termines necessary to ascertain and monitor the 

19 health effects of the exposure of members of the 

20 Armed Forces to PFAS associated with AFFF; 

21 (C) develop a public information campaign 

22 to inform eligible individuals about the registry, 

23 including how to register and the benefits of 

24 registering; and 

25 (D) periodically notify eligible individuals 

26 of significant developments in the study and 


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1 treatment of conditions associated with expo2 sure to PFAS. 

3 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs shall coordinate with the Secretary of 

5 Defense in carrying out paragraph (1). 

6 (b) REPORTS.— 

7 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than two years 

8 after the date on which the registry under subsection 

9 (a) is established, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall submit to Congress an initial report containing 

11 the following: 

12 (A) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

13 actions taken by the Secretary of Veterans Af14 fairs and the Secretary of Defense to collect 

15 and maintain information on the health effects 

16 of exposure to PFAS. 

17 (B) Recommendations to improve the col18 lection and maintenance of such information. 

19 (C) Using established and previously pub20 lished epidemiological studies, recommendations 

21 regarding the most effective and prudent means 

22 of addressing the medical needs of eligible indi23 viduals with respect to exposure to PFAS. 

24 (2) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than five 

25 years after submitting the initial report under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2195.IH H2195

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1 graph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

2 submit to Congress a follow-up report containing the 

3 following: 

4 (A) An update to the initial report sub5 mitted under paragraph (1). 

6 (B) An assessment of whether and to what 

7 degree the content of the registry established 

8 under subsection (a) is current and scientif9 ically up-to-date. 

10 (3) INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZA11 TION.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter 

12 into an agreement with an independent scientific or13 ganization to prepare the reports under paragraphs 

14 (1) and (2). 

15 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL EXPO16 SURES TO BE INCLUDED.—Not later than five years after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every five years 

18 thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consulta19 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator 

20 of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall submit to 

21 Congress recommendations for additional chemicals with 

22 respect to which individuals exposed to such chemicals 

23 should be included in the registry established under sub24 section (a). 


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1 (d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec2 tion, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means any individual 

3 who, on or after a date specified by the Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs through regulations, served or is serving in 

5 the Armed Forces at a military installation where AFFF 

6 was used or at another location of the Department of De7 fense where AFFF was used. 

Æ 


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