I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4086 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to determine presumptions of 

service connection for illnesses associated with open burn pits, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2019 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mr. RUIZ) 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 direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to determine 

presumptions of service connection for illnesses associated with open burn pits, 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 ‘‘Protection for Vet5 erans’ Burn Pit Exposure Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE 

2 CONNECTION FOR ILLNESSES ASSOCIATED 

3 WITH OPEN BURN PITS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Not later 

6 than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary 

7 of Veterans Affairs receives the results of a covered 

8 study, the Secretary shall make a determination 

9 whether a positive association exists between— 

10 (A) the exposure of humans to toxic air11 borne chemicals and fumes caused by open air 

12 burn pits and other airborne hazards; and 

13 (B) the occurrence of a diagnosed illness in 

14 humans. 

15 (2) BASES OF DETERMINATION.—In making a 

16 determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

17 shall consider— 

18 (A) whether the evidence is statistically 

19 significant, capable of replication, and able to 

20 withstand peer review demonstrating that there 

21 is positive association between the exposure and 

22 the occurrence of a diagnosed illness; 

23 (B) the results of a covered study; and 

24 (C) all other sound medical and scientific 

25 evidence available to the Secretary. 


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1 (3) PRESUMPTION.—If the Secretary deter2 mines that a positive association exists between ex3 posure and a diagnosed illness pursuant to para4 graph (1), the Secretary shall prescribe regulations 

5 providing that— 

6 (A) a presumption of service connection is 

7 warranted for the illness covered by that deter8 mination if the illness first becomes manifest 

9 within the period, if any, prescribed in such 

10 regulations in a covered veteran; and 

11 (B) such covered veteran shall be pre12 sumed to have been exposed to toxic airborne 

13 chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits 

14 unless there is conclusive evidence to establish 

15 that— 

16 (i) the covered veteran was not ex17 posed to toxic airborne chemicals and 

18 fumes caused by open burn pits in the 

19 course of service in the Armed Forces de20 scribed in subsection (c)(1); or 

21 (ii) the illness first became manifest 

22 prior to the covered veteran’s exposure. 

23 (4) SUBMISSION.—Upon the date on which the 

24 Secretary makes the determination under paragraph 

25 (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 


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1 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

2 and the Senate an explanation of such determina3 tion. 

4 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

5 (1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.— 

6 (A) TIMING.—If the Secretary determines 

7 under subsection (a)(1) that a presumption of 

8 service connection is warranted for an illness, 

9 the Secretary shall, not later than 180 days 

10 after making such determination— 

11 (i) issue proposed regulations setting 

12 forth the determination; or 

13 (ii) submit the initial report under 

14 subparagraph (B). 

15 (B) REPORTS.—If the Secretary does not 

16 issue proposed regulations by the deadline es17 tablished in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

18 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 

19 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

20 Senate a report on the status of such proposed 

21 regulations. On a quarterly basis thereafter 

22 until the date on which the Secretary issues 

23 such proposed regulations, the Secretary shall 

24 submit to such committees an update on such 

25 status. 


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1 (2) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date on which the Secretary issues 

3 any proposed regulations under this subsection, the 

4 Secretary shall prescribe final regulations. Such reg5 ulations shall be effective on the date of issuance. 

6 (3) PRESUMPTION NOT WARRANTED.— 

7 (A) PUBLICATION.—If the Secretary deter8 mines under subsection (a) that a presumption 

9 of service connection is not warranted for an ill10 ness, or proposes to remove a previously estab11 lished presumption, the Secretary shall publish 

12 in the Federal Register a notice of that deter13 mination not later than 180 days after making 

14 the determination. The notice shall include an 

15 explanation of the evidence and scientific basis 

16 for that determination. 

17 (B) REMOVAL OF PREVIOUS PRESUMP18 TION.—If an illness already presumed to be 

19 service connected under this section is subject 

20 to a notice published under subparagraph (A), 

21 the Secretary shall issue proposed regulations 

22 removing the presumption for the illness not 

23 later than 180 days after publication of such 

24 notice. 


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1 (4) EFFECT OF REMOVAL.—Whenever the pre2 sumption of service connection for an illness under 

3 this section is removed under this subsection— 

4 (A) a veteran who was awarded compensa5 tion for the illness on the basis of the presump6 tion before the effective date of the removal of 

7 the presumption shall continue to be entitled to 

8 receive compensation on that basis; and 

9 (B) a survivor of a veteran who was 

10 awarded dependency and indemnity compensa11 tion for the death of a veteran resulting from 

12 the illness on the basis of the presumption be13 fore that date shall continue to be entitled to 

14 receive dependency and indemnity compensation 

15 on that basis. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF BENEFIT AWARDS.—The 

17 effective date of any benefit awarded by reason of this sec18 tion shall be determined in accordance with section 5110 

19 of title 38, United States Code, but shall in no case be 

20 earlier than the effective date of the final regulations pre21 scribed pursuant to subsection (b)(2). 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘covered study’’ includes— 

24 (A) the study conducted by the National 

25 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MediVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086

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1 cine titled ‘‘Respiratory Health Effects of Air2 borne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest 

3 Asia Theater of Military Operations’’; and 

4 (B) any subsequent study conducted by the 

5 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

6 and Medicine regarding the effects of exposure 

7 of humans to toxic airborne chemicals and 

8 fumes caused by open air burn pits and other 

9 airborne hazards. 

10 (2) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet11 eran who, on or after September 11, 2001— 

12 (A) was deployed in support of a contin13 gency operation while serving in the Armed 

14 Forces; and 

15 (B) during such deployment, was based or 

16 stationed at a location where an open burn pit 

17 was used. 

18 (3) The term ‘‘open burn pit’’ means an area 

19 of land that— 

20 (A) is designated by the Secretary of De21 fense to be used for disposing of solid waste by 

22 burning in the outdoor air; and 

23 (B) does not contain a commercially manu24 factured incinerator or other equipment specifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4086.IH H4086

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1 cally designed and manufactured for the burn2 ing of solid waste. 

3 SEC. 3. ACCESS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF 

4 SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE TO 

5 INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF 

6 DEFENSE. 

7 Upon request by the National Academies of Sciences, 

8 Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as 

9 the ‘‘Academies’’), the Secretary of Defense shall provide 

10 to the Academies information in the possession of the De11 partment of Defense that the Academies determine useful 

12 in performing a covered study, as that term is defined in 

13 section 2(d). Such information includes, at a minimum, 

14 all environmental sampling data relative to any location 

15 included in the study. 

Æ 


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