II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1924 

To amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to create a presumption 

that a disability or death of a Federal employee in fire protection activities caused by any of certain diseases is the result of the performance 

of such employee’s duty. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2007 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to 

create a presumption that a disability or death of a 

Federal employee in fire protection activities caused by 

any of certain diseases is the result of the performance 

of such employee’s duty. 

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 ‘‘Federal Firefighters 

5 Fairness Act of 2007’’. 


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•S 1924 IS

1 SEC. 2. CERTAIN DISEASES PRESUMED TO BE WORK-RE2 LATED CAUSE OF DISABILITY OR DEATH FOR 

3 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN FIRE PROTECTION 

4 ACTIVITIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8102 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c)(1) In this subsection, the term ‘employee in fire 

9 protection activities’ means an employee, including a fire10 fighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue 

11 worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous materials 

12 worker, who— 

13 ‘‘(A) is trained in fire suppression, has the legal 

14 authority and responsibility to engage in fire sup15 pression; and 

16 ‘‘(B) is engaged in the prevention, control, and 

17 extinguishment of fires or response to emergency sit18 uations where life, property, or the environment is at 

19 risk. 

20 ‘‘(2) In the case of an employee in fire protection ac21 tivities who has a disease specified in paragraph (3), the 

22 employee’s disease shall be presumed to be proximately 

23 caused by the employment of such employee. A disability 

24 or death of an employee in fire protection activities due 

25 to such a disease shall be presumed to result from personal 

26 injury sustained while in the performance of such employVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:41 Aug 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924

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1 ee’s duty. Such presumptions may be rebutted by a pre2 ponderance of the evidence. 

3 ‘‘(3) The diseases specified in this paragraph are the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Heart disease. 

6 ‘‘(B) Lung disease. 

7 ‘‘(C) The following cancers: 

8 ‘‘(i) Brain cancer. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic sys10 tems. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Leukemia. 

12 ‘‘(iv) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin’s dis13 ease). 

14 ‘‘(v) Multiple myeloma. 

15 ‘‘(vi) Bladder cancer. 

16 ‘‘(vii) Kidney cancer. 

17 ‘‘(viii) Prostate cancer. 

18 ‘‘(ix) Testicular cancer. 

19 ‘‘(x) Cancer of the digestive system. 

20 ‘‘(xi) Colon cancer. 

21 ‘‘(xii) Liver cancer. 

22 ‘‘(xiii) Skin cancer. 

23 ‘‘(xiv) Breast cancer. 

24 ‘‘(xv) Lung cancer. 

25 ‘‘(D) The following infectious diseases: 


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1 ‘‘(i) Tuberculosis. 

2 ‘‘(ii) Hepatitis A, B, or C. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Human immunodeficiency virus 

4 (HIV). 

5 ‘‘(iv) Diphtheria. 

6 ‘‘(v) Hemorrhagic fever. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Meningococcal disease. 

8 ‘‘(vii) Rabies. 

9 ‘‘(viii) Any uncommon infectious disease 

10 the contraction of which the Secretary of Labor 

11 determines to be related to the hazards to 

12 which an employee in fire protection activities 

13 may be subject.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 this section applies to an injury that is first diagnosed, 

16 or a death that occurs, on or after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act. 

Æ 


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