II 

Calendar No. 377 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3378 

[Report No. 111–189] 

To authorize health care for certain individuals exposed to environmental 

hazards at Camp Lejeune and the Atsugi Naval Air Facility, to establish 

an advisory board to examine exposures to environmental hazards during 

military service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2010 

Mr. AKAKA, from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, reported the following 

original bill; which was read twice and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To authorize health care for certain individuals exposed to 

environmental hazards at Camp Lejeune and the Atsugi 

Naval Air Facility, to establish an advisory board to 

examine exposures to environmental hazards during military service, 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 Camp Lejeune and Atsugi Naval Air 

2 Facility Veterans and their Families Act of 2010’’. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 (a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

5 The term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ 

6 means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

8 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and 

9 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

10 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

11 Representatives. 

12 (b) MILITARY EXPOSURE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘mili14 tary exposure’’ means the exposure of an individual 

15 to an environmental hazard on a military installa16 tion. 

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not include 

18 the exposure of an individual to an environmental 

19 hazard at a military installation during a period in 

20 which imminent danger pay is authorized to be paid 

21 the individual under section 310 of title 37, United 

22 States Code. 

23 (c) MILITARY EXPOSURE CLAIM.—In this Act, the 

24 term ‘‘military exposure claim’’ means a formal claim of 


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1 a military exposure submitted by or on behalf of an indi2 vidual. 

3 SEC. 3. ADVISORY BOARD ON MILITARY EXPOSURES. 

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

5 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly establish an 

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

7 Military Exposures’’) to provide expert advice to the De8 partment of Defense and the Department of Veterans Af9 fairs on matters relating to exposures of current and 

10 former members of the Armed Forces and their depend11 ants to environmental hazards on military installations. 

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

13 of 7 members, appointed by the President, in consultation 

14 with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet15 erans Affairs, of whom— 

16 (1) two members shall be members of military 

17 service organizations or organizations recognized by 

18 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 5902 

19 of title 38, United States Code (commonly referred 

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

21 (2) two members shall be officials of appro22 priate Federal agencies, other than the Department 

23 of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

24 with experience in environmental exposure or enviVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:48 May 17, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3378.PCS S3378

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1 ronmental exposure assessments, health monitoring, 

2 or other relevant fields; and 

3 (3) three members shall be scientists who— 

4 (A) have backgrounds in environmental ex5 posure or environmental exposure assessments, 

6 health monitoring, or other relevant fields; and 

7 (B) are not officials or employees of the 

8 Federal Government. 

9 (c) APPOINTMENTS.— 

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

11 Board shall be appointed not later than 90 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (2) DURATION.—Members of the Advisory 

14 Board shall serve for 3-year terms, subject to re15 newal, but not longer than 6 years in total. 

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

17 Board shall be filled in the manner in which the 

18 original appointment was made. 

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

20 Board shall select from among its membership a Chair21 person to serve a 1-year term. 

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

23 Board shall constitute a quorum. 

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

25 the Chairperson. 


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1 (g) COMPENSATION.— 

2 (1) OFFICERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERN3 MENT.— 

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

5 who is an employee of the Federal Government 

6 may not receive additional pay, allowances, or 

7 benefits by reason of the member’s service on 

8 the Board. 

9 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each such mem10 ber of the Board shall receive travel expenses, 

11 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac12 cordance with applicable provisions under sub13 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (2) OTHER MEMBERS.— 

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

17 subparagraph (B), a member of the Advisory 

18 Board who is not an employee of the Federal 

19 Government— 

20 (i) shall be paid compensation out of 

21 funds made available for the purposes of 

22 this title at the daily equivalent of the 

23 highest rate payable under section 5332 of 

24 title 5, United States Code, for each day 

25 (including travel time) during which the 


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1 member is engaged in the actual perform2 ance of duties as a member of the Advisory 

3 Board; and 

4 (ii) while away from the member’s 

5 home or regular place of business on nec6 essary travel in the actual performance of 

7 duties as a member of the Advisory Board, 

8 shall be paid per diem, travel, and trans9 portation expenses in the same manner as 

10 is provided under subchapter I of chapter 

11 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

12 (B) LIMITATION.—A member of the Advi13 sory Board may not be paid compensation 

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

15 days in any calendar year. 

16 (h) STAFF.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the Ad18 visory Board may, without regard to the civil service 

19 laws and regulations, appoint an executive director 

20 of the Advisory Board, who shall be a civilian em21 ployee of the Department of Defense, and such other 

22 personnel as may be necessary to enable the Advi23 sory Board to perform its duties. The appointment 

24 of an executive director shall be subject to approval 

25 by the Advisory Board. 


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1 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 

2 Advisory Board may fix the compensation of the ex3 ecutive director and other personnel without regard 

4 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III 

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

6 to classification of positions and General Schedule 

7 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu8 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 

9 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

10 under section 5316 of such title. 

11 (i) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

12 request of the Chairperson of the Advisory Board, the 

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

14 a nonreimbursable basis, any personnel of that depart15 ment or agency to the Advisory Board to assist it in car16 rying out its duties. 

17 SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION OF MILITARY EXPOSURES. 

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

19 Board is to consider and study cases of exposure of cur20 rent and former members of the Armed forces and their 

21 dependants to potential environmental hazards at military 

22 installations. The Advisory Board shall evaluate military 

23 exposure claims that are submitted to the Advisory Board 

24 by members of the Armed Forces, veterans, dependants 

25 of members of the Armed Forces and veterans, veterans 


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1 advocacy groups, and officials of the Department of De2 fense and the Department of Veterans Affairs with re3 sponsibility or experience monitoring the health of current 

4 and former members of the Armed Forces. 

5 (b) CONSIDERATION OF EXPOSURE CLAIMS.—Not 

6 later than 180 days after receiving a military exposure 

7 claim, the Advisory Board shall consider the claim and 

8 take one of the following actions: 

9 (1) If the Advisory Board determines that fur10 ther consideration of the military exposure claim is 

11 necessary to adequately assess the extent of expo12 sure, the Advisory Board shall convene a science re13 view panel under subsection (c) to make such assess14 ment and report its findings to the Advisory Board. 

15 (2) If the Advisory Board determines that the 

16 extent of exposure is insufficient to warrant further 

17 consideration of the claim, the Advisory Board shall 

18 make a recommendation of such finding to the Sec19 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af20 fairs. 

21 (3) If the Advisory Board determines that dur22 ing the time period covered by such claim, members 

23 of the Armed Forces and their dependants were ex24 posed to sufficient amounts of environmental haz25 ards to warrant health care or compensation, the 


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1 Advisory Board shall submit to the Secretary of De2 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs a report 

3 that includes the following: 

4 (A) Recommendations that— 

5 (i) such members should receive— 

6 (I) health care benefits through 

7 the Department of Defense specifi8 cally designed to address such expo9 sure, as determined by the Secretary 

10 of Defense; or 

11 (II) veterans health care or com12 pensation specifically designed to ad13 dress such exposure; and 

14 (ii) dependents of such members 

15 should receive health care benefits through 

16 the Department of Defense specifically de17 signed to address such exposure, as deter18 mined by the Secretary of Defense, or fi19 nancial compensation, or both. 

20 (B) Information on cost and attributable 

21 exposure, as defined in regulations prescribed 

22 pursuant to this Act. 

23 (c) SCIENCE ADVISORY PANELS.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Advisory Board 

25 may convene a science advisory panel to assist in the 


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1 consideration of a military exposure claim under this 

2 section. 

3 (2) COMPOSITION.—A science advisory panel 

4 convened under this subsection shall consist of 7 sci5 entists who— 

6 (A) have backgrounds in environmental ex7 posure or environmental exposure assessments, 

8 health monitoring, or other relevant fields; and 

9 (B) are not officials or employees of the 

10 Federal Government. 

11 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

12 Advisory Board shall select from among the mem13 bership of a science advisory panel an individual to 

14 serve as Chairperson of the panel. The individual so 

15 selected shall serve a 1-year term as Chairperson of 

16 the panel. 

17 (4) CONSIDERATION OF MILITARY EXPOSURE

18 CLAIMS.—Not later than 180 days after requested 

19 by the Advisory Board to review a military exposure 

20 claim, a science advisory panel shall submit a report 

21 to the Advisory Board with one of the following rec22 ommendations: 

23 (A) A recommendation that there is insuf24 ficient exposure to warrant further consider25 ation of the claim. 


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1 (B) A recommendation that further study 

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

3 or under the direction of, the science advisory 

4 panel in coordination with the Advisory Board. 

5 (C) A recommendation that, during the 

6 time period covered by such claim, members of 

7 the Armed Forces and their dependants were 

8 exposed to a sufficient risk of exposure to envi9 ronmental hazards to warrant compensation or 

10 health care. 

11 (d) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—The Advisory Board 

12 and each science advisory panel convened by the Advisory 

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

14 subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses nec15 essary to consider military exposure cases under this sec16 tion. 

17 (e) COOPERATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

18 head of each relevant Federal agency, including the Ad19 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall 

20 cooperate fully with the Advisory Board and each science 

21 advisory panel convened by the Advisory Board under sub22 section (c) for purposes of considering military exposure 

23 cases under this section. 

24 (f) INITIAL CASES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Board shall 

2 consider military exposure claims related to Camp 

3 Lejeune, North Carolina, and Atsugi Naval Air Fa4 cility, Japan, as the first two cases considered under 

5 this section. 

6 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

7 section shall be construed as requiring or author8 izing the removal of any individuals from the lists 

9 required under sections 6 and 7. 

10 (g) PERMANENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 14 

11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

12 shall not apply to the Advisory Board. 

13 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE CERTAIN HEALTH CARE 

14 BENEFITS TO INDIVIDUALS SUBJECTED TO 

15 MILITARY EXPOSURES. 

16 The Secretary of Defense is authorized to provide to 

17 current and former members of the Armed Forces and 

18 their dependants who were exposed to environmental haz19 ards at military installations such health care benefits as 

20 may be recommended by the Advisory Board on Military 

21 Exposures under this Act. 

22 SEC. 6. HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR CERTAIN INDIVID23 UALS AT CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA. 

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

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1 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Af2 fairs and after consultation with the Agency for Toxic 

3 Substances and Disease Registry, shall compile a list of 

4 individuals exposed to environmental hazards at Camp 

5 Lejeune, North Carolina, during the period, as determined 

6 by the Secretaries, in which the water at Camp Lejeune 

7 was contaminated with volatile organic compounds, includ8 ing known and probable human carcinogens. The list may 

9 include individuals who were exposed to such hazards as 

10 fetuses in utero. 

11 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH CARE.—Individuals 

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

13 be immediately eligible for health care as follows: 

14 (1) Dependents shall be eligible for health care 

15 benefits through the Department of Defense, as de16 termined by the Secretary of Defense, for any condi17 tion, or any disability that is associated with such 

18 condition, that is associated with exposure to the 

19 contaminants in the water at Camp Lejeune. 

20 (2) Current and former members of the Armed 

21 Forces shall be eligible to receive one of the fol22 lowing: 

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1 dress such exposure, as determined by the Sec2 retary of Defense. 

3 (B) Health care benefits through the De4 partment of Veterans Affairs specifically de5 signed to address such exposure. 

6 (c) REPORT.— 

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

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

9 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the ap11 propriate congressional committees a report on the 

12 compilation of such list. 

13 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

14 paragraph (1) shall include— 

15 (A) the evidence considered in selecting the 

16 covered period of water contamination at Camp 

17 Lejeune; and 

18 (B) the criteria used to determine whether 

19 an individual was exposed to a contaminant 

20 during the covered period and the rationale for 

21 using those criteria. 

22 (d) SUNSET.—The Secretary of Defense, in coordina23 tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may expand 

24 the list compiled under subsection (a), but may not add 


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1 any individuals on or after the date that is 5 years after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR CERTAIN INDIVID4 UALS AT ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, 

5 JAPAN. 

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

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De8 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs, shall compile a list of individuals exposed to environ10 mental hazards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, dur11 ing the period, as determined by the Secretaries, in which 

12 the air at Atsugi Naval Air Facility was contaminated due 

13 to an incinerator. The list may include individuals who 

14 were exposed to such hazards as fetuses in utero. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH CARE.—Individuals 

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

17 be immediately eligible for health care as follows: 

18 (1) Dependents shall be eligible for health care 

19 benefits through the Department of Defense, as de20 termined by the Secretary of Defense, for any condi21 tion, or any disability that is associated with such 

22 condition, that is associated with exposure to the 

23 contaminants in the air from an incinerator at 

24 Atsugi Naval Air Facility. 


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1 (2) Current and former members of the Armed 

2 Forces shall be eligible to receive one of the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) Health care benefits through the De5 partment of Defense specifically designed to ad6 dress such exposure, as determined by the Sec7 retary of Defense. 

8 (B) Health care benefits through the De9 partment of Veterans Affairs specifically de10 signed to address such exposure. 

11 (c) REPORT.— 

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

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

14 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Sec15 retary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the ap16 propriate congressional committees a report on the 

17 compilation of such list. 

18 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

19 paragraph (1) shall include— 

20 (A) the evidence considered in selecting the 

21 covered period of air contamination at Atsugi 

22 Naval Air Facility; and 

23 (B) the criteria used to determine whether 

24 an individual was exposed to a contaminant 


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1 during the covered period and the rationale for 

2 using those criteria. 

3 (d) SUNSET.—The Secretary of Defense, in coordina4 tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may modify 

5 or expand the list compiled under subsection (a), but may 

6 not add any individuals on or after the date that is 5 years 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

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

11 the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Sec12 retary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the appropriate 

13 congressional committees a report on health care and 

14 other benefits provided under this Act. 

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

16 (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) A description of the classes of individuals 

18 who have received health care and other benefits 

19 under this Act during the reporting period. 

20 (2) A description of the health care benefits 

21 that have been provided to such individuals. 

22 (3) Recommendations for any additional legisla23 tion necessary to implement this Act. 


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1 SEC. 9. REGULATIONS. 

2 The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet3 erans Affairs shall jointly prescribe regulations to carry 

4 out the provisions of this Act, including guidelines regard5 ing health conditions and symptoms that may be attrib6 uted to military exposures. 

7 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 


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Calendar No. 377 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3378 

[Report No. 111–189] 

A BILL 

To authorize health care for certain individuals exother purposes. mental hazards during military service, and for advisory board to examine exposures to environ- and the Atsugi Naval Air Facility, to establish an posed to environmental hazards at Camp Lejeune 

MAY 17, 2010 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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