I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2389 
To require the Secretary of Defense to establish registries of members and 
former members of the Armed Forces exposed in the line of duty to 
occupational and environmental health chemical hazards, to amend title 
38, United States Code, to provide health care to veterans exposed 
to such hazards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2009 
Mr. HILL (for himself, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. ELLSWORTH, Mr. DEFAZIO, and 
Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Com-
mittee 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 require the Secretary of Defense to establish registries 
of members and former members of the Armed Forces 
exposed in the line of duty to occupational and environ-
mental health chemical hazards, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to provide health care to veterans 
exposed to such hazards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Care for Mem-
bers of the Armed Forces Exposed to Chemical Hazards 
Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRIES OF MEMBERS AND 
FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
EXPOSED IN LINE OF DUTY TO OCCUPA-
TIONAL 
AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL 
HEALTH 
CHEMICAL HAZARDS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—For each occupational and 
environmental health chemical hazard of particular con-
cern, the Secretary of Defense shall establish and admin-
ister a registry of members and former members of the 
Armed Forces who were exposed in the line of duty to 
such hazard on or after September 11, 2001. 
(b) REGISTRATION.—For every member and former 
member of the Armed Forces who was exposed in the line 
of duty to a hazard described in subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall— 
(1) register such member or former member in 
such registry; and 
(2) collect such information about such member 
or former member as the Secretary considers appro-
priate for purposes of establishing and administering 
such registry. 
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(c) NOTIFICATION.—In the case that the Secretary 
learns that a member or former member of the Armed 
Forces may have been exposed in the line of duty to a 
hazard described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) notify of such exposure— 
(A) such member or former member; 
(B) the commanding officer of the unit to 
which such member or former member belonged 
at the time of such exposure; and 
(C) in the case of a member of the Na-
tional Guard, the Adjutant General of the State 
concerned; and 
(2) inform such member or former member that 
such member or former member may be included in 
the registry required by subsection (a) for such haz-
ard. 
(d) EXAMINATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date on which the Secretary becomes aware of an exposure 
of a member or former member of the Armed Forces to 
a hazard described in subsection (a) and annually there-
after, the Secretary shall provide such member or former 
member— 
(1) a complete physical and medical examina-
tion; 
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(2) consultation and counseling with respect to 
the results of such physical and examination; and 
(3) a copy of the documentation of such expo-
sure in the member’s or former member’s medical 
record maintained by the Department of Defense. 
(e) OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 
CHEMICAL
HAZARD
OF
PARTICULAR
CONCERN
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘occupational and envi-
ronmental health chemical hazard of particular concern’’ 
means an occupational and environmental health chemical 
hazard that the Secretary of Defense determines is of par-
ticular concern after considering appropriate guidelines 
and standards for exposure, including the following: 
(1) The military exposure guidelines specified in 
the January 2002 Chemical Exposure Guidelines for 
Deployed Military Personnel, United States Army 
Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medi-
cine Technical Guide 230 (or any successor technical 
guide that establishes military exposure guidelines 
for the assessment of the significance of field expo-
sures to occupational and environmental health 
chemical hazards during deployments). 
(2) Occupational and environmental health 
chemical exposure standards promulgated by the Oc-
cupational Safety and Health Administration. 
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