I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5920 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 
to submit to Congress an annual report on open burn pits, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2018 
Ms. SHEA-PORTER 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 Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense to submit to Congress an annual report on 
open burn pits, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Airborne Hazards and 
Open Burn Pit Registry Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. BURN PITS. 
(a) 2018 NDAA.—Section 738 of the National De-
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 
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115–91) is amended by inserting ‘‘in consultation with the 
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center,’’ before 
‘‘shall coordinate efforts’’. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—Not 
later than January 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit re-
ports to the Committees on Armed Services and on 
Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and Senate regarding the following: 
(A) New research and proposed policy 
changes of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
regarding efforts to identify, investigate, diag-
nose, treat, and heal medical conditions suf-
fered by veterans related to exposure to open 
burn pits. 
(B) The number of veterans who received 
hospital care or medical services furnished by 
the Secretary during the preceding year for 
medical conditions related to exposure to open 
burn pits, including— 
(i) the medical conditions related to 
exposure to open burn pits; and 
(ii) when and where the veterans were 
exposed to open burn pits. 
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(C) Plans of the Secretary to utilize and 
improve the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn 
Pit Registry (referred to in this section as ‘‘the 
Registry’’), including— 
(i) outreach to veterans who have al-
ready registered responded to the Registry 
questionnaire regarding new information 
learned about medical conditions related to 
exposure to open burn pits; 
(ii) outreach to members of the 
Armed Forces and veterans who were ex-
posed to open burn pits to encourage such 
persons to respond to the Registry ques-
tionnaire; 
(iii) partnerships between the Sec-
retary and the Secretary of Defense to 
identify and inform members of the Armed 
Forces and veterans who were exposed to 
open burn pits; 
(iv) actions taken to simplify the Reg-
istry 
questionnaire, 
including 
allowing 
members of the Armed Forces and vet-
erans to input pertinent information auto-
matically from the Departments of Vet-
erans Affairs and Defense; 
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(v) actions taken to allow members of 
the Armed Forces and veterans to update 
answers to the Registry questionnaire; 
(vi) actions taken to allow the match-
ing of information in the Registry to data 
in the possession of the Health Adminis-
tration and Benefits Administration of the 
Department; 
(vii) actions taken to make data de-
scribed in clause (vi) available for longitu-
dinal studies; 
(viii) privacy issues related to the 
Registry that the Secretary has identified 
and actions taken to mitigate such issues; 
and 
(ix) actions taken to model the Reg-
istry on other successful registries, includ-
ing registries operated by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention. 
(D) An overview of initial claims and ap-
proved claims for compensation or health care 
related to open burn pit exposures. 
(E) Coordination between the Department 
and any other Federal agency or non-govern-
mental entity related to the research and treat-
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