[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 530 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 530

 To amend 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

                             March 5, 2003

   Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
           referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. CERTAIN DISEASES PRESUMED TO BE WORK-RELATED CAUSE OF 
              DISABILITY OR DEATH FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN FIRE 
              PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 8102 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c)(1) In this subsection, the term `employee in fire protection 
activities' means an employee, including a firefighter, paramedic, 
emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or 
hazardous materials worker, who--
            ``(A) is trained in fire suppression, has the legal 
        authority and responsibility to engage in fire suppression; and
            ``(B) is engaged in the prevention, control, and 
        extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations 
        where life, property, or the environment is at risk.
    ``(2) In the case of an employee in fire protection activities who 
has a disease specified in paragraph (3), the employee's disease shall 
be presumed to be proximately caused by the employment of such 
employee. A disability or death of an employee in fire protection 
activities due to such a disease shall be presumed to result from 
personal injury sustained while in the performance of such employee's 
duty. Such presumptions may be rebutted by a preponderance of the 
evidence.
    ``(3) The diseases specified in this paragraph are the following:
            ``(A) Heart disease.
            ``(B) Lung disease.
            ``(C) The following cancers:
                    ``(i) Brain cancer.
                    ``(ii) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic systems.
                    ``(iii) Leukemia.
                    ``(iv) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin's disease).
                    ``(v) Multiple myeloma.
                    ``(vi) Bladder cancer.
                    ``(vii) Kidney cancer.
                    ``(viii) Prostate cancer.
                    ``(ix) Testicular cancer.
                    ``(x) Cancer of the digestive system.
                    ``(xi) Colon cancer.
                    ``(xii) Liver cancer.
                    ``(xiii) Skin cancer.
                    ``(xiv) Breast cancer.
                    ``(xv) Lung cancer.
            ``(D) The following infectious diseases:
                    ``(i) Tuberculosis.
                    ``(ii) Hepatitis A, B, or C.
                    ``(iii) Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
                    ``(iv) Diphtheria.
                    ``(v) Hemorrhagic fever.
                    ``(vi) Meningococcal disease.
                    ``(vii) Rabies.
                    ``(viii) Any uncommon infectious disease the 
                contraction of which the Secretary of Labor determines 
                to be related to the hazards to which an employee in 
                fire protection activities may be subject.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section applies to 
an injury that is first diagnosed, or a death that occurs, on or after 
the date of enactment of this Act.
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