[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2419 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2419

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical surveillance 
  system to identify members of the Armed Forces exposed to chemical 
 hazards resulting from the disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
to prohibit the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner that 
   would produce dangerous levels of toxins, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2009

Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself and Ms. Shea-Porter) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical surveillance 
  system to identify members of the Armed Forces exposed to chemical 
 hazards resulting from the disposal of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
to prohibit the disposal of waste by the Armed Forces in a manner that 
   would produce dangerous levels of toxins, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Military Personnel War Zone Toxic 
Exposure Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF HEALTH EFFECTS RELATED TO HAZARDOUS DISPOSAL 
              SITE.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish and 
administer a system to identify members of the Armed Forces who were 
potentially exposed to a hazardous disposal site and any negative 
health effects that may be related to such exposure. The Secretary 
shall administer such system using existing medical surveillance 
systems.
    (b) Notification.--If the Secretary learns that a member of the 
Armed Forces was potentially exposed to a hazardous disposal site, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) give notice of the potential exposure to--
                    (A) the member;
                    (B) the commanding officer of the unit to which the 
                member belonged at the time of potential exposure; and
                    (C) in the case of a member of the National Guard, 
                the Adjutant General of the State concerned; and
            (2) inform the member that the member may be included in 
        the system required by subsection (a).
    (b) Registration.--For each member of the Armed Forces notified of 
a potential exposure under subsection (b), the Secretary shall collect 
information for purposes of the system required by subsection (a). Such 
information shall include--
            (1) the locations that the member was deployed, including 
        dates of such deployment;
            (2) the approximate distance of the living and working 
        quarters of the member from a hazardous disposal site;
            (3) the types of materials disposed of at the site;
            (4) the length of time the member was exposed to such site;
            (5) any symptoms experienced by the member while deployed;
            (6) any symptoms the member experiences at the time of 
        submitting such information to the Secretary; and
            (7) other information the Secretary considers appropriate.
    (c) Examination.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which 
the Secretary learns that a member of the Armed Forces was potentially 
exposed to a hazardous disposal site, and annually thereafter, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) provide such member--
                    (A) a complete physical examination; and
                    (B) consultation and counseling with respect to the 
                results of such physical examination; and
            (2) ensure that documentation of the potential exposure is 
        placed in the medical record of the member maintained by the 
        Department of Defense.
    (d) Proposed Capabilities.--
            (1) Sufficiency.--The Secretary shall determine if existing 
        medical surveillance systems are sufficient to identify all 
        potential negative health effects resulting from exposure to a 
        hazardous disposal site.
            (2) Report.--Not later than six months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress a report with any recommendations to change existing 
        medical surveillance systems in order to improve the 
        identification of negative health effects resulting from 
        exposure to a hazardous disposal site.
    (e) Annual Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 
describing--
            (1) the status of implementing the system required by 
        subsection (a); and
            (2) the incidences of illnesses among members of the Armed 
        Forces notified under subsection (b) and whether such illnesses 
        may have been caused by exposure to a hazardous disposal site.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``existing medical surveillance systems'' 
        means medical surveillance systems and other data in the 
        possession of the Secretary as of the date of the enactment of 
        this Act.
            (2) The term ``exposure to a hazardous disposal site'' 
        includes the following:
                    (A) Exposure to the fumes emanating from a 
                hazardous disposal site for--
                            (i) more than one year if the member of the 
                        Armed Forces was deployed to a military 
                        installation that made use of open pits to burn 
                        waste; or
                            (ii) any period of time when exposure to 
                        such fumes was intensive.
                    (B) A situation where a member of the Armed Forces 
                with service-related health problems demonstrates 
                significant exposure to fumes emanating from a 
                hazardous disposal site.
            (3) The term ``hazardous disposal site'' means a location 
        where hazardous methods of disposing of mass amounts of waste 
        were used during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operations Iraqi 
        Freedom, including the use of open pits to burn waste.
            (4) The term ``member of the Armed Forces'' includes former 
        members of the Armed Forces.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL OF WASTES IN A MANNER THAT PRODUCES 
              DANGEROUS LEVELS OF TOXINS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall prohibit the 
disposal of waste during contingency operations lasting more than six 
months in a manner that exposes members of the Armed Forces or civilian 
employees of the Department of Defense to the following:
            (1) Environmental toxins, including dioxin, benzene, and 
        other carcinogens.
            (2) Combinations of toxins that may lead to long-term 
        negative health effects.
            (3) Low levels of toxins that exceed military exposure 
        guidelines for exposures of over one year.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe 
regulations to carry out this section.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
on the status of waste disposal techniques used by members of the Armed 
Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, including, for each military 
department, an assessment of the compliance with the regulations 
required under this section.
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