[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2499 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 226
117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2499

                          [Report No. 117-306]

    To amend chapter 81 of 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 employees duty, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 2021

Mr. Carbajal (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Takano, and Mr. Fitzpatrick) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

                              May 6, 2022

Additional sponsors: Mr. Turner, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Foster, Mr. Sherman, 
  Ms. Norton, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Wild, Ms. Bush, Ms. 
 Pingree, Mr. Peters, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Van Drew, 
  Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. 
Cohen, Ms. Craig, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mrs. Demings, Ms. 
 Spanberger, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Dean, 
Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Lamb, 
  Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Kildee, Mr. LaMalfa, Ms. 
 Manning, Mr. Costa, Mr. Delgado, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Quigley, 
 Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Courtney, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Trone, Ms. Brownley, Mrs. 
      Hayes, Ms. Porter, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. 
 Ruppersberger, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, 
Mr. Lynch, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. 
    Axne, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Levin of 
California, Mr. McNerney, Mr. O'Halleran, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Lowenthal, 
 Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. Aguilar, 
Mr. McGovern, Ms. Waters, Mr. Norcross, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New 
  York, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Ms. Omar, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
   Morelle, Ms. Escobar, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Titus, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. 
 Correa, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Kuster, 
Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Bourdeaux, Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas, Mr. 
 Khanna, Mr. Soto, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Young, Mr. Golden, 
 Mr. Casten, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Wexton, 
  Mr. Schrader, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. DeGette, Ms. 
 Jayapal, Mr. Crow, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Brendan 
 F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Adams, Mr. Connolly, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. 
 Espaillat, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
 Ross, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Rush, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
   Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. 
 Gallego, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Carson, Ms. DelBene, Mrs. Cherfilus-
 McCormick, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. 
    Malinowski, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Ms. Newman, Ms. 
  Salazar, Ms. Meng, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Herrera Beutler, Mr. 
Mrvan, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Jones, Mr. Katko, Mr. Cole, 
 Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Wittman, 
  Ms. Brown of Ohio, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Langevin, Mr. David 
 Scott of Georgia, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Schakowsky, 
Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Kaptur, 
Mr. McEachin, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Chu, 
   Mr. Moulton, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Barr, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. 
  Veasey, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Himes, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Smith of 
 Washington, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Cicilline, 
    Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Welch, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bost, Mrs. Kim of 
California, Mr. Evans, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, 
 Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Blunt Rochester, and Ms. 
                                Stevens


                              May 6, 2022

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 
                               14, 2021]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend chapter 81 of 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 employees duty, 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 ``Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 
2022''.

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

    (a) Presumption Relating to Employees in Fire Protection 
Activities.--Subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting after section 8143a the following (and by 
conforming the table of contents of such chapter accordingly):
``Sec. 8143b. Employees in fire protection activities.
    ``(a) Certain Diseases Deemed to Be Proximately Caused by 
Employment in Fire Protection Activities.--
            ``(1) In general.--For a claim under this subchapter of 
        disability or death of an employee who has been employed for a 
        minimum of 5 years in aggregate as an employee in fire 
        protection activities, a disease specified on the list 
        established under paragraph (2) shall be deemed to be 
        proximately caused by the employment of such employee.
            ``(2) Establishment of initial list.--There is established 
        under this section the following list of diseases:
                    ``(A) Bladder cancer.
                    ``(B) Brain cancer.
                    ``(C) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
                    ``(D) Colorectal cancer.
                    ``(E) Esophageal cancer.
                    ``(F) Kidney cancer.
                    ``(G) Leukemias.
                    ``(H) Lung cancer.
                    ``(I) Mesothelioma.
                    ``(J) Multiple myeloma.
                    ``(K) Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
                    ``(L) Prostate cancer.
                    ``(M) Skin cancer (melanoma).
                    ``(N) A sudden cardiac event or stroke while, or 
                not later than 24 hours after, engaging in the 
                activities described in subsection (b)(1)(C).
                    ``(O) Testicular cancer.
                    ``(P) Thyroid cancer.
            ``(3) Additions to the list.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall periodically 
                review the list established under this section in 
                consultation with the Director of the National 
                Institute on Occupational Safety and Health and shall 
                add a disease to the list by rule, upon a showing by a 
                petitioner or on the Secretary's own determination, in 
                accordance with this paragraph.
                    ``(B) Basis for determination.--The Secretary shall 
                add a disease to the list upon a showing by a 
                petitioner or the Secretary's own determination, based 
                on the weight of the best available scientific 
                evidence, that there is a significant risk to employees 
                in fire protection activities of developing such 
                disease.
                    ``(C) Available expertise.--In determining 
                significant risk for purposes of subparagraph (B), the 
                Secretary may accept as authoritative and may rely upon 
                recommendations, risk assessments, and scientific 
                studies (including analyses of National Firefighter 
                Registry data pertaining to Federal firefighters) by 
                the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
                Health, the National Toxicology Program, the National 
                Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and 
                the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
            ``(4) Petitions to add to the list.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any person may petition the 
                Secretary to add a disease to the list under this 
                section.
                    ``(B) Content of petition.--Such petition shall 
                provide information to show that there is sufficient 
                evidence of a significant risk to employees in fire 
                protection activities of developing such illness or 
                disease from their employment.
                    ``(C) Timely and substantive decisions.--Not later 
                than 18 months after receipt of a petition, the 
                Secretary shall either grant or deny the petition by 
                publishing in the Federal Register a written 
                explanation of the reasons for the Secretary's 
                decision. The Secretary may not deny a petition solely 
                on the basis of competing priorities, inadequate 
                resources, or insufficient time for review.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Employee in fire protection activities.--The term 
        `employee in fire protection activities' means an employee 
        employed as a firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical 
        technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous 
        material worker, who--
                    ``(A) is trained in fire suppression;
                    ``(B) has the legal authority and responsibility to 
                engage in fire suppression;
                    ``(C) is engaged in the prevention, control, and 
                extinguishment of fires or response to emergency 
                situations where life, property, or the environment is 
                at risk, including the prevention, control, 
                suppression, or management of wildland fires; and
                    ``(D) performs such activities as a primary 
                responsibility of his or her job.
            ``(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means Secretary of 
        Labor.''.
    (b) Research Cooperation.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall establish a 
process by which a Federal employee in fire protection activities 
filing a claim related to a disease on the list established by section 
8143b of title 5, United States Code, will be informed about and 
offered the opportunity to contribute to science by voluntarily 
enrolling in the National Firefighter Registry or a similar research or 
public health initiative conducted by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
    (c) Review of Science on Breast Cancer.--Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
            (1) evaluate the best available scientific evidence of the 
        risk to an employee in fire protection activities of developing 
        breast cancer;
            (2) add breast cancer to the list established under section 
        8143b of title 5, United States Code, by rule in accordance 
        with subsection (a)(3) of such section, if the Secretary 
        determines that such evidence supports such addition; and
            (3) submit a report of the Secretary's findings under 
        paragraph (1) and the Secretary's determination under paragraph 
        (2) to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House and 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
        Senate.
    (d) Application.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
to claims for compensation filed on or after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 226

117th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2499

                          [Report No. 117-306]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To amend chapter 81 of 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 employees duty, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              May 6, 2022

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed