[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5313-S5314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5837. Mr. CARPER (for himself and Ms. Collins) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr.
Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. FAIRNESS FOR FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS.
(a) Certain Illnesses and Diseases Presumed to Be Work-
related Cause of Disability or Death for Federal Employees in
Fire Protection Activities.--
(1) Presumption relating to employees in fire protection
activities.--
(A) In general.--Subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after section
8143a the following:
``Sec. 8143b. Employees in fire protection activities
``(a) 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
in which life, property, or the environment is at risk,
including the prevention, control, suppression, or management
of wildland fires; and
``(D) performs the activities described in subparagraph (C)
as a primary responsibility of the job of the employee.
``(2) Rule.--The term `rule' has the meaning given the term
in section 804.
``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Labor.
``(b) Certain Illnesses and 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
not less than 5 years in aggregate as an employee in fire
protection activities, an illness or disease specified on the
list established under paragraph (2) shall be deemed to be
proximately caused by the employment of that employee, if the
employee is diagnosed with that illness or disease not later
than 10 years after the last active date of employment as an
employee in fire protection activities.
``(2) Establishment of initial list.--There is established
under this section the following list of illnesses and
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 suffered while, or
not later than 24 hours after, engaging in the activities
described in subsection (a)(1)(C).
``(O) Testicular cancer.
``(P) Thyroid cancer.
``(3) Additions to the list.--
``(A) In general.--
``(i) Periodic review.--The Secretary shall--
``(I) in consultation with the Director of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and any advisory
committee determined appropriate by the Secretary,
periodically review the list established under paragraph (2);
and
``(II) if the Secretary determines that the weight of the
best available scientific evidence warrants adding an illness
or disease to the list established under paragraph (2), as
described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, make such an
addition through a rule that clearly identifies that
scientific evidence.
``(ii) Classification.--A rule issued by the Secretary
under clause (i) shall be considered to be a major rule for
the purposes of chapter 8.
``(B) Basis for determination.--The Secretary shall add an
illness or disease to the list established under paragraph
(2) based on the weight of the best available scientific
evidence that there is a significant risk to employees in
fire protection activities of developing that illness or
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.''.
(B) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of
sections for subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 8143a the following:
``8143b. Employees in fire protection activities.''.
(C) Application.--The amendments made by this paragraph
shall apply to claims for compensation filed on or after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Research cooperation.--Not later than 120 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor
(referred to in this subsection as the ``Secretary'') shall
establish a process by which an employee in fire protection
activities, as defined in subsection (a) of section 8143b of
title 5, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1) of
this subsection (referred to in this subsection as an
``employee in fire protection activities''), filing a claim
under chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, as amended
by this subsection, relating to an illness or disease on the
list established under subsection (b)(2) of such section
8143b (referred to in this subsection as ``the list''), as
the list may be updated under such section 8143b, shall 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.
(3) Agenda for further review.--Not later than 3 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall--
(A) evaluate the best available scientific evidence of the
risk to an employee in fire protection activities of
developing breast cancer, gynecological cancers, and
rhabdomyolysis;
(B) add breast cancer, gynecological cancers, and
rhabdomyolysis to the list, by rule in accordance with
subsection (b)(3) of section 8143b of title 5, United States
Code, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection, if the
Secretary determines that such evidence supports that
addition; and
(C) submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Education and Labor of the House of Representatives a report
containing--
(i) the findings of the Secretary after making the
evaluation required under subparagraph (A); and
(ii) the determination of the Secretary under subparagraph
(B).
(4) Report on federal wildland firefighters.--
(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term ``Federal
wildland firefighter'' means an individual occupying a
position in the occupational series developed pursuant to
section 40803(d)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(1)).
(B) Study.--The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture, in consultation with the Director of the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall
conduct a comprehensive study on long-term health effects
that Federal wildland firefighters who are eligible to
receive compensation for work injuries under chapter 81 of
title 5, United States Code, as amended by this subsection,
experience after being exposed to fires, smoke, and toxic
fumes when in service.
(C) Requirements.--The study required under subparagraph
(B) shall include--
(i) the race, ethnicity, age, gender, and time of service
of the Federal wildland firefighters participating in the
study; and
(ii) recommendations to Congress regarding what legislative
actions are needed to support the Federal wildland
firefighters described in clause (i) in preventing health
issues from the toxic exposure described in subparagraph (B),
similar to veterans who are exposed to burn pits.
(D) Submission and publication.--The Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit the
results of the study conducted under this paragraph to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the
House of Representatives and make those results publicly
available.
(5) Report on affected employees.--Beginning on the date
that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, with
respect to each annual report required under section 8152 of
title 5, United States Code, the Secretary--
(A) shall include in the report the total number of, and
demographics regarding, employees in fire protection
activities with illnesses and diseases described in the list
(as the list may be updated under this subsection and the
amendments made by this subsection), as of the date on which
that annual report is submitted, which shall be disaggregated
by the specific illness or disease for the purposes of
understanding the scope of the problem facing those
employees; and
(B) may--
(i) include in the report any information with respect to
employees in fire protection activities that the Secretary
determines to be necessary; and
(ii) as appropriate, make recommendations in the report for
additional actions that
[[Page S5314]]
could be taken to minimize the risk of adverse health impacts
for employees in fire protection activities.
(b) Increase in Time-period for FECA Claimant to Supply
Supporting Documentation to Office of Worker's
Compensation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall--
(1) amend section 10.121 of title 20, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation, by striking ``30
days'' and inserting ``60 days''; and
(2) modify the Federal Employees' Compensation Act manual
to reflect the changes made by the Secretary pursuant to
paragraph (1).
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