119-hr5188

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5188 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5188

 To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish blast safety officer 
 positions in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 8, 2025

 Mr. Khanna introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish blast safety officer 
 positions in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.

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

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF BLAST SAFETY OFFICER POSITIONS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than September 30, 2026, the 
Secretary of Defense shall establish blast safety officer positions in 
the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.

    (b) Duties.--Duties of a blast safety officer shall include the 
following, in accordance with standards established pursuant to 

section 735 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263; 10 U.S.C. 1071 note):

    (1) Monitoring and mitigating blast and overpressure 
 exposure to members of such Armed Forces during live-fire or 
 explosive exercises, including breaching exercises. A blast 
 safety officer may order the cessation of such an exercise if 
 exposure exceeds safe thresholds.

    (2) Briefing members of such Armed Forces, before an 
 exercise, regarding the health risks of blast exposure and 
 mitigation protocols (including minimum safe distances).

    (3) Overseeing the use of personal protective equipment and 
 wearable sensors by such members during such an exercise.

    (4) Investigating blast overpressure incidents, reporting 
 findings, and coordinating with health care providers to 
 address risks to the health of affected members.

    (5) Maintaining blast overpressure exposure logs to support 
 future mitigation.

    (6) Coordinating with range safety officers and personnel.
            (c) Assignments.--The Secretary of a military department concerned 
shall assign a blast safety officer to each special mission unit in 
each such Armed Forces.
            (d) Training; Certification.--A blast safety officer shall receive 
training and maintain a certification in blast safety.
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