119-hr705

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 705 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 705

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a compensation fund for 
 military firefighters exposed to PFAS.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 23, 2025

 Ms. Strickland (for herself and Mr. Lawler) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a compensation fund for 
 military firefighters exposed to PFAS.

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

SECTION 1. COMPENSATION FUND FOR MILITARY FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) Program and Fund Established.--Not later than two years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
establish a program and fund to be known as the ``Military Firefighters 
Compensation Fund''.

    (b) Purpose of Program.--The purpose of the compensation program is 
to provide for timely, uniform, and adequate compensation to current 
and former military firefighters and, where applicable, survivors of 
such employees, suffering from illnesses incurred by such employees in 
the performance of duty for the Department of Defense and certain of 
its contractors and subcontractors due to exposure to per- and 
polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
            (c) PFAS Exposure.--Current and former military firefighters shall, 
in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, be determined 
to have been exposed to PFAS in the performance of duty for the 
purposes of the compensation program if such firefighter was employed 
at a military installation, facility of the National Guard, of formerly 
used defense site during a period when PFAS would have been present at 
such facility.
            (d) Compensation Provided.--A current or former military 
firefighter, or the survivor of such firefighter if the firefighter is 
deceased, shall receive compensation for the disability or death of 
that employee from that employee's occupational illness.

    (e) Payments in the Case of Deceased Persons.--

    (1) Claim filed.--In the case of a military firefighter who 
 is deceased at the time of payment of compensation under this 
 section, whether or not the death is the result of the 
 firefighter's occupational illness, such payment may be made 
 only as follows:
        (A) If the military firefighter is survived by a 
 spouse who is living at the time of payment, such 
 payment shall be made to such surviving spouse.
        (B) If there is no surviving spouse described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) , such payment shall be made in equal 
 shares to all children of the military firefighter who 
 are living at the time of payment.
            (C) If there is no surviving spouse described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) and if there are no children described 
 in subparagraph
        (B) , such payment shall be made in 
 equal shares to the parents of the military firefighter 
 who are living at the time of payment.
            (D) If there is no surviving spouse described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) , and if there are no children 
 described in subparagraph
        (B) or parents described in 
 subparagraph
            (C) , such payment shall be made in equal 
 shares to all grandchildren of the military firefighter 
 who are living at the time of payment.
        (E) If there is no surviving spouse described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) , and if there are no children 
 described in subparagraph
        (B) , parents described in 
 subparagraph
            (C) , or grandchildren described in 
 subparagraph
            (D) , then such payment shall be made in 
 equal shares to the grandparents of the military 
 firefighter who are living at the time of payment.
        (F) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this 
 paragraph, if there is--
            (i) a surviving spouse described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) ; and
            (ii) at least one child of the military 
 firefighter who is living and a minor at the 
 time of payment and who is not a recognized 
 natural child or adopted child of such 
 surviving spouse, then half of such payment 
 shall be made to such surviving spouse, and the 
 other half of such payment shall be made in 
 equal shares to each child of the military 
 firefighter who is living and a minor at the 
 time of payment.

    (2) Before filing of claim.--If a current or former 
 military firefighter eligible for payment dies before filing a 
 claim under this section, a survivor of that firefighter who 
 may receive payment under paragraph

    (1) may file a claim for 
 such payment.

    (3) === Definitions. ===
-In this subsection:
        (A) The term ``child'' includes a recognized 
 natural child, a stepchild who lived with an individual 
 in a regular parent-child relationship, or an adopted 
 child.
        (B) The term ``grandchild'' means the child of a 
 child of an individual.
            (C) The term ``grandparent'' means the parent of a 
 parent of an individual.
            (D) The term ``parent'' includes fathers and 
 mothers through adoption.
        (E) The term ``spouse'' means the wife or husband 
 of a deceased individual who was married to such 
 individual for at least one year immediately before 
 such death.

    (f) Medical Benefits Provided.--The Secretary shall furnish, to an 
individual receiving medical benefits under this section for an 
illness, the services, appliances, and supplies prescribed or 
recommended by a qualified physician for that illness.

    (g) Transportation and Expenses.--The individual may be furnished 
necessary and reasonable transportation and expenses incident to the 
securing of such services, appliances, and supplies.

    (h) Commencement of Benefits.--An individual receiving benefits 
under this section shall be furnished those benefits as of the date on 
which that individual submitted the claim for those benefits in 
accordance with this section.
            (i) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) The term ``military firefighter'' means a member of the 
 Armed Forces or a civilian employee of the Department of 
 Defense whose military occupational specialty or primary duties 
 are fire suppression and prevention.

    (2) The term ``military installation'' has the meaning 
 given such term in 

section 2801
            (c) (4) of title 10, United 
 States Code.

    (3) The term ``PFAS'' means perfluoroalkyl and 
 polyfluoroalkyl substances.

    (4) The term ``perfluoroalkyl substance'' means a man-made 
 chemical of which all the carbon atoms are fully fluorinated 
 carbon atoms.

    (5) The term ``polyfluoroalkyl substance'' means a man-made 
 chemical with at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom and at 
 least one nonfluorinated carbon atom.

    (j) Authorization for Compensation Fund.--There is hereby 
authorized such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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