On Tuesday, August 10, 2022, President Biden signed The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act (PACT Act) into law. This bill is one of the most significant laws the United States has ever passed to help the millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during their military careers and will positively affect generations of veterans and their survivors.
During our most recent conflicts, the US military utilized enormous burn piles to eliminate toxins, trash, and debris. Service members ate, slept, worked, and trained in the presence of toxic fumes and hazardous waste. While many began experiencing health problems during their service, many others did not see the impacts of this practice until years after returning home. This gap in symptoms coupled with the rules and regulations that govern veterans’ benefits made it nearly impossible for veterans to be treated or receive compensation for conditions that were a result of their exposure to the toxins released by these burn pits.
The PACT Act has added 23 presumptive cancers, respiratory conditions, and other diseases to the Burn Pit registry, immediately making them eligible for benefits from the VA. This bill will also expand healthcare services to 3.5 million veterans nationwide and mandates that every veteran who was exposed to toxins partake in a follow-up exam every five years. This will allow the VA to track trends amongst this group of veterans and add more eligible conditions as veterans age and more of the impacts become known.
The PACT Act also adds hypertension to the list of presumptive conditions for veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange, while also conceding exposure to the toxic defoliant to every veteran who served in Thailand (1962 -1975), Laos (1965 – 1969), Cambodia (1969), Guam or American Somoa (1962 – 1980), and Johnston Atoll (1972 – 1975). Adding hypertension to the list of presumptive conditions due to Agent Orange exposure is also a benefit to surviving spouses of veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange because they too are now entitled to benefits if their spouse passed from hypertension or another condition that was caused by hypertension.
Finally, this new law will allow service members (and their survivors), for the first time, to sue the United States for exposure to contaminated water while serving at Camp Lejeune. Until this Act was passed, veterans could not sue the U.S. based on the Feres Doctrine which blocked any such suit from proceeding. The Act also waived the sovereign immunity of the United States for such suits and waives the applicable statutes of limitation. There is, however, a limited period when such a suit may be filed and requires all potential litigants to seek relief through an administrative claim process prior to filing the suit. All lawsuits must be filed in the U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina within 180 days of a denial of the administrative claim or two years from the signing of the Act, whichever is later.
The Nevada County Veterans Services Office (NCVSO) has been planning for the passage of this bill since June 2022. Not all elements of this new bill take effect immediately and most elements will be phased in over the next few years. However, if you served in the US Military and were exposed to environmental hazards, you are encouraged to contact the NCVSO to determine if you may be entitled to benefits.
Contact David West, Nevada County Veterans Service Officer, at (530) 265-1446 or david.west@co.nevada.ca.us. The Nevada County Veteran’s Services Office, located at 988 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley, is open from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
