IONIZING RADIATION REGISTRY

Public Law 99-576, § 232, Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3264

(as amended by Public Law 102-83, §§ 5(c)(2), 6(h), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406, 408) provides:

SEC. 232 [38 U.S.C. 1154 note]. IONIZING RADIATION REGISTRY.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.-The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish and maintain a special record to be known as the "Ionizing Radiation Registry" (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "Registry").

(b) CONTENT OF REGISTRY.-Except as provided in subsection (c), the Registry shall include the following information:

(1) A list containing the name of each veteran who was exposed to ionizing radiation under the conditions described in section 1710(e)(1)(B) of title 38, United States Code, and who(A) applies for hospital or nursing home care from the Department of Veterans Affairs under chapter 17 of such title:

(B) files a claim for compensation under chapter 11 of such title on the basis of a disability which may be associated with the exposure to ionizing radiation; or

(C) dies and is survived by a spouse, child, or parent who files a claim for dependency and indemnity compensation under chapter 13 of such title on the basis of the exposure of such veteran to ionizing radiation.

(2) Medical data relating to each veteran listed in the Registry, including

(A) the veteran's medical history, latest health status recorded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, physical examinations, and clinical findings; and

(B) a statement describing birth defects, if any, in the natural children of the veteran.

(3) Data on claims for the compensation referred to in paragraph (1), including decisions and determinations of the Department of Veterans Affairs relating to such claims.

(4) An estimate of the dose of radiation to which each veteran listed in the Registry was exposed under the conditions described in section 1710(e)(1)(B) of such title.

(c) VETERANS SUBMITTING CLAIMS BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT.-If in the case of a veteran described in subsection (b)(1) the application or claim referred to in such subsection was submitted filed before October 28, 1986, the Secretary shall include in the Registry, to the extent feasible, such veteran's name and the data nd information described in subsection (b) relating to the veteran. (d) CONSOLIDATION OF EXISTING INFORMATION. (1) For the purose of establishing and maintaining the Registry, the Secretary of eterans Affairs shall compile and consolidate

(A) relevant information maintained by the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(B) relevant information maintained by the Defense Nuclear Agency of the Department of Defense; and

(C) any relevant information maintained by any other element of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense.

(2) With respect to a veteran whose name is included in the Registry and for whom the information in the Registry is not complete, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include information described in paragraph (1) with respect to that veteran (A) to the extent that such information is reasonably available in records of the Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense, or (B) if such information is submitted by the veteran after October 28, 1986.

(e) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INFORMATION.-The Secretary of Defense shall furnish to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs such information maintained by the Department of Defense as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers necessary to establish and maintain the Registry.

(f) DEFINITION.-For the purpose of this section, the term "veteran" has the meaning given that term in section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code, and includes a person who died in the active military, naval, or air service.

(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.-The Registry shall be established not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 1986].

VETERANS' DIOXIN AND RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION STANDARDS; CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Sections 1-3 of Public Law 98-542

(as amended by Public Law 102-4, § 10(a), (b), Feb. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 19) provide:

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1 [38 U.S.C. 1154 note]. This Act [amending this section, enacting provisions set out as notes under this section, and amending provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1116 of this title] may be cited as the "Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act".

FINDINGS

SEC. 2 [38 U.S.C. 1154 note]. The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era and veterans who participated in atmospheric nuclear tests or the American occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, are deeply concerned about possible long-term health effects of exposure to herbicides containing dioxin or to ionizing radiation.

(2) There is scientific and medical uncertainty regarding such long-term adverse health effects.

(3) In section 102 of Public Law 97-22 [see Tables for classification], the Congress responded to that uncertainty by authorizing priority medical care at Veterans' Administration [now Department of Veterans Affairs] facilities for any disability of a veteran who may have been so exposed (even though there is insufficient medical evidence linking such disability with such exposure) unless the disability is found to have resulted from a cause other than the exposure.

(4) The Congress has further responded to that medical and scientific uncertainty by requiring, in section 307 of Public Law 96-151 [set out as a note under section 1116 of this title) and section 601 of Public Law 98-160 [set out below], the conduct of thorough epidemiological studies of the health effects experienced by veterans in connection with exposure both to herbicides containing dioxin and (if not determined to be scientifically infeasible) to radiation, and by requiring in Public Law 97-414 [see Tables for classification], the development of radioepidemiological tables setting forth the probabilities of causation between various cancers and exposure to radiation.

(5) There is some evidence that most types of leukemia, malignancies of the thyroid, female breast, lung, bone, liver, and

skin, and polycythemia vera are associated with exposure to certain levels of ionizing radiation.

(6) As of the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 24, 1984], there are sixty-six federally sponsored research projects being conducted relating to herbicides containing dioxin, at a cost to the Federal Government in excess of $130,000,000 and, as of 1981, federally sponsored research projects relating to ionizing radiation were costing the Federal Government more than $115,000,000.

(7) The initial results of one project-an epidemiological study, conducted by the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, of the health status of the "Ranch Hand" veterans who carried out the loading and aerial spraying of herbicides containing dioxin in Vietnam and in the process came into direct skin contact with such herbicides in their most concentrated liquid form-were released on February 24, 1984, and contained the conclusion "that there is insufficient evidence to support a cause and effect relationship between herbicide exposure and adverse health in the Ranch Hand group at this time".

(8) The "film badges" which were originally issued to members of the Armed Forces in connection with the atmospheric nuclear test program have previously constituted a primary source of dose information for veterans (and survivors of veterans) filing claims for Veterans' Administration [now Department of Veterans Affairs] disability compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation in connection with exposure to radiation.

(9) These film badges often provide an incomplete measure of radiation exposure, since they were not capable of recording inhaled, ingested, or neutron doses (although the Defense Nuclear Agency currently has the capability to reconstruct individual estimates of such doses), were not issued to most of the participants in nuclear tests, often provided questionable readings because they were shielded during the detonation, and were worn for only limited periods during and after each nuclear detonation.

(10) Standards governing the reporting of dose estimates in connection with radiation-related claims for Veterans' Administration [now Department of Veterans Affairs] disability compensation vary among the several branches of the Armed Forces, and no uniform minimum standards exist.

(11) The Veterans' Administration [now Department of Veterans Affairs] has not promulgated permanent regulations setting forth specific guidelines, standards, and criteria for the adjudication of claims for Veterans' Administration disability compensation based on exposure to herbicides containing dioxin or to ionizing radiation.

(12) Such claims (especially those involving health effects with long latency periods) present adjudicatory issues which are significantly different from issues generally presented in claims based upon the usual types of injuries incurred in military service.