§8143b — Title 5 Government Organization and Employees | U.S. Code

Summary

Workers who fight fires or do similar emergency work and who have at least 5 years of that work in total are treated as having certain job-related illnesses if they are diagnosed within 10 years after the last active date of employment. This rule applies for claims of disability or death when the illness is on a special list. Defined terms: "employee in fire protection activities" — firefighters and similar emergency responders whose main job is fighting fires and handling emergencies; "rule" — the meaning given in section 804; "Secretary" — the Secretary of Labor. The list includes bladder, brain, lung, kidney, prostate, testicular, thyroid, colorectal, esophageal, and skin (melanoma) cancers, leukemias, non‑Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, mesothelioma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a sudden cardiac event or stroke that happens while or no later than 24 hours after doing the covered emergency work. The Secretary must review the list with NIOSH and others and can add illnesses if the best scientific evidence shows a significant risk, using a formal rule that cites that evidence. The Secretary may rely on studies and recommendations from NIOSH, the National Toxicology Program, the National Academies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and analyses of the National Firefighter Registry.

Title 5, §8143b

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section:

(1)The term “employee in fire protection activities” means an employee employed as a firefighter (including a wildland 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, or 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)The term “rule” has the meaning given the term in section 804.

(3)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Labor.

(b)(1)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 activedate 22 So in original. of employment as an employee in fire protection activities.

(2)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)(A)(i)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)A rule issued by the Secretary under clause (i) shall be considered to be a major rule for the purposes of chapter 8.

(B)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)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.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 117–263, div. E, title LIII, § 5305(a)(1)(C), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3253, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this paragraph [enacting this section] shall apply to claims for compensation filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022].” Research Cooperation Pub. L. 117–263, div. E, title LIII, § 5305(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3253, provided that: “Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022], 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’ [sic]) 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.” Agenda for Further Review Pub. L. 117–263, div. E, title LIII, § 5305(a)(3), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3253, provided that: “Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022], the Secretary [of Labor] 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 [now Committee on Education and the Workforce] 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).” [“The list” as used in section 5305(a)(3) of Pub. L. 117–263, set out above, defined as in subsec. (b)(2) of this section, see section 5305(a)(2) of Pub. L. 117–263, set out as a note above.]

§8143b Employees in fire protection activities