PROVIDENCE, RI – A deadline for a year’s worth of backdated benefits is fast approaching for U.S. veterans who were exposed to open burn pits.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who helped pass the PACT Act, is urging former service members or their surviving family members to submit their paperwork ahead of the August 9 deadline in order to claim benefits that date back to the law’s enactment in August of 2022.

There is no deadline for qualifying veterans who were exposed to toxins to file under the PACT Act.  This is only for those who wish to receive retroactive benefits for the past year.

Rhode Island veterans who wish to apply can sign up online to participate in a Toxic Exposure Screening, which the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) describes as a roughly 10-15 minute process.  Veterans can set up an appointment by calling 1-800-698-2411, or find a local walk-in location.

The VA reports it has already conducted over 4 million screenings so far, and 1.7 million veterans identified at least one toxic exposure event.

Last August, President Joe Biden signed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT) Act into law.

Senator Reed, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA), who helped pass the law, noted that it expands health care access to millions of veterans and adds 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related health conditions to the VA’s list of presumptive conditions, including bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and numerous cancers and respiratory illnesses.  It also requires VA to provide free toxic exposure screening to every veteran enrolled in VA health care.

Veterans who do not yet have claims ready but wish to submit one in the near future past the deadline may submit an “intent to file,” which would reserve their place in line for retroactive benefits if they are eligible.

The PACT Act is estimated to cost more than $270 billion over the span of a decade.

As of mid-July, 371,716 veterans and 7,715 survivors had completed PACT Act-related claims.  Nearly 80 percent have been approved, according to the latest PACT Act Performance Dashboard data from the VA.

Reed pointed out that in addition to health care benefits, the new law also boosts toxic exposure research, invests in VA’s workforce to better serve new claimants, and improves toxic exposure-related education and training for VA personnel.

“The PACT Act will help increase our understanding of the connection between health consequences and exposure to toxins, whether it’s from burn pits or other types of exposure to chemicals and pollutants, and that has the potential to benefit Americans from all walks of life,” said Reed.

Over the last several decades, the U.S. military relied on open air burn pits in overseas combat settings to dispose of trash – potentially exposing millions of military personnel to toxic fumes.  As the name implies, burn pits are pits where all forms of waste, including toxic waste, are disposed of by burning.  U.S. service members lived and worked in close proximity to these burn pits, often without knowing the potential consequences to their long-term health or any way to avoid them.

Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized the harm burn pits can cause.  Senator Reed has been a leader in confronting the military’s use of open air burn pits, ensuring accountability at DoD, protecting the health of our men and women in uniform, and assisting veterans who were exposed to toxins.  He has also supported military funding for safer waste management alternatives such as closed systems and deployable alternatives to open air burn pits.

When Reed became Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he included language in the first national defense bill he wrote that would bar the military from using open burn pits in overseas operations.  As the bill moved through committee, it was amended so that the law now states that the only way that DoD can use a burn pit overseas is if the Secretary of Defense personally issues a waiver.

Additionally, Senator Reed is an original cosponsor of S. 952, the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act of 2021.  This bill was the basis for the additional 23 presumptive conditions that were included in the final version of the Honoring Our PACT Act.