PACT Act

Important Things to Know About Filing Claims Under the PACT Due to Burn Pit Exposure

Recently, Congress and VA have implemented expansive legislation, known as the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (PACT Act), acknowledging that numerous serious health conditions and cancers are related to a veteran’s hazardous service, including exposure to burn pits for Gulf War veterans.

First, the PACT Act deals primarily in presumptive service-connected disabilities. To learn more about what distinguishes a presumptive service-connected disability claim, read our post here.

For this post, we’re going to break down what the PACT Act means for your disability claim!

Exposure to Burn Pits:

While burn pits, and the toxins produced by the burn pits, was one of the biggest considerations for Congress when drafting the PACT Act, the Act does not elaborate on the details of the exposure (i.e., what specific substances were being produced by the burn pits, or other known toxic substances that a service member would have had routine contact with during service). Instead, Congress left it to the VA to “establish and maintain a list that contains an identification of one or more such substances, chemicals, and airborne hazards [as VA] may determine appropriate…” While VA has not yet codified this list in regulation, there is some information available through its Public Health website that gives us an idea of the types of exposures that VA will be considering. You can read more about the airborne hazards and other Gulf War exposures on VA’s public health website. The key takeaway here is that its not solely burn pits exposure that was on Congress’ radar when passing the PACT Act; the future list of toxic exposures could be much more expansive.

Presumptive Service Connection:

At work inside every claim for presumptive service connection are two smaller presumptions. First, the presumption of exposure to a toxic substance based on the veteran’s service at a particular location during a particular time. The second is whether the disability has been deemed presumptively related to the toxic exposure. For Gulf War veterans, the PACT Act presumption elements are as follows:

a. (1) Locations: The PACT refers to a “covered” veteran as one who had service in a particular location and was exposed to toxic substances, like burn pits. For service on or after August 2, 1990, the presumptive locations are limited to: Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or United Arab Emirates. However, for service on or after September 11, 2001: the presumptive locations also include: Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, or “any other country determined relevant” by VA.

b. (2) Conditions: The PACT Act established 13 diseases and 12 broad categories of cancers that are presumed to be related to service in one of the covered locations. Diseases include: Asthma, chronic bronchitis, COPD, constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritic, pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, chronic sinusitis, chronic rhinitis. Cancers include: Head, neck, respiratory, gastrointestinal, reproductive, lymphoma, glioblastoma, kidney cancer, brain cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer.

c. However, the VA was given the discretion to add more conditions. To view the latest information, visit the VA’s The PACT ACT and Your VA Benefits page.

What does this mean for your claim?

Generally speaking, if you have service during the timeframe and in the locations included (i.e., you are a “covered” veteran), and you have one of the listed disabilities, you should discuss filing a claim with an accredited representative. If you are a “covered” veteran, and you have a disability that is not included on the list, you still may want to discuss filing a claim with your representative on a direct service connection basis. Filing a claim for direct service connection will include a VA examination and VA will ask the examiner to opine on whether your condition is at least as likely as not related to your service and/or toxic exposure.

If you would like to discuss claims under the PACT Act with us, please contact us!