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Congressional Daily Record
This section is about changes proposed to a bill or resolution. It mentions members such as Peter Welch.
Issued
June 23, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextSA 5933. Mr. WELCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Insert after section 317 the following:
SEC. 317A. IDENTIFICATION AND REPORTING OF CERTAIN OPEN-AIR
BURN PITS NOT CONTROLLED BY DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE.
(a) Policy Revision.—Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall revise the policy of the Department of Defense
governing the use of open-air burn pits to require
operational commanders to identify, and report to the
commander of the relevant combatant command and the Joint
Staff Logistics Directorate, the presence of open-air burn
pits described in subsection (b).
(b) Open-air Burn Pit Described.—An open-air burn pit
described in this subsection is an open-air burn pit not
controlled by the Department of Defense used to dispose of
non-Department generated waste that is—
(1) located within 4000 meters of an installation of the
Department of Defense, a military installation, or any other
location where members of the Armed Forces are housed, either
temporarily or permanently, including an enduring location, a
contingency location, a military facility associated with an
access agreement with a host nation, a main operating base, a
forward operating site, or a cooperative security location;
or
(2) located within 4000 meters of members of the Armed
Forces and operated by an ally or partner of the United
States, host nation forces, or a local entity that may result
in exposure of such members.
(c) Testing Requirement.—Each operational commander shall
collect and evaluate air quality data in and around the area
of any open-air burn pit identified pursuant to subsection
(a) for the purpose of documenting the effects of open-air
burning at such open-air burn pit, including, to the extent
feasible, by conducting air quality testing in and around
such area for toxins commonly associated with open-air burn
pits.
(d) Watch List Update.—The Secretary of Defense shall
ensure that any open-air burn pit identified pursuant to
subsection (a) is included in the official watch list of the
Department of known burn pits.
(e) Health Record Documentation.—The Secretary of Defense
shall ensure that documented exposure risks associated with
open-air burn pits identified pursuant to subsection (a),
including the air quality data collected under subsection
(c), are incorporated into the individual health records of
potentially exposed members of the Armed Forces pursuant to
section 704 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 U.S.C. 1074f note)
for tracking purposes.
(f) Report to Congress.—Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report containing—
(1) the location of each open-air burn pit identified
pursuant to subsection (a);
(2) the results of the collection and evaluation of air
quality data under subsection (c); and
(3) any updates to the watch list of the Department
consistent with the requirement under subsection (d) made as
of the date of the submission of such report, and the planned
timeline of the Secretary for subsequent updates.
(g) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.—In this
section, the term “appropriate congressional committees”
means—
(1) the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the
House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and
the House of Representatives.