Study on toxic exposures at covered locations

(a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services or another appropriate scientific organization to study potential toxic exposures and environmental hazards at covered locations. (b) Study The study required under subsection (a) shall— (1) identify exposures associated with military occupations of veterans who served at covered locations, including exposures relating to chemicals, compounds, agents, and other phenomena; and (2) review the literature to determine associations between such exposures and the incidence or prevalence of overall cancer morbidity and overall cancer mortality, and determine, to the extent possible, the prevalence and mortality of cancers among such veterans by using available sources of data, which may include— (A) health care and other administrative databases of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the military departments, respectively; and (B) the national death index maintained by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (c) Transfer authority Amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Defense to carry out the study required under subsection (a) may be transferred without regard to section 2215 of title 10, United States Code, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to pay for the study. (d) Report At the conclusion of the study required under subsection (a), the Department of Health and Human Services or other appropriate scientific organization, as the case may be, shall submit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives, the President of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the Chair of the National Research Council a report containing the results of the study.