Browse Arkansas Code titles and sections
38 U.S.C. § 1176 — Agreement with National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concerning toxic exposures
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Purpose.—** The purpose of this section is to provide for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as the “Academies”), an independent nonprofit scientific organization with appropriate expertise that is not part of the Federal Government, to review and evaluate the available scientific evidence regarding associations between diseases and toxic exposures.
**(b) Agreement.—**
(1) The Secretary shall seek to enter into a five-year agreement with the Academies to perform the services covered by this section.
(2) The Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement described in paragraph (1) not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022.
(3) An agreement under this section may be extended in five-year increments.
**(c) Review of Scientific Evidence.—** Under an agreement between the Secretary and the Academies under this section, the Academies shall review and summarize the scientific evidence, and assess the strength thereof, concerning the association between toxic exposures during active military, naval, air, or space service and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure in the human population.
**(d) Scientific Determinations Concerning Diseases.—** For each disease reviewed under subsection (c), the Academies shall determine, to the extent that available scientific data permit meaningful determinations—
(1) whether an association exists between toxic exposures and the occurrence of the disease, taking into account the strength of the scientific evidence and the appropriateness of the statistical and epidemiological methods used to detect the association;
(2) the increased ris
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 38 U.S.C. § 1176
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
Original supplied file — preserved unchanged
Download original Markdown file
File SHA-256: be51c1eb023e1de27726cd79d679838f20ba57069ef7dde3a8541e6f9f389fd2. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. Search shows only the selected federal record. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
Authority boundary: historical or unconfirmed source not current law verified.
Open the recorded source website ↗
Record provenance
Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_725c75de6e4a2bb11a0cefde
Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-38/section-1176-agreement-with-national-academies-of-sciences-engineering-and-medicine-c--1a297f7988.md
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 3daf249b5e1b022b9ea474d62636ce19ebd2c6338ae8fc499f7ab775bde35eb1
Source location: Title 38, Chapter 11, § 1176; chapter-011-compensation-for-service-connected-disability-or-death.md
Stored source content
**(a) Purpose.—** The purpose of this section is to provide for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as the “Academies”), an independent nonprofit scientific organization with appropriate expertise that is not part of the Federal Government, to review and evaluate the available scientific evidence regarding associations between diseases and toxic exposures.
**(b) Agreement.—**
(1) The Secretary shall seek to enter into a five-year agreement with the Academies to perform the services covered by this section.
(2) The Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement described in paragraph (1) not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022.
(3) An agreement under this section may be extended in five-year increments.
**(c) Review of Scientific Evidence.—** Under an agreement between the Secretary and the Academies under this section, the Academies shall review and summarize the scientific evidence, and assess the strength thereof, concerning the association between toxic exposures during active military, naval, air, or space service and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure in the human population.
**(d) Scientific Determinations Concerning Diseases.—** For each disease reviewed under subsection (c), the Academies shall determine, to the extent that available scientific data permit meaningful determinations—
(1) whether an association exists between toxic exposures and the occurrence of the disease, taking into account the strength of the scientific evidence and the appropriateness of the statistical and epidemiological methods used to detect the association;
(2) the increased risk of the disease among those reporting toxic exposures during active military, naval, air, or space service;
(3) whether there exists a plausible biological mechanism or other evidence of a positive association between the toxic exposure and the occurrence of the disease; and
(4) determine the strength of evidence for a positive association based on categories furnished under [section 1173 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section1173&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(e) Cooperation of Federal Agencies.—** The head of each relevant Federal agency, including the Secretary of Defense, shall cooperate fully with the Academies in performing the services covered by this section.
**(f) Recommendations for Additional Scientific Studies.—**
(1) Under an agreement between the Secretary and the Academies under this section, the Academies shall make any recommendations for additional scientific studies to resolve areas of continuing scientific uncertainty relating to toxic exposures.
(2) In making recommendations under paragraph (1), the Academies shall consider—
(A) the scientific information that is available at the time of the recommendation;
(B) the value and relevance of the information that could result from additional studies; and
(C) the cost and feasibility of carrying out such additional studies.
**(g) Reports.—**
(1)
(A) Under an agreement between the Secretary and the Academies under this section, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, the Academies shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives an initial report on the activities of the Academies under the agreement.
(B) The report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
(i) The determinations described in subsection (d).
(ii) A full explanation of the scientific evidence and reasoning that led to such determinations.
(iii) Any recommendations of the Academies under subsection (f).
(2) Under an agreement between the Secretary and the Academies under this section, not less frequently than once every two years after the date on which the initial report is submitted under paragraph (1)(A), the Academies shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives an updated report on the activities of the Academies under the agreement.
**(h) Alternative Contract Scientific Organization.—**
(1) If the Secretary is unable within the time period prescribed in subsection (b)(2) to enter into an agreement with the Academies for the purposes of this section on terms acceptable to the Secretary, the Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement for the purposes of this section with another appropriate scientific organization that—
(A) is not part of the Federal Government;
(B) operates as a not-for-profit entity; and
(C) has expertise and objectivity comparable to that of the Academies.
(2) If the Secretary enters into an agreement with another organization as described in paragraph (1), any reference in this subchapter to the Academies shall be treated as a reference to the other organization.
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Formal Evaluations.—** The Secretary shall establish a process to conduct a formal evaluation with respect to each recommendation made by the Working Group under [section 1172 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section1172&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(b) Evidence, Data, and Factors.—** The Secretary shall ensure that each formal evaluation under subsection (a) covers the following:
(1) Scientific evidence, based on the review of available scientific literature, including human, toxicological, animal, and methodological studies, and other factors.
(2) Claims data, based on the review of claim rate, grant rate, and service connection prevalence, and other factors.
(3) Other factors the Secretary determines appropriate, such as—
(A) the level of disability and mortality caused by the health effects related to the case of toxic exposure being evaluated;
(B) the quantity and quality of the information available and reviewed;
(C) the feasibility of and period for generating relevant information and evidence;
(D) whether such health effects are combat- or deployment-related;
(E) the ubiquity or rarity of the health effects; and
(F) any time frame during which a health effect must become manifest.
**(c) Conduct of Evaluations.—**
(1) The Secretary shall ensure that each formal evaluation under subsection (a)—
(A) reviews scientific evidence in a manner that—
(i) conforms to principles of scientific and data integrity;
(ii) is free from suppression or distortion of scientific or technological findings, data, information, conclusions, or technical results; and
(B)
(i) evaluates the likelihood that a positive association exists between an illness and a toxic exposure while serving in t
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 38 U.S.C. § 1173
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Procedures.—** The Secretary shall determine whether to establish, or to remove, presumptions of service connection based on toxic exposure pursuant to this subchapter, whereby—
(1) under [section 1172 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section1172&num=0&edition=prelim)—
(A) the Secretary provides—
(i) public notice regarding what formal evaluations the Secretary plans to conduct; and
(ii) the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed formal evaluations;
(B) the working group established under subsection (b) of such section provides—
(i) advice to the Secretary on toxic-exposed veterans and cases in which veterans who, during active military, naval, air, or space service, may have experienced a toxic exposure or their dependents may have experienced a toxic exposure while the veterans were serving in the active military, naval, air, or space service;
(ii) recommendations to the Secretary on corrections needed in the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record to better reflect veterans and dependents described in clause (i); and
(iii) recommendations to the Secretary regarding which cases of possible toxic exposure should be reviewed;
(2) the Secretary provides for formal evaluations of such recommendations under [section 1173 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section1173&num=0&edition=prelim) and takes into account reports received by the Secretary from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under [section 1176 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section1176&num=0&edition=prelim); and
(3) the Secretary issues regulations under [section 1174 of this title](http
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 38 U.S.C. § 1171
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Incoming connection: Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Page 204
TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS
§ 1175
Editorial Notes
REFERENCES IN TEXT
Title IV of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson
Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive
Toxics Act of 2022, referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(A)(ii), is
title IV of Pub. L. 117–168, Aug. 10, 2022, 136 Stat. 1780,
which enacted section 1120 of this title, amended sec-
tions 1112, 1113, 1116, 1117, and 1710 of this title, and en-
acted provisions set out as notes under sections 101,
1116, and 1120 of this title. For complete classification
of title IV to the Code, see Tables.
§ 1175. Authority to modify process; congres-
sional oversight
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may modify
the process under which the working group es-
tablished under subsection (b) of section 1172 of
this title conducts assessments under such sec-
tion, the Secretary conducts formal evaluations
under section 1173 of this title, and issues regu-
lations under section 1174 of this title if—
(1) such evaluations cover the evidence,
data, and factors required by subsection (b) of
such section 1173; and
(2) a period of 180 days has elapsed following
the date on which the Secretary submits the
notice under subsection (b) regarding the
modification.
(b) NOTICE.—If the Secretary proposes to mod-
ify the process under which the working group
established under subsection (b) of section 1172
of this title conducts assessments under such
section, the process under which the Secretary
conducts formal evaluations under section 1173
of this title, or issues regulations under section
1174 of this title, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen-
ate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of
the House of Representatives a notice of the pro-
posed modifications containing th
Source: Supplied 2024 U.S. Code historical extraction · 38 U.S.C. § 1176
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. Same stored citation; legal effect and authority still require review.