|
|
CLICK HERE to return to IDUST Home Page. |
|
Depleted Uranium State Legislative Initiative
CALIFORNIA
The following documents are currently on file on the IDUST website.
To view a document, click on the link associated with that document.
1. Contact Person: Peter Aronson
Chair DU/WMD, VFP 56
2. Overview of California Law and Tips to Activists
3. California Senate Bill 1720, introduced February 24, 2006 by Senetor Chesbro.
Status: Amended in the Assembly August 7, 2006.
Amended in the Senate April 17, 2006.
Passed into law November, 2006
|
|
CLICK HERE to return to IDUST Home Page. |
|
Document Page for IDUST, www.idust.net/States/CA-Initiative.htm
Last Revised: 1/15/2006
Copyright 2003 by Dan Bishop, All Rights Reserved
Address email to: info@idust.net
Overview of California Law on DU Testing for Returning Veterans:
Thanks to Humboldt Bay VFP chapter, and Senator Wes Chesbro, California has a new "DU" law.
SB 1720 was chaptered in September and the new law is the VETERANS HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 2006.
It requires the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs to implement an outreach message regarding DU to all service members re-deployed to this state from duty areas where DU was used.
It will provide information needed for members to decide if they should self-report for screening or testing. We hope the final outreach message will include exposure scenarios, and define the DOD Levels I, II & III exposures. It will include how to access federal screening and testing services. It should tell the reader that current regulations require testing for all level I and level II exposures. Incidental exposures, like breathing downwind DUst or smoke, or climbing on a DU-struck vehicle, are level III exposures and require testing if requested by the service member or if recommended by a medical provider.
A "Findings" section describes some government conclusions of the potential health effects of internal DU. We hope this, too, makes the message.
Stripped from the bill by lack of jurisdiction to information and CDVA funding was a section creating a task force for investigation & reporting to the legislature the results of testing
We're pleased to join other states that have begun work which, by existing DOD regulations, should have been provided by the federal government. Almost none have received the required pre-deployment DU safety training; post-deployment screening and testing; or have been told DU represents a potential health risk to them and their families. It is important to encourage testing, especially if any "unknown illnesses" are present, since the success of future claims may be contingent on positive test results. It may take 3-20 years for some effects to declare.
For those pursuing legislation in their state – here are a few practical points:
One, this law is about the health of deserving service members, not banning DU. Leave that deliberation for the federal level. It will fragment focus on the legislative intent.
Two, emphasize there will be no costs to the state for testing. All screening and testing is conducted by the V.A.
Third, try to present an economical approach to outreach. Our successes were based in utilizing an existing CDVA letter to all service members returning to California, thanking them for their service and welcoming them home. Tagging on this mandated DU message made the difference in costs, which was critical to our success.
Language of the new law can be found here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/05-06/bill/sen/sb_1701-1750/sb_1720_bill_20060929_chaptered.html
(or go to leginfo.ca.gov - search the '05-'06 session and enter "SB 1720")
Contact person: Peter Aronson
Chair DU/WMD, VFP 56
|
|
|
BILL NUMBER: SB 1720 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 686
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 17, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Senator Chesbro
FEBRUARY 24, 2006
An act to add Section 399 to the Military and Veterans Code,
relating to uranium screening.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1720, Chesbro Armed Forces: uranium screening.
Existing law provides for certain rights and privileges for active
members of the Armed Force, reservists, and veterans of the Armed
Forces, including members of the California National Guard.
This bill would require the Secretary of the California Department
of Veterans Affairs, or his or her designee, to assist an eligible
member, as defined, or veteran in obtaining a best practice health
screening for exposure to depleted uranium, as described. A member or
veteran would be eligible to receive the assistance when he or she
returns to this state after service in specified combat zones if he
or she has been assigned a risk level I, II, or III for depleted
uranium exposure, has been referred by a military physician, or has
reason to believe that he or she was exposed to depleted uranium
during their service. This bill would require the Secretary of the
California Department of Veterans Affairs, or his or her designee, to
develop a plan for outreach to eligible members and veterans, as
described, regarding depleted uranium.
This bill also makes findings regarding the health risks of
exposure to depleted uranium and the purpose of the bill to assist
California's veterans in obtaining federal treatment services to
detect exposure to depleted uranium.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Veterans Health and Safety Act of 2006.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Depleted uranium is a chemically toxic, radioactive heavy
metal that is created as waste during nuclear fuel and weapons
production.
(b) Depleted uranium, which has a radioactive half-life of four
and one-half billion years, emits radioactive particles that may
cause kidney and lung damage, may cause cancer when inhaled or
ingested, and may cause genetic mutations that are carried to future
generations.
(c) Depleted uranium munitions and armor have been used
extensively by the United States Armed Forces since the 1991 Gulf
War. Veterans living in California who served in combat theaters in
the first Gulf War, and veterans who served after the first Gulf War,
may have been exposed to depleted uranium in unknown doses with
unknown consequences to their health.
(d) The purpose of this act is to safeguard the health of
California's veterans by assisting them in obtaining federal
treatment services, including best practice health screening tests
capable of detecting low levels of depleted uranium.
SEC. 3. Section 399 is added to the Military and Veterans Code, to
read:
399. (a) (1) The Secretary of the California Department of
Veterans Affairs, or his or her designees, shall assist any eligible
member or veteran who returns or has returned to this state in
obtaining a best practice health screening test for exposure to
depleted uranium. The screening should consist of a bioassay
procedure capable of detecting depleted uranium at low levels and
discriminating between different uranium isotopes. State funds shall
not be used to pay for the tests or any other federal treatment
services.
(2) The eligible member or veteran must return or have returned to
this state after service in an area where depleted uranium was used
or that was designated as a combat zone by the President of the
United States after 1990. The eligible member or veteran shall either
be assigned a risk level I, II, or III for depleted uranium exposure
by his or her branch of service, be referred by a military
physician, or have reason to believe that he or she was exposed to
depleted uranium during his or her service.
(b) (1) In order to effectively provide the assistance required by
subdivision (a), the Secretary of the California Department of
Veterans Affairs, or his or her designees, shall develop and
implement a plan for outreach to eligible members and veterans who
have returned from combat areas where depleted uranium was used.
(2) The outreach plan shall provide information to eligible
members and veterans concerning their potential exposure to depleted
uranium, the possible hazards associated with exposure, and the right
to federal depleted uranium screening services.
(c) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:
(1) "Eligible member" means a member who served in the Persian
Gulf War, as defined in Section 101 of Title 38 of the United States
Code, in an area designated as a combat zone by the President of
United States during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi
Freedom, or in any other combat theater where depleted uranium was
used.
(2) "Member" or "member of the Armed Forces" means a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States, including the California National
Guard, who is a resident of this state.
(3) "Military physician" means a provider who is under contract
with the United States Department of Defense to provide physician
services to members of the Armed Forces.
|
|
|