This bill establishes presumptions of toxic exposure and service connection for veterans who served at specified Department of Energy or Nevada Test and Training Range/National Security Site locations, and mandates a study and registry for these veterans.
Susie Lee
Representative
NV-3
This bill aims to recognize and support veterans exposed to toxic environments during service at specific Department of Energy facilities and the Nevada Test and Training Range/National Security Site. It establishes presumptions of toxic exposure and service connection for related diseases to streamline disability benefits claims. Furthermore, the Act mandates the creation of a veteran registry and a scientific study to better understand the health impacts of these exposures.
Sergeant Dave Crete FORGOTTEN Veterans Act Targets Toxic Exposure Benefits for Nevada Test Site Personnel Starting in 2026
If you or a family member spent time working at the Nevada Test and Training Range or the Nevada National Security Site, you know there’s long been a gap between the reality of the work and the recognition of the risks. This bill cuts through the red tape by officially designating these areas as 'radiation-risk activities' (Sec. 4). This isn't just a title change—it creates a legal 'presumption of service connection.' In plain English: if a veteran served at these sites and develops certain cancers or illnesses, the VA will now assume it was caused by the job. This removes the exhausting burden on the veteran to prove exactly which chemical or radiation dose caused their illness decades after the fact.
Clearing the Paperwork Hurdle
One of the biggest headaches for veterans is proving they were actually 'there' when records are old or classified. The bill fixes this by ordering the Secretary of Defense and the VA to build a coordinated identification process (Sec. 3). They are now required to use existing deployment records and a new 'Covered Location Veteran Registry' to verify service. Crucially, the law states that once your service at a covered location is confirmed, the VA cannot demand specific proof of exposure to a particular toxic substance (Sec. 3). For a veteran who has been fighting for years to get a claim approved, this provision is a massive shift from 'prove it' to 'we believe you.'
Mapping the Damage
The bill doesn't just look at Nevada; it pulls in any facility listed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (Sec. 5). This means if you were stationed at a site that the Department of Energy already flagged as dangerous for its own civilian workers, you’re now covered under the same umbrella of toxic exposure presumption. To make sure no one is missed, the DoD has to classify these facilities and actively identify every service member stationed there, sharing that data directly with the VA to support benefit claims (Sec. 8). It’s basically an automated system to ensure your medical history follows you from the barracks to the doctor’s office.
The Long-Term Health Check
Because we still don't know the full extent of what happened at these sites, the bill mandates a deep-dive scientific study (Sec. 6). The VA has to partner with a group like the National Academies of Sciences to link specific military jobs to cancer rates and deaths. This data will feed into a new registry (Sec. 7) designed to track long-term health trends. While the registry is meant to help with outreach and research, the bill includes an 'opt-out' for those who value their privacy. For everyone else, it’s a way to ensure that if new health risks are discovered in ten years, the government already has your contact info to tell you what screenings you might need.