Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 1.djvu/41

 PUBLIC LAW 102-4—FEB. 6, 1991 105 STAT. 13 "(d) Whenever a disease is removed from regulations prescribed under this section— "(1) a veteran who was awarded compensation for such disease on the basis of the presumption provided in subsection (a) before the effective date of the removal shall continue to be entitled to receive compensation on that basis; and "(2) a survivor of a veteran who was awarded dependency and indemnity compensation for the death of a veteran resulting from such disease on the basis of such presumption shall continue to be entitled to receive dependency and indemnity compensation on such basis. "(e) Subsections (b) through (d) shall cease to be effective 10 years after the first day of the fiscal year in which the National Academy of Sciences transmits to the Secretary the first report under section 3 of the Agent Orange Act of 1991.". (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 315 the following new item: "316. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents. ". (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT. —Section 313 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting "or 316" after "section 312" each place it appears. SEC. 3. AGREEMENT WITH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. (a) PURPOSE. —The purpose of this section is to provide for the National Academy of Sciences, an independent nonprofit scientific organization with appropriate expertise which is not part of the Federal Government, to review and evaluate the available scientific evidence regarding associations between diseases and exposure to dioxin and other chemical compounds in herbicides. (b) AGREEMENT.— The Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Nationgil Academy of Sciences for the Academy to perform the services covered by this section. The Secretary shall seek to enter into such agreement not later than two months after the date of the enactment of this Act. (c) REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.— Under an agreement between the Secretary and the National Academy of Sciences under this section, the Academy shall review and summarize the scientific evidence, and assess the strength thereof, concerning the association between exposure to an herbicide used in support of the United States and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure. (d) SCIENTIFIC DETERMINATIONS CONCERNING DISEASES. —(1) For each disease reviewed, the Academy shall determine (to the extent that available scientific data permit meaningful determinations)— (A) whether a statistical association with herbicide exposure exists, taking into account the strength of the scientific evidence and the appropriateness of the statistical and epidemiological methods used to detect the association; (B) the incregised risk of the disease among those exposed to herbicides during service in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (C) whether there exists a plausible biological mechanism or other evidence of a causal relationship between herbicide exposure and the disease. Termination date. 38 USC 316 note.

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