Lawmakers press VA to report on the delays in its burn pit registry revamp

A bipartisan, bicameral legislative proposal would force the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide answers about a delayed redesign of its database of veterans’ exposure to burn pits and other airborne hazards during their active service. 

VA launched its Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry in 2014 to help both veterans and active duty personnel document possible exposure to toxic substances while serving abroad. The database, one of several the department uses to track toxic exposure, allows VA to “collect, analyze and publish data on health conditions that may be related to environmental exposures experienced during deployment.”

Several critical reports, however, have pushed VA to revamp the registry in a way that makes it more useful for veterans and the department. 

A July 2022 report from the VA Office of Inspector General warned that most veterans did not complete the registry’s 140-item questionnaire and were confused that “an indication of interest on the questionnaire for an [in-person] exam with their contact information did not amount to a ‘request’ and veterans were still responsible for calling a local VA facility to schedule one.”

A report released by the National Academies of Sciences in October 2022 also warned that the registry’s questionnaires were too complicated for active and retired personnel to complete and said the database should “be ended in its current form as its stated purposes have largely been to support research and population health surveillance, neither of which it can do.”

That report further recommended that VA “initiate a new phase” for the registry that “would build on key information from the first 7 years of registry operations and would be developed and implemented to optimize the registry to be a user-friendly, efficient and effective resource to provide two-way communication between participants and VA.”

Frustrated by VA’s lack of progress on the new registry, however, lawmakers — led by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Reps. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. — introduced legislation on June 20 that would require the department to be more transparent about its modernization efforts.

In a press release, Welch, Ruiz and Bilirakis said the redesigned registry was expected to launch in October 2023 and would be designed to “enhance veterans’ experience with documenting their exposure to airborne hazards during military service and tracking the health effects of toxic exposure.”

Within 90 days of its enactment, the lawmakers’ bill would require VA to “submit to Congress a report on the current status and timeline for when the redesigned Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry 2.0 will be completed.”

In a statement, Ruiz called the legislation “the next step to ensure that the VA will complete the new burn pit registry.”

VA, however, has still not pinned down a final date for the release of the modernized database. A department spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW that the department did not have an update to provide on the status of the redesigned registry. 

The lawmakers’ pressure on VA to complete the new registry comes as the department continues to process an influx of claims following the enactment of the PACT Act in August 2022. The law expanded veterans’ access to benefits and health services for exposure to burn pits and other toxic chemicals that resulted in medical conditions. VA announced last month that it had granted over 1 million PACT Act-related claims.