[ RadSafe ] Fwd: OFFICIAL CALIFORNIA BILL INFORMATION

[Otto Raabe]

At 09:23 AM 8/24/2006, roger helbig wrote:
>California DU bill passed - will become law if Gov
>Schwartzenegger signs.

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 17, 2006
SENATE BILL No. 1720
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, as amended, 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
designees, 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 designees, to develop a plan for outreach to eligible

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
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.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 their 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.



Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
Center for Health & the Environment
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
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