H.R. 4704 — ROTOR Act

This section requires the Director of the Defense Health Agency, in coordination with the Directors of the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute, to conduct a two-phase study on the prevalence and mortality of specified cancers among covered individuals (i.e., members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space Force who served on or after February 28, 1961, as rotary-wing aircrew, including pilots and aviation support personnel, and who receive health care under chapter 55 of title 10, U.S. Code). In the initial phase, the Director must determine whether covered individuals (or female covered individuals, for breast cancer) have increased prevalence of, or mortality from, any of 12 specified cancers—brain, breast, colon and rectal, kidney, lung, melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, testicular, and urinary bladder—compared to similarly aged individuals in the general population; the Director must report findings to the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees of the House and Senate not later than one year after enactment. If the initial phase identifies increased prevalence or mortality for any such cancer, the Director must conduct a second phase to identify associated carcinogenic toxins or hazards (e.g., aircraft fumes, fuels, non-ionizing radiation from radars, burn pits, or contaminated water or soil), including service locations and unrelated duties; submit a report on those findings not later than one year after the initial-phase report; and format phase-two data consistent with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute, disaggregated by race, gender, and age. The study must use data from the SEER database, the study under section 750 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and other relevant prior studies by military department secretaries.