This bill extends death and disability benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (PSOB) to certain public safety officers who suffer from exposure-related cancer while on duty and their survivors. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors.
The bill specifies that exposure to a carcinogen shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty if
the exposure occurred while the officer was in the line of duty; the officer began serving as an officer not fewer than 5 years before the date of the diagnosis of an exposure-related cancer and the diagnosis occurred not more than 15 years after the last date of active service; and the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately resulted in the death or permanent and total disability of the officer. The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance must periodically review the definition of exposure-related cance r and update the definition if appropriate based on medical evidence and in accordance with the requirements of a petition process.