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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this final rule to amend its adjudication regulations to establish presumptive service connection for nine rare respiratory cancers in association with presumed exposure to fine particulate matter. These presumptions would apply to Veterans with a qualifying period of service, i.e., who served on active military, naval, or air service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War (hereafter Gulf War), as well as in Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti, or Uzbekistan, on or after September 19, 2001, during the Gulf War. This amendment is necessary to implement a decision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that there is a plausible relationship between exposure to fine particulate matter during service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti, or Uzbekistan during certain periods and the subsequent development of the following rare respiratory cancers: squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx, SCC of the trachea, adenocarcinoma of the trachea, salivary gland-type tumors of the trachea, adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung, large cell carcinoma of the lung, salivary gland-type tumors of lung, sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung, and typical and atypical carcinoid of the lung. The intended effect of this amendment is to ease the evidentiary burden of this population of Veterans who file claims with VA for these nine rare respiratory cancers.

Overall Description of Deadline: The Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998, Public Law 105-277, (codified at 38 U.S.C. 1118), and the Veterans Programs Enhancement Act of 1998, Public Law 105-368, directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review and evaluate available scientific evidence regarding associations between illnesses and agents, hazards, or medicine or vaccine to which service members may have been exposed during the Gulf War.