New Burn Pit Exposure Presumptive List
As of August 5, 2021, the VA has created the Burn Pit Presumptive List with 3 presumptive conditions for veterans exposed to particulate matter from burn pits and other sources.
- sand/dust
- general air pollution
- exhaust/mechanical fumes
- Oil well fire smoke
The three presumptive conditions are asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis.
To qualify, a veteran must have served in Southwest Asia on or after August 2, 1990 or in Afghanistan, Syria, Uzbekistan, or Djibouti on or after September 19, 2001 and later developed one of these conditions within 10 years of their date of discharge.
The final rule was officially published in the federal register on August 5th, however, according to the VA’s official press release, they will begin applying the new rules to claims starting August 2nd.
If you have a claim currently pending for these conditions, the new rules will be automatically applied, and nothing further is needed.
If you have not yet submitted a claim for these conditions, then you can get these benefits by submitting a new VA Disability Claim.
If you have claimed these conditions before, but they were denied, then you can reapply by submitting VA Form 20-0995, a supplemental claim.
Along with your claim, make sure to include full evidence of your service in these locations during these dates, along with evidence that your condition developed within 10 years of your discharge date.
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5 Comments
If I already have a disability rating for sinusitis (0%) and allergic Rhinitis (0%), do I need to take any action? I'm in the burn pit registry and got the email notification today.
I received a letter from the VA that said I did not have to do anything
Yes, that is correct. Since you've already claimed them previously, you do not have to do anything. They'll review your claim automatically with these new rules.
How long should it take before the review your claim with these new rules? I have not received any notification.
If you have an open claim pending, then they will automatically apply these rules. If not, then you either need to submit a new claim if you've never claimed these conditions before, or submit a supplemental claim if you have submitted them before but were denied. We include links to these claims in the article above. You do not need to wait to receive a notification.