COOPERATIVE OUTREACH TO MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE NAVAL SERVICE EXPOSED TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATED TO SARCOIDOSIS.

SEC. 746. COOPERATIVE OUTREACH TO MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE NAVAL SERVICE EXPOSED TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATED TO SARCOIDOSIS.(a) Outreach Program Required.—The Secretary of the Navy, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall conduct an outreach program intended to contact as many members and former members of the naval service as possible who, in connection with service aboard Navy ships, may have been exposed to aerosolized particles resulting from the removal of nonskid coating used on those ships.(b) Purposes of Outreach Program.—The purposes of the outreach program are as follows:(1) To develop additional data for use in subsequent studies aimed at determining a causative link between sarcoidosis and military service.(2) To inform members and former members identified in subsection (a) of the findings of Navy studies identifying an association between service aboard certain naval ships and sarcoidosis.119 STAT. 3363(3) To provide information to assist members and former members identified in subsection (a) in getting medical evaluations to help clarify linkages between their disease and their service aboard Navy ships.(4) To provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with data and information for the effective evaluation of veterans who may seek care for sarcoidosis.(c) Implementation and Report.—Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall begin the outreach program. Not later than one year after beginning the program, the Secretary shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the results of the outreach program.