S. 4675 — Sergeant Dave Crete FORGOTTEN Veterans Act of 2026

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Sergeant Dave Crete Fighting for the Overlooked Recognition of Groups Operating in Toxic Test Environments in Nevada Veterans Act of 2026” or the “Sergeant Dave Crete FORGOTTEN Veterans Act of 2026.”

This section establishes definitions for the Act, including "active military, naval, air, or space service" and "toxic exposure" by reference to section 101 of title 38, United States Code, and "covered location" to encompass facilities listed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act as well as the Nevada Test and Training Range or Nevada National Security Site for service on or after January 27, 1951.

This section directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to establish a process to identify veterans who served at covered locations and may have encountered toxic exposure during active military service. The process must rely on Department of Defense personnel and deployment records plus information from the registry established under section 7, and veterans are not required to provide affirmative evidence of exposure to a specific toxic substance once service at a covered location is established.

This section expands radiation-risk activities recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs to include active military, naval, air, or space service, or onsite participation in the development, construction, operation, or maintenance of military installations, within the Nevada Test and Training Range and the Nevada National Security Site from January 27, 1951, until the Secretary of Defense certifies the areas no longer pose a radiation risk or enactment of this Act, whichever is later.

This section expands the presumption of toxic exposure for veterans to include any who performed active service at a duty station in, or in the airspace above, a facility covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq.), or at the Nevada Test and Training Range and Nevada National Security Site on or after January 27, 1951.

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to enter into an agreement within 180 days with the Department of Health and Human Services or another scientific organization to study toxic exposures and environmental hazards at covered locations. The study must identify military occupation-related exposures and review associations with overall cancer morbidity and mortality using VA, DoD, military department, and national death index data. It authorizes transfer of Defense appropriations to HHS for the study without regard to 10 U.S.C. 2215 and requires submission of a final report to the VA Secretary, the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, the President of the National Academies, and the Chair of the National Research Council.

This section establishes a registry of veterans who served at covered locations and may have encountered toxic exposure. The registry collects epidemiological data on adverse health effects, coordinates with the Department of Defense to verify service, informs veterans of health care and benefits, supports outreach and research, and requires an opt-out option, recruitment of veterans absent from existing records, and data sharing with the Department of Defense consistent with privacy laws.

This section classifies the Nevada Test and Training Range, including the Nevada National Security Site, as a location of contamination and toxic exposure for members of the Armed Forces on and after January 27, 1951. It also classifies all facilities covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The section requires the Secretary of Defense to identify affected current and former service members without requiring evidence from them and to share all resulting information with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to support benefits claims.