The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. This docket tracks the statute, the rules VA has issued to carry it out, oversight findings, and the claims outcome data we obtained under FOIA.
FOIA case 26-23669-F produced monthly counts of PACT Act claims received, completed, granted, and denied from August 10, 2022 through July 16, 2026. Our analysis shows the grant rate fell 8.4 points from the law's first 12 months to the most recent 12 months, and cumulative denials crossed one million in July 2026.
Our FOIA request, 26-23669-F.
Full grant received July 17, 2026: monthly counts of PACT Act claims received, completed, granted, and denied from August 10, 2022 through July 16, 2026. VBA stated it does not track claims by presumptive condition category or exposure cohort, so that portion could not be provided. The complete dataset and analysis are published in our PACT Act Claims Report. VA's disposition was a full grant; the unproduced breakdowns reflect data VBA states it does not maintain.
Interim final rule, effective Jan 10, 2025, comments closed Mar 11, 2025.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule (IFR) to amend its adjudication regulations to establish presumptive service connection for acute leukemias, chronic leukemias, multiple myelomas, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and myelofibrosis due to exposure to ...
Interim final rule, effective Jan 2, 2025.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule (IFR) to amend its adjudication regulations to establish presumptive service connection for urinary bladder, ureter, and related genitourinary (GU) cancers due to exposure to Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM<INF>2.5</INF>) and to ...
Proposed rule, comments closed Dec 2, 2024.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to amend its adjudication regulations to implement provisions of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (PACT Act or Act). The statute amended procedures applicable to claims based ...
Notification of modification of sub-regulatory guidance.
On August 10, 2022, the President signed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, or the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 (PACT Act) into law, establishing substantial legislative changes in laws administered by the Department of ...
Notification of sub-regulatory guidance, comments closed Apr 4, 2024.
This notice informs the public of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implementation of the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which expands health care to three new cohorts of toxic-exposed veterans.
Proposed Rule.
Proposed rule, comments closed Apr 12, 2024.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its adjudication regulations relating to exposure to certain herbicide agents to incorporate the provisions of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 (the BWN Act), specifically by extending the presumed area of exposure to the ...
VA started processing PACT Act presumptive claims on January 1, 2023, after screening and staffing through the fall of 2022.
Public Law 117-168 establishes presumptions of service connection for more than 20 conditions tied to burn pit and other toxic exposures, and phases in health care eligibility for toxic exposed veterans.
Live claim volume and grant rates, updated monthly.
The full FOIA dataset with methodology and validation.
Guides to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other exposures.
Check whether a condition may be presumptive for your service.
What the regulation actually says about direct service connection.
Rules on this docket come from the Federal Register API, oversight reports from the official VA OIG and GAO feeds, and comments and FOIA requests from our own participation record. Matching items attach automatically as our syncs run, so this page updates without editorial delay. Curated milestones cite the statute, the Federal Register, or the court decision they describe. For anything you plan to rely on, use the primary source linked in each entry.