Section 244: Open burn pits or other airborne hazards in overseas military deployments; educational materials; duties of the commissioner
[Text of section added by 2022, 154, Sec. 14. See also, Section 244 added by 2022, 177, Sec. 34, below.]
Section 244. (a)(1) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of veterans' services and the adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard, shall develop, and update as necessary, written educational materials about the health effects associated with chemicals identified at open burn pits or other airborne hazards in overseas military deployments. Such written educational materials shall include, but not be limited to: (i) symptoms associated with exposure to open burn pits or other airborne hazards during overseas military deployment; (ii) treatment of conditions associated with exposure to open burn pits or other airborne hazards during overseas military deployment; (iii) information regarding the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, including eligibility requirements, deployment locations and dates and resources that assist with the registration process; and (iv) contact information for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.
(2) The commissioner shall monitor the most current published epidemiological studies and recommendations, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. section 527, and developments in the study and treatment of conditions associated with exposure to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits or other airborne hazards.
(3) The commissioner, in consultation with appropriate professional licensing boards and professional membership associations, shall ensure the information pursuant to this section is made available to all appropriate licensed health care providers in the commonwealth.
(b) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of veterans' services and the adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard, shall prepare and update as necessary an informational pamphlet that shall include, but not be limited to, the health effects of exposure to open burn pits or other airborne hazards, how to participate in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry and resources that can assist with the registration process. The commissioner of veterans' services and the adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard shall distribute the informational pamphlet to organizations chosen by the commissioner of veterans' services and adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard, including veteran service offices and veteran organizations. Veteran service officers shall receive training to assist with the implementation of this section.
(c) The informational pamphlet required in subsection (b) shall be made available on the department's website and the department of veterans' services' website.
[Text of section added by 2022, 177, Sec. 34. See also, Section 244 added by 2022, 154, Sec. 14, above.]
Section 244. The department shall administer an initiative to increase public awareness of and education on the availability of the extreme risk protection order process established pursuant to sections 131R to 131Y, inclusive, of chapter 140, to remove a firearm from the control, ownership or possession of an individual who poses a risk of causing bodily injury to themself or others. The initiative shall focus on the heighted risk of suicide associated with the possession of a firearm and shall include information on: (i) eligibility to petition for an extreme risk protection order; (ii) the procedure to petition for an extreme risk protection order; (iii) options to voluntarily surrender a firearm to a law enforcement agency; and (iv) the availability of existing legal resources and support services for a potential petitioner.