                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PRESUMPTION AS TO DEATH OR DISABILITY FROM RESPIRATORY DISEASE, HYPERTENSION OR
HEART DISEASE, CANCER (§ 65.2-402)

A. Respiratory diseases that cause (i) the death of volunteer or salaried
firefighters or Department of Emergency Management hazardous materials officers
or (ii) any health condition or impairment of such firefighters or Department of
Emergency Management hazardous materials officers resulting in total or partial
disability shall be presumed to be occupational diseases, suffered in the line
of duty, that are covered by this title unless such presumption is overcome by a
preponderance of competent evidence to the contrary.

B. Hypertension or heart disease causing the death of, or any health condition
or impairment resulting in total or partial disability of any of the following
persons who have completed five years of service in their position as (i)
salaried or volunteer firefighters, (ii) members of the State Police
Officers&#8217; Retirement System, (iii) members of county, city or town police
departments, (iv) sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, (v) Department of Emergency
Management hazardous materials officers, (vi) city sergeants or deputy city
sergeants of the City of Richmond, (vii) Virginia Marine Police officers, (viii)
conservation police officers who are full-time sworn members of the enforcement
division of the Department of Wildlife Resources, (ix) Capitol Police officers,
(x) special agents of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority
appointed under the provisions of Chapter 1 (&#xA7; 4.1-100 et seq.) of Title
4.1, (xi) for such period that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
voluntarily subjects itself to the provisions of this chapter as provided in
&#xA7; 65.2-305, officers of the police force established and maintained by the
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, (xii) officers of the police force
established and maintained by the Norfolk Airport Authority, (xiii) sworn
officers of the police force established and maintained by the Virginia Port
Authority, (xiv) campus police officers appointed under Article 3 (&#xA7;
23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1 and employed by any public
institution of higher education, and (xv) salaried or volunteer emergency
medical services personnel, as defined in &#xA7; 32.1-111.1, when such emergency
medical services personnel is operating in a locality that has legally adopted a
resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of the presumptions under
this subsection, shall be presumed to be occupational diseases, suffered in the
line of duty, that are covered by this title unless such presumption is overcome
by a preponderance of competent evidence to the contrary.

C. Leukemia or pancreatic, prostate, rectal, throat, ovarian, breast, colon,
brain, testicular, bladder, or thyroid cancer causing the death of, or any
health condition or impairment resulting in total or partial disability of, any
of the following persons who have completed five years of service in their
position as (i) salaried or volunteer firefighters; (ii) Department of Emergency
Management hazardous materials officers; (iii) commercial vehicle enforcement
officers or motor carrier safety troopers employed by the Department of State
Police; (iv) arson investigators or bomb investigators employed by the
Department of State Police; (v) full-time sworn members of the enforcement
division of the Department of Motor Vehicles; or (vi) members of the State
Police Officers&#8217; Retirement System who collect, analyze, or handle
hazardous materials, as defined in &#xA7; 44-146.34, infectious biological
substances and radiological agents, as defined in &#xA7; 18.2-52.1, fentanyl or
fentanyl analogs, or methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its
isomers shall be presumed to be an occupational disease, suffered in the line of
duty, that is covered by this title, unless such presumption is overcome by a
preponderance of competent evidence to the contrary. For colon, brain, or
testicular cancer, the presumption shall not apply for any individual who was
diagnosed with such a condition before July 1, 2020. For bladder or thyroid
cancer, the presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed
with such a condition before July 1, 2023. For throat cancer, the presumption
shall include cancer that forms in the tissues of the pharynx, larynx, adenoid,
tonsil, esophagus, trachea, nasopharynx, oropharynx, or hypopharynx.

D. The presumptions described in subsections A, B, and C shall only apply if
persons entitled to invoke them have, if requested by the private employer,
appointing authority or governing body employing them, undergone preemployment
physical examinations that (i) were conducted prior to the making of any claims
under this title that rely on such presumptions, (ii) were performed by
physicians whose qualifications are as prescribed by the private employer,
appointing authority or governing body employing such persons, (iii) included
such appropriate laboratory and other diagnostic studies as the private
employer, appointing authorities or governing bodies may have prescribed, and
(iv) found such persons free of respiratory diseases, hypertension, cancer or
heart disease at the time of such examinations.

E. Persons making claims under this title who rely on such presumptions shall,
upon the request of private employers, appointing authorities or governing
bodies employing such persons, submit to physical examinations (i) conducted by
physicians selected by such employers, authorities, bodies or their
representatives and (ii) consisting of such tests and studies as may reasonably
be required by such physicians. However, a qualified physician, selected and
compensated by the claimant, may, at the election of such claimant, be present
at such examination.

F. Whenever a claim for death benefits is made under this title and the
presumptions of this section are invoked, any person entitled to make such claim
shall, upon the request of the appropriate private employer, appointing
authority or governing body that had employed the deceased, submit the body of
the deceased to a postmortem examination as may be directed by the Commission. A
qualified physician, selected and compensated by the person entitled to make the
claim, may, at the election of such claimant, be present at such postmortem
examination.

G. Volunteer law-enforcement chaplains, auxiliary and reserve deputy sheriffs,
and auxiliary and reserve police are not included within the coverage of this
section.

H. For purposes of this section, &#8220;firefighter&#8221; includes special
forest wardens designated pursuant to &#xA7; 10.1-1135 and any persons who are
employed by or contract with private employers primarily to perform firefighting
services.

HISTORY: 1975, c. 330, § 65.1-4.1; 1976, cc. 187, 772, § 65.1-47.1; 1977, cc.
326, 620; 1978, c. 761; 1983, c. 357; 1987, c. 308; 1991, cc. 354, 355; 1994,
cc. 791, 960; 1997, c. 714; 1999, cc. 581, 597, 602, 604, 607; 2000, c. 1013;
2001, cc. 330, 581; 2002, cc. 309, 737, 789; 2007, cc. 143, 616; 2009, c. 515;
2012, c. 776; 2015, cc. 38, 502, 503, 730; 2020, cc. 498, 499, 958; 2021, Sp.
Sess. I, cc. 436, 437; 2023, cc. 104, 105, 204, 205; 2025, cc. 392, 404.