A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress a report on hearing loss, tinnitus, and noise pollution due to small arms fire.

This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit to specified congressional committees a report on hearing loss, tinnitus, and noise pollution due to small arms fire. Such report shall include:

• a verification and validation of the results included in published findings on hearing loss and tinnitus due to small arms fire;
• a description of the impact on DOD of noise pollution and noise ordinance requirements for small arms fire;
• data on the severity and rates of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus experienced by DOD personnel due to small arms fire in training and operational environments, including costs incurred by the DOD and Department of Veterans Affairs health care systems to treat noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus;
• a description of alternative methods and strategies being employed and considered by DOD for the mitigation of such hearing loss, tinnitus, and noise pollution; and
• a description of available mitigation strategies to reduce hearing loss, tinnitus, and noise pollution as a whole and not as separate issues.