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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
firefighters; occupational disease; cancers
Purpose
Expands the conditions presumed to have arisen out of employment as a peace officer and clarifies the conditions presumed to have arisen out of employment as a firefighter for the purposes of workers' compensation coverage.
Background
Injured employees, and dependents of deceased employees, are entitled to receive workers' compensation from accidents arising out of and in the course of employment (A.R.S. § 23-1021). Accidents arising out of employment include occupational diseases that are due to conditions of a particular trade, occupation, process or employment and not the ordinary diseases to which the general public is exposed (A.R.S. § 23-901).
Under current
statute, a firefighter’s or peace officer's disability or death is presumed to
have resulted from a compensable occupational disease if caused by specified
conditions. The conditions presumed to have arisen out of employment for firefighters
and peace officers currently include any disease, infirmity or impairment to
health caused by brain, bladder, rectal or colon cancer, lymphoma, leukemia or
adenocarcinoma or mesothelioma of the respiratory tract.
Laws 2017,
Chapter 318 expanded the conditions presumed to have arisen out of
employment for firefighters to include any disease, infirmity or impairment to
health caused by buccal cavity, pharynx, esophagus, large intestine, lung,
kidney, prostate, skin, stomach, ovarian, breast or testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, multiple myeloma or malignant melanoma (A.R.S. §§ 23-901.01
and 23-901.09).
In January 2025, the Industrial Commission of Arizona, responsible for implementing the workers' compensation system, produced a substantive policy statement, which clarifies that adenocarcinoma, in the scope of firefighter workers’ compensation claims, is to be interpreted as a standalone condition and does not need to be of the respiratory tract to qualify under the workers’ compensation statutes (ICA Policy Statement).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Adds, to the conditions presumed to have arisen out of employment, any disease, infirmity or impairment of a peace officer's health caused by:
a) breast cancer;
b) buccal cavity cancer;
c) esophageal cancer;
d) kidney cancer;
e) large intestine cancer;
f) lung cancer;
g) malignant melanoma;
h) multiple myeloma;
i) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma;
j) ovarian cancer;
k) pharynx cancer;
l) prostate cancer;
m) skin cancer;
n) stomach cancer; and
o) testicular cancer.
2. Clarifies the conditions presumed to have arisen out of employment for firefighters and fire investigators.
3. Makes technical and conforming changes.
4. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 29, 2026
MG/SJ/hk