World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Begins Enrollments for Expanded Population of Pentagon and Shanksville Responders

The World Trade Center Health (WTC) Program has expanded enrollment to include additional responders who served on 9/11 at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, following the publication of an interim final rule effective September 11, 2024.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 included expanded enrollment eligibility criteria for Pentagon and Shanksville responders. Previously, the Zadroga Act that established the WTC Health Program limited Pentagon and Shanksville eligibility to “members of a fire or police department (active or retired), and people who worked for a recovery or cleanup contractor, or was a volunteer; and performed rescued, recovery, demolition, debris cleanup, or other related services.”

The NDAA has expanded those eligible for the Program to now include:

• employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) or any other Federal agency, contractors of the DOD or any other Federal agency,
• members of a regular or reserve component of the uniformed services.

The Program actively reviewed the NDAA’s expanded eligibility criteria to determine what regulatory changes were needed to implement the new law. These regulatory changes had to occur before new enrollments could begin.

A  press release  with additional information is available in the  NIOSH Newsroom.

The Program encourages those who responded to the Pentagon and Shanksville to visit our website, www.cdc.gov/wtc to learn more about eligibility and enrollment.