Veterans who served abroad and were exposed to harmful chemicals from toxic burn pits can now get the health care benefits they need.

The White House is calling the PACT Act the most significant expansion of VA health care in 30 years.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney celebrated the signing of the bipartisan act in Beacon Tuesday alongside local veterans. Maloney was one of the members of Congress who fought for passage of the PACT Act, which expands access to health care for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and other places who were exposed to harmful chemicals from burn pits.

"Try to imagine a size of a football field filled with burning trash. That’s what I witnessed on LSA Anaconda in Iraq," said Richard Gerbeth Jr.

Gerbeth was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a sergeant in the First Infantry Division. While serving, he was exposed to burn pits, the military’s way of getting rid of garbage, munitions and other battlefield waste.

The smoke and fumes from the pits exposed scores of military personnel to potential health hazards.

"They were actually the only way we could dispose of garbage," said Gerbeth. "The smoke carried so far that I could see it from my FOB O'Ryan, which was at least five or six miles away from there."

Almost 20 years later, the smell of the pits is still seared into his memory.

"It was like burning plastic and tires and just anything, and the smell, I'll never get out of my sinuses," said Gerbeth.

He says the passage of the act will ensure veterans exposed during service will finally get the care they need.

"I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for all those people that are gonna benefit from that, and it might even be me," said Gerbeth.

The Biden administration said more than five million veterans across multiple generations may have been exposed to toxins while serving the U.S. In August, President Biden signed the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT Act.

"It's really just about taking care of people who were taking care of us," said Maloney.

The PACT Act provides veterans expanded access to VA health care screenings and other services related to possible exposures. Veterans and their survivors won’t need to prove a service connection if diagnosed with 23 different conditions such as melanoma and glioblastoma, a cancer that Biden’s own son died of in 2015.

Beau Biden served a tour in Iraq as part of the Delaware National Guard. The president has suspected in the past that toxins from burn pits caused the cancer that took his son’s life.

"It's hundreds of billions of dollars that’s gonna get dedicated to our veterans over the next couple of decades that wouldn’t have otherwise been done," said Maloney.

The news is bittersweet for Gerbeth, who said he’s seen too much suffering, but hopes more veterans' lives can be saved.

"We’ve had two guys pass away already, and multiple men and women have cancer already, and far too young," said Gerbeth.

For combat veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, the bill also extends the amount of time they have to enroll in VA health care from five to 10 years after their discharge.​