[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47585-47586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19240]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 3
RIN 2900-AO84
Specially Adapted Housing Eligibility for Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis Beneficiaries
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amended by interim
final rule its adjudication regulation regarding specially adapted
housing (SAH) to authorize automatic issuance of a certificate of
eligibility for SAH to all veterans and active-duty servicemembers with
service-connected amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) rated totally
disabling under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities. This document
adopts as a final rule, without change, the interim final rule
published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2013.
DATES: Effective date: August 14, 2014.
Applicability date: The provisions of this regulatory amendment
apply to all applications for SAH pending before VA on or received
after December 3, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy A. McKevitt, Legal Consultant,
Regulations Staff (211D), Compensation Service, Veterans Benefits
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461-9700. This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a document published in the Federal
Register on December 3, 2013 (78 FR 72573), VA amended its regulations
concerning SAH. The amendment authorized automatic issuance of a
certificate of eligibility for SAH to all veterans and active-duty
servicemembers with service-connected ALS rated totally disabling under
the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities. The comment period for that
interim final regulation ended February 3, 2014. VA received no
comments. Based on the rationale set forth in the interim final rule,
we are adopting the provisions of the interim final rule as a final
rule without change.
Administrative Procedure Act
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3), VA found that there was
good cause to dispense with advance public notice and opportunity to
comment on the interim final rule and good cause to publish that rule
with an immediate effective date. The interim final rule was necessary
to implement immediately the Secretary's decision to establish SAH
eligibility for all persons with totally-disabling service-connected
ALS. Delay in the implementation of this rule would have been
impracticable and contrary to the public interest, particularly to
veterans and active-duty servicemembers.
Because the survival period for persons suffering from ALS is
generally 18-48 months or less from the onset of symptoms, any delay in
establishing SAH eligibility is extremely detrimental to veterans and
active-duty servicemembers who are currently afflicted with ALS. Any
delay in implementation until after a public-comment period could have
delayed modifying the regulated certificate of eligibility process,
depriving ALS veterans and active-duty servicemembers of quick and
efficient access to SAH benefits.
For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary issued the rule as an
interim final rule with immediate effect.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule contains no provisions constituting a collection of
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3521).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Secretary hereby certifies that this final rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-
612. This final rule will not affect any small entities. Only VA
beneficiaries will be directly affected. Therefore, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 605(b), this final rule is exempt from the initial and final
regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess the
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, and other advantages; distributive impacts;
and equity). Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory
Review) emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility.
Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) defines a
``significant regulatory action,'' which requires review by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), as ``any regulatory action that is
likely to result in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the
economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way
the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs,
the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal
governments or communities; (2) Create a serious inconsistency or
otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user
fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in
this Executive Order.''
The economic, interagency, budgetary, legal, and policy
implications of this final rule have been examined, and it has been
determined not to be a significant regulatory action under Executive
Order 12866. VA's impact analysis can be found as a supporting document
at http://www.regulations.gov, usually within 48 hours after the
rulemaking document is published. Additionally, a copy of the
rulemaking and its impact analysis are
[[Page 47586]]
available on VA's Web site at http://www1.va.gov/orpm/, by following
the link for ``VA Regulations Published.''
Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C.
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for
inflation) in any one year. This final rule will have no such effect on
State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private sector.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers and Titles
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers and
titles for this rule are 64.106, Specially Adapted Housing for Disabled
Veterans and 64.109, Veterans Compensation for Service-Connected
Disability.
Signing Authority
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert A.
McDonald, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this
document on August 6, 2014, for publication.
List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3
Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits,
Health care, Pensions, Radioactive materials, Veterans, Vietnam.
Dated: August 11, 2014.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director, Regulation Policy and Management, Office of the General
Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Accordingly, the interim final rule revising 38 CFR part 3, which was
published at 78 FR 72573 on December 3, 2013, is adopted as a final
rule without change.
[FR Doc. 2014-19240 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
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