[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50264-50265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24521]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 3

RIN 2900-AI00


Claims Based on Exposure to Ionizing Radiation (Prostate Cancer 
and Any Other Cancer)

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations concerning compensation for 
diseases claimed to be the result of exposure to ionizing radiation. 
This would implement a decision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
that based on all evidence currently available to him prostate cancer 
and any other cancers are ``radiogenic diseases.'' The intended affect 
of this action is to add these conditions to the list of radiogenic 
diseases for service-connected compensation purposes.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 25, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written comments to: Director, Office 
of Regulations Management (02D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue, NW, Room 1154 Washington, DC 20420. Comments should 
indicate that they are in response to ``RIN 2900-AI00.'' All written 
comments received will be available for public inspection at the above 
address in the Office of Regulations Management, Room 1158, between the 
hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Bisset, Jr., Consultant, Program 
Management Staff, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits

[[Page 50265]]

Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, 
telephone (202) 273-7213.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure 
Compensation Standards Act, Pub. L. 98-542, required VA to develop 
regulations establishing standards and criteria for adjudicating 
veterans' claims for service-connected compensation for diseases 
claimed to be the result of exposure to ionizing radiation. In response 
to that requirement, VA has defined the term ``radiogenic disease'' to 
mean a disease that may be induced by ionizing radiation and 
established a list of diseases that satisfy that definition at 38 CFR 
3.311(b)(2). That list is not an exclusive list, however, and since 
1985 VA has added a number of conditions to it.
    When the Secretary determines that a significant statistical 
association exists between exposure to ionizing radiation and any 
disease under the standards established at 38 CFR 1.17, VA adds that 
disease to the list of radiogenic diseases found at 38 CFR 3.311(b)(2). 
Before making such a determination, the Secretary receives the advice 
of the Veterans Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards (VACEH) 
based on its evaluation of scientific and medical studies.
    On April 25-26, 1995, the VACEH held a public meeting in 
Washington, DC, and reviewed 53 medical and scientific studies having 
to do with radiation exposure and subsequent development of disease. 
Based upon its assessment of those studies and the scientific 
literature that it had previously reviewed and deemed to be valid, the 
VACEH concluded that it would be appropriate to consider prostate 
cancer as being associated with radiation exposure for purposes of VA's 
compensation system. Based on that recommendation, the Secretary has 
preliminarily determined that an association exists between radiation 
exposure and prostate cancer.
    In response to a request from the Under Secretary for Benefits, the 
VACEH addressed the question of the radiogenicity of cancer generally. 
The VACEH concluded that, on the basis of current scientific knowledge, 
exposure to ionizing radiation can be a contributing factor in the 
development of any malignancy. The degree to which radiation exposure 
is a factor varies depending on the type of malignancy, the amount, 
rate and type of radiation exposure, and other relevant risk factors 
such as age at the time of exposure. After reviewing this 
recommendation, the Secretary has preliminarily determined that an 
association exists between radiation exposure and any other cancer not 
listed at 38 CFR 3.311(b)(2).
    The Secretary hereby certifies that this regulatory amendment will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 
U.S.C. 601-612. The reason for this certification is that these 
amendments would not directly affect any small entities. Only VA 
beneficiaries could be directly affected. Therefore, pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 605(b), these amendments are exempt from the initial and final 
regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of section 603 and 604.

    (The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers are 
64.109 and 64.110.)

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, 
Health care, Pensions, Veterans, Vietnam.

    Approved: June 4, 1996.
Jesse Brown,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 38 CFR part 3 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 3--ADJUDICATION

Subpart A--Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity 
Compensation

    1. The authority citation for part 3, subpart A continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted.

    2. In Sec. 3.311, paragraph (b)(2)(xxi) is amended by removing 
``and''; and paragraph (b)(2)(xxii) is amended by removing ``.'' and 
adding, in its place, ``;''; and new paragraphs (b)(2)(xxiii) and 
(b)(2)(xxiv) are added to read as follows:


Sec. 3.311   Claims based on exposure to ionizing radiation.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (xxiii) Prostate cancer; and
    (xxiv) Any other cancer.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-24521 Filed 9-24-96; 8:45 am]
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