[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53302-53303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25602]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 20

RIN 2900-AJ73


Board of Veterans' Appeals: Rules of Practice--Notice of Appeal 
in Simultaneously Contested Claim

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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[[Page 53303]]

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend a 
Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) Rule of Practice, pertaining to a 
type of notice given in simultaneously contested claim appeals, to 
eliminate an inconsistency between that Rule of Practice and other 
Board Regulations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver written comments to: Director, Office 
of Regulations Management (02D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154, Washington, DC 20420. Comments should 
indicate that they are submitted in response to ``RIN 2900-AJ73.'' All 
written comments 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: Steven L. Keller, Senior Deputy Vice 
Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Department of Veterans Affairs, 
810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 565-5978.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Initial decisions on claims for veterans' 
benefits are made at VA field offices throughout the nation. Claimants 
may appeal those decisions to the Board.
    Most of the proceedings before the Board involve only one party, a 
claimant for VA benefits who is dissatisfied with the VA field office 
decision in his or her case. However, there are a few multiparty 
proceedings before the Board known as ``simultaneously contested 
claims.'' These contested claims arise out of situations where ``the 
allowance of one claim results in the disallowance of another claim 
involving the same benefit or the allowance of one claim results in the 
payment of a lesser benefit to another claimant.'' 38 CFR 20.3(o). 
Typical examples might be cases in which two different parties are each 
seeking recognition as the beneficiary of the same life insurance 
proceeds or status recognition as a veteran's lawful spouse in order to 
qualify for a variety of survivor's benefits.
    38 U.S.C. 7105A(b) provides that when one contesting party files 
his or her ``formal appeal,'' the ``substance'' of the formal appeal 
will be communicated to the other contesting parties who then have 30 
days to file an answering brief or argument.
    This statutory provision is currently implemented in two 
regulations. The first, 38 CFR 19.102, describes VA's duties to furnish 
other contesting parties with the content of the ``Substantive Appeal'' 
(the regulatory equivalent of the statutory ``formal appeal``) ``to the 
extent that it contains information which could directly affect the 
payment or potential payment of the benefit which is the subject of the 
contested claim.'' The second, a Rule of Practice at 38 CFR 20.502 that 
tells other contesting parties how long they have to respond, 
incorrectly indicates that the responding contesting parties are given 
copies of the Substantive Appeal, rather than its relevant substance. 
In this document, VA proposes to revise Sec. 20.502 to make it 
consistent with Sec. 19.102. The presumption concerning the date of 
furnishing this information has also been modified to remove its tie to 
mailing, inasmuch as neither 38 U.S.C. 7105A(b) nor 38 CFR 19.102 
limits the means of delivery to mailing.
    The Secretary hereby certifies that this proposed rule would 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, inasmuch as this rule applies to individual claimants 
for veterans' benefits and does not affect such entities. Therefore, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this proposed rule is exempt from the 
initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses requirement of 
sections 603 and 604.
    There is no Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this 
final rule.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 20

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Lawyers, Legal 
services, Veterans, Authority delegations (Government agencies).

    Approved: September 22, 1999
Togo D. West, Jr.,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs proposes to amend 38 CFR part 20 as follows:

PART 20--BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS: RULES OF PRACTICE

    1. The authority citation for part 20 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a).

    2. Section 20.502 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 20.502  Rule 502. Time limit for response to appeal by another 
contesting party in a simultaneously contested claim.

    A party to a simultaneously contested claim may file a brief or 
argument in answer to a Substantive Appeal filed by another contesting 
party. Any such brief or argument must be filed with the agency of 
original jurisdiction within 30 days from the date the content of the 
Substantive Appeal is furnished as provided in Sec. 19.102 of this 
chapter. Such content will be presumed to have been furnished on the 
date of the letter which accompanies the content.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105A(b))

[FR Doc. 99-25602 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]
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