[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 8, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12117-12118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5572]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR PART 21

RIN 2900-AI76


Criteria for Approving Flight Courses for Educational Assistance 
Programs

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document adopts as a final rule, with changes, an interim 
final rule amending the educational assistance and educational benefit 
regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The interim 
final rule revised the criteria to be used in approving flight courses 
for the education benefits programs VA administers. In large part, 
those amendments brought the approval criteria into agreement with 
various provisions of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1996 
and with the revised regulations of the Federal Aviation 
Administration. Without the changes made by the interim final rule, VA 
would not be able to provide educational assistance for veterans to 
attend affected flight courses. This document makes changes to the 
interim final rule to clarify certain provisions and to reflect new 
statutory changes.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective March 8, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William G. Susling, Jr., Education 
Advisor, Education Service (225C), Veterans Benefits Administration, 
202-273-7187.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a document published in the Federal 
Register on June 23, 1998 (63 FR 34127), VA published an interim final 
rule amending subparts D and K of 38 CFR part 21, regarding criteria 
for flight training courses as stated in the SUMMARY portion of this 
document.
    Interested persons were given 60 days to submit comments. VA 
received no comments. Based on the rationale set forth in the interim 
final rule and in this document, we are adopting the provisions of the 
interim final rule as a final rule, except as stated below.
    The provisions of section 204(a) of Public Law 105-368 amended 38 
U.S.C. 3034 to change the requirement that an individual enrolling in a 
flight course needs to have a qualifying medical certificate. Formerly, 
the individual needed to show evidence of having the certificate 
throughout the training period. Now, for flight courses beginning on or 
after October 1, 1998, the individual only needs to have the 
certificate at the time the course begins. The provisions of 38 CFR 
21.4235(a)(2) and (3) in this final rule reflect this statutory change.
    In addition, this final rule makes changes in Sec. 21.4235(c) for 
purposes of clarification. In particular, this final rule clarifies the 
meaning of the interim final rule provisions in Sec. 21.4235(c) when an 
individual already has a commercial pilot certificate or instrument 
rating, or both, for one category and wants a commercial pilot 
certificate or instrument rating, or both, for an additional category. 
The interim final rule provided, with certain exceptions, that if an 
individual ``wants to obtain a commercial pilot certification course in 
an airplane or powered lift category and does not already have an 
instrument rating, he or she must also enroll in an instrument rating 
course simultaneously.'' We intended Sec. 21.4235(c) to mean that if 
you want to enroll in a commercial pilot certification course for a 
particular category (airplane, helicopter, or powered lift) and do not 
have an instrument rating for that category, or if you want to enroll 
in an instrument rating course for a particular category (airplane, 
helicopter, or powered lift) and do not have a commercial pilot 
certificate for the same category, you must enroll in the commercial 
pilot certification course for the particular category and instrument 
rating course for that category at the same time. This document makes 
amendments to clarify this concept.
    This document also makes other nonsubstantive changes for purposes 
of clarification.

Administrative Procedure Act

    This document makes changes that are restatements of statutory 
provisions and nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarification. 
Accordingly, there is a basis for dispensing with prior notice and 
comment and delayed effective date provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    We affirm the information in the interim final rule document 
concerning the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers for programs 
affected by this rule are 64.120 and 64.124. This rule also affects the 
Montgomery GI Bill--Selected Reserve program, which has no Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance number.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 21

    Administrative practice and procedure, Armed forces, Civil rights, 
Claims, Colleges and universities, Conflict of interests, Defense 
Department, Education, Educational institutions, Employment, Grant 
programs--education, Grant programs--veterans, Health care, Loan 
programs--education, Loan programs--veterans, Manpower training 
programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Schools, Travel and 
transportation expenses, Veterans, Vocational education, Vocational 
rehabilitation.

    Approved: February 22, 2000.
Togo D. West, Jr.,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the interim final rule 
amending 38 CFR part 21 (subparts D and K), which was published at 63 
FR 34127 on June 23, 1998, is adopted as a final rule with the 
following changes:

PART 21--VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION

Subpart D--Administration of Educational Assistance Programs

    1. The authority citation for part 21, subpart D continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2141 note, ch. 1606; 38 U.S.C. 501(a), chs. 
30, 32, 34, 35, 36, unless otherwise noted.


[[Page 12118]]


    2. In Sec. 21.4235, paragraphs (a)(2), (a)(3), and (c) are revised 
to read as follows:


Sec. 21.4235  Programs of education that include flight training.

    (a) * * *
    (2) If enrolled in a course other than an Airline Transport Pilot 
(ATP) course, hold a second-class medical certificate on the first day 
of training and, if that course began before October 1, 1998, hold that 
certificate continuously during training; and
    (3) If enrolled in an ATP certification course, hold a first-class 
medical certificate on the first day of training and, if that course 
began before October 1, 1998, hold that certificate continuously during 
training.

(Authority: 10 U.S.C. 16136(c); 38 U.S.C. 3034(d), 3241(b))

    (c) Pursuit of flight courses. (1) VA will pay educational 
assistance to an eligible individual for an enrollment in a commercial 
pilot certification course leading to Federal Aviation Administration 
certification for a particular category even if the individual has a 
commercial pilot certificate issued by the Federal Aviation 
Administration for a different category, since each category represents 
a different vocational objective.
    (2) VA will pay educational assistance to an eligible individual 
for an enrollment in an instrument rating course only if the individual 
simultaneously enrolls in a course required for a commercial pilot 
certificate for the category for which the instrument rating course is 
pursued or if, at the time of enrollment in the instrument rating 
course, the individual has a commercial pilot certificate issued by the 
Federal Aviation Administration for such category. The enrollment in an 
instrument rating course alone does not establish that the individual 
is pursuing a vocational objective, as required for VA purposes, since 
that rating equally may be applied to an individual's private pilot 
certificate, only evidencing an intent to pursue a non-vocational 
objective.
    (3) VA will pay educational assistance to an eligible individual 
for an enrollment in a flight course other than an instrument rating 
course or a ground instructor course, including courses leading to an 
aircraft type rating, only if the individual has a commercial pilot 
certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for the 
category to which the particular course applies.
    (4) VA will pay educational assistance to an eligible individual 
for an enrollment in a ground instructor certificate course, even 
though the individual does not have any other flight certificate issued 
by the Federal Aviation Administration, since the Federal Aviation 
Administration does not require a flight certificate as a prerequisite 
to ground instructor certification and ground instructor is a 
recognized vocational objective.
    (5) VA will not pay an eligible individual for simultaneous 
enrollment in more than one flight course, except as provided in 
paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(Authority: 10 U.S.C. 16136(b); 38 U.S.C. 3002(3)(A), 3034(a), 
3202(2)(A), 3241(a), 3241(b), 3452(b), 3680A(a)(3))
[FR Doc. 00-5572 Filed 3-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P