[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 10, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10175-10176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5063]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 2

RIN 2900-AN09


Delegations of Authority: Regulation Policy and Management

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
regulations that delegate authority to manage, direct, and coordinate 
VA's rulemaking activities to certain officials. The amendments reflect 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs' decisions to designate the General 
Counsel as the Department's Regulatory Policy Officer and to transfer 
the Office of Regulation Policy and Management to the Office of the 
General Counsel. These amendments are intended to provide VA with a 
single point of contact who can respond to the Secretary's rulemaking 
concerns.

DATES: Effective Date: March 10, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. McFetridge, Director, 
Regulation Policy and Management (02REG), Office of the General 
Counsel, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20420, telephone (202) 461-4902. (This is not a toll-
free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Regulation Policy and 
Management (ORPM) was established to provide centralized management and 
coordination for VA's decentralized rulemaking process. The head of 
ORPM was designated as the Assistant to the

[[Page 10176]]

Secretary for Regulation Policy and Management (ASRPM) and served as 
VA's Regulatory Policy Officer until the Deputy Secretary became VA's 
Regulatory Policy Officer in accordance with Executive Order 13422, 
which amended Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) to 
require that position to be filled by a Presidential appointee. 
Subsequently, on June 10, 2008, the Secretary designated the General 
Counsel as the Department's Regulatory Policy Officer and transferred 
ORPM from the Office of the Secretary to the Office of the General 
Counsel (OGC). ORPM's name and mission remain the same, but that office 
is now in direct support of the General Counsel. The ASRPM has become 
OGC's Director for Regulation Policy and Management to assist the 
General Counsel in supervising VA's rulemaking process and VA's 
compliance with Executive Order 12866.
    This document removes the Secretary's delegations of rulemaking 
authority to the ASRPM in 38 CFR 2.6(l) and adds provisions concerning 
rulemaking authority in the delegations of authority to the General 
Counsel in 38 CFR 2.6(e).

Administrative Procedure Act

    This document pertains to agency organization and management. 
Accordingly, its publication as a final rule with no delay in its 
effective date is pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, which exempts such a 
document from the notice-and-comment and delayed-effective-date 
requirements of section 553.

Executive Order 12866

    Because this document is limited to agency organization and 
management, it is not within the definition of ``regulation'' in 
section 3(d) of Executive Order 12866 and therefore not subject to that 
Executive Order's requirements for regulatory actions.

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 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 year. This rule will have no such effect on State, 
local, and tribal governments, or on the private sector.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This document 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 initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis requirements 
of sections 603 and 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 
601-612, are not applicable to this rule, because a notice of proposed 
rulemaking is not required for this rule. Even so, 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. This amendment will not 
directly affect any small entities. Therefore, this amendment is also 
exempt pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b) from the initial and final 
regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603-604.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    There are no Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers 
for this rule.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 2

    Authority delegations (Government agencies).

    Approved: February 24, 2009.
John R. Gingrich,
Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, VA amends 38 CFR part 2 as 
follows:

PART 2--DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY

0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 302, 552a; 38 U.S.C. 501, 512, 515, 1729, 
1729A, 5711; 44 U.S.C. 3702, and as noted in specific sections.


0
2. Amend Sec.  2.6 by:
0
a. Adding paragraph (e)(1).
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b. Removing paragraph (l).
    The addition reads as follows:


Sec.  2.6  Secretary's delegations of authority to certain officials 
(38 U.S.C. 512).

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (1) The General Counsel is delegated authority to serve as the 
Regulatory Policy Officer for the Department in accordance with 
Executive Order 12866. The General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, and 
Director for Regulation Policy and Management are delegated authority 
to manage, direct, and coordinate the Department's rulemaking 
activities, including the revision and reorganization of regulations, 
and to perform all functions necessary or appropriate under Executive 
Order 12866 and other rulemaking requirements.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 512)
* * * * *
 [FR Doc. E9-5063 Filed 3-9-09; 8:45 am]
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