[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]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

0
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]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P