[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 97 (Monday, May 20, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22709-22710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10261]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 0

RIN 2900-AQ60


Core Values, Characteristics, and Customer Experience Principles 
of the Department

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) 
regulations concerning the standards of ethical conduct and related 
responsibilities of its employees by adding a new section to the 
subpart for VA's Core Values and Characteristics, which includes VA's 
Customer Experience Principles. VA's Customer Experience Principles add 
to the foundational values and organizational characteristics that 
define VA employees and articulate what VA stands for, respectively, 
and these principles are a set of guidelines that will be applied 
Department-wide to all VA employees. This final rule establishes VA's 
Customer Experience Principles and ensures their proper application to 
the VA workforce.

DATES: This final rule is effective on May 20, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Justin Madigan, Action Officer, 
Veterans Experience Office (30), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 632-5939. (This is not a 
toll-free telephone number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rulemaking amends 38 CFR part 0 to add 
Customer Experience Principles to Subpart A. Maintaining a sustained 
organizational commitment to, and institutionalized focus on, the voice 
of the customer is a critical component of modernizing VA to meet the 
needs and expectations of Veterans, their families, caregivers, and 
survivors. VA is privileged to serve a vast and diverse population: In 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 VA had 9.15 million enrollees in VA health care; 
4.74 million Veterans receiving VA disability compensation (as of 
September 30, 2018); 3.12 million active VA home loan participants (as 
of September 30, 2018); and 946,829 VA education beneficiaries (FY17). 
With hundreds of facilities and over 350,000 employees, VA must provide 
consistent and exceptional experiences to every customer across all the 
different ways in which Veterans, servicemembers, their families, 
caregivers, and survivors interact with VA. Codifying these principles 
will ensure that they receive the proper emphasis at all levels within 
VA, are clearly understood by the workforce, and, most importantly, 
become an enduring part of the VA culture. Adding Customer Experience 
Principles to the Core Values and Characteristics further demonstrates 
that VA is a people-centric organization.

Administrative Procedure Act

    This final rule establishes internal guidelines relating to agency 
practice or procedure and sets forth general statements of agency 
policy. Accordingly, it is exempt from the prior notice-and-comment 
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(A). Also, because this final rule only establishes internal 
guidelines relating to agency practice or procedure and sets forth 
general statements of agency policy, VA finds application of the 
delayed-effective-date requirement of 5 U.S.C. 553(d) is unnecessary, 
and consequently there is good cause to exempt this rule from that 
requirement in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

Effect of Rulemaking

    Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as revised by this 
final rulemaking, represents VA's implementation of its legal authority 
on this subject. Other than future amendments to this regulation or 
governing statutes, no contrary guidance or procedures are authorized. 
All existing or subsequent VA guidance must be read to conform with 
this rulemaking if possible or, if not possible, such guidance is 
superseded by this rulemaking.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    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 Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, is not applicable 
to this rulemaking because notice of proposed rulemaking is not 
required. 5 U.S.C. 601(2), 603(a), 604(a). In any event, the Secretary 
hereby certifies that this rule does not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities as they are defined in 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), 
this rulemaking is exempt from the initial and final regulatory 
flexibility analysis requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.

Executive Orders 12866, 13563 and 13771

    Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all 
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, 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,'' requiring review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) unless OMB waives such review, 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 available on VA's website at 
http://

[[Page 22710]]

www.va.gov/orpm/, by following the link for ``VA Regulations Published 
From FY 2004 Through Fiscal Year to Date.'' This rule is not an E.O. 
13771 regulatory action because this rule is not significant under E.O. 
12866.

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 given 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

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

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 0

    Conflict of interests, Employee ethics and related 
responsibilities, Government employees.

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 L. 
Wilkie, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on April 8, 2019, for publication.

    Dated: May 14, 2019.
Consuela Benjamin,
Regulations Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, Department of Veterans 
Affairs amends 38 CFR part 0 as follows:

PART 0--VALUES, STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT, AND RELATED 
RESPONSIBILITIES

0
1. The authority citation for 38 CFR part 0 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 38 U.S.C. 501; see sections 201, 301, 
and 502(a) of E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989 Comp., p. 215 as 
modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42547, 3 CFR, 1990 Comp., p. 306.


0
2. Revise the heading of Subpart A to read as follows:

Subpart A--Core Values, Characteristics, and Customer Experience 
Principles of the Department

0
3. Revise Sec.  0.600 to read as follows:


Sec.  0.600  General.

    This section describes the Core Values, Characteristics, and 
Customer Experience Principles that serve as internal guidelines for 
employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). These Core 
Values, Characteristics, and Customer Experience Principles define VA 
employees, articulate what VA stands for, and underscore its moral 
obligation to veterans, their families, and other beneficiaries. They 
are intended to establish one overarching set of guidelines that apply 
to all VA Administrations and staff offices, confirming the values 
already instilled in many VA employees and enforcing their commitment 
to provide the best experience possible to veterans, servicemembers, 
their families, caregivers, and survivors.

0
4. Add Sec.  0.603 to read as follows:


Sec.  0.603   Customer Experience principles.

    VA will provide the best customer experience in its delivery of 
care, benefits, and memorial services to veterans, servicemembers, 
their families, caregivers, and survivors. The delivery of exceptional 
customer experience is the responsibility of all VA employees and will 
be guided by VA's Core Values and Characteristics. Customer experience 
is the product of interactions between an organization and a customer 
over the duration of their relationship. VA measures these interactions 
through Ease, Effectiveness, and Emotion, all of which impact the 
overall trust the customer has in the organization.
    (a) Ease. VA will make access to VA care, benefits, and memorial 
services smooth and easy.
    (b) Effectiveness. VA will deliver care, benefits, and memorial 
services to the customer's satisfaction.
    (c) Emotion. VA will deliver care, benefits, and memorial services 
in a manner that makes customers feel honored and valued in their 
interactions with VA. VA will use customer experience data and insights 
in strategy development and decision-making to ensure that the voice of 
veterans, servicemembers, their families, caregivers, and survivors 
inform how VA delivers care, benefits, and memorial services.

[FR Doc. 2019-10261 Filed 5-17-19; 8:45 am]
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