[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 167 (Thursday, August 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53064-53065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18839]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Disruption of Mail Service
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
ACTION: Notice of exception to date of receipt rule.
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SUMMARY: In response to the declaration of a national emergency,
announced on March 13, 2020, due to the coronavirus disease of 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, the Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) instituted temporary provisions for determining
the acceptable dates for the receipt of correspondence through the
United States Postal Service mail and other mail delivery systems. This
is an updated notice to VA's April 20, 2020, Federal Register
publication.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cleveland Karren, Director, Policy and
Procedures, Compensation Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, 202-461-9700. (This is not a
toll-free telephone number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 13, 2020, the President of the
United States signed a declaration of national emergency due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, beginning March 1, 2020. The
COVID-19 pandemic required VBA to dramatically alter its operations in
concert with the Federal Government's efforts to combat the spread of
the virus.
VBA, as part of its efforts to protect veterans and employees, has
in many locations maximized the use of telework from home. In addition,
VBA has temporarily closed public contact units within VBA regional
offices. Although the United States Postal Service operations have
continued, limited physical staffing at VBA regional offices could lead
to delays in the ability of these regional offices to receive mail and
process it in a timely manner. At several VBA regional office locations
the processing of correspondence (containing claims, pertinent
beneficiary information or related evidence) mailed to VA during this
period could be interrupted due to VA's involvement in the Federal
Government's effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. VA aims to
protect the interest of claimants who send such correspondence to VBA
through the normal channels of communication during this period and
could possibly be deprived of benefits solely because these channels of
communication are disrupted during this time of national emergency.
Therefore, VA has instituted temporary provisions for determining the
acceptable dates for the receipt of correspondence through the United
States Postal Service mail and other mail delivery systems (such as
courier mail), as updated in this notice.
VA regulation 38 CFR 3.1(r) allows the Under Secretary for Benefits
to establish exceptions to VA's rule on the date of receipt of claims,
information or evidence by a notice published in the Federal Register.
Ordinarily, ''date of receipt'' means the date on which a claim,
information or evidence was received in a VA office. This regulation
states that exceptions may be established when a natural or man-made
interference with the normal channels through which VBA ordinarily
receives correspondence has resulted in one or more VBA regional
offices experiencing extended delays in the receipt of claims,
information or evidence to an extent that, if not addressed, the delay
would adversely affect such claimants, through no fault of their own.
The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted operations at all VBA
regional offices since the beginning of March 2020. Correspondence
containing claims, information or evidence sent to VA during this
period was likely delayed due to interrupted operations of VBA regional
offices. Because VBA regional office mail systems were impacted, VA has
established the following updated exceptions to the standard date of
receipt rule.
Exceptions to Date of Receipt Rule for Claimants Affected by the COVID-
19 Outbreak
VA previously gave notice that for purposes of determining
entitlement to benefits, any correspondence received by VA from any
claimant, during the period March 1, 2020, through 60 calendar days
past the date the President ends the national state of emergency, that
contains claims, information or evidence, is considered received on the
date of postmark. That guidance remains in effect unless existing
regulations permit an earlier date of receipt, such as in 38 CFR 3.108,
3.153 or 3.201, or in the case of Veterans Pension, if its application
would, in rare instances, unduly disadvantage the claimant.
VA also previously gave notice that, in the event there is no mail
postmark or date stamp by the through the United States Postal Service
mail and other mail delivery systems, VA would consider the
correspondence as received no later than February 29, 2020. This
updated notice provides that, effective immediately, VA will consider
any correspondence with no postmark or date stamp as received 10
calendar days prior to the document's scanning date at the centralized
claims intake center, counting the date of receipt at the intake center
as the 10th calendar day; except in such cases where the mailing
clearly shows that the receipt date would be erroneous. This change is
necessary to account for the length of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
realities of current mail processing.
Due to length of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no longer reasonable
to assume that mail lacking a postmark was received prior to March 1,
2020. Most mail sent to regional offices is forwarded directly to VBA's
claims intake center for scanning and processing; however, some sites
are excluded from direct forwarding. At those sites, there are
personnel onsite to review the mail and send it for scanning. Also, VA
is aware of some minor delays in either forwarding, receiving and
scanning the mail. In either case, treating mail as received by VA 10
calendar days prior to the date of the scanning at the claims intake
center, is sufficient to cover the current delays in mail processing.
VA, in applying this guidance, is attempting to give claimants the
earliest and most accurate date of claim. As such, VA will treat mail
that lacks a
[[Page 53065]]
postmark as if it was received by VA 10 calendar days prior to the date
of the scanning by the claims intake center, except in such cases where
the mailing clearly shows that it would be clearly erroneous. In
situations where applying this liberal guidance would be clearly
erroneous, VA will provide the best estimate for the date of receipt.
This approach allows VA to utilize a date of mail receipt that is more
aligned with the actual date of receipt. This guidance applies to
correspondence received during the designated period from all domestic
and foreign postal codes.
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. Brooks D.
Tucker, Acting Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved
this document on August 20, 2020 for publication.
Luvenia Potts,
Regulation Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy &
Management, Office of the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2020-18839 Filed 8-26-20; 8:45 am]
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