[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 179 (Tuesday, September 15, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57640-57659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17801]



[[Page 57639]]

Vol. 85

Tuesday,

No. 179

September 15, 2020

Part VII





Department of Defense





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Department of the Army





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32 CFR Part 553





Army Cemeteries; Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 179 / Tuesday, September 15, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

32 CFR Part 553

[Docket No. USA-2019-HQ-0032]
RIN 0702-AB08


Army Cemeteries

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army proposes to amend this regulation 
in order to revise eligibility criteria for interment (in ground) and 
inurnment (above ground) at Arlington National Cemetery. This rule does 
not affect veterans' burial benefits or eligibility at Department of 
Veterans Affairs' national cemeteries.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 
16, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 32 CFR part 553, 
Docket No. USA-2019-HQ-0032 and/or by Regulatory Information Number 
(RIN) 0702-AB08, or by any of the following methods:
    * Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    * Mail: DoD cannot receive written comments at this time due to the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Comments should be sent electronically to the docket 
listed above.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number or RIN for this Federal Register document. The 
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the 
public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the 
internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Renea Yates, Arlington National 
Cemetery, usarmy.pentagon.hqda-anc-osa.mbx.anc-revised-eligibility@mail.mil or 1-877-907-8585.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Arlington National Cemetery represents the American people for 
past, present and future generations by laying to rest those few who 
have served our nation with dignity and honor, while immersing guests 
in the cemetery's living history. However, without this action, 
Arlington National Cemetery would run out of space for new burials by 
the year 2041 (or the year 2055 with construction of Southern Expansion 
in the vicinity of the Air Force Memorial), even for those Killed in 
Action (KIA) and Medal of Honor recipients. Changes to eligibility at 
Arlington National Cemetery will preserve this national symbol and 
shrine as an active burial ground for current and future generations of 
military service members.
    The Department of the Army amended 32 CFR part 553 and published 
rules pertaining to the development, operation, maintenance, and 
administration of Army National Military Cemeteries on September 26, 
2016 (80 FR 65875), and August 29, 2019 (84 FR 45406). The rule 
published on August 29, 2019, also incorporated Army post cemeteries 
for the first time.
    The Department of the Army is proposing these amendments in 
response to Section 598 of the John S. McCain National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, Public Law 115-232 which 
requires the Secretary of the Army to prescribe revised criteria for 
internment at Arlington National Cemetery that preserve Arlington 
National Cemetery as an active burial ground well into the future. 
These amendments revise eligibility criteria for interment (in ground) 
and inurnment (above ground) at Arlington National Cemetery.
    The Army also considered additional physical expansion of Arlington 
National Cemetery to include adjacent land in developing this 
regulation. While costly, the Army determined additional land would not 
extend the active life of the cemetery sufficiently given the intent of 
Section 598 of Public Law 115-232.

Legal Authority for This Program

    The legal basis for this rulemaking can be found in section 7722 of 
Title 10, U.S. Code: ``The Secretary of the Army, with the approval of 
the Secretary of Defense, shall determine eligibility for interment or 
inurnment'' at Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Soldiers' and 
Airmen's Home National Cemetery. Additional legal authority is also 
found in section 7721 of Title 10, U.S. Code which directs the 
Secretary of the Army to operate, manage, administer, oversee, and fund 
the cemeteries covered by this regulation.
    Finally, section 598 of Public Law 115-232 (John S. McCain National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019) states ``The Secretary 
of the Army, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall 
prescribe revised criteria for interment at Arlington National Cemetery 
that preserve Arlington National Cemetery as an active burial ground 
`well into the future' [defined as 150 years] . . . the Secretary of 
the Army shall establish the criteria . . . not later than September 
30, 2019.''

Changes Proposed in This Rulemaking

    Currently, one percent of the veteran population is laid to rest at 
Arlington National Cemetery, utilizing 3,691 new graves in Fiscal Year 
2019. Current eligibility is summarized at https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Docs/Eligibilty-Fact-Sheet-20170701.pdf. Changes to eligibility at Arlington National Cemetery 
will preserve this national symbol and shrine as an active burial 
ground for current and future generations of military service members. 
This rule does not affect veterans' burial benefits or eligibility at 
Department of Veterans Affairs' national cemeteries.
    With the proposed criteria, approximately 700 new interments (in 
ground) of eligible service members, veterans, and family members will 
be conducted annually at Arlington National Cemetery. Most veterans no 
longer eligible for in-ground interment at Arlington National Cemetery 
will remain eligible for above-ground inurnment. Without other 
eligibility, the largest affected groups with this proposed revisions 
are veterans retired from the U.S. Armed Forces and entitled to receive 
military retired pay, and service members eligible to retire from the 
U.S. Armed Forces and entitled to receive military retired pay on the 
date of their death. Annually, approximately 1,900 of these personnel 
entitled to receive retired pay will remain eligible for above-ground 
inurnment.
    Service members who die on active duty, but neither as the result 
of armed conflict service nor from preparations or operations related 
to combat, both defined in Sec.  553.1, are no longer eligible for in-
ground interment or above-ground inurnment at Arlington National 
Cemetery. Based on recent trends, approximately 43 service members 
annually fit this description and were interred or inurned at Arlington 
National Cemetery.
    With the proposed criteria, approximately 1,950 new inurnments 
(above ground) of eligible service members, veterans, and family 
members will be conducted annually at Arlington National Cemetery. 
Without other eligibility, veterans and service members who served on 
active duty (other than active duty for training) for no less than 24 
months and performed armed conflict service, as defined in Sec.  553.1, 
remain eligible for above-

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ground inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery.
    Veterans and service members no longer eligible for in-ground 
interment or above-ground inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery have 
multiple options.
    (a) Nationwide. The Department of Veterans Affairs' National 
Cemetery Administration operates, maintains, and funds veterans' 
cemeteries across the country. Their strategic goal is to provide 
reasonable access (within 75 miles of a veteran's residence) to a 
burial option in a VA national cemetery or VA-funded state or tribal 
veterans' cemetery to reach 95 percent of eligible veterans living in 
the United States. This vast cemetery network continues to expand in 
order to serve veterans and their families throughout the country.
    (b) Washington, DC metropolitan area. Veterans and their families 
who live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area have multiple options 
for burial at their time of need, including nearby Quantico National 
Cemetery, which provides ample burial opportunities for those veterans 
that are no longer eligible at Arlington National Cemetery.
    This rule amends multiple sections of 32 CFR 553, including the 
following.
    a. Section 553.1 is amended to add definitions for armed conflict 
service, preparations or operations related to combat, positions of 
significant governmental responsibility, and other important terms as 
they relate to Army cemeteries. These definitions were added to assist 
in revising eligibility criteria in Sec. Sec.  553.12 and 553.13.
    b. Section 553.9 is amended to set aside 1,000 gravesites at 
Arlington National Cemetery for current and future Medal of Honor 
recipients, as directed by the Secretary of the Army.
    c. Section 553.10 is amended to add the date of July 27, 1953, the 
date the Armistice was signed ending combat activities in Korea, it 
established a start date for the requirement for service members who 
die on active duty to provide a statement of honorable service from the 
first General Courts-Martial Convening Authority.
    d. Section 553.12 is amended to revise eligibility criteria for 
interment (in ground) at Arlington National Cemetery to meet the intent 
of section 598 of Public Law 115-232. The major change to this section 
is that military retirees without other eligibility are no longer 
eligible for interment (in ground), but remain eligible for inurnment 
(above ground).
    e. Section 553.13 is amended to revise eligibility criteria for 
inurnment (above ground) at Arlington National Cemetery to meet the 
intent of section 598 of Public Law 115-232. The major change to this 
section is that veterans and service members who neither served on 
active duty (other than active duty for training) for 24 months nor 
performed armed conflict service, as defined in Sec.  553.1, are no 
longer for inurnment (above ground). Additionally, eligibility is 
maintained for those veterans who served during any armed conflict 
prior to July 27, 1953, and their service ended honorably.
    f. Sections 553.20 and 553.47 are amended to strengthen 
prohibitions related to capital crimes such as murder and Tier III sex 
offenses.
    g. Section 553.28 is amended to prohibit the construction and 
installation of private markers in Army National Military Cemeteries 
unless approved prior to December 1, 2017. Private markers have been 
prohibited in new sections of the cemetery since 1947. Now that 
previously authorized sections are full, this change provides 
continuity and consistency with established policy for Army National 
Military Cemeteries and Department of Veterans Affairs' national 
cemeteries.
    h. Section 553.50 is added to include procedures for requesting 
disinterment or disinurnment of remains at Army post cemeteries.
    i. Section 553.51 is added to prohibit the construction and 
installation of private markers in Army post cemeteries unless approved 
by the Executive Director prior to October 1, 2020. This addition 
provides continuity and consistency with established policy for Army 
National Military Cemeteries and Department of Veterans Affairs' 
national cemeteries.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Army has determined that the Regulatory Flexibility Act does 
not apply because the rule does not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Army has determined that the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act does 
not apply because the rule does not include a mandate that may result 
in estimated costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the 
aggregate, or the private sector, of $100 million or more.

D. National Environmental Policy Act

    Neither an environmental analysis nor an environmental impact 
statement under the National Environmental Policy Act is required.

E. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Army has determined that this rule does not impose additional 
reporting or recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, as the Army does not require a form. The Army collects, 
reviews, and maintains existing documents provided by families as 
specified in Sec. Sec.  553.10, 553.22, and 553.25, which have not 
changed. Department of Veterans Affairs Form 40-1330 (Claim for 
Standard Government Headstone or Marker) already has an OMB control 
number assigned OMB Control Number 2900-0222.

F. Executive Order 12630 (Government Actions and Interference With 
Constitutionally Protected Property Rights)

    The Army has determined that E.O. 12630 does not apply because the 
rule does not impair private property rights.

G. Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and Executive 
Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review)

    Executive Orders 13563 and 12866 direct agencies to assess all 
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, distribute impacts, and equity). Executive 
Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and 
benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting 
flexibility. This rule has been designated a ``significant regulatory 
action,'' although not economically significant, under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order.

H. Executive Order 13045 (Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risk and Safety Risks)

    The Army has determined that according to the criteria defined in 
Executive Order 13045, the requirements of that Order do not apply to 
this rule.

I. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    The Army has determined that, according to the criteria defined in 
Executive Order 13132, the requirements of that Order do not apply to 
this rule because the rule will not have a substantial effect on the 
States, on the relationship between the Federal Government and the 
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government.

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J. Executive Order 13771 (Reducing Regulation and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs)

    This proposed rule is not expected to be an E.O. 13771 action 
because this rule is expected to be related to agency management, 
personnel, or organization.

K. Congressional Review Act

    This proposed rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

List of Subjects in 32 CFR part 553

    Armed Forces, Eligibility, Military personnel, Monuments and 
memorials, Reserve components, Service members, Veterans.
    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department of the Army 
proposes to revise 32 CFR part 553 to read as follows:

PART 553--ARMY CEMETERIES

Subpart A--Army National Military Cemeteries

Sec.
553.1 Definitions.
553.2 Purpose.
553.3 Statutory authorities.
553.4 Scope and applicability.
553.5 Maintaining order.
553.6 Standards for managing Army National Military Cemeteries.
553.7 Arlington Memorial Amphitheater.
553.8 Permission to install utilities.
553.9 Assignment of gravesites or niches.
553.10 Proof of eligibility.
553.11 General rules governing eligibility for interment, inurnment, 
and memorialization at Arlington National Cemetery.
553.12 Eligibility for interment in Arlington National Cemetery.
553.13 Eligibility for inurnment in Arlington National Cemetery 
Columbarium.
553.14 Eligibility for interment of cremated remains in the 
Arlington National Cemetery Unmarked Area.
553.15 Eligibility for group burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
553.16 Eligibility for memorialization in an Arlington National 
Cemetery memorial area.
553.17 Arlington National Cemetery interment/inurnment agreement.
553.18 Eligibility for burial in U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home 
National Cemetery.
553.19 Ineligibility for interment, inurnment, or memorialization in 
an Army National Military Cemetery.
553.20 Prohibition of interment, inurnment, or memorialization in an 
Army National Military Cemetery of persons who have committed 
certain crimes.
553.21 Findings concerning the commission of certain crimes where a 
person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution.
553.22 Exceptions to policies for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization at Arlington National Cemetery.
553.23 Placement of cremated remains at Army National Military 
Cemeteries.
553.24 Subsequently recovered remains.
553.25 Disinterment and disinurnment of remains.
553.26 Design of Government-furnished headstones, niche covers, and 
memorial markers.
553.27 Inscriptions on Government-furnished headstones, niche 
covers, and memorial markers.
553.28 Private headstones and markers.
553.29 Permission to construct or amend private headstones and 
markers.
553.30 Inscriptions on private headstones and markers.
553.31 Memorial and commemorative monuments (other than private 
headstones or markers).
553.32 Conduct of memorial services and ceremonies.
553.33 Visitors rules for Army National Military Cemeteries.
553.34 Soliciting and vending.
553.35 Media.
Subpart B--Army Post Cemeteries
553.36 Definitions.
553.37 Purpose.
553.38 Statutory authorities.
553.39 Scope and applicability.
553.40 Assignment of gravesites or niches.
553.41 Proof of eligibility.
553.42 General rules governing eligibility for interment or 
inurnment in Army Post Cemeteries.
553.43 Eligibility for interment and inurnment in Army Post 
Cemeteries.
553.44 Eligibility for interment and inurnment in the West Point 
Post Cemetery.
553.45 Eligibility for interment in U.S. Disciplinary Barracks 
Cemetery at Fort Leavenworth.
553.46 Ineligibility for interment, inurnment, or memorialization in 
an Army Post Cemetery.
553.47 Prohibition of interment, inurnment, or memorialization in an 
Army Post Cemetery of persons who have committed certain crimes.
553.48 Findings concerning the commission of certain crimes where a 
person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution.
553.49 Exceptions to policies for interment or inurnment at Army 
Post Cemeteries.
553.50 Disinterment and disinurnment of remains.
553.51 Private headstones and markers.

    Authority: 10 U.S.C. 985, 1128, 1481, 1482, 3013, 7721-7726; 24 
U.S.C. 295a, 412; 38 U.S.C. 2402 note, 2409-2411, 2413; 40 U.S.C. 
9102; Pub. L. 93-43, 87 Stat. 75; and Pub. L. 115-232, Sec. 598.

Subpart A--Army National Military Cemeteries


Sec.  553.1   Definitions.

    As used in this subpart, the following terms have these meanings:
    Active duty. Full-time duty in the active military service of the 
United States.
    (1) This includes:
    (i) Active Reserve component duty performed pursuant to title 10, 
United States Code.
    (ii) Service as a cadet or midshipman currently on the rolls at the 
U.S. Military, U.S. Naval, U.S. Air Force, or U.S. Coast Guard 
Academies.
    (iii) Active duty for operational support.
    (iv) Persons whose service has been determined to be active duty 
service pursuant to section 401 of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 
(Pub. L. 95-202; 38 U.S.C. 106 note) as of May 20, 2016 and whose 
remains were not already formally interred or inurned as of May 20, 
2016 or who died on or after May 20, 2016.
    (2) This does not include:
    (i) Full-time National Guard duty performed under title 32, United 
States Code.
    (ii) Active duty for training, initial entry training, annual 
training duty, or inactive-duty training for members of the Reserve 
components.
    Active duty designee. A person whose service has been determined to 
be active duty service pursuant to section 401 of the GI Bill 
Improvement Act of 1977, as amended by Public Law 114-158 of May 20, 
2016.
    Active duty for operational support (formerly active duty for 
special work). A tour of active duty for Reserve personnel authorized 
from military or Reserve personnel appropriations for work on Active 
component or Reserve component programs. The purpose of active duty for 
operational support is to provide the necessary skilled manpower assets 
to support existing or emerging requirements and may include training.
    Active duty for training. A category of active duty used to provide 
structured individual and/or unit training, including on-the-job 
training, or educational courses to Reserve component members. Included 
in the active duty for training category are annual training, initial 
active duty for training, or any other training duty.
    Annual training. The minimum period of active duty for training 
that Reserve members must perform each year to satisfy the training 
requirements associated with their Reserve component assignment.
    Armed conflict service. Service in a hostile fire area during a 
period of armed conflict. Such service must be evidenced by receipt of: 
Combat pay, imminent danger or hostile fire pay, or the receipt of a 
qualifying medal. Examples of qualifying medals include,

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but are not limited to, the Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Service 
Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 
Navy and Marine Expeditionary Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Afghanistan 
Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism 
Expeditionary Medal, and Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal.
    Armed Forces. The U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air 
Force, Space Force and their Reserve components.
    Army National Military Cemeteries. Arlington National Cemetery and 
the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery.
    Child, minor child, permanently dependent child, unmarried adult 
child--(1) Child. (i) Natural child of a primarily eligible person, 
born in wedlock;
    (ii) Natural child of a female primarily eligible person, born out 
of wedlock;
    (iii) Natural child of a male primarily eligible person, who was 
born out of wedlock and:
    (A) Has been acknowledged in a writing signed by the male primarily 
eligible person;
    (B) Has been judicially determined to be the male primarily 
eligible person's child;
    (C) Whom the male primarily eligible person has been judicially 
ordered to support; or
    (D) Has been otherwise proved, by evidence satisfactory to the 
Executive Director, to be the child of the male primarily eligible 
person;
    (iv) Adopted child of a primarily eligible person; or
    (v) Stepchild who was part of the primarily eligible person's 
household at the time of death of the individual who is to be interred 
or inurned.
    (2) Minor child. A child of the primarily eligible person who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Is under the age of twenty-one years, or is under the age of 
twenty-three years and is taking a full-time course of instruction at 
an educational institution that the U.S. Department of Education 
acknowledges as an accredited educational institution.
    (3) Permanently dependent child. A child of the primarily eligible 
person who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Is permanently and fully dependent on one or both of the 
child's parents because of a physical or mental disability incurred 
before attaining the age of twenty-one years or before the age of 
twenty-three years while taking a full-time course of instruction at an 
educational institution that the U.S. Department of Education 
acknowledges as an accredited educational institution.
    (4) Unmarried adult child. A child of the primarily eligible person 
who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Has attained the age of twenty-one years.
    Close relative. The spouse, parents, adult brothers and sisters, 
adult natural children, adult stepchildren, and adult adopted children 
of a decedent.
    Commemorative monuments. Monuments or other structures or landscape 
features that serve to honor events in history, units of the Armed 
Forces, individuals, or groups of individuals that served in the Armed 
Forces, and that do not contain human remains or mark the location of 
remains in close proximity. The term does not include memorial markers 
erected pursuant to Sec.  553.16.
    Derivatively eligible person. Any person who is entitled to 
interment or inurnment solely based on his or her relationship to a 
primarily eligible person, as set forth in Sec. Sec.  553.12(b) and 
553.13(b), respectively.
    Disinterment. The permanent removal of interred human remains from 
a particular gravesite.
    Disinurnment. The permanent removal of remains from a particular 
niche.
    Executive Director. The person statutorily charged with exercising 
authority, direction, and control over all aspects of Army National 
Military Cemeteries, and the person charged by the Secretary of the 
Army to serve as the functional proponent for policies and procedures 
pertaining to the administration, operation, and maintenance of all 
military cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the Army.
    Formal interment or inurnment. Interment or inurnment of identified 
human remains in a cemetery, crypt mausoleum, columbarium or similar 
formal location. Formal interment or inurnment includes interment or 
inurnment in private cemeteries or private burial locations at the 
direction of the person authorized to direct disposition or the primary 
next of kin. Formal interment or inurnment does not include temporary 
battlefield interments or inurnments, or interment or inurnment while 
the person was detained by or in the custody of a government other than 
the United States.
    Former prisoner of war. A person who is eligible for or has been 
awarded the Prisoner of War Medal.
    Former spouse. See spouse.
    Government. The U.S. government and its agencies and 
instrumentalities.
    Group burial. (1) Interment in one gravesite of one or more service 
members on active duty killed in the same incident or location where:
    (i) The remains cannot be individually identified; or
    (ii) The person authorized to direct disposition of subsequently 
identified remains has authorized their interment with the other 
service members.
    (2) Group remains may contain incidental remains of civilians and 
foreign nationals.
    Human remains. The deceased human body or portions of the body, 
including but not limited to: Amputated limbs and individual bones. 
Human remains do not include portions of the human body that are 
naturally and/or intentionally shed or expelled by the body during the 
lifetime of a human. Examples of those items excluded from this 
definition include, but are not limited to, the following when removed, 
cut, or expelled prior to death: Hair, teeth, skin cells, sperm, eggs, 
blood, and stem cells.
    Inactive-duty training. (1) Duty prescribed for members of the 
Reserve components by the Secretary concerned under 37 U.S.C. 206 or 
any other provision of law.
    (2) Special additional duties authorized for members of the Reserve 
components by an authority designated by the Secretary concerned and 
performed by them on a voluntary basis in connection with the 
prescribed training or maintenance activities of the units to which 
they are assigned.
    (3) In the case of a member of the Army National Guard or Air 
National Guard of any State, duty (other than full-time duty) under 32 
U.S.C. 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505 or the prior corresponding provisions 
of law.
    (4) This term does not include:
    (i) Work or study performed in connection with correspondence 
courses,
    (ii) Attendance at an educational institution in an inactive 
status, or
    (iii) Duty performed as a temporary member of the Coast Guard 
Reserve.
    Interment. The ground burial of casketed or cremated human remains.
    Inurnment. The placement of cremated human remains in a niche.
    Killed in Action. A service member, as defined in this section, 
whose death occurred as a direct result of action against a force 
hostile to the United States.
    Media. Individuals and agencies that print, broadcast, or gather 
and transmit news, and their reporters, photographers, and employees.

[[Page 57644]]

    Memorial marker. A headstone used to memorialize a service member 
or veteran whose remains are unavailable for reasons listed in Sec.  
553.16.
    Memorial service or ceremony. Any activity intended to honor the 
memory of a person or persons interred, inurned, or memorialized in the 
Army National Military Cemeteries. This term includes private memorial 
services, public memorial services, public wreath laying ceremonies, 
and official ceremonies.
    Minor child. See child.
    Murder. Pursuant to any Federal or State law, the causing the death 
of another human being when:
    (1) It is committed purposely or knowingly; or
    (2) It is committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting 
extreme indifference to the value of human life. Such recklessness and 
indifference are presumed if the actor is engaged or is an accomplice 
in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after 
committing or attempting to commit robbery, rape or deviant sexual 
intercourse by force or threat of force, arson, burglary, kidnapping or 
felonious escape.
    Niche. An aboveground space constructed specifically for the 
placement of cremated human remains.
    Official ceremony. A memorial service or ceremony approved by the 
Executive Director in which the primary participants are 
representatives of the Government, a State government, a foreign 
government, or an international organization authorized by the U.S. 
Department of State to participate in an official capacity.
    Parent. A natural parent, a stepparent, a parent by adoption, or a 
person who for a period of not less than one year stood in loco 
parentis, or was granted legal custody by a court decree or statutory 
provision.
    Permanently dependent child. See child.
    Person authorized to direct disposition. The person primarily 
entitled to direct disposition of human remains and who elects to 
exercise that entitlement. Determination of such entitlement shall be 
made in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
    Personal representative. A person who has legal authority to act on 
behalf of another through applicable law, order, and regulation.
    Positions of significant governmental responsibility. Persons 
permanently (i.e., not acting in the position, or performing the duties 
of that position) holding or who formerly permanently (i.e., not acting 
in the position, or performing the duties of that position) held the 
following positions in the government of the United States of America: 
Elected Members of Congress, Chief Justice and Associate Justices of 
the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary 
of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of 
Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of 
Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland 
Security, Director of Office of Management and Budget, Director of 
National Intelligence, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency, Secretary of the Army, 
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force, Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff and Senior Enlisted Advisor, Chief of Staff of 
the Army and Senior Enlisted Advisor, Chief of Naval Operations and 
Senior Enlisted Advisor, Commandant of the Marine Corps and Senior 
Enlisted Advisor, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Senior Enlisted 
Advisor, Chief of Space Operations and Senior Enlisted Advisor, Chief 
of the National Guard Bureau and Senior Enlisted Advisor, Commandant of 
the Coast Guard and Senior Enlisted Advisor, and Combatant Commanders 
and their Senior Enlisted Advisors.
    Preparations or operations related to combat. Military operations, 
individual or collective training for battle-related tasks, or 
transportation to or from such operations or training in a vehicle, 
vessel or aircraft whose primary purpose is combat or direct support of 
combat. Examples include, but are not limited to, military parachuting, 
convoy operations, live-fire operations, at-sea operations or flight 
operations. Activities excluded from this category include, but are not 
limited to, personally conducted physical training (i.e., not organized 
unit physical training), disease or illness, or operator or passenger 
in a private or commercially owned vehicle not under contract to the 
United States Government, and suicide on or off duty.
    Primarily eligible person. Any person who is entitled to interment 
or inurnment based on his or her service as specified in Sec. Sec.  
553.12(a) and 553.13(a), respectively.
    Primary next of kin. (1) In the absence of a valid written document 
from the decedent identifying the primary next of kin, the order of 
precedence for designating a decedent's primary next of kin is as 
follows:
    (i) Spouse, even if a minor;
    (ii) Children, age 18 years and over (if under 18 years of age, 
their surviving parent or legal guardian shall exercise the rights of 
the minor);
    (iii) Parents;
    (iv) Siblings, to include half-blood and those acquired through 
adoption, age 18 years and over;
    (v) Grandparents; and
    (vi) Other next of kin, in order of relationship to the decedent as 
determined by the laws of the decedent's state of domicile.
    (2) Absent a court order or written document from the deceased, the 
precedence of next of kin with equal relationships to the decedent is 
governed by seniority (age), older having higher priority than younger. 
Equal relationship situations include those involving divorced parents 
of the decedent, children of the decedent, and siblings of the 
decedent.
    Private headstones or markers. A headstone or individual memorial 
marker provided at private expense, in lieu of a headstone or 
individual memorial marker furnished by the Government.
    Private memorial service. A memorial service or ceremony conducted 
at the decedent's gravesite, memorial headstone, or niche.
    Public memorial service. A ceremony conducted by members of the 
public at a historic site in an Army National Military Cemetery.
    Public wreath-laying ceremony. A ceremony in which members of the 
public, assisted by the Tomb Guards, present a wreath or similar 
memento at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
    Reserve component. See definition in 10 U.S.C. 101.
    Senior Enlisted Advisor. A service member in the grade of E-9 who 
is nominatively selected and permanently appointed (i.e., is not 
holding the position in an acting or temporary status) to serve as the 
senior advisor to an officer in the Armed Forces in the grade of O-10.
    Spouse, former spouse, subsequently remarried spouse--(1) Spouse. A 
person who is legally married to another person.
    (2) Former spouse. A person who was legally married to another 
person at one time, but was not legally married to that person at the 
time of one of their deaths.
    (3) Subsequently remarried spouse. A derivatively eligible spouse 
who was married to the primarily eligible person at the time of the 
primarily eligible person's death and who subsequently remarried 
another person.
    Subsequently recovered remains. Additional remains belonging to the

[[Page 57645]]

decedent that are recovered or identified after the decedent's 
interment or inurnment.
    Subsequently remarried spouse. See spouse.
    Unmarried adult child. See child.
    Veteran. A person who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and who was 
discharged or released under honorable conditions (general discharge 
under honorable conditions is not sufficient to meet this definition).


Sec.  553.2   Purpose.

    This subpart specifies the authorities and assigns the 
responsibilities for the development, operation, maintenance, and 
administration of the Army National Military Cemeteries.


Sec.  553.3   Statutory authorities.

    (a) Historical. Act of July 17, 1862, Sec. 18, 12 Stat. 594, 596; 
Act of February 22, 1867, Ch. 61, 14 Stat. 399; and the National 
Cemeteries Act of 1973, Public Law 93-43, 87 Stat. 75 (1973). The 
National Cemeteries Act established the National Cemetery System, which 
primarily consists of national cemeteries transferred from the 
management authority of the Department of the Army to the (now) 
Department of Veterans Affairs. Section 6(a) of the Act exempted 
Arlington National Cemetery and the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home 
National Cemetery from transfer to the National Cemetery System, 
leaving them under the management authority of the Secretary of the 
Army.
    (b) Current. Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 7721(a), the Secretary of the 
Army shall develop, operate, manage, oversee, and fund the Army 
National Military Cemeteries. Section 10 U.S.C. 7721(c) provides that 
the Army National Military Cemeteries are under the jurisdiction of 
Headquarters, Department of the Army, and 10 U.S.C. 7721(d) provides 
that the Secretary of the Army shall prescribe such regulations and 
policies as may be necessary to administer the Army National Military 
Cemeteries. The responsibilities of Headquarters, Department of the 
Army with regard to the Army National Military Cemeteries are 
enumerated in 10 U.S.C. 7721-7726 and Army General Orders 2014-74, 
2014-75, 2020-01, and 2020-02.


Sec.  553.4   Scope and applicability.

    (a) Scope. The development, maintenance, administration, and 
operation of the Army National Military Cemeteries are governed by this 
subpart, Army Regulation 290-5, and Department of the Army Pamphlet 
290-5. The development, maintenance, administration, and operation of 
Army post cemeteries are not covered by this subpart.
    (b) Applicability. This subpart is applicable to all persons on, 
engaging in business with, or seeking access to or benefits from the 
Army National Military Cemeteries, unless otherwise specified.


Sec.  553.5   Maintaining order.

    The Executive Director may order the removal from, and bar the re-
entry onto, Army National Military Cemeteries of any person who acts in 
violation of any law or regulation, including but not limited to 
demonstrations and disturbances as outlined in 38 U.S.C. 2413, and in 
this subpart. This authority may not be re-delegated.


Sec.  553.6   Standards for managing Army National Military Cemeteries.

    (a) The Executive Director is responsible for establishing and 
maintaining cemetery layout plans, including plans setting forth 
sections with gravesites, memorial areas with markers, columbaria with 
niches, and landscape planting plans.
    (b) New sections or areas may be opened and prepared for interments 
or for installing memorial markers only with the approval of the 
Executive Director.


Sec.  553.7   Arlington Memorial Amphitheater.

    (a) In accordance with 24 U.S.C. 295a:
    (1) No memorial may be erected and no remains may be entombed in 
the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater unless specifically authorized by 
Congress; and
    (2) The character, design, or location of any memorial authorized 
by Congress for placement in the Amphitheater is subject to the 
approval of the Secretary of Defense.
    (b) The Secretary of Defense will seek the advice of the Commission 
of Fine Arts in such matters, in accordance with 40 U.S.C. 9102.
    (c) Tributes offered for those interred in the Tomb of the Unknown 
Soldier for placement in the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater display 
room are not memorials for purposes of this section.


Sec.  553.8   Permission to install utilities.

    (a) The installation of utilities in Army National Military 
Cemeteries, including but not limited to, telephone and fiber optic 
lines, electric lines, natural gas lines, water pipes, storm drains, 
and sanitary sewers, must be authorized by the Executive Director.
    (b) Requests for licenses, permits, or easements to install water, 
gas, or sewer lines, or other utilities or equipment on or across an 
Army National Military Cemetery or an approach road in which the 
Government has a right-of-way, fee simple title, or other interest, 
must be sent to the Executive Director, who will process the request in 
accordance with Army policy. Requests must include a complete 
description of the type of license, permit, or easement desired and a 
map showing the location of the project.


Sec.  553.9   Assignment of gravesites or niches.

    (a) All eligible persons will be assigned gravesites or niches 
without discrimination as to race, color, sex, religion, age, or 
national origin and without preference to military grade or rank.
    (b) The Army National Military Cemeteries will enforce a one-
gravesite-per-family policy. Once the initial interment or inurnment is 
made in a gravesite or niche, each additional interment or inurnment of 
eligible persons must be made in the same gravesite or niche, except as 
noted in paragraph (f) of this section. This includes multiple 
primarily eligible persons if they are married to each other.
    (c) In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 2410A(a)(2) the Secretary of the 
Army may waive the prohibition in paragraph (b) of this section as the 
Secretary of the Army deems appropriate.
    (d) A gravesite reservation will be honored if it meets the 
following requirements, unless cancelled by the Executive Director:
    (1) The gravesite was properly reserved by law before January 1, 
1962; and
    (2) An eligible person was interred in the reserved gravesite prior 
to January 1, 2017.
    (e) The Executive Director may cancel a gravesite reservation:
    (1) Upon determination that a derivatively eligible spouse has 
remarried;
    (2) Upon determination that the reservee's remains have been buried 
elsewhere or otherwise disposed of;
    (3) Upon determination that the reservee desires to or will be 
interred in the same gravesite with the predeceased, and doing so is 
feasible; or
    (4) Upon determination that the reservee would be 120 years of age 
and there is no record of correspondence with the reservee within the 
last two decades.
    (f) In cases of reservations meeting the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 
2410A note, where more than one gravesite was reserved (on the basis of 
the veteran's eligibility at the time the reservation was made) and no 
interment has yet

[[Page 57646]]

been made in any of the sites, the one-gravesite-per-family policy will 
be enforced, unless waived by the Executive Director. Gravesite 
reservations will be honored only if the decedents meet the eligibility 
criteria for interment in Arlington National Cemetery that are in 
effect at the time of need, and the reserved gravesite is available.
    (g) Where a primarily eligible person has been or will be interred 
as part of a group burial or has been or will be memorialized in a 
memorial area at Arlington National Cemetery, the Executive Director 
will assign a gravesite or niche for interment or inurnment of a 
derivatively eligible person.
    (h) Gravesites or niches shall not be reserved or assigned prior to 
the time of need.
    (i) The selection of gravesites and niches is the responsibility of 
the Executive Director. The selection of specific gravesites or niches 
by the family or other representatives of the deceased is prohibited.
    (j) The Executive Director shall set aside 1,000 gravesites at 
Arlington National Cemetery to be used for the interment of Medal of 
Honor recipients who meet the criteria of Sec.  553.12 or are granted 
an exception to policy pursuant to Sec.  553.22. Derivatively eligible 
persons, as defined in Sec.  553.1, of the Medal of Honor recipient may 
be interred in the same grave as the recipient. These gravesites shall 
not be located in a singular defined area within the cemetery. These 
gravesites shall be disbursed throughout the cemetery at the direction 
of the Executive Director.


Sec.  553.10   Proof of eligibility.

    (a) The personal representative or primary next of kin is 
responsible for providing appropriate documentation to verify the 
decedent's eligibility for interment or inurnment.
    (b) The personal representative or primary next of kin must certify 
in writing that the decedent is not prohibited from interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization under Sec.  553.20 because he or she has 
committed or been convicted of a Federal or State capital crime or is a 
convicted Tier III sex offender as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411.
    (c) For service members who die on active duty after July 27, 1953, 
a statement of honorable service is required from the first General 
Courts-Martial Convening Authority in the service member's chain of 
command. If the certificate of honorable service cannot be granted, the 
service member is ineligible for interment, inurnment, and 
memorialization pursuant to Sec.  553.19(h).
    (d) When applicable, the following documents are required:
    (1) Death certificate;
    (2) Proof of eligibility as required by paragraphs (e) through (g) 
of this section;
    (3) Any additional documentation to establish the decedent's 
eligibility (e.g., marriage certificate, birth certificate, waivers, 
statements that the decedent had no children);
    (4) Burial agreement;
    (5) Notarized statement that the remains are unavailable for the 
reasons set forth in Sec.  553.16; and
    (6) A certificate of cremation or notarized statement attesting to 
the authenticity of the cremated human remains and that 100% of the 
cremated remains received from the crematorium are present. The 
Executive Director may, however, allow a portion of the cremated 
remains to be removed by the crematorium for the sole purpose of 
producing commemorative items.
    (7) Any other document as required by the Executive Director.
    (e) The following documents may be used to establish the 
eligibility of a primarily eligible person:
    (1) DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 
Duty;
    (2) WD AGO 53 or 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation 
Honorable Discharge;
    (3) WD AGO 53-98, Military Record and Report of Separation 
Certificate of Service;
    (4) NAVPERS-553, Notice of Separation from U.S. Naval Service;
    (5) NAVMC 70-PD, Honorable Discharge, U.S. Marine Corps;
    (6) DD Form 1300, Report of Casualty (required in the case of death 
of an active duty service member); or
    (7) NGB Form 22, National Guard Report of Separation and Record of 
Service (must indicate a minimum of 20 years total service for pay).
    (f) In addition to the documents otherwise required by this 
section, a request for interment or inurnment of a subsequently 
remarried spouse must be accompanied by:
    (1) A notarized statement from the new spouse of the subsequently 
remarried spouse agreeing to the interment or inurnment and 
relinquishing any claim for interment or inurnment in the same 
gravesite or niche.
    (2) Notarized statement(s) from all of the children, age 18 years 
and over, from the prior marriage agreeing to the interment or 
inurnment of their parents in the same gravesite or niche.
    (g) In addition to the documents otherwise required by this 
section, a request for interment or inurnment of a permanently 
dependent child must be accompanied by:
    (1) A notarized statement as to the marital status and degree of 
dependency of the decedent from an individual with direct knowledge; 
and
    (2) A physician's statement regarding the nature and duration of 
the physical or mental disability; and
    (3) A statement from someone with direct knowledge demonstrating 
the following factors:
    (i) The deceased lived most of his or her adult life with one or 
both parents, who are otherwise eligible for interment;
    (ii) The decedent's children and siblings age 18 years and over, or 
other family members, other than the eligible parent, waive any 
derivative claim to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, in 
accordance with the Arlington National Cemetery Burial Agreement.
    (h) Veterans or primary next of kin of deceased veterans may obtain 
copies of their military records by writing to the National Personnel 
Records Center, Attention: Military Personnel Records, 1 Archives 
Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63132-1002 or using their website. All 
others may request a record by completing and submitting Standard Form 
180.
    (i) The burden of proving eligibility lies with the party who 
requests the burial. The Executive Director will determine whether the 
submitted evidence is sufficient to support a finding of eligibility.


Sec.  553.11   General rules governing eligibility for interment, 
inurnment, and memorialization at Arlington National Cemetery.

    (a) Only those persons who are not formally interred or inurned as 
of the date of publication of this rule and who meet the criteria of 
Sec.  553.12 or are granted an exception to policy pursuant to Sec.  
553.22 may be interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Only those 
persons who are not formally interred or inurned as of the date of 
publication of this rule and who meet the criteria of Sec.  553.13 or 
are granted an exception to policy pursuant to Sec.  553.22 may be 
inurned in Arlington National Cemetery. Only those persons who meet the 
criteria of Sec.  553.14 may be interred in the Arlington National 
Cemetery Unmarked Area. Only those persons who meet the criteria of 
Sec.  553.15 may be interred in an Arlington National Cemetery group 
burial. Only those persons who meet the criteria of Sec.  553.16 may be 
memorialized in Arlington National Cemetery.
    (b) Derivative eligibility for interment or inurnment may be 
established only

[[Page 57647]]

through a decedent's connection to a primarily eligible person and not 
to another derivatively eligible person.
    (c) No veteran is eligible for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in Arlington National Cemetery unless the veteran's 
last period of active duty ended with an honorable discharge. A general 
discharge under honorable conditions is not sufficient for interment, 
inurnment or memorialization in Arlington National Cemetery.
    (d) For purposes of determining whether a service member has 
received an honorable discharge, final determinations regarding 
discharges made in accordance with procedures established by chapter 79 
of title 10, United States Code, will be considered authoritative.
    (e) The Secretary of the Army has the authority to act on requests 
for exceptions to the provisions of the interment, inurnment, and 
memorialization eligibility policies contained in this subpart. The 
Secretary of the Army may delegate this authority in writing to the 
Executive Director on such terms deemed appropriate.
    (f) Individuals who do not qualify as a primarily eligible person 
or a derivatively eligible person, but who are granted an exception to 
policy to be interred or inurned pursuant to Sec.  553.22 in a new 
gravesite or niche, will be treated as a primarily eligible person for 
purposes of this subpart.
    (g) Notwithstanding any other section in this subpart, 
memorialization with an individual memorial marker, interment, or 
inurnment in Army National Military Cemeteries is prohibited if there 
is a gravesite, niche, or individual memorial marker for the decedent 
in any other Government-operated cemetery or the Government has 
provided an individual grave marker, individual memorial marker or 
niche cover for placement in a private cemetery.


Sec.  553.12   Eligibility for interment in Arlington National 
Cemetery.

    Only those who qualify as a primarily eligible person or a 
derivatively eligible person are eligible for interment in Arlington 
National Cemetery, unless otherwise prohibited as provided for in 
Sec. Sec.  553.19 and 553.20, provided that the last period of active 
duty of the service member or veteran ended with an honorable 
discharge.
    (a) Primarily eligible persons. The following are primarily 
eligible persons for purposes of interment:
    (1) Any service member who is killed in action, as defined in Sec.  
553.1, while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, if the General Courts-
Martial Convening Authority grants a certificate of honorable service.
    (2) Any service member whose death results from preparations or 
operations related to combat, as defined in Sec.  553.1, if the General 
Courts-Martial Convening Authority grants a certificate of honorable 
service and confirms the circumstances of death.
    (3) Any service member or veteran who has performed armed conflict 
service, as defined in Sec.  553.1, whose last period of active duty 
ended with an honorable discharge or the General Courts-Martial 
Convening Authority grants a certificate of honorable service, and is 
awarded one of the following decorations:
    (i) Medal of Honor;
    (ii) Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, 
Coast Guard Cross;
    (iii) Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army 
Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Air 
Force Distinguished Service Medal, Coast Guard Distinguished Service 
Medal;
    (iv) Silver Star; or
    (v) Purple Heart.
    (4) Any person who served in the position of President or Vice 
President of the United States.
    (5) Any service member or veteran who served on active duty, 
performed armed conflict service, as defined in Sec.  553.1, and served 
in a position of significant governmental responsibility, as defined in 
Sec.  553.1.
    (6) Any former prisoner of war who, while a prisoner of war, served 
honorably in the active military service and who died on or after 
November 30, 1993.
    (b) Derivatively eligible persons. The following individuals are 
derivatively eligible persons for purposes of interment who may be 
interred if space is available in the gravesite of the primarily 
eligible person:
    (1) The spouse of a primarily eligible person who is or will be 
interred in Arlington National Cemetery. A former spouse of a primarily 
eligible person is not eligible for interment in Arlington National 
Cemetery under this section.
    (2) The spouse of an active duty service member or an eligible 
veteran, who was:
    (i) Lost or buried at sea, temporarily interred overseas due to 
action by the Government, or officially determined to be missing in 
action;
    (ii) Buried in a U.S. military cemetery maintained by the American 
Battle Monuments Commission; or
    (iii) Interred in Arlington National Cemetery as part of a group 
burial (the derivatively eligible spouse may not be buried in the group 
burial gravesite).
    (3) A subsequently remarried spouse if the remarriage is terminated 
by divorce, annulment or the death of the subsequently remarried 
spouse's subsequent spouse.
    (4) The parents of a minor child or a permanently dependent adult 
child, whose remains were interred in Arlington National Cemetery based 
on the eligibility of a parent at the time of the child's death, unless 
eligibility of the non-service connected parent is lost through divorce 
from the primarily eligible parent.
    (5) A minor child or permanently dependent child of a primarily 
eligible person who is or will be interred in Arlington National 
Cemetery.
    (6) An honorably discharged veteran who does not qualify as a 
primarily eligible person, if the veteran will be buried in the same 
gravesite as an already interred primarily eligible person who is a 
close relative, where the interment meets the following conditions:
    (i) The veteran is without minor or unmarried adult dependent 
children;
    (ii) The veteran will not occupy space reserved for the spouse, a 
minor child, or a permanently dependent adult child;
    (iii) All other close relatives of the primarily eligible person 
concur with the interment of the veteran with the primarily eligible 
person by signing a notarized statement;
    (iv) The veteran's spouse waives any entitlement to interment in 
Arlington National Cemetery, where such entitlement might be based on 
the veteran's interment in Arlington National Cemetery. The Executive 
Director may set aside the spouse's waiver, provided space is available 
in the same gravesite, and all close relatives of the primarily 
eligible person concur; and
    (v) Any cost of moving, re-casketing, or re-vaulting the remains 
will be paid from private funds.


Sec.  553.13   Eligibility for inurnment in Arlington National Cemetery 
Columbarium.

    The following persons are eligible for inurnment in the Arlington 
National Cemetery Columbarium, unless otherwise prohibited as provided 
for in Sec. Sec.  553.19 and 553.20, provided that the last period of 
active duty of the service member or veteran ended with an honorable 
discharge.
    (a) Primarily eligible persons. The following are primarily 
eligible persons for purposes of inurnment:
    (1) Any person eligible for interment in Arlington National 
Cemetery, as provided for in Sec.  553.12(a).
    (2) Any veteran retired from the U.S. Armed Forces, and entitled to 
receive

[[Page 57648]]

military retired pay on the date of their death.
    (3) Any service member eligible to retire from the U.S. Armed 
Forces, and entitled to receive military retired pay on the date of 
their death.
    (4) Any service member or veteran who served on active duty (other 
than active duty for training) for no less than 24 months and performed 
armed conflict service.
    (5) Any veteran who:
    (i) Received an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces prior to 
October 1, 1949, and
    (ii) Who was discharged for a permanent physical disability, and
    (iii) Who served on active duty (other than active duty for 
training), and
    (iv) Who would have been eligible for military medical retirement 
(as authorized under 10 U.S.C. 1201) had this statute been in effect on 
the date of separation.
    (6) Any service member or veteran who served on active duty (other 
than active duty for training) and served in a position of significant 
governmental responsibility, as defined in Sec.  553.1.
    (7) Any citizen of the United States who, during any armed conflict 
prior to July 27, 1953, in which the United States has been or may 
hereafter be engaged, served in the armed forces of any government 
allied with the United States during that armed conflict, whose last 
service ended honorably, as determined by the Executive Director, by 
death or otherwise, and who was a citizen of the United States at the 
time of entry into that service and at the time of death.
    (8) Any commissioned officer of the United States Coast and 
Geodetic Survey who died during or subsequent to the service specified 
in the following categories and whose last service terminated 
honorably:
    (i) Assignment to areas of immediate military hazard prior to 
September 3, 1945; or
    (ii) Served in the Philippine Islands on December 7, 1941.
    (9) Any commissioned officer of the United States Public Health 
Service:
    (i) Who performed active service prior to July 29, 1945;
    (ii) Such active service was in time of war; and
    (iii) The officer was detailed for duty with the U.S. Armed Forces.
    (10) Any Active Duty Designee as defined in Sec.  553.1.
    (b) Derivatively eligible persons. Those connected to an individual 
described in paragraph (a) of this section through a relationship 
described in Sec.  553.12(b). Such individuals may be inurned if space 
is available in the primarily eligible person's niche.


Sec.  553.14   Eligibility for interment of cremated remains in the 
Arlington National Cemetery Unmarked Area.

    (a) The cremated remains of any person eligible for interment in 
Arlington National Cemetery as described in Sec.  553.12 may be 
interred in the designated Arlington National Cemetery Unmarked Area.
    (b) Cremated remains must be interred in a biodegradable container 
or placed directly into the ground without a container. Cremated 
remains are not authorized to be scattered at this site or at any 
location within Arlington National Cemetery.
    (c) There will be no headstone or marker for any person choosing 
this method of interment. The Executive Director will maintain a 
permanent register.
    (d) Consistent with the one-gravesite-per-family policy, once a 
person is interred in the Unmarked Area, any derivatively eligible 
persons and spouses must be interred in this manner. This includes 
spouses who are also primarily eligible persons. No additional 
gravesite, niche, or memorial marker in a memorial area will be 
authorized.


Sec.  553.15   Eligibility for group burial in Arlington National 
Cemetery.

    (a) The Executive Director may authorize a group burial in 
Arlington National Cemetery whenever several people, at least one of 
whom is an active duty service member, die during a military-related 
activity and not all remains can be individually identified.
    (b) Before authorizing a group burial that includes both United 
States and foreign decedents, the Executive Director will notify the 
Department of State and request that the Department of State notify the 
appropriate foreign embassy.


Sec.  553.16   Eligibility for memorialization in an Arlington National 
Cemetery memorial area.

    (a) With the authority granted by 38 U.S.C. 2409, a memorial marker 
may be placed in an Arlington National Cemetery memorial area to honor 
the memory of service members or veterans, who are eligible for 
interment under Sec.  553.12(a) and:
    (1) Who are missing in action;
    (2) Whose remains have not been recovered or identified;
    (3) Whose remains were buried at sea, whether by the member's or 
veteran's own choice or otherwise;
    (4) Whose remains were donated to science; or
    (5) Whose remains were cremated and the cremated remains were 
scattered without interment or inurnment of any portion of those 
remains.
    (b) When the remains of a primarily eligible person are unavailable 
for one of the reasons listed in paragraph (a) of this section, and a 
derivatively eligible person who predeceased the primarily eligible 
person is already interred or inurned in Arlington National Cemetery, 
the primarily eligible person may be memorialized only on the existing 
headstone or niche cover, or on a replacement headstone or niche cover 
ordered with a new inscription. Consistent with the one-gravesite-per-
family policy, a separate marker in a memorial area is not authorized.
    (c) When a memorial marker for a primarily eligible person is 
already in place in a memorial area, and a derivatively eligible person 
is subsequently interred or inurned in Arlington National Cemetery, an 
inscription memorializing the primarily eligible person will be placed 
on the new headstone or niche cover. Consistent with the one-gravesite-
per-family policy, the memorial marker will then be removed from the 
memorial area.


Sec.  553.17   Arlington National Cemetery interment/inurnment 
agreement.

    (a) A derivatively eligible person who predeceases the primarily 
eligible person may be interred or inurned in Arlington National 
Cemetery only if the primarily eligible person agrees in writing to be 
interred in the same gravesite or inurned in the same niche at his or 
her time of need and that his or her estate shall pay for all expenses 
related to disinterment or disinurnment of the predeceased person from 
Arlington National Cemetery if the primarily eligible person is not 
interred or inurned as agreed.
    (b) If the primarily eligible person becomes ineligible for 
interment or inurnment in Arlington National Cemetery or the personal 
representative or primary next of kin decides that the primarily 
eligible person will be interred or inurned elsewhere, the remains of 
any predeceased person may be removed from Arlington National Cemetery 
at no cost to the Government.


Sec.  553.18   Eligibility for burial in U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's 
Home National Cemetery.

    Only the residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home are eligible 
for interment in the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National 
Cemetery. Resident eligibility criteria for the Armed Forces Retirement 
Home is provided for at 24 U.S.C. 412.

[[Page 57649]]

Sec.  553.19   Ineligibility for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in an Army National Military Cemetery.

    The following persons are not eligible for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in an Army National Military Cemetery:
    (a) A father, mother, brother, sister, or in-law solely on the 
basis of his or her relationship to a primarily eligible person, even 
though the individual is:
    (1) Dependent on the primarily eligible person for support; or
    (2) A member of the primarily eligible person's household.
    (b) A person whose last period of service was not characterized 
with an honorable discharge (e.g., they received a separation or 
discharge under general but honorable conditions, other than honorable 
conditions, a bad conduct discharge, a dishonorable discharge, or a 
dismissal), regardless of whether the person:
    (1) Received any other veterans' benefits; or
    (2) Was treated at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital or 
died in such a hospital.
    (c) A person who has volunteered for service with the U.S. Armed 
Forces, but has not yet entered on active duty.
    (d) A former spouse whose marriage to the primarily eligible person 
ended in divorce.
    (e) A spouse who predeceases the primarily eligible person and is 
interred or inurned in a location other than Arlington National 
Cemetery, and the primarily eligible person remarries.
    (f) A divorced spouse of a primarily eligible person.
    (g) Otherwise derivatively eligible persons, such as a spouse or 
minor child, if the primarily eligible person was not or will not be 
interred or inurned at Arlington National Cemetery.
    (h) A service member who dies while on active duty, if the first 
General Courts-Martial Convening Authority in the service member's 
chain of command determines that there is clear and convincing evidence 
that the service member engaged in conduct that would have resulted in 
a separation or discharge not characterized as an honorable discharge 
(e.g., a separation or discharge under general but honorable 
conditions, other than honorable conditions, a bad conduct discharge, a 
dishonorable discharge, or a dismissal) being imposed, but for the 
death of the service member.
    (i) Animal remains that are unintentionally commingled with human 
remains due to a natural disaster, unforeseen accident, act of war or 
terrorism, violent explosion, or similar incident, and such remains 
cannot be separated from the remains of an eligible person, then the 
remains may be interred or inurned with the eligible person, but the 
identity of the animal remains shall not be inscribed or identified on 
a niche, marker, headstone, or otherwise.


Sec.  553.20   Prohibition of interment, inurnment, or memorialization 
in an Army National Military Cemetery of persons who have committed 
certain crimes.

    (a) Prohibition. Notwithstanding Sec. Sec.  553.12 through 553.16, 
553.18, and 553.22, the interment, inurnment, or memorialization in an 
Army National Military Cemetery of any of the following persons is 
prohibited:
    (1) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States, prior to his or her 
interment, inurnment, or memorialization, as a person who has been 
convicted of a Federal capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, and 
whose conviction is final (other than a person whose sentence was 
commuted by the President).
    (2) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
an appropriate State official, prior to his or her interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization, as a person who has been convicted of a 
State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, and whose conviction 
is final (other than a person whose sentence was commuted by the 
Governor of the State).
    (3) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States or by an appropriate State 
official, prior to his or her interment, inurnment, or memorialization, 
as a person who has been convicted of murder, as defined in Sec.  
553.1, and whose conviction is final (other than a person whose 
sentence was commuted by the President or the Governor of a State, as 
the case may be).
    (4) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States or by an appropriate State 
official, prior to his or her interment, inurnment, or memorialization, 
as a person who has been convicted of a Federal capital crime or a 
State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, or other criminal 
offense causing the person to be a Tier III sex offender for purposes 
of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, who for such 
crime is sentenced to a minimum of life imprisonment and whose 
conviction is final (other than a person whose sentence was commuted by 
the President or the Governor of a State, or the appropriate 
commutation authority as dictated by the law in the jurisdiction where 
the conviction was finalized, as the case may be).
    (5) Any person found under procedures specified in Sec.  553.21 to 
have committed any crime identified in Sec.  553.20(a)(1) through (4), 
but who has not been convicted of such crime by reason of such person 
not being available for trial due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution. Notice from officials is not required for this prohibition 
to apply.
    (b) Notice. The Executive Director is designated as the Secretary 
of the Army's representative authorized to receive from the appropriate 
Federal or State officials notification of conviction of capital crimes 
referred to in this section.
    (c) Confirmation of person's eligibility. (1) If notice has not 
been received, but the Executive Director has reason to believe that 
the person may have been convicted of a Federal capital crime or a 
State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, the Executive 
Director shall seek written confirmation from:
    (i) The Attorney General of the United States, with respect to a 
suspected Federal capital crime; or
    (ii) An appropriate State official, with respect to a suspected 
State capital crime.
    (2) The Executive Director will defer the decision on whether to 
inter, inurn, or memorialize a decedent until a written response is 
received.


Sec.  553.21   Findings concerning the commission of certain crimes 
where a person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution.

    (a) Preliminary inquiry. If the Executive Director has reason to 
believe that a decedent may have committed a Federal capital crime or a 
State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, but has not been 
convicted of such crime by reason of such person not being available 
for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the Executive 
Director shall submit the issue to the General Counsel of the 
Department of the Army. The General Counsel of the Department of the 
Army shall initiate a preliminary inquiry seeking information from 
Federal, State, or local law enforcement officials, or other sources of 
potentially relevant information.
    (b) Decision after preliminary inquiry. If, after conducting the 
preliminary inquiry described in paragraph (a) of this section, the 
General Counsel of the Department of the Army determines that credible 
evidence exists suggesting the decedent may have committed a Federal 
capital crime or State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, 
then further

[[Page 57650]]

proceedings under this section are warranted to determine whether the 
decedent committed such crime. Consequently the General Counsel of the 
Department of the Army shall present the personal representative with a 
written notification of such preliminary determination and a dated, 
written notice of the personal representative's procedural options.
    (c) Notice and procedural options. The notice of procedural options 
shall indicate that, within fifteen days, the personal representative 
may:
    (1) Request a hearing;
    (2) Withdraw the request for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization; or
    (3) Do nothing, in which case the request for interment, inurnment, 
or memorialization will be considered to have been withdrawn.
    (d) Time computation. The fifteen-day time period begins on the 
calendar day immediately following the earlier of the day the notice of 
procedural options is delivered in person to the personal 
representative or is sent by U.S. registered mail or, if available, by 
electronic means to the personal representative. It ends at midnight on 
the fifteenth day. The period includes weekends and holidays.
    (e) Hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the personal 
representative to present additional information regarding whether the 
decedent committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital crime, as 
defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411. In lieu of making a personal appearance at 
the hearing, the personal representative may submit relevant documents 
for consideration.
    (1) If a hearing is requested, the General Counsel of the 
Department of the Army shall conduct the hearing.
    (2) The hearing shall be conducted in an informal manner.
    (3) The rules of evidence shall not apply.
    (4) The personal representative and witnesses may appear, at no 
expense to the Government, and subject to the discretion of the General 
Counsel of the Department of the Army, they may testify. All testimony 
shall be under oath and a person who possesses the legal authority to 
administer oaths shall administer the oath.
    (5) The General Counsel of the Department of the Army shall 
consider all relevant information obtained.
    (6) The hearing shall be appropriately recorded. Upon request, a 
copy of the record shall be provided to the personal representative.
    (f) Final determination. After considering the opinion of the 
General Counsel of the Department of the Army, and any additional 
information submitted by the personal representative, the Secretary of 
the Army shall determine the decedent's eligibility for interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization. This determination is final and not 
appealable.
    (1) The determination shall be based on evidence that supports or 
undermines a conclusion that the decedent's actions satisfied the 
elements of the crime as established by the law of the jurisdiction in 
which the decedent would have been prosecuted.
    (2) If an affirmative defense is offered by the decedent's personal 
representative, a determination as to whether the defense was met shall 
be made according to the law of the jurisdiction in which the decedent 
would have been prosecuted.
    (3) Mitigating evidence shall not be considered.
    (4) The opinion of the local, State, or Federal prosecutor as to 
whether he or she would have brought charges against the decedent had 
the decedent been available is relevant but not binding and shall be 
given no more weight than other facts presented.
    (g) Notice of decision. The Executive Director shall provide 
written notification of the Secretary's decision to the personal 
representative.


Sec.  553.22   Exceptions to policies for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization at Arlington National Cemetery.

    (a) As a national military cemetery, eligibility standards for 
interment, inurnment, or memorialization are based on honorable 
military service. Exceptions to the eligibility standards for new 
graves are rarely granted. When granted, exceptions are for those 
persons who have made significant contributions that directly and 
substantially benefited the U.S. military. Exceptions to the interment 
or inurnment eligibility policies shall be decided by the Secretary of 
the Army.
    (b) Requests for an exception to the interment or inurnment 
eligibility policies shall be considered only after the individual's 
death.
    (c) Requests for an exception to the interment or inurnment 
eligibility policies shall be submitted to the Executive Director and 
shall include any documents required by the Executive Director.
    (d) The primary next of kin is responsible for providing and 
certifying the authenticity of all documents and swearing to the 
accuracy of the accounting provided to support the request for 
exception to the interment or inurnment eligibility policies.
    (e) Disapproved requests will be reconsidered only when the 
personal representative or next of kin submits new and substantive 
information not previously considered by the Secretary of the Army. 
Requests for reconsideration shall be submitted directly to the 
Executive Director. The Executive Director will deny requests for 
reconsideration not supported by new and substantive information after 
review and advice from the General Counsel of the Department of the 
Army. The Executive Director shall notify the personal representative 
or next of kin of the decision of the reconsideration.
    (f) The decision by the Secretary of the Army or the Executive 
Director, as the case may be, is final and not appealable.
    (g) Under no circumstances, will exceptions to policies be 
considered or granted for those individuals prohibited from interment 
or inurnment by virtue of Sec.  553.20 or Sec.  553.21.


Sec.  553.23   Placement of cremated remains at Army National Military 
Cemeteries.

    All cremated remains shall be interred or inurned. The scattering 
of cremated remains and the burial of symbolic containers are 
prohibited in Army National Military Cemeteries.


Sec.  553.24   Subsequently recovered remains.

    Subsequently recovered identified remains of a decedent shall be 
reunited in one gravesite or urn, or as part of a group burial, in 
either an Army National Military Cemetery or other cemetery. 
Subsequently recovered identified remains may also be interred in the 
Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of Remembrance. Unidentified remains 
(which may or may not be commingled) may also be interred in the 
Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of Remembrance.


Sec.  553.25   Disinterment and disinurnment of remains.

    (a) Interments and inurnments in Army National Military Cemeteries 
are considered permanent.
    (b) Requests for the permanent (i.e., the remains will not be 
immediately returned to the same gravesite or niche) disinterment or 
disinurnment of individually interred or inurned remains are considered 
requests for exceptions to this policy, and must be addressed to the 
Executive Director for decision. The request must include:
    (1) A full statement of the reasons for the disinterment or 
disinurnment of the remains from the personal representative or primary 
next of kin who directed the original interment or inurnment if still 
living, or if not, the

[[Page 57651]]

current personal representative or primary next of kin;
    (2) A notarized statement from each living close relative of the 
decedent that he or she does not object to the proposed disinterment or 
disinurnment;
    (3) A notarized statement by a person who has personal knowledge of 
the decedent's relatives stating that the persons giving statements 
comprise all of the decedent's living close relatives; and
    (4) An appropriate funding source for the disinterment or 
disinurnment, as disinterments and disinurnments of individually 
interred or inurned remains must be accomplished without expense to the 
Government, unless done in accordance with paragraph (c) of this 
section.
    (c) Disinterments performed at the direction of the Secretary of 
Defense for the purpose of the identification of remains shall be done 
in compliance with, and as directed by, Department of Defense 
regulation and policy.
    (d) The Executive Director shall carry out disinterments and 
disinurnments directed by a court of competent jurisdiction upon 
presentation of a lawful, original court order and after consulting 
with the General Counsel of the Department of the Army.
    (e) Disinterment or disinurnment is not permitted for the sole 
purpose of splitting remains or keeping a portion of the remains in a 
location other than Arlington National Cemetery.
    (f) Disinterment of previously designated group remains for the 
sole purpose of individually segregating the group remains is not 
permitted unless the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section are 
met.


Sec.  553.26   Design of Government-furnished headstones, niche covers, 
and memorial markers.

    (a) Headstones and memorial markers shall be white marble in an 
upright slab design. Flat-type granite markers may be used, at the 
Executive Director's discretion, when the terrain or other obstruction 
precludes use of an upright marble headstone or memorial marker.
    (b) Niche covers shall be white marble.
    (c) The Executive Director shall approve the design of headstones 
and memorial markers erected for group burials, consistent with the 
policies of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.


Sec.  553.27   Inscriptions on Government-furnished headstones, niche 
covers, and memorial markers.

    (a) Inscriptions on Government-furnished headstones, niche covers, 
and memorial markers will be made according to the policies and 
specifications of the Secretary of the Army, consistent with the 
policies of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) No grades, titles, or ranks other than military grades granted 
pursuant to title 10, United States Code, will be engraved on 
Government-furnished headstones, niche covers, and memorial markers. 
Honorary grades, titles, or ranks granted by States, governors, and 
others shall not be inscribed on headstones, niche covers, or memorial 
markers.
    (c) Memorial markers must include the words ``In Memory of'' 
preceding the inscription.
    (d) The words ``In Memory of'' shall not precede the inscription of 
a decedent whose remains are interred or inurned.


Sec.  553.28   Private headstones and markers.

    (a) Construction and installation of private headstones and 
markers, in lieu of Government-furnished headstones, are prohibited in 
Army National Military Cemeteries unless approved prior to December 1, 
2017. Repair or replacement of private headstones and markers that were 
approved prior to December 1, 2017, and are in sections of Army 
National Military Cemeteries in which private memorials and markers 
were authorized as of January 1, 1947, must be of simple design, 
dignified, and appropriate for a military cemetery as determined by the 
Executive Director.
    (b) The design and inscription of a private headstone or marker 
must be approved by the Executive Director prior to its construction 
and placement. All private headstones and markers will conform to the 
dimensions and profiles specified by the Executive Director and will be 
inscribed with the location of the gravesite.
    (c) Inscription or modification to a private headstone or marker 
previously placed or approved for placement is conditional upon the 
primary next of kin agreeing in writing to maintain it in a manner 
acceptable to the Government. Should the headstone or marker become 
unserviceable at any time and the primary next of kin fail to repair or 
replace it, or if the marker is not updated to reflect all persons 
buried in that gravesite within 6 months of the most recent burial, the 
Executive Director reserves the right to remove and dispose of the 
headstone or marker and replace it with a standard, Government-
furnished headstone or marker.
    (d) The construction of a headstone or marker to span two 
gravesites will be permitted only in those sections in which headstones 
and markers are presently spanning two gravesites and only with the 
express understanding that in the event both gravesites are not 
utilized for burials, the headstone or marker will be relocated to the 
center of the occupied gravesite, if possible. Such relocation must be 
accomplished at no expense to the Government. The Executive Director 
reserves the right to remove and dispose of the headstone or marker and 
to mark the gravesite with a Government-furnished headstone or marker 
if the personal representative or primary next of kin fails to relocate 
the headstone or marker as requested by the Executive Director.
    (e) Arrangements must be made with an appropriate commercial firm 
to ensure that additional inscriptions will be promptly inscribed 
following each succeeding interment in the gravesite. Foot markers must 
be authorized by the Executive Director and may only be authorized when 
there is no available space for an inscription on the front or rear of 
a private headstone.
    (f) Except as may be authorized for marking group burials, ledger 
monuments of freestanding cross design, narrow shafts, and mausoleums 
are prohibited.


Sec.  553.29   Permission to construct or amend private headstones and 
markers.

    (a) Headstone firms must receive permission from the Executive 
Director to construct a private headstone or marker or to add an 
inscription to an existing headstone or marker in an Army National 
Military Cemetery.
    (b) Requests for permission must be submitted to the Executive 
Director and must include:
    (1) Written consent from the personal representative or primary 
next of kin;
    (2) Contact information for both the personal representative or 
primary next of kin and the headstone firm; and
    (3) A scale drawing (no less than 1:12) showing all dimensions, or 
a reproduction showing detailed specifications of design and proposed 
construction material, finishing, carving, lettering, exact inscription 
to appear on the headstone or marker, and a trademark or copyright 
designation.
    (c) The Army does not endorse headstone firms, but grants 
permission for the construction of headstones or markers in individual 
cases.
    (d) When using sandblast equipment to add an inscription to an 
existing headstone or marker, headstone firms shall restore the 
surrounding grounds in a timely manner as determined by the Executive 
Director to the condition of the grounds before work began and at no 
expense to the Government.

[[Page 57652]]

Sec.  553.30   Inscriptions on private headstones and markers.

    An appropriate inscription for the decedent will be placed on the 
headstone or marker in accordance with the dimensions of the stone and 
arranged in such a manner as to enhance the appearance of the stone. 
Additional inscriptions may be inscribed following each succeeding 
interment in the gravesite. All inscriptions will be in accordance with 
policies established by the Executive Director.


Sec.  553.31   Memorial and commemorative monuments (other than private 
headstones or markers).

    The placement of memorials or commemorative monuments in Arlington 
National Cemetery will be carried out in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 
2409(b).


Sec.  553.32   Conduct of memorial services and ceremonies.

    (a) The Executive Director shall ensure the sanctity of public and 
private memorial and ceremonial events.
    (b) All memorial services and ceremonies within Army National 
Military Cemeteries, other than official ceremonies, shall be purely 
memorial in purpose and may be dedicated only to:
    (1) The memory of all those interred, inurned, or memorialized in 
Army National Military Cemeteries;
    (2) The memory of all those who died in the military service of the 
United States while serving during a particular conflict or while 
serving in a particular military unit or units; or
    (3) The memory of the individual or individuals to be interred, 
inurned, or memorialized at the particular site at which the service or 
ceremony is held.
    (c) Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military 
Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.
    (d) Private memorial services may be closed to the media and public 
as determined by the decedent's primary next of kin.
    (e) Public memorial services and public wreath-laying ceremonies 
shall be open to all members of the public to observe.


Sec.  553.33   Visitors rules for Army National Military Cemeteries.

    (a) Visiting hours. Visiting hours shall be established by the 
Executive Director and posted in conspicuous places. No visitor is 
permitted to enter or remain in an Army National Military Cemetery 
outside the established visiting hours.
    (b) Destruction or removal of property. No person shall destroy, 
damage, mutilate, alter, or remove any monument, gravestone, niche 
cover, structure, tree, shrub, plant, or other property located within 
an Army National Military Cemetery, without the prior approval of the 
Executive Director.
    (c) Conduct within Army National Military Cemeteries. Army National 
Military Cemeteries are national shrines to the honored dead of the 
U.S. Armed Forces, and certain acts and activities, which may be 
appropriate elsewhere, are not appropriate in Army National Military 
Cemeteries. All visitors, including persons attending or taking part in 
memorial services and ceremonies, shall observe proper standards of 
decorum and decency while in an Army National Military Cemetery. 
Specifically, no person shall:
    (1) Conduct any memorial service or ceremony within an Army 
National Military Cemetery without the prior approval of the Executive 
Director.
    (2) Engage in demonstrations prohibited by 38 U.S.C. 2413.
    (3) Engage in any orations, speeches, or similar conduct to 
assembled groups of people, unless such actions are part of a memorial 
service or ceremony authorized by the Executive Director.
    (4) Display any placards, banners, flags, or similar devices within 
an Army National Military Cemetery, unless first approved by the 
Executive Director for use in an authorized memorial service or 
ceremony. This rule does not apply to clothing worn by visitors.
    (5) Distribute any handbill, pamphlet, leaflet, or other written or 
printed matter within an Army National Military Cemetery, except a 
program approved by the Executive Director to be provided to attendees 
of an authorized memorial service or ceremony.
    (6) Bring a dog, cat, or other animal (other than a service animal 
or military working dog) within an Army National Military Cemetery. 
This prohibition does not apply to persons living in quarters located 
on the grounds of the Army National Military Cemeteries.
    (7) Use the cemetery grounds for recreational activities (e.g., 
physical exercise, running, jogging, sports, or picnics).
    (8) Ride a bicycle or similar vehicle or conveyance in an Army 
National Military Cemetery, except with a proper pass issued by the 
Executive Director to visit a gravesite or niche. An individual 
visiting a relative's gravesite or niche may be issued a temporary pass 
by the Executive Director to proceed directly to and from the gravesite 
or niche on a bicycle or similar vehicle or conveyance.
    (9) Operate a musical instrument, a loudspeaker, or an audio device 
without a headset within an Army National Military Cemetery.
    (10) Drive any motor vehicle within an Army National Military 
Cemetery in excess of the posted speed limit.
    (11) Park any motor vehicle in any area of an Army National 
Military Cemetery designated as a no-parking area.
    (12) Leave any vehicle in the Arlington National Cemetery Visitors' 
Center parking area or Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery 
visitors' parking area more than thirty minutes outside of established 
visiting hours or anywhere else in an Army National Military Cemetery 
outside of established visiting hours.
    (13) Consume or serve alcoholic beverages without prior written 
permission from the Executive Director.
    (14) Possess firearms without prior written permission from the 
Executive Director. This prohibition does not apply to law enforcement 
and military personnel in the performance of their official duties. In 
accordance with locally established policy, military and law 
enforcement personnel may be required to obtain advance permission from 
the Executive Director prior to possessing firearms on the property of 
an Army National Military Cemetery.
    (15) Deposit or throw litter or trash on the grounds of an Army 
National Military Cemetery.
    (16) Engage in any disrespectful or disorderly conduct within an 
Army National Military Cemetery.
    (d) Vehicular traffic. All visitors, including persons attending or 
taking part in memorial services and ceremonies, will observe the 
following rules concerning motor vehicle traffic within Arlington 
National Cemetery:
    (1) Visitors arriving by car and not entitled to a vehicle pass 
pursuant to paragraph (d)(2) of this section are required to park their 
vehicles in the Visitors' Center parking area or at a location outside 
of the cemetery.
    (2) Only the following categories of vehicles may be permitted 
access to Arlington National Cemetery roadways and issued a permanent 
or temporary pass from the Executive Director:
    (i) Official Government vehicles being used on official Government 
business.
    (ii) Vehicles carrying persons on official Cemetery business.
    (iii) Vehicles forming part of an authorized funeral procession and 
authorized to be part of that procession.
    (iv) Vehicles carrying persons visiting the Arlington National 
Cemetery gravesites, niches, or memorial areas of relatives or loved 
ones interred, inurned, or memorialized within Arlington National 
Cemetery.

[[Page 57653]]

    (v) Arlington National Cemetery and National Park Service 
maintenance vehicles.
    (vi) Vehicles of contractors who are authorized to perform work 
within Arlington National Cemetery.
    (vii) Concessionaire tour buses authorized by the Executive 
Director to operate in Arlington National Cemetery.
    (viii) Vehicles of employees of the Army National Military 
Cemeteries as authorized by the Executive Director.


Sec.  553.34   Soliciting and vending.

    The display or distribution of commercial advertising to or 
solicitation of business from the public is strictly prohibited within 
an Army National Military Cemetery, except as authorized by the 
Executive Director.


Sec.  553.35   Media.

    All officials and staff of the media are subject to the Visitors 
Rules enumerated in Sec.  553.33 and shall comply with the Department 
of the Army's media policy.

Subpart B--Army Post Cemeteries


Sec.  553.36   Definitions.

    As used in this subpart, the following terms have these meanings:
    Active duty. Full-time duty in the active military service of the 
United States.
    (1) This includes:
    (i) Active Reserve component duty performed pursuant to title 10, 
United States Code.
    (ii) Service as a cadet or midshipman currently on the rolls at the 
U.S. Military, U.S. Naval, U.S. Air Force, or U.S. Coast Guard 
Academies.
    (iii) Active duty for operational support.
    (2) This does not include:
    (i) Full-time National Guard duty performed under title 32, United 
States Code.
    (ii) Active duty for training, initial entry training, annual 
training duty, or inactive-duty training for members of the Reserve 
components.
    Active duty for operational support (formerly active duty for 
special work). A tour of active duty for Reserve personnel authorized 
from military or Reserve personnel appropriations for work on Active 
component or Reserve component programs. The purpose of active duty for 
operational support is to provide the necessary skilled manpower assets 
to support existing or emerging requirements and may include training.
    Active duty for training. A category of active duty used to provide 
structured individual and/or unit training, including on-the-job 
training, or educational courses to Reserve component members. Included 
in the active duty for training category are annual training, initial 
active duty for training, or any other training duty.
    Annual training. The minimum period of active duty for training 
that Reserve members must perform each year to satisfy the training 
requirements associated with their Reserve component assignment.
    Armed Forces. The U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air 
Force, Space Force and their Reserve components.
    Army Post Cemeteries. Cemeteries operated by the Department of the 
Army on active Army installations, on Army reserve complexes, and on 
former Army installations or inactive posts whose purpose is to inter 
or inurn eligible members of the Armed Forces, Veterans, and their 
eligible family members. Army National Military Cemeteries are not 
included in post cemeteries. The West Point Cemetery is considered an 
Army Post Cemetery, but has separate eligibility standards due to its 
unique stature. In addition to the Army Post Cemeteries, there are four 
Native American cemeteries on Fort Sill and five World War II Enemy 
Prisoner of War cemeteries on four Army installations. Finally, there 
is the U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery at Fort Leavenworth 
used for interring the unclaimed remains of those who die while 
incarcerated by the United States Military. Unlike the other Army 
cemeteries which honor the Nation's veterans, this cemetery has unique 
eligibility standards due to the characterization of service of those 
criminally incarcerated.
    Cemetery Responsible Official. An appointed official who serves as 
the primary point of contact and responsible official for all matters 
relating to the operation maintenance and administration of an Army 
cemetery. The appointee must be a U.S. Federal Government employee, DA 
civilian, or military member and appointed on orders by the appropriate 
garrison commander or comparable official.
    Child, minor child, permanently dependent child, unmarried adult 
child--(1) Child. (i) Natural child of a primarily eligible person, 
born in wedlock;
    (ii) Natural child of a female primarily eligible person, born out 
of wedlock;
    (iii) Natural child of a male primarily eligible person, who was 
born out of wedlock and:
    (A) Has been acknowledged in writing signed by the male primarily 
eligible person;
    (B) Has been judicially determined to be the male primarily 
eligible person's child;
    (C) Whom the male primarily eligible person has been judicially 
ordered to support; or
    (D) Has been otherwise proven, by evidence satisfactory to the 
Executive Director, to be the child of the male primarily eligible 
person;
    (iv) Adopted child of a primarily eligible person; or
    (v) Stepchild who was part of the primarily eligible person's 
household at the time of death of the individual who is to be interred 
or inurned.
    (2) Minor child. A child of the primarily eligible person who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Is under the age of twenty-one years, or is under the age of 
twenty-three years and is taking a full-time course of instruction at 
an educational institution that the U.S. Department of Education 
acknowledges as an accredited educational institution.
    (3) Permanently dependent child. A child of the primarily eligible 
person who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Is permanently and fully dependent on one or both of the 
child's parents because of a physical or mental disability incurred 
before attaining the age of twenty-one years or before the age of 
twenty-three years while taking a full-time course of instruction at an 
educational institution that the U.S. Department of Education 
acknowledges as an accredited educational institution.
    (4) Unmarried adult child. A child of the primarily eligible person 
who:
    (i) Is unmarried;
    (ii) Has no dependents; and
    (iii) Has attained the age of twenty-one years.
    Close relative. The spouse, parents, adult brothers and sisters, 
adult natural children, adult stepchildren, and adult adopted children 
of a decedent.
    Derivatively eligible person. Any person who is entitled to 
interment or inurnment solely based on his or her relationship to a 
primarily eligible person, as set forth in Sec. Sec.  553.43 through 
553.45.
    Disinterment. The removal of interred human remains from a 
particular gravesite.
    Disinurnment. The removal of remains from a particular niche.
    Executive Director. The person statutorily charged with exercising 
authority, direction, and control over all aspects of Army National 
Military Cemeteries, and the person charged by the Secretary of the 
Army to serve as the

[[Page 57654]]

functional proponent for policies and procedures pertaining to the 
administration, operation, and maintenance of all military cemeteries 
under the jurisdiction of the Army.
    Former prisoner of war. A person who is eligible for or has been 
awarded the Prisoner of War Medal.
    Former spouse. See spouse.
    Government. The U.S. Government and its agencies and 
instrumentalities.
    Group burial. (1) Interment in one gravesite of one or more service 
members on active duty killed in the same incident or location where:
    (i) The remains cannot be individually identified; or
    (ii) The person authorized to direct disposition of subsequently 
identified remains has authorized their interment with the other 
service members.
    (2) Group remains may contain incidental remains of civilians and 
foreign nationals.
    Inactive-duty training. (1) Duty prescribed for members of the 
Reserve components by the Secretary concerned under 37 U.S.C. 206 or 
any other provision of law.
    (2) Special additional duties authorized for members of the Reserve 
components by an authority designated by the Secretary concerned and 
performed by them on a voluntary basis in connection with the 
prescribed training or maintenance activities of the units to which 
they are assigned.
    (3) In the case of a member of the Army National Guard or Air 
National Guard of any State, duty (other than full-time duty) under 32 
U.S.C. 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505 or the prior corresponding provisions 
of law.
    (4) This term does not include:
    (i) Work or study performed in connection with correspondence 
courses;
    (ii) Attendance at an educational institution in an inactive 
status; or
    (iii) Duty performed as a temporary member of the Coast Guard 
Reserve.
    Interment. The ground burial of casketed or cremated human remains.
    Inurnment. The placement of cremated human remains in a niche.
    Media. Individuals and agencies that print, broadcast, or gather 
and transmit news, and their reporters, photographers, and employees.
    Minor child. See child.
    Murder. Pursuant to any Federal or State law, the causing the death 
of another human being when:
    (1) It is committed purposely or knowingly; or
    (2) It is committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting 
extreme indifference to the value of human life. Such recklessness and 
indifference are presumed if the actor is engaged or is an accomplice 
in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after 
committing or attempting to commit robbery, rape or deviate sexual 
intercourse by force or threat of force, arson, burglary, kidnapping, 
or felonious escape.
    Niche. An above ground space constructed specifically for the 
placement of cremated human remains.
    Parent. A natural parent, a stepparent, a parent by adoption, or a 
person who for a period of not less than one year stood in loco 
parentis, or was granted legal custody by a court decree or statutory 
provision.
    Permanently dependent child. See child.
    Person authorized to direct disposition. The person primarily 
entitled to direct disposition of human remains and who elects to 
exercise that entitlement. Determination of such entitlement shall be 
made in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
    Personal representative. A person who has legal authority to act on 
behalf of another through applicable law, order, and regulation.
    Primarily eligible person. Any person who is entitled to interment 
or inurnment based on his or her service as specified in Sec. Sec.  
553.43 through 553.45.
    Primary next of kin. (1) In the absence of a valid written document 
from the decedent identifying the primary next of kin, the order of 
precedence for designating a decedent's primary next of kin is as 
follows:
    (i) Spouse, even if a minor;
    (ii) Children, age 18 years and over (if under 18 years of age, 
their surviving parent or legal guardian shall exercise the rights of 
the minor);
    (iii) Parents;
    (iv) Siblings, to include half-blood and those acquired through 
adoption, age 18 years and over;
    (v) Grandparents; and
    (vi) Other next of kin, in order of relationship to the decedent as 
determined by the laws of the decedent's state of domicile.
    (2) Absent a court order or written document from the deceased, the 
precedence of next of kin with equal relationships to the decedent is 
governed by seniority (age), older having higher priority than younger. 
Equal relationship situations include those involving divorced parents 
of the decedent, children of the decedent, and siblings of the 
decedent.
    Private headstones or markers. A headstone or individual memorial 
marker provided at private expense, in lieu of a headstone or 
individual memorial marker furnished by the Government.
    Private memorial service. A memorial service or ceremony conducted 
at the decedent's gravesite, memorial headstone, or niche.
    Public memorial service. A ceremony conducted by members of the 
public at a historic site in an Army cemetery.
    Reserve component. See definition in 10 U.S.C. 101.
    Spouse, former spouse, subsequently remarried spouse--(1) Spouse. A 
person who is legally married to another person.
    (2) Former spouse. A person who was legally married to another 
person at one time but was not legally married to that person at the 
time of one of their deaths.
    (3) Subsequently remarried spouse. A derivatively eligible spouse 
who was married to the primarily eligible person at the time of the 
primarily eligible person's death and who subsequently remarried 
another person.
    Subsequently recovered remains. Additional remains belonging to the 
decedent that are recovered or identified after the decedent's 
interment or inurnment.
    Subsequently remarried spouse. See spouse.
    Subversive activity. Actions constituting subversive activity are 
those defined in applicable provisions of Federal law.
    Unmarried adult child. See child.
    Veteran. A person who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and who was 
discharged or released under honorable conditions (general discharge 
under honorable conditions is not sufficient to meet this definition).


Sec.  553.37   Purpose.

    This subpart specifies the eligibility for interment and inurnment 
in the Post Cemeteries and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery at 
Fort Leavenworth.


Sec.  553.38   Statutory authorities.

    The statutory authorities for this subpart are Public Law 93-43 87 
Stat. 75, 10 U.S.C. 985, 1481, 1482, 3013, and 38 U.S.C. 2411.


Sec.  553.39   Scope and applicability.

    (a) Scope. The development, maintenance, administration, and 
operation of the Army Post Cemeteries are governed by this subpart, 
Army Regulation 290-5, and Department of the Army Pamphlet 290-5. The 
development, maintenance, administration, and operation of Army 
National Military Cemeteries are not covered by this subpart.
    (b) Applicability. This subpart is applicable to all persons 
seeking

[[Page 57655]]

interment or inurnment in Army Post Cemeteries.


Sec.  553.40   Assignment of gravesites or niches.

    (a) All eligible persons will be assigned gravesites or niches 
without discrimination as to race, color, sex, religion, age, or 
national origin and without preference to military grade or rank.
    (b) Army cemeteries will enforce a one-gravesite-per-family policy. 
Once the initial interment or inurnment is made in a gravesite or 
niche, each additional interment or inurnment of eligible persons must 
be made in the same gravesite or niche, except as noted in paragraph 
(e) of this section. This includes multiple primarily eligible persons 
if they are married to each other.
    (c) A gravesite reservation will be honored if the gravesite was 
properly reserved before May 1, 1975.
    (d) The commander or Cemetery Responsible Official responsible for 
an Army cemetery may cancel a gravesite reservation:
    (1) Upon determination that a derivatively eligible spouse has 
remarried;
    (2) Upon determination that the remains of the person having the 
gravesite reservation have been buried elsewhere or otherwise disposed 
of;
    (3) Upon determination that the person having the gravesite 
reservation desires to or will be interred in the same gravesite with 
the predeceased, and doing so is feasible; or
    (4) Upon determination that the person having the gravesite 
reservation would be 120 years of age and there is no record of 
correspondence with the person having the gravesite reservation within 
the last two decades.
    (e) In cases of reservations where more than one gravesite was 
reserved (on the basis of the veteran's eligibility at the time the 
reservation was made), the gravesite reservations will be honored only 
if the decedents continue to meet the eligibility criteria for 
interment in Army Post Cemeteries that are in effect at the time of 
need, and the reserved gravesite is available.
    (f) Gravesites or niches shall not be reserved or assigned prior to 
the time of need.
    (g) The selection of gravesites and niches is the responsibility of 
the Cemetery Responsible Official. The selection of specific gravesites 
or niches by the family or other representatives of the deceased is 
prohibited.


Sec.  553.41   Proof of eligibility.

    (a) The personal representative or primary next of kin is 
responsible for providing appropriate documentation to verify the 
decedent's eligibility for interment or inurnment.
    (b) The personal representative or primary next of kin must certify 
in writing that the decedent is not prohibited from interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization under Sec.  553.47 because he or she has 
not committed or been convicted of a Federal or State capital crime or 
is a convicted Tier III sex offender as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411.
    (c) For service members who die on active duty, a statement of 
honorable service is required from the first General Court-Martial 
Convening Authority in the service member's chain of command. If the 
certificate of honorable service cannot be granted, the service member 
is ineligible for interment, inurnment, and memorialization pursuant to 
Sec.  553.46(i).
    (d) When applicable, the following documents are required:
    (1) Death certificate;
    (2) Proof of eligibility as required by paragraphs (e) through (g) 
of this section;
    (3) Any additional documentation to establish the decedent's 
eligibility (e.g., marriage certificate, birth certificate, waivers, 
statements that the decedent had no children);
    (4) Burial agreement;
    (5) Notarized statement that the remains are unavailable for the 
reasons set forth in Sec.  553.16;
    (6) A certificate of cremation or notarized statement attesting to 
the authenticity of the cremated human remains and that 100% of the 
cremated remains received from the crematorium are present. The 
Cemetery Responsible Official may, however, allow a portion of the 
cremated remains to be removed by the crematorium for the sole purpose 
of producing commemorative items.
    (e) The following documents may be used to establish the 
eligibility of a primarily eligible person:
    (1) DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 
Duty;
    (2) WD AGO 53 or 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation 
Honorable Discharge;
    (3) WD AGO 53-98, Military Record and Report of Separation 
Certificate of Service;
    (4) NAVPERS-553, Notice of Separation from U.S. Naval Service;
    (5) NAVMC 70-PD, Honorable Discharge, U.S. Marine Corps;
    (6) DD Form 1300, Report of Casualty (required in the case of death 
of an active duty service member); or
    (7) NGB Form 22, National Guard Report of Separation and Record of 
Service (must indicate a minimum of 20 years total service for pay).
    (f) In addition to the documents otherwise required by this 
section, a request for interment or inurnment of a subsequently 
remarried spouse must be accompanied by:
    (1) A notarized statement from the new spouse of the subsequently 
remarried spouse agreeing to the interment or inurnment and 
relinquishing any claim for interment or inurnment in the same 
gravesite or niche.
    (2) Notarized statement(s) from all of the children, age 18 years 
and over, from the prior marriage agreeing to the interment or 
inurnment of their parents in the same gravesite or niche.
    (g) In addition to the documents otherwise required by this 
section, a request for interment or inurnment of a permanently 
dependent child must be accompanied by:
    (1) A notarized statement as to the marital status and degree of 
dependency of the decedent from an individual with direct knowledge; 
and
    (2) A physician's statement regarding the nature and duration of 
the physical or mental disability; and
    (3) A statement from someone with direct knowledge demonstrating 
the following factors:
    (i) The deceased lived most of his or her adult life with one or 
both parents who is otherwise eligible for interment; and
    (ii) The decedent's children and siblings age 18 years and over, or 
other family members, other than the eligible parent, waive any 
derivative claim to be interred at the Army Post Cemetery in question.
    (h) Veterans or primary next of kin of deceased veterans may obtain 
copies of their military records by writing to the National Personnel 
Records Center, Attention: Military Personnel Records, 1 Archives 
Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63138-1002 or using their website. All 
others may request a record by completing and submitting Standard Form 
180.
    (i) The burden of proving eligibility lies with the party who 
requests the burial. Commanders of these cemeteries or their Cemetery 
Responsible Officials will determine whether the submitted evidence is 
sufficient to support a finding of eligibility.


Sec.  553.42   General rules governing eligibility for interment or 
inurnment in Army Post Cemeteries.

    (a) Only those persons who meet the criteria of Sec.  553.43 of 
this subpart or are granted an exception to policy pursuant to Sec.  
553.49 of this subpart may be interred in the Army Post Cemeteries. 
Only those persons who meet the

[[Page 57656]]

criteria of Sec.  553.44 of this subpart or are granted an exception to 
policy pursuant to Sec.  553.49 of this subpart may be interred or 
inurned in the West Point Post Cemetery. Only those persons who meet 
the criteria of Sec.  553.45 may be interred in the U.S. Disciplinary 
Barracks Cemetery.
    (b) Derivative eligibility for interment or inurnment may be 
established only through a decedent's connection to a primarily 
eligible person and not to another derivatively eligible person.
    (c) No veteran is eligible for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in an Army Post Cemetery (except for the U.S. 
Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery) unless the veteran's last period of 
active duty ended with an honorable discharge. A general discharge 
under honorable conditions is not sufficient for interment, inurnment, 
or memorialization in an Army Post Cemetery.
    (d) For purposes of determining whether a service member has 
received an honorable discharge, final determinations regarding 
discharges made in accordance with procedures established by chapter 79 
of title 10, United States Code, will be considered authoritative.
    (e) The Executive Director has the authority to act on requests for 
exceptions to the provisions of the interment, inurnment, and 
memorialization eligibility policies contained in this subpart. The 
Executive Director may delegate this authority in writing on such terms 
deemed appropriate.
    (f) Individuals who do not qualify as a primarily eligible person 
or a derivatively eligible person, but who are granted an exception to 
policy to be interred or inurned pursuant to Sec.  553.49 of this 
subpart in a new gravesite or niche, will be treated as a primarily 
eligible person for purposes of this subpart.
    (g) Notwithstanding any other section in this subpart, 
memorialization with an individual memorial marker, interment, or 
inurnment in an Army Post Cemetery is prohibited if there is a 
gravesite, niche, or individual memorial marker for the decedent in any 
other Government-operated cemetery or the Government has provided an 
individual grave marker, individual memorial marker or niche cover for 
placement in a private cemetery.


Sec.  553.43   Eligibility for interment and inurnment in Army Post 
Cemeteries.

    Only those who qualify as a primarily eligible person or a 
derivatively eligible person are eligible for interment and inurnment 
in Army Post Cemeteries (except for the West Point Post Cemetery), 
unless otherwise prohibited as provided for in Sec. Sec.  553.46 
through 553.48 of this subpart, provided that the last period of active 
duty of the service member or veteran ended with an honorable 
discharge.
    (a) Primarily eligible persons. The following are primarily 
eligible persons for purposes of interment:
    (1) Any service member who dies on active duty in the U.S. Armed 
Forces (except those service members serving on active duty for 
training only), if the General Courts-Martial Convening Authority 
grants a certificate of honorable service.
    (2) Any veteran retired from a Reserve component who served a 
period of active duty (other than for training), is carried on the 
official retired list, and is entitled to receive military retired pay.
    (3) Any veteran retired from active military service and entitled 
to receive military retired pay.
    (b) Derivatively eligible persons. The following individuals are 
derivatively eligible persons for purposes of interment who may be 
interred if space is available in the gravesite of the primarily 
eligible person:
    (1) The spouse of a primarily eligible person who is or will be 
interred in an Army Post Cemetery in the same grave as the spouse. A 
former spouse of a primarily eligible person is not eligible for 
interment in an Army Post Cemetery under this section.
    (2) A subsequently remarried spouse if the remarriage is terminated 
by divorce, annulment or the death of the subsequently remarried 
spouse's subsequent spouse.
    (3) The spouse of an active duty service member or an eligible 
veteran, who was:
    (i) Lost or buried at sea, temporarily interred overseas due to 
action by the Government, or officially determined to be missing in 
action;
    (ii) Buried in a U.S. military cemetery maintained by the American 
Battle Monuments Commission; or
    (iii) Interred in Arlington National Cemetery as part of a group 
burial (the derivatively eligible spouse may not be buried in the group 
burial gravesite) and the active duty service member does not have a 
separate individual interment or inurnment location.
    (4) A minor child or permanently dependent adult child of a 
primarily eligible person who is or will be interred in an Army Post 
Cemetery.
    (5) The parents of a minor child or a permanently dependent adult 
child, whose remains were interred in an Army Post Cemetery based on 
the eligibility of a parent at the time of the child's death, unless 
eligibility of the non-service connected parent is lost through divorce 
from the primarily eligible parent.


Sec.  553.44   Eligibility for interment and inurnment in the West 
Point Post Cemetery.

    The following persons are eligible for interment and inurnment in 
the West Point Post Cemetery, unless otherwise prohibited as provided 
for in Sec. Sec.  553.46 through 553.48, provided that the last period 
of active duty of the service member or veteran ended with an honorable 
discharge or characterization of honorable service for active duty 
deaths.
    (a) Primarily eligible persons for interment or inurnment. The 
following are primarily eligible persons for purposes of interment or 
inurnment:
    (1) A graduate of the United States Military Academy, provided the 
individual was a U.S. citizen, both as a cadet and at the time of 
death, and whose military service fulfilled one of the following 
criteria.
    (i) The graduate's service in the Armed Forces of the United 
States, if any, terminated honorably.
    (ii) The graduate's service in wartime in the Armed Forces of a 
nation that was allied with the United States during the war, if the 
service terminated honorably.
    (2) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States, including 
United States Military Academy cadets, who were on active duty at the 
United States Military Academy at time of death and their derivatively 
eligible person dependents who may have died while the service member 
was on active duty at the United States Military Academy.
    (3) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States whose last 
permanent active duty station was the United States Military Academy at 
time of retirement.
    (4) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States whose last 
permanent active duty station was the United States Military Academy 
prior to retirement for physical disability, in accordance with 10 
U.S.C. 1201. However, personnel (not otherwise eligible) who are 
transferred to the Medical Holding Detachment, Keller Army Hospital, 
for medical boarding or medical disability retirement are not, 
regardless of length of time, eligible for interment or inurnment in 
the West Point Post Cemetery or Columbarium.
    (5) Officers appointed as Professors, United States Military 
Academy.
    (b) Derivatively eligible persons. Derivatively eligible persons 
are those connected to an individual described in paragraph (a) of this 
section through a

[[Page 57657]]

relationship described in Sec.  553.43(b). Such individuals may be 
interred or inurned if space is available in the primarily eligible 
person's gravesite or niche.
    (c) Temporary restrictions. The Secretary of the Army may, in 
special circumstances, impose temporary restrictions on the eligibility 
standards for the West Point Post Cemetery. If temporary restrictions 
are imposed, they will be reviewed annually to ensure the special 
circumstances remain valid for retaining the temporary restrictions.


Sec.  553.45   Eligibility for interment in U.S. Disciplinary Barracks 
Cemetery at Fort Leavenworth.

    (a) Military prisoners who die while in Military custody and are 
not claimed by the person authorized to direct disposition of remains 
or other persons legally authorized to dispose of remains are permitted 
to be interred in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery. The 
Executive Director will make all decisions for interment in the U.S. 
Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery.
    (b) Other persons approved by the Executive Director.


Sec.  553.46   Ineligibility for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in an Army Post Cemetery.

    The following persons are not eligible for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization in an Army Post Cemetery:
    (a) A father, mother, brother, sister, or in-law solely because of 
his or her relationship to a primarily eligible person, even though the 
individual is:
    (1) Dependent on the primarily eligible person for support; or
    (2) A member of the primarily eligible person's household.
    (b) Except for the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery in Sec.  
553.45, a person whose last period of service was not characterized as 
an honorable discharge (e.g., a separation or discharge under general 
but honorable conditions, other than honorable conditions, a bad 
conduct discharge, a dishonorable discharge, or a dismissal), 
regardless of whether the person:
    (1) Received any other veterans' benefits; or
    (2) Was treated at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital or 
died in such a hospital.
    (c) A person who has volunteered for service with the U.S. Armed 
Forces, but has not yet entered on active duty.
    (d) A former spouse whose marriage to the primarily eligible person 
ended in divorce.
    (e) A spouse who predeceases the primarily eligible person and is 
interred or inurned in a location other than an Army Cemetery and the 
primarily eligible person remarries.
    (f) A divorced spouse of a primarily eligible person, or the 
service-connected parent when the divorced spouse has a child interred 
or inurned in an Army cemetery under the child's derivative 
eligibility.
    (g) Otherwise derivatively eligible persons, such as a spouse or 
minor child, if the primarily eligible person was not or will not be 
interred or inurned at an Army Cemetery.
    (h) A person convicted in a Federal court or by a court-martial of 
any offense involving subversive activity or an offense described in 18 
U.S.C. 1751 (except for military prisoners at the U.S. Disciplinary 
Barracks Cemetery).
    (i) A service member who dies while on active duty, if the first 
General Courts-Martial Convening Authority in the service member's 
chain of command determines that there is clear and convincing evidence 
that the service member engaged in conduct that would have resulted in 
a separation or discharge not characterized as an honorable discharge 
(e.g., a separation or discharge under general but honorable 
conditions, other than honorable conditions, a bad conduct discharge, a 
dishonorable discharge, or a dismissal) being imposed, but for the 
death of the service member.
    (j) If animal remains are unintentionally commingled with human 
remains due to a natural disaster, unforeseen accident, act of war or 
terrorism, violent explosion, or similar incident, and such remains 
cannot be separated from the remains of an eligible person, then the 
remains may be interred or inurned with the eligible person, but the 
identity of the animal remains shall not be inscribed or identified on 
a niche, marker, headstone, or otherwise.


Sec.  553.47   Prohibition of interment, inurnment, or memorialization 
in an Army Post Cemetery of persons who have committed certain crimes.

    (a) Prohibition. Notwithstanding Sec. Sec.  553.43 through 553.45, 
and pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 985 and 38 U.S.C. 2411, the interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization in an Army cemetery of any of the 
following persons is prohibited:
    (1) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States, prior to his or her 
interment, inurnment, or memorialization, as a person who has been 
convicted of a Federal capital crime and whose conviction is final 
(other than a person whose sentence was commuted by the President).
    (2) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
an appropriate State official, prior to his or her interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization, as a person who has been convicted of a 
State capital crime and whose conviction is final (other than a person 
whose sentence was commuted by the Governor of the State).
    (3) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States or by an appropriate State 
official, prior to his or her interment, inurnment, or memorialization, 
as a person who has been convicted of murder, as defined in as defined 
in 38 U.S.C. 2411, and whose conviction is final (other than a person 
whose sentence was commuted by the President or the Governor of a 
State, as the case may be).
    (4) Any person identified in writing to the Executive Director by 
the Attorney General of the United States, or by an appropriate State 
official, prior to his or her interment, inurnment, or memorialization, 
as a person who has been convicted of a Federal or State capital crime, 
as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, or other crime causing the person to be a 
Tier III sex offender for purposes of the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act, who for such crime is sentenced to a minimum of life 
imprisonment and whose conviction is final (other than a person whose 
sentence was commuted by the President or the Governor of a State, or 
the appropriate commutation authority as dictated by the law in the 
jurisdiction where the conviction was finalized, as the case may be).
    (5) Any person found under procedures specified in Sec.  553.48 to 
have committed any crime identified in Sec.  553.47(a)(1) through (4), 
but who has not been convicted of such crime by reason of such person 
not being available for trial due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution. Notice from Federal or State officials is not required for 
this prohibition to apply.
    (b) Notice. The Executive Director is designated as the Secretary 
of the Army's representative authorized to receive from the appropriate 
Federal or State officials notification of conviction of capital crimes 
referred to in this section.
    (c) Confirmation of person's eligibility. (1) If notice has not 
been received, but the Executive Director has reason to believe that 
the person may have been convicted of a Federal capital crime or a 
State capital crime, the Executive Director shall seek written 
confirmation from:

[[Page 57658]]

    (i) The Attorney General of the United States, with respect to a 
suspected Federal capital crime; or
    (ii) An appropriate State official, with respect to a suspected 
State capital crime.
    (2) The Executive Director will defer the decision on whether to 
inter, inurn, or memorialize a decedent until a written response is 
received.
    (d) Due diligence. Army Commanders who have cemeteries for which 
they are responsible will make every effort to determine if the 
decedent is ineligible in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 985 and 38 U.S.C. 
2411. For those determined ineligible due to the provisions of these 
sections, commanders will submit their determinations in writing to the 
Executive Director for validation.


Sec.  553.48   Findings concerning the commission of certain crimes 
where a person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution.

    (a) Preliminary inquiry. If the Executive Director has reason to 
believe that a decedent may have committed a Federal capital crime or a 
State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, but has not been 
convicted of such crime by reason of such person not being available 
for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the Executive 
Director shall submit the issue to the General Counsel of the 
Department of the Army. The General Counsel of the Department of the 
Army shall initiate a preliminary inquiry seeking information from 
Federal, State, or local law enforcement officials, or other sources of 
potentially relevant information.
    (b) Decision after preliminary inquiry. If, after conducting the 
preliminary inquiry described in paragraph (a) of this section, the 
General Counsel of the Department of the Army determines that credible 
evidence exists suggesting the decedent may have committed a Federal 
capital crime or State capital crime, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411, 
then further proceedings under this section are warranted to determine 
whether the decedent committed such crime. Consequently, the General 
Counsel of the Department of the Army shall present the personal 
representative with a written notification of such preliminary 
determination and a dated, written notice of the personal 
representative's procedural options.
    (c) Notice and procedural options. The notice of procedural options 
shall indicate that, within fifteen days, the personal representative 
may:
    (1) Request a hearing;
    (2) Withdraw the request for interment, inurnment, or 
memorialization; or
    (3) Do nothing, in which case the request for interment, inurnment, 
or memorialization will be considered to have been withdrawn.
    (d) Time computation. The fifteen-day time period begins on the 
calendar day immediately following the earlier of the day the notice of 
procedural options is delivered in person to the personal 
representative or is sent by U.S. registered mail or, if available, by 
electronic means to the personal representative. It ends at midnight on 
the fifteenth day. The period includes weekends and holidays.
    (e) Hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the personal 
representative to present additional information regarding whether the 
decedent committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital crime, as 
defined in 38 U.S.C. 2411. In lieu of making a personal appearance at 
the hearing, the personal representative may submit relevant documents 
for consideration.
    (1) If a hearing is requested, the General Counsel of the 
Department of the Army shall conduct the hearing.
    (2) The hearing shall be conducted in an informal manner.
    (3) The rules of evidence shall not apply.
    (4) The personal representative and witnesses may appear, at no 
expense to the Government, and subject to the discretion of the General 
Counsel of the Department of the Army, they may testify. All testimony 
shall be under oath and a person who possesses the legal authority to 
administer oaths shall administer the oath.
    (5) The General Counsel of the Department of the Army shall 
consider all relevant information obtained.
    (6) The hearing shall be appropriately recorded. Upon request, a 
copy of the record shall be provided to the personal representative.
    (f) Final determination. After considering the opinion of the 
General Counsel of the Department of the Army, and any additional 
information submitted by the personal representative, the Secretary of 
the Army shall determine the decedent's eligibility for interment, 
inurnment, or memorialization. This determination is final and not 
appealable.
    (1) The determination shall be based on evidence that supports or 
undermines a conclusion that the decedent's actions satisfied the 
elements of the crime as established by the law of the jurisdiction in 
which the decedent would have been prosecuted.
    (2) If an affirmative defense is offered by the decedent's personal 
representative, a determination as to whether the defense was met shall 
be made according to the law of the jurisdiction in which the decedent 
would have been prosecuted.
    (3) Mitigating evidence shall not be considered.
    (4) The opinion of the local, State, or Federal prosecutor as to 
whether he or she would have brought charges against the decedent had 
the decedent been available is relevant but not binding and shall be 
given no more weight than other facts presented.
    (g) Notice of decision. The Executive Director shall provide 
written notification of the Secretary's decision to the personal 
representative.


Sec.  553.49   Exceptions to policies for interment or inurnment at 
Army Post Cemeteries.

    (a) Requests for exceptions to policy for interment or inurnment at 
Army post cemeteries, to include the West Point Post Cemetery, will be 
made to the Executive Director.
    (b) Eligibility standards for interment and inurnment are based on 
honorable military service, except at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks 
Cemetery. Exceptions to the eligibility standards are rarely granted. 
When granted, exceptions are for those persons who have made 
significant contributions that directly and substantially benefited the 
U.S. military.
    (c) Requests for an exception to the interment or inurnment 
eligibility policies shall be considered only after the individual's 
death.
    (d) Procedures for submitting requests for exceptions to policy for 
interment and inurnment will be established by the Executive Director.
    (e) The decision by the Executive Director is final and not 
appealable.


Sec.  553.50   Disinterment and disinurnment of remains.

    (a) Interments and inurnments in Army post cemeteries are 
considered permanent.
    (b) Requests for the permanent (i.e., the remains will not be 
immediately returned to the same gravesite or niche) disinterment or 
disinurnment of individually interred or inurned remains are considered 
requests for exceptions to this policy, and must be addressed to the 
Executive Director for decision. The request must include:
    (1) A full statement of the reasons for the disinterment or 
disinurnment of the remains from the personal representative or primary 
next of kin who directed the original interment or inurnment if still 
living, or if not, the current personal representative or primary next 
of kin;

[[Page 57659]]

    (2) A notarized statement from each living close relative of the 
decedent that he or she does not object to the proposed disinterment or 
disinurnment;
    (3) A notarized statement by a person who has personal knowledge of 
the decedent's relatives stating that the persons giving statements 
comprise all of the decedent's living close relatives; and
    (4) An appropriate funding source for the disinterment or 
disinurnment, as disinterments and disinurnments of individually 
interred or inurned remains must be accomplished without expense to the 
Government, unless done in accordance with paragraph (c) of this 
section.
    (c) Disinterments performed at the direction of the Secretary of 
Defense for the purpose of the identification of remains shall be done 
in compliance with, and as directed by, Department of Defense 
regulation and policy.
    (d) The Executive Director shall carry out disinterments and 
disinurnments directed by a court of competent jurisdiction upon 
presentation of a lawful, original court order and after consulting 
with the General Counsel of the Department of the Army.
    (e) Disinterment or disinurnment is not permitted for the sole 
purpose of splitting remains or keeping a portion of the remains in a 
location other than in the cemetery where the disinterment or 
disinurnment occurred.
    (f) Disinterment of previously designated group remains for the 
sole purpose of individually segregating the group remains is not 
permitted unless the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section are 
met.


Sec.  553.51   Private headstones and markers.

    Construction and installation of private headstones and markers, in 
lieu of Government-furnished headstones and markers, are prohibited in 
Army post cemeteries unless approved by the Executive Director prior to 
October 1, 2020. Repair or replacement of private headstones and 
markers that were approved prior to October 1, 2020, must be consistent 
with the requirements of Sec. Sec.  553.28(b) through (f), 553.29, and 
553.30, and the repair or replacement must be approved in advance by 
the Executive Director.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-17801 Filed 9-11-20; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 5061-AP-P