[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 23, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15413-15414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05875]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 3

RIN 2900-AR12


New Evidence

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends the regulation 
governing use of service department records as new evidence to remove 
the words ``Joint Services Record Research Center.'' This change is 
necessary because the U.S. Department of Army, Records Management and 
Declassification Agency (RMDA) has realigned its records research 
activities and the Joint Services Record Research Center (JSRRC) no 
longer exists.

DATES: This final rule is effective March 23, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Parks, Chief, Part 3 
Regulations Staff (211D) Compensation Service (21C), Veterans Benefits 
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461-9450. (This is not a toll-free 
telephone number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this amendment is make a 
technical change to VA regulations, without substantive effect, by 
removing reference to the Joint Services Records Research Center 
(JSRRC) in title 38, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Sec.  
3.156(c)(2). The U.S. Department of Army, Records Management and 
Declassification Agency (RMDA) has realigned its records research 
activities and the Joint Services Record Research Center (JSRRC) no 
longer exisits. The JSRRC was a research office that provided support 
to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), acting as an intermediary 
to conduct multi-service research of official military unit records for 
information that may verify an incident described by a veteran in a 
claim for disability compensation. Although the JSRRC no longer exists, 
the military unit records that were the subject of JSRRC research have 
not been impacted. Those records remain in the custody of the U.S. 
military and will be researched by VA as appropriate in the course of 
adjudicating claims for VA benefits. This amendment does not impact 
existing standards governing VA's duty to assist a claimant, under 38 
U.S.C. 5103A, in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate a claim.
    Currently, 38 CFR 3.156(c) provides that VA will reconsider a 
previously decided claim if VA receives or associates with the claims 
file relevant official service department records that existed and had 
not been associated with the claims file when VA first decided the 
claim. Moreover, 38 CFR 3.156(c)(2) provides examples of service 
department records that do not qualify, and references the situation 
where the claimant had not provided, when VA decided the claim, 
sufficient information for VA to identify and obtain the records from 
``the respective service department, the Joint Services Records 
Research Center, or from any other official source.'' This regulatory 
change removes from that section the reference to the JSRRC because it 
no longer exists. However, this change does not alter the essential 
import of the provision, as the JSRRC was only listed as an example of 
an official source from which VA could have obtained the records. The 
essential standard remains that nonqualifying records include those 
where the claimant had not provided sufficient information for VA to 
identify and obtain the records from ``any official source.'' Where the 
JSRRC existed at the time that VA decided the claim, the JSRRC would, 
in general, continue to qualify as an ``official source'' at that time 
for purposes of Sec.  3.156(c)(2). For claims adjudicated after the 
JSRRC ceased to exist, the military records themselves previously 
researched by the JSRRC remain available for research by VA as an 
official source of records, as indicated above.

Administrative Procedure Act

    VA finds that there is good cause under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B) and (d) to publish this final rule without prior opportunity 
for public comment and with immediate effect. Namely, the removal of 
reference to JSRRC is minor, does not impact the applicable standard, 
aligns the regulation with an organizational change within the military 
that is outside of VA's control, and does not involve VA's exercise of 
policy-making discretion. Continuing to reference a non-existent 
research entity in the regulation would create the potential for

[[Page 15414]]

public confusion and an adverse impact on associated records requests. 
VA therefore for good cause finds that notice and public procedure for 
this minor, technical update is unnecessary under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 
For the same reasons, VA concludes there is good cause not to delay the 
effective date of the final rule under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule contains no provisions constituting a collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3521).

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess the 
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, and other advantages; distributive impacts; 
and equity). Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory 
Review) emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and 
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility. 
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined that 
this final rule is not a significant regulatory action under Executive 
Order 12866.
    VA's impact analysis can be found as a supporting document at 
http://www.regulations.gov, usually within 48 hours after the 
rulemaking document is published. Additionally, a copy of the 
rulemaking and its Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) are available on 
VA's website at http://www.va.gov/orpm/, by following the link for ``VA 
Regulations Published From FY 2004 Through Fiscal Year to Date.''

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Secretary hereby certifies that this final rule would not have 
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-
612). The certification is based on the fact that the technical changes 
made by this rule do not affect entitlement to VA disability 
compensation, and in any event there is no impact on small entities or 
businesses. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the initial and 
final regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 
604 do not apply.

Unfunded Mandates

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and 
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by 
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for 
inflation) in any one year. This final rule would have no such effect 
on State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private sector.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers and titles for 
the programs affected by this document are 64.105, Pension to Veterans, 
Surviving Spouses, and Children; 64.109, Veterans Compensation for 
Service-Connected Disability; and 64.110, Veterans Dependency and 
Indemnity Compensation for Service-Connected Death.

Congressional Review Act

    Pursuant to Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (known as the Congressional Review Act) (5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq.), the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
designated this rule as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, 
Health care, Pensions, Radioactive materials, Veterans, Vietnam.

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on March 11, 2021 and authorized the undersigned to sign and 
submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

Jeffrey M. Martin,
Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of 
the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs amends 38 CFR part 3 as set forth below:

PART 3--ADJUDICATION

Subpart A--Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity 
Compensation

0
1. The authority citation for part 3, subpart A, continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted.


0
2. Amend Sec.  3.156 by revising paragraph (c)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  3.156  New evidence.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) Paragraph (c)(1) of this section does not apply to records that 
VA could not have obtained when it decided the claim because the 
records did not exist when VA decided the claim, or because the 
claimant failed to provide sufficient information for VA to identify 
and obtain the records from the respective service department or from 
any other official source.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2021-05875 Filed 3-22-21; 8:45 am]
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