[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4718-4719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01677]


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

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

[OMB Control No. 2900-0674]


Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Notice 
of Disagreement: Appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals

AGENCY: Board of Veterans' Appeals, Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
this notice announces that the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA), 
Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of 
information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature 
of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and it 
includes the actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Refer to 
``OMB Control No. 2900-0674.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise 
and Integration, Data Governance Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266-4688 or email [email protected]. 
Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900-0674'' in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Authority: Public Law 115-55; 38 U.S.C. 5104B, 5108, 5701, 5901, 
7103, 7104, 7105, 7107.
    Title: Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of 
Disagreement) and Appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, VA Form 
10182 and VA Form 9.
    OMB Control Number: 2900-0674.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Appellate review of the denial of VA benefits may only be 
initiated by the filing of a Notice of Disagreement with the Board. 38 
U.S.C. 7105(a). VA Form 10182 Decision Review Request: Board Appeal 
(Notice of Disagreement) is required to initiate Board review of an 
appeal in the modernized review system as implemented by the Veterans 
Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (AMA). The VA Form 9 
Appeal to Board of Veterans' Appeals may be used to complete a legacy 
appeal to the Board. The completed form becomes the ``substantive 
appeal'' (or ``formal appeal''), which is required by the pre-AMA 
version of 38 U.S.C. 7105(a) and (d)(3) to complete an appeal to the 
Board. Additionally, the proposed information collections allow for 
withdrawal of services by a representative, requests for changes in 
hearing dates and methods under 38 U.S.C. 7107, and motions for 
reconsideration pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 7103(a).
    The Board is requesting to revise the currently approved OMB 
Control No. 2900-0674 to include an updated VA Form 10182 Notice of 
Disagreement. Proposed revisions to the VA Form 10182 Notice of 
Disagreement include: (1) Removal of the requirement to provide a 
social security number; (2) inclusion of checkboxes to indicate a 
preferred method of hearing; (3) inclusion of a checkbox to indicate 
whether the decision for which appeal is being sought was issued by the 
Veterans Health Administration (VHA); (4) provision of a list of 
examples of common issues a claimant may disagree with including 
service connection, disability evaluation, or and effective date of 
award; (5) inclusion of a checkbox to request an extension of the 
deadline to file a Notice of Disagreement; (6) removal of the checkbox 
used to indicate whether the Notice of Disagreement has been filed in 
response to a Statement of the Case or Supplemental Statement of the 
Case issued under the legacy appeals process; (7) replacement of the 
checkbox for indicating the claimant ``is homeless'' to indicate 
whether the claimant is ``experiencing homelessness''; (8) a clarified 
description of the window of time within which to submit evidence on 
the Evidence Submission docket; and (9) adding a subpart to Part III 
for issues the appellant wishes to include in the VA Form 10182 that 
need to be listed on additional sheets. Proposed revisions also include 
updated instructions for completing the Notice of Disagreement.
    There is a decrease in the respondent burden because the associated 
control number originally included the nonstandard legacy Notice of 
Disagreement. Consistent with the wind-down of legacy appeals following 
implementation of the AMA, the Board is not seeking renewal of the 
nonstandard legacy Notice of Disagreement under this control number.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to

[[Page 4719]]

respond to a collection of information, unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day 
comment period soliciting comments on this collection of information 
was published at 86 FR 217 on November 15, 2021, pages 63107 and 63108.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 64,805 hours.
    Estimated Average Burden per Respondent: 37 minutes.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 126,000.

    By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of Enterprise and Integration, Data 
Governance Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2022-01677 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P