[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 9, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 48444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16968]



[[Page 48444]]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 135

[Public Notice: 11807]
RIN 1400-AF52


Implementation of HAVANA Act of 2021

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Supplemental interim final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document supplements the interim final rule (IFR) 
published by the Department of State (the Department) on June 30, 2022, 
implementing the HAVANA Act of 2021. The Act provides authority for the 
Secretary of State and other agency heads to provide payments to 
certain individuals who have incurred qualifying injuries to the brain. 
The Department is modifying one provision of the IFR relating to the 
Board certification of the physician who is required to assess and 
diagnose an individual's qualifying injury to the brain and who 
completes the DS-4316, ``Eligibility Questionnaire for HAVANA Act 
Payments''. The updated regulation provides that physicians may be 
certified by either the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology 
(ABPN) or the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 
(ABPMR).

DATES: Effective August 15, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Ware Harris, Senior Advisor, 
Health Incidents Response Task Force, 202-679-0127, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department is amending the interim final 
rule that it published June 30, 2022 at 87 FR 38981. The text of the 
interim rule remains unchanged, except for certain provisions in Sec.  
135.3. The Department is providing that either physicians currently 
certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (APBN) or 
the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) may 
assess an individual's qualifying injury to the brain and complete the 
DS-4316, ``Eligibility Questionnaire for HAVANA Act Payments''. The DS-
4316 will also be modified to reflect this regulatory change.
    The Department is publishing this Supplemental IFR both in response 
to public comments advocating for this addition and additional 
corroborative information from medical providers. The Department has 
consulted with officials at several prominent medical centers. Based on 
those inquiries, it appears that the majority of patients who have 
reported anomalous health incidents were seen by either a neurologist 
certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) or 
by a physician certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and 
Rehabilitation (ABPMR). The Department believes that it would be in the 
best interest of the public and affected community if, on the effective 
date of the IFR, part 135 provided that patients could be assessed by 
physicians currently certified by either ABPN or ABPMR.
    The comment period for the IFR closed on August 1, 2022, and the 
Department will publish a final rule addressing the other relevant 
comments in the near future.

Regulatory Analyses

    The regulatory analyses included in the IFR are adopted herein, 
supplemented by the following comments. With respect to the 
Administrative Procedure Act, this Supplemental IFR is a technical 
amendment to the IFR, which was a rule relating to public benefits and 
therefore exempt from the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. See 5 U.S.C. 
553(a)(2). Since the IFR and this Supplemental IFR are exempt from the 
entirety of Sec.  553 pursuant to Sec.  553(a)(2), the provisions of 
Sec.  553(d) do not apply. This Supplemental IFR will be in effect on 
August 15, 2022, with the IFR.
    With respect to Executive Order 12866, the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs has designed this Supplemental IFR ``non-
significant''.

List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 135

    Federal retirees, Government employees, Health care.

    Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department 
of State amends 22 CFR part 135 as follows:

PART 135--IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HAVANA ACT OF 2021

0
1. The authority citation for part 135 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  22 U.S.C. 2651a; 22 U.S.C. 2680b.


0
2. Amend Sec.  135.3 by revising paragraphs (a) through (c) and 
paragraph (e)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  135.3   Eligibility for payments by the Department of State.

    (a) The Department of State may provide a payment to covered 
individuals, as defined herein, if the qualifying injury to the brain 
was assessed and diagnosed in person by a currently board-certified 
neurologist from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) 
or a physician currently certified by the American Board of Physical 
Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR), occurred on or after January 1, 
2016, and while the individual was a covered employee of the 
Department.
    (b) The Department of State may provide a payment to covered 
employees, as defined herein, if the qualifying injury to the brain was 
assessed and diagnosed in person by a currently board-certified 
neurologist from the ABPN or a physician currently certified by the 
ABPMR, occurred on or after January 1, 2016, and while the employee was 
a covered employee of the Department.
    (c) The Department of State may provide a payment to a covered 
dependent, if the qualifying injury to the brain was assessed and 
diagnosed in person by a currently board-certified neurologist from the 
ABPN or a physician currently certified by the ABPMR, occurred on or 
after January 1, 2016, and the dependent's sponsor was a covered 
employee of the Department at the time of the dependent's injury.
* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (2) Whether the Department of Labor (Workers' Compensation) has 
determined that the requestor has no reemployment potential, or the 
Social Security Administration has approved the requestor for Social 
Security Disability Insurance, or the requestor's ABPN-certified 
neurologist or ABPMR-certified physician has certified that the 
individual requires a full-time caregiver for activities of daily 
living, as defined by the Katz Index of Independence of Daily Living.
* * * * *

Kevin E. Bryant,
Deputy Director, Office of Directives Management, U.S. Department of 
State.
[FR Doc. 2022-16968 Filed 8-5-22; 8:45 am]
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