[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 29, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46331-46333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11715]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 2

RIN 2900-AS09


Update to Delegations of Authority to Certain Officials

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its 
regulation governing the Secretary's delegations of authority to 
reflect relevant nomenclature changes to the names of positions and 
groups within the Office of General Counsel.

DATES: This rule is effective May 29, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Gibbs, Executive Director, 
Management, Planning, and Analysis, Office of General Counsel (026), 
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20420, (202) 461-4995. (This is not a toll-free telephone number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 
chapter I, part 2 governs Delegations of Authority and includes 38 CFR 
2.6 ``Secretary's delegations of authority to certain officials (38 
U.S.C. 512).'' Paragraph (e) of this regulation governs delegations of 
authority to certain officials within the Office of General Counsel and 
is amended to reflect changes to the names of certain Office of General 
Counsel offices and positions, including Chief Counsels, and law 
groups, including the Revenue Law Group and the Torts Law Group.

Administrative Procedure Act

    This final rule is a rule of agency procedure and practice that 
does not impose new rights, duties, or obligations on affected 
individuals but, rather, explains that the Secretary delegates 
authority to certain employees occupying or acting in positions 
designated in the regulation and identifies the ways in which those 
employees are authorized to act on behalf of the Agency. Therefore, it 
is exempt from the prior notice-and-comment and delayed-effective-date 
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) and (d)(3). This 
rule merely updates information regarding the delegation of authority 
for Office of General Counsel officials, the employees who may serve in 
those roles, and the names of certain offices and positions in the 
Office of General Counsel.

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).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses requirements 
of sections 603 and 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 
601-612, are not applicable to this rule because a notice of proposed 
rulemaking is not required for this rule. Even so, the Secretary hereby 
certifies that this final

[[Page 46332]]

rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities as they are defined in the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act. This rule will affect only: (1) Office of General 
Counsel employees who are identified as officials who have been 
delegated authority under the regulation, and (2) VA employees seeking 
decisions or actions from those Office of General Counsel officials who 
have been delegated authority to act on behalf of the Agency as 
described in the regulation. 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.

Executive Orders 12866, 13563 and 14094

    Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) directs 
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. Executive Order 14094 (Executive Order on 
Modernizing Regulatory Review) supplements and reaffirms the 
principles, structures, and definitions governing contemporary 
regulatory review established in Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 
1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review), and Executive Order 13563 of 
January 18, 2011 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review). The 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined that this 
rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 
12866, as amended by Executive Order 14094. The Regulatory Impact 
Analysis associated with this rulemaking can be found as a supporting 
document at www.regulations.gov.

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 satisfying the criteria under 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

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 will have no such effect on 
State, local, and Tribal governments, or on the private sector.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 2

    Authority delegations (Government agencies).

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved and signed 
this document on May 20, 2024, 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.

Luvenia Potts,
Regulation Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs amends 38 CFR part 2 as follows:

PART 2--DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY

0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 302, 552a; 38 U.S.C. 501, 512, 515, 1729, 
1729A, 5711; 44 U.S.C. 3702, and as noted in specific sections.


0
2. Amend Sec.  2.6 by revising paragraphs (e)(1) through (3), (e)(4) 
introductory text, and (e)(5) through (11) to read as follows:


Sec.  2.6  Secretary's delegations of authority to certain officials 
(38 U.S.C. 512).

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (1) The General Counsel is delegated authority to serve as the 
Regulatory Policy Officer for the Department in accordance with 
Executive Order 12866. The General Counsel, the Principal Deputy 
General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsels, and the Director of the 
Office of Regulation Policy and Management are delegated authority to 
manage, direct, and coordinate the Department's rulemaking activities, 
including the revision and reorganization of regulations, and to 
perform all functions necessary or appropriate under Executive Order 
12866 and other rulemaking requirements.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 512)

    (2) Under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 515(b), the General Counsel, 
the Principal Deputy General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel for 
Legal Operations, the Chief Counsel, Torts Law Group, or those 
authorized to act for them, are authorized to consider, ascertain, 
adjust, determine, and settle tort claims cognizable thereunder and to 
execute an appropriate voucher and other necessary instruments in 
connection with the final disposition of such claims.
    (3) Under the provisions of ``The Federal Medical Care Recovery 
Act,'' 42 U.S.C. 2651, et seq. (as implemented by 28 CFR part 43), 
authority is delegated to the General Counsel, the Principal Deputy 
General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel for General Law, and Chief 
Counsel, Revenue Law Group, or those authorized to act for them, to 
collect in full, compromise, settle, or waive any claim and execute the 
release thereof; however, claims in excess of $100,000 may be 
compromised, settled, or waived only with the prior approval of the 
Department of Justice.
    (4) Under the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 31 U.S.C. 
3711, et seq., authority is delegated to the General Counsel, the 
Principal Deputy General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel for 
General Law and Chief Counsel, Revenue Law Group, or those authorized 
to act for them, to:
* * * * *
    (5) Pursuant to the provisions of the Military Personnel and 
Civilian Employees' Claim Act of 1964, 31 U.S.C. 3721, as amended, the 
General Counsel, the Principal Deputy General Counsel, the Deputy 
General Counsel for Legal Operations and Chief Counsel, Torts Law 
Group, or those authorized to act for them, are authorized to settle 
and pay a claim for not more than $40,000 made by a civilian officer or 
employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs for damage to, or loss 
of, personal property incident to his or her service. (Pub. L. 97-226)
    (6) Under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 7316(e), authority is 
delegated to the General Counsel, the Principal Deputy General Counsel, 
the Deputy General Counsel for Legal Operations, the Chief Counsel, 
Torts Law Group, to hold harmless or provide liability insurance for 
any person to whom the immunity provisions of section 7316 apply, for 
damage for personal injury or death, or for property damage, 
negligently caused by such person while furnishing medical care or 
treatment in the exercise

[[Page 46333]]

of his or her duties in or for the Veterans Health Administration, if 
such person is assigned to a foreign country, detailed to State or 
political division thereof, or is acting under any other circumstances 
which would preclude the remedies of an injured third person against 
the United States, provided by sections 1346(b) and 2672 of title 28, 
United States Code, for such damage or injury.
    (7) The General Counsel, the Principal Deputy General Counsel, the 
Deputy General Counsels and those authorized to act for them, are 
authorized to conduct investigations, examine witnesses, take 
affidavits, administer oaths and affirmations, and certify copies of 
public or private documents on all matters within the jurisdiction of 
the General Counsel.
    (8) The General Counsel or the Principal Deputy General Counsel, 
acting as or for the General Counsel, is authorized to designate, in 
accordance with established standards, those legal opinions of the 
General Counsel which will be considered precedent opinions involving 
veterans' benefits under laws administered by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 512)

    (9) Under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1729(c)(1), authority is 
delegated to the General Counsel, the Principal Deputy General Counsel, 
the Deputy General Counsel for General Law, the Chief Counsel, Revenue 
Law Group, or those authorized to act for them, to collect in full, 
compromise, settle, or waive any claim and execute the release thereof.

(Authority: 31 U.S.C. 3711(a)(2); 38 U.S.C. 501, 512).

    (10) Except as prescribed in paragraph (g)(3) of this section, the 
General Counsel, the Principal Deputy General Counsel, the Deputy 
General Counsel for General Law, and the Chief Counsel, Information and 
Administrative Law Group, are authorized to make final Departmental 
decisions on appeals under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy 
Act, and 38 U.S.C. 5701, 5705 and 7332.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 512)

    (11) All authority delegated in this paragraph to Chief Counsels 
will be exercised by them under the supervision of and in accordance 
with instructions issued by the General Counsel.
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2024-11715 Filed 5-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P