Survivors and Dependents Education: Extension of Eligibility Period

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 21

RIN 2900-AI45

Survivors and Dependents Education: Extension of Eligibility

Period

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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

SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the educational assistance and

educational benefit regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs

(VA). It restores provisions that govern the extension of the period

eligible spouses and surviving spouses have to use Survivors' and

Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA). These provisions previously

were removed by error. Also, this document requests Paperwork Reduction

Act comments concerning the requirement that a spouse or surviving

spouse must apply for the extension.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written comments to: Director, Office

of Regulations Management (02D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154, Washington, DC 20420. Comments should

indicate that they are submitted in response to ``RIN 2900-AI45''. All

written comments will be available for public inspection in the Office

of Regulations Management, Room 1158, between the hours of 8:00 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June C. Schaeffer, Assistant Director

for Policy and Program Administration, Education Service, Veterans

Benefits Administration, 202-273-7187.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a document published in the Federal

Register on May 24, 1996 (61 FR 26107), VA published a final rule

removing many regulatory provisions. As explained in that document,

many of the provisions were removed because they contained

``sunsetted'' provisions authorized by the Vietnam Era GI Bill. No

benefits can be paid under the Vietnam Era GI Bill for training that

occurred after December 31, 1989.

Among those provisions that were removed was Sec. 21.1043. This

section provided that if a veteran training under the Vietnam Era GI

Bill could not complete a program of education within the ten-year

period due to a physical or mental disability that is not the result of

willful misconduct, that period (the delimiting period) could be

extended.

A similar extension is authorized by statute for eligible spouses

and surviving spouses under DEA. Unfortunately, by removing

Sec. 21.1043, VA inadvertently removed the provisions that governed

whether such a spouse or surviving spouse could receive an extension of

the delimiting period, since Sec. 21.3046(e) states that the provisions

of Sec. 21.1043 are to be used to determine whether the extension

should be granted.

To correct this error, VA would restate the provisions of the

former Sec. 21.1043 in the appropriate places in part 21, subpart C,

since that subpart governs DEA claims. The definition formerly

contained in Sec. 21.1043 would be restated in Sec. 21.3021. The

remainder of Sec. 21.1043 would be restated in a new section,

Sec. 21.3047. References would be updated and some minor changes would

be made for clarification. There would be no substantive changes.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520),

the provisions of the proposed 38 CFR 21.3047 would include a

collection of information. Accordingly, as required by the Act at

section 3507(d), VA has submitted a copy of this rulemaking action to

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review of the

collection of information.

OMB assigns a control number for each collection of information it

approves. VA may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required

to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a

currently valid OMB control number.

Comments on the proposed collection of information should be

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk

Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Information

and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503, with copies mailed or

hand-delivered to: Director, Office of Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments should indicate that they are submitted

in response to ``RIN 2900-AI45''.

Title: Application for an Extension of Eligibility Period under

Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance.

Summary of collection of information: The collection of information

in the proposed Sec. 21.3047 implements a statutory provision that

requires that an individual who wishes to receive a benefit must apply

for it.

Description of need for information and proposed use of

information: A spouse or surviving spouse under DEA may qualify for an

extension of her or his eligibility period if training during that

period was medically infeasible. VA needs an application for this

extension in order to learn who wants the extension. VA may need

medical evidence in order to determine if training was medically

infeasible and to determine the time when training became medically

feasible.

Description of likely respondents: Eligible spouses and surviving

spouses who would like an extension of the delimiting period under DEA.

Estimated number of respondents: 100.

Estimated frequency of responses: Once.

Estimated total annual reporting and recordkeeping burden: 100

hours of reporting burden. VA does not believe that there will be an

additional recordkeeping burden.

Estimated average burden per collection: 60 minutes.

The Department considers comments by the public on proposed

collections of information in--

Evaluating whether the proposed collections of information

are necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the

Department, including whether the information will have practical

utility;

Evaluating the accuracy of the Department's estimate of

the burden of

[[Page 1304]]

the proposed collections of information, including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

Enhancing the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

Minimizing the burden of the collections of information on

those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting

electronic submission of responses.

OMB is required to make a decision concerning the proposed

collection of information contained in this proposed rule between 30

and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Therefore, a comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect

if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. This does not affect

the deadline for the public to comment on the proposed regulations.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs hereby certifies that this

proposed rule, if promulgated, will 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. This proposed rule

affects only individuals. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this proposed

rule, therefore, is exempt from the initial and final regulatory

flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for the

program affected by this proposed rule is 64.117.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 21

Administrative practice and procedure, Armed forces, Civil rights,

Claims, Colleges and universities, Conflict of interests, Education,

Employment, Grant programs-education, Grant programs-veterans, Health

care, Loan programs-education, Loan programs-veterans, Manpower

training programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Schools,

Travel and transportation expenses, Veterans, Vocational education,

Vocational rehabilitation.

Approved: December 9, 1996.

Jesse Brown,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 38 CFR part 21 (subparts

C and F) is proposed to be amended as set forth below.

PART 21--VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION

Subpart C--Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Under

38 U.S.C. Chapter 35

1. The authority citation for subpart C continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), 512, 3500-3566.

2. In Sec. 21.3021, paragraph (l) is redesignated as paragraph (m);

and new paragraph (l) is added, to read as follows:

Sec. 21.3021 Definitions.

* * * * *

(l) Disabling effects of chronic alcoholism. (1) The term disabling

effects of chronic alcoholism means alcohol-induced physical or mental

disorders or both, such as habitual intoxication, withdrawal, delirium,

amnesia, dementia, and other like manifestations of chronic alcoholism

which in the particular case:

(i) Have been medically diagnosed as manifestations of alcohol

dependency or chronic alcohol abuse; and

(ii) Are determined to have prevented commencement or completion of

the affected individual's chosen program of education.

(2) A diagnosis of alcoholism, chronic alcoholism, alcohol-

dependency, chronic alcohol abuse, etc., in and of itself, does not

satisfy the definition of this term.

(3) Injury sustained by an eligible spouse or surviving spouse as a

proximate and immediate result of activity undertaken by the eligible

spouse or surviving spouse while physically or mentally unqualified to

do so due to alcoholic intoxication is not considered a disabling

effect of chronic alcoholism.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 105, 3512(b))

* * * * *

Sec. 21.3046 [Amended]

3. In Sec. 21.3046, paragraph (e) is removed.

4. Section 21.3047 is added, to read as follows:

Sec. 21.3047 Extended period of eligibility due to physical or mental

disability.

(a) General. (1) An eligible spouse or surviving spouse shall be

granted an extension of the applicable period of eligibility as

otherwise determined by Sec. 21.3046 provided the eligible spouse or

surviving spouse:

(i) Applies for the extension within the appropriate time limit;

(ii) Was prevented from initiating or completing the chosen program

of education within the otherwise applicable period of eligibility

because of a physical or mental disability that did not result from the

willful misconduct of the eligible spouse or surviving spouse;

(iii) Provides VA with any requested evidence tending to show that

the requirement of paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section has been met;

and

(iv) Is otherwise eligible for payment of educational assistance

for the training pursuant to 38 U.S.C. chapter 35.

(2) In determining whether the eligible spouse or surviving spouse

was prevented from initiating or completing the chosen program of

education because of a physical or mental disability, VA will consider

the following:

(i) It must be clearly established by medical evidence that such a

program of education was medically infeasible.

(ii) An eligible spouse or surviving spouse who is disabled for a

period of 30 days or less will not be considered as having been

prevented from initiating or completing a chosen program, unless the

evidence establishes that the eligible spouse or surviving spouse was

prevented from enrolling or reenrolling in the chosen program of

education or was forced to discontinue attendance, because of the short

disability.

(iii) VA will not consider the disabling effects of chronic

alcoholism to be the result of willful misconduct and will consider

those disabling effects as physical or mental disabilities.

(b) Commencing date. The eligible spouse or surviving spouse shall

elect the commencing date of an extended period of eligibility. The

date chosen--

(1) Must be on or after the original date of expiration of

eligibility as determined by Sec. 21.3046(c); and

(2) Must be on or before the 90th day following the date on which

the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's application for an

extension was approved by VA, if the eligible spouse or surviving

spouse is training during the extended period of eligibility in a

course not organized on a term, quarter, or semester basis; or

(3) Must be on or before the first ordinary term, quarter, or

semester following the 90th day after the eligible spouse's or

surviving spouse's application for an extension was approved by VA if

the eligible spouse or surviving spouse is training during the extended

period of eligibility in a course organized on a term, quarter, or

semester basis.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3512(b))

(c) Length of extended periods of eligibility. An eligible spouse's

or

[[Page 1305]]

surviving spouse's extended period of eligibility shall be for the

length of time that the individual was prevented from initiating or

completing his or her chosen program of education. This shall be

determined as follows:

(1) If the eligible spouse or surviving spouse is in training in a

course organized on a term, quarter, or semester basis, his or her

extended period of eligibility shall contain the same number of days as

the number of days from the date during the eligible spouse's or

surviving spouse's original period of eligibility that his or her

training became medically infeasible to the earliest of the following

dates:

(i) The commencing date of the ordinary term, quarter, or semester

following the day the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's training

became medically feasible;

(ii) The ending date of the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's

period of eligibility as determined by Sec. 21.3046(c); or

(iii) The date the eligible spouse or surviving spouse resumed

training.

(2) If the eligible spouse or surviving spouse is training in a

course not organized on a term, quarter, or semester basis, his or her

extended period of eligibility shall contain the same number of days

from the date during the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's

original period of eligibility that his or her training became

medically infeasible to the earlier of the following dates:

(i) The date the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's training

became medically feasible; or

(ii) The ending date of the eligible spouse's or surviving spouse's

period of eligibility as determined by Sec. 21.3046.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3512(b))

Subpart F--Education Loans

5. The authority citation for subpart F continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 3537, 3698, 3699.

Sec. 21.4501 [Amended]

6. In Sec. 21.4501, paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2)(iv), (b)(2)(v)(A),

(b)(2)(v)(B), (c)(1), and (c)(3) are each amended by removing ``(d)''

and adding, in its place, ``(d), or Sec. 21.3047''.

[FR Doc. 97-437 Filed 1-8-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320-01-P