14282 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 76 

RIN 2900–AN43 

U.S. Paralympics Monthly Assistance 

Allowance 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document establishes 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

regulations regarding the payment of a 

monthly assistance allowance to 

veterans training to make the United 

States Paralympics team, as authorized 

by section 703 of the Veterans’ Benefits 

Improvement Act of 2008. The rule 

requires submission of an application to 

establish eligibility for the allowance 

and certification by the United States 

Paralympics. VA will pay the allowance 

to a veteran with a service-connected or 

nonservice-connected disability if the 

veteran is competing for a slot on or 

selected for the United States 

Paralympics team or is residing at a 

United States Paralympics training 

center. 

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is 

effective April 15, 2011. The Director of 

the Office of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of certain publications listed in this rule 

as of April 15, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt 

Bristol, Office of National Veterans 

Sports Programs and Special Events 

(002C), Department of Veterans Affairs, 

810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420; (202) 461–7447. 

(This is not a toll-free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

September 3, 2010, VA published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register 

(75 FR 54069). We proposed to add a 

new 38 CFR part 76 to implement a 

monthly assistance allowance for 

certain disabled veterans who 

participate in programs or events 

sanctioned by the United States 

Paralympics (USP) or who reside at a 

USP training center. Congress 

authorized this allowance in 38 U.S.C. 

322. As explained in the proposed rule, 

under section 322, VA may provide an 

allowance to a disabled veteran who is: 

(1) Invited by the USP to compete for a 

slot on, or selected for, the USP team, 

for any month or part of any month in 

which the veteran is training or 

competing in any event sponsored by 

the USP or the International Paralympic 

Committee (IPC); or (2) residing at a 

USP training center in connection with 

any paralympic training or competition. 

We proposed to define the term 

‘‘disability’’ for the purposes of part 76 

to mean ‘‘a service-connected or 

nonservice-connected disability, which 

meets the criteria prescribed by the IPC 

Classification Code and International 

Standards, November 2007 edition, 

available at http://www.paralympic.org/ 

export/sites/default/IPC/ 

IPC_Handbook/Section_2/ 

2002_2_Classification_Code6.pdf, and 

qualifies the veteran for participation in 

a sport sanctioned by the [USP].’’ We 

proposed to incorporate by reference the 

IPC’s code and standards. We explained 

that this document would be made 

available to the public via a VAcontrolled source for purposes of the 

final rule, and that the definition might 

be changed accordingly. The document 

is now found at http://www4.va.gov/ 

about_va/va_notices.asp. The Director 

of the Office of the Federal Register has 

approved the incorporation by reference 

and we have modified § 76.1 

accordingly. 

We also explained in the preamble to 

the proposed rule that we plan to make 

payments in full first to veterans with 

service-connected disabilities, and to 

allow retroactive payment for 

paralympic training, competition, or 

residence that occurred on or after 

October 1, 2009, if an application and 

appropriate certification are submitted 

to VA within 1 year of the effective date 

of this final rule. Further, we proposed 

to base the amount of the allowance 

payable to individuals on the rate paid 

as a subsistence allowance for a fulltime institutional program under 

chapter 31 of title 38, United States 

Code, (See 38 U.S.C. 3108(b)), and to 

pay an individual for each day of 

qualified training, competition, or 

residence at 1/30 of the monthly rate, or 

on a monthly basis for a continuous 

month of qualified training, 

competition, or residence. 

Interested persons were invited to 

submit written comments on the 

proposed rule on or before October 4, 

2010. We received one comment from 

an individual. This commenter asserted 

that VA should not proceed with the 

rulemaking because it would cause 

negative effects. The commenter 

expressed concern that the rule will 

cause veterans to ignore real priorities, 

such as raising families, paying bills, 

and being good citizens. In addition, 

this commenter suggested that veterans 

are not deterred from competing due to 

financial limitations, but are instead 

simply setting their own priorities when 

deciding not to compete. The 

commenter would prefer that VA ‘‘urge 

veterans to seek mentors to hone their 

* * * priorities to achieve more for 

themselves and their families’’ instead of 

providing financial support. We do not 

agree with the commenter that the 

monthly assistance allowance will cause 

veterans to ignore other priorities, 

whether financial or otherwise. We are 

not aware of any evidence indicating 

that participation in paralympic sports 

causes veterans or other paralympic 

athletes to become poor citizens, and 

the commenter does not supply any 

such evidence. Rather than causing 

veterans to shirk responsibilities, we 

believe the monthly assistance 

allowance will provide sufficient 

funding to allow veterans to participate 

in paralympic training or competition 

while continuing to attend to their 

responsibilities. We also believe that 

participation in paralympic training or 

competition allows for adoption of an 

active, healthy lifestyle, and accordingly 

enhances veterans’ rehabilitation 

following injury or disease. 

To the extent the commenter objects 

to the payment of money to veterans for 

this purpose, we note that Congress has 

already authorized this benefit under 38 

U.S.C. 322(d). To the extent the 

commenter believes mentorship 

programs are a more effective way to 

help veterans, we note that such 

programs would not be inconsistent 

with this rule. Therefore, we decline to 

withdraw or modify the rule based on 

this comment. 

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 an 

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 

given year. This final rule will have no 

such effect on State, local, and Tribal 

governments or on the private sector. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

OMB assigns a control number for 

each collection of information it 

approves. Except for emergency 

approvals under 44 U.S.C. 3507(j), 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. 

This document contains two 

provisions constituting a collection of 

information at 38 CFR 76.3(a) and (b) 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521). In addition, we 

correct a clerical error in estimating the 

total annual reporting burden. In the 

proposed rule, we estimated a burden of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 14283 

2,000 reporting hours for each collection 

of information. The correct reporting 

hours burden is 33 for each collection 

of information, not 2,000, which is the 

number of minutes. The Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) has 

approved the information collection 

requirements for § 76.3(a) and (b) and 

has assigned OMB control number 

2900–0760. 

Executive Order 12866 

Executive Order 12866 directs 

agencies to assess all 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, and other advantages; 

distributive impacts; and equity). The 

Executive Order classifies a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action,’’ requiring review by 

the OMB unless OMB waives such 

review, as any regulatory action that is 

likely to result in a rule that may: (1) 

Have an annual effect on the economy 

of $100 million or more or adversely 

affect in a material way the economy, a 

sector of the economy, productivity, 

competition, jobs, the environment, 

public health or safety, or State, local, 

or Tribal governments or communities; 

(2) create a serious inconsistency or 

otherwise interfere with an action taken 

or planned by another agency; 

(3) materially alter the budgetary impact 

of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan 

programs or the rights and obligations of 

recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel 

legal or policy issues arising out of legal 

mandates, the President’s priorities, or 

the principles set forth in the Executive 

Order. The economic, interagency, 

budgetary, legal, and policy 

implications of this regulatory action 

have been examined, and it has been 

determined not to be a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

hereby certifies that this final rule 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 

final rule would primarily affect only 

individuals and would impose only a 

minor certification requirement upon 

the United States Paralympics. 

Therefore, this amendment is exempt 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b) from the 

initial and final regulatory flexibility 

analysis requirements of sections 603 

and 604. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

This final rule will not affect VA 

programs listed in the Catalog of Federal 

Domestic Assistance. 

Signing Authority 

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or 

designee, approved this document 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. John 

R. Gingrich, Chief of Staff, Department 

of Veterans Affairs, approved this 

document on March 9, 2011, for 

publication. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 76 

Certification, Day care, Disabled, 

Eligibility, Incorporation by reference, 

Individuals with disabilities, Monthly 

assistance allowance, Over payment, 

Oversight, Physically challenged 

athletes, Service-connected disabilities, 

Sport event, Travel and transportation 

expenses, U.S. Paralympics training 

center, Veterans. 

Dated: March 10, 2011. 

Robert C. McFetridge, 

Director, Regulation Policy and Management, 

Office of the General Counsel, Department 

of Veterans Affairs. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble of this final rule and of the 

notice of proposed rulemaking, VA 

amends 38 CFR chapter I to add a new 

part 76 to read as follows: 

PART 76—MONTHLY ASSISTANCE 

ALLOWANCE FOR VETERANS IN 

CONNECTION WITH THE UNITED 

STATES PARALYMPICS 

Sec. 

76.1 Definitions. 

76.2 Assistance allowance. 

76.3 Application and certification. 

76.4 Amount of allowance. 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 322(d), and as 

stated in specific sections. 

§ 76.1 Definitions. 

For purposes of part 76, the following 

definitions apply: 

Disability means a service-connected 

or nonservice-connected disability 

which meets the criteria prescribed by 

the International Paralympic Committee 

(IPC) Classification Code and 

International Standards, November 2007 

edition, available at http:// 

www.paralympic.org/export/sites/ 

default/IPC/IPC_Handbook/Section_2/ 

2008_2_Classification_Code6.pdf, and 

qualifies the veteran for participation in 

a sport sanctioned by the United States 

Paralympics. The IPC standards are 

incorporated by reference into this 

section with the approval of the Director 

of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 

552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. To enforce 

any edition other than that specified in 

this section, VA must publish notice of 

change in the Federal Register and the 

material must be available to the public. 

(1) You may obtain a copy from the 

International Paralympic Committee at 

International Paralympic Committee, 

Adenauerallee 212–214, 53113 Bonn, 

Germany. 

(2) All approved material is available 

for inspection at the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, Office of Regulation 

Policy and Management (02REG), Room 

1063B, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420, or at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For 

information on the availability of 

approved materials at NARA, call (202) 

741–6030, or go to: http:// 

www.archives.gov/federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. The IPC standards 

are also available here: http:// 

www.va.gov/ABOUT_VA/docs/ 

ParalympicClassificationCode.pdf. 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 322(d)) 

Paralympic Training Center refers to 

the following locations: The United 

States Olympic Training Center at Chula 

Vista, California; the United States 

Olympic Training Center at Colorado 

Springs, Colorado; the United States 

Olympic Training Center at Lake Placid, 

New York; the Lakeshore Foundation in 

Birmingham, Alabama; and the 

University of Central Oklahoma in 

Edmond, Oklahoma. 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 322(d)) 

§ 76.2 Assistance allowance. 

(a) VA will pay an allowance to a 

veteran with a disability who is: 

(1) Invited by the United States 

Paralympics (USP) to compete for a slot 

on, or selected for, the USP Team for 

any month or part of any month in 

which the veteran is training or 

competing in any event sponsored by 

the USP or the IPC; or 

(2) Residing at a USP training center 

in connection with any paralympic 

training or competition for the period 

certified under § 76.3. 

(b) In providing this allowance, VA 

will periodically assess funding for the 

allowance. If a periodic assessment 

reveals that funding is insufficient to 

pay all applicants, VA will first pay in 

full veterans with service-connected 

disabilities, and then pay others in full 

in the order in which their completed 

applications are received. 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 322(d)) 


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14284 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

§ 76.3 Application and certification. 

To receive an allowance— 

(a) A veteran must submit a complete 

application identifying any dependents 

upon which a higher payable rate of 

allowance may be based; and 

(b) USP must provide certification of 

the veteran’s participation in training or 

competition sponsored by the USP or 

the IPC, or residence at a USP training 

center, for the period for which payment 

is requested. The certification must 

specify whether the payment is due for 

training, competition, or residence, and 

the dates of the training, competition, or 

residence for which payment is due. 

(The Office of Management and 

Budget has approved the information 

collection provisions in this section 

under control number 2900–0760. 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 322(d)) 

§ 76.4 Amount of allowance. 

The following rules govern the 

amount of allowance payable to 

veterans under this section. 

(a) Payment will be made at the rate 

paid for a full-time institutional 

program under chapter 31 of title 38, 

United States Code (Chapter 31) that is 

in effect for a period of certified 

participation, as prescribed by 

paragraph (b) of this section. (See 38 

CFR 21.260.) 

(b) Payment may be made for each 

day at 1/30 of the monthly rate to 

veterans who train or compete in USP 

or IPC sponsored events for each day of 

training or competition, or to veterans 

who reside at a USP training center, for 

each day of residence, or on a monthly 

basis at the monthly rate to veterans 

who train or compete continuously for 

a full month, or to veterans who reside 

at a USP training center for a full month. 

(c) VA will pay the allowance at a rate 

paid to a veteran with dependents for a 

full-time Chapter 31 institutional 

program upon receipt of appropriate 

documentation that a veteran who 

qualifies for the allowance has 

dependents. (See 38 CFR 21.260.) 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 322(d), 3108) 

[FR Doc. 2011–5951 Filed 3–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 111 

Domestic Shipping Services Product 

Launch of Parcel Select Regional 

Ground 

AGENCY: Postal Service TM. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is revising 

Mailing Standards of the United States 

Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual 

(DMM®), to introduce a new 

competitive shipping option, Parcel 

Select Regional Ground TM service. 

DATES: Effective Date: April 17, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karen Key at (202) 268–7492 or Carol A. 

Lunkins at (202) 268–7262. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 16, 2011, Governors of the 

United States Postal Service approved 

classification changes outlined by 

USPS® on the introduction of Parcel 

Select Regional Ground service. This 

final rule describes pricing, product 

features, and mailing standards for 

Parcel Select Regional Ground. 

Parcel Select Regional Ground is a 

new commercial plus shipping option 

for mailers who ship lightweight parcels 

primarily destined for USPS zones local, 

1, 2, and 3. This competitive, nonpresort 

product is a category of Parcel Select 

and is available for mailers who enter 

barcoded, machinable parcels weighing 

5 pounds or less, pay postage with 

permit imprint, and enter mailpieces at 

origin Sectional Center Facility (OSCF) 

and origin Network Distribution Center 

(ONDC) locations authorized to accept 

Parcel Select Regional Ground mailings. 

When either the Intelligent Mail®

package barcode or a Confirmation 

Services barcode is used, Parcel Select 

Regional Ground service includes 

optional electronic Delivery 

Confirmation TM service at no additional 

charge, which allows mailers to confirm 

delivery of their packages. Merchandise 

Return Service cannot be used for items 

returned at Parcel Select Regional 

Ground prices. 

This domestic product will be 

available to 48 of the continental United 

States, excluding Hawaii, Alaska, 

territories and possessions, and freely 

associated States. 

Price Application 

Parcel Select Regional Ground prices 

are based on the weight increment and 

the zone to which the piece is 

addressed. The minimum price per 

piece is the 1-pound price. Mailpieces 

that do not meet the eligibility 

requirements will be charged the Parcel 

Select barcoded, nonpresort price. 

Authorization 

To qualify for Parcel Select Regional 

Ground prices, mailers must have a 

customer commitment agreement with 

the Postal Service; customers may 

contact their account manager or the 

manager, Solutions Development by emailing commercialpricing@usps.gov. 

Eligibility and Postage Payment 

Parcel Select Regional Ground parcels 

must measure .35 cubic foot or less, 

weigh 5 pounds or less, bear a 

designated postal routing and tracking 

barcode(s), and be a machinable parcel. 

Parcel Select Regional Ground prices 

are available to customers who: 

• Establish a customer commitment 

agreement with USPS. 

• In succeeding years, maintain 

account volumes that exceed 10,000 

Parcel Select Regional Ground parcels 

in the previous calendar year. 

• Pay for postage using a permit 

imprint. 

• Enter mailpieces with a routing 

barcode included as part of a 

concatenated Intelligent Mail package 

barcode (IMpb) or a Confirmation 

Services GS–128 barcode. Optionally, a 

postal routing barcode may be printed 

separately with a non-concatenated 

barcode. 

• Enter a minimum of 200 pieces or 

50 pounds of mail for each mailing. 

• Use the Electronic Verification 

System (eVS®) or submit an electronic 

postage statement with a computerized 

manifest. 

• Enter mailings destined for zones 

local, 1, 2, and 3 at eligible eVS OSCF 

and/or mailings destined for zones 

local—8 at ONDC locations. 

Extra Services and Other Services 

The following extra services are 

allowed with Parcel Select Regional 

Ground items: Delivery Confirmation 

(electronic option only), Signature 

Confirmation (electronic option only), 

insurance, and Hold For Pickup service. 

Markings and Mail Preparation 

The basic required marking ‘‘Parcel 

Select—Regional Ground’’ must be 

printed on each piece claimed at this 

price. The basic required marking must 

be placed in the postage area (printed or 

produced as part of, or directly below or 

to the left of, the permit imprint 

indicia). Optionally, the basic required 

marking may be printed on the shipping 

address label as service indicators 

composed of a service icon and service 

banner as follows: 

• The service icon that identifies the 

marking must be a 1-inch solid black 

square with a ‘‘G’’ printed in 16-point 

bold sans serif typeface, uppercase 

letters in white print, centered within 

the square, and it must appear in the 

upper left corner of the shipping label. 

• The service banner must appear 

directly below the postage payment area 

and the service icon, and it must extend 

across the shipping label. The 

appropriate marking ‘‘PARCEL 


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