59988 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 6, 2004 / Notices 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

hereby gives notice of the establishment 

of the Advisory Committee for CARES 

Business Plan Studies. The Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs has determined that 

establishing the Committee is both 

necessary and in the public interest. 

The Committee will continue the 

Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced 

Services (CARES) process by providing 

site-specific advice as the process moves 

into its implementation phase. Thus far, 

the CARES process has included a 

February 2004 report by the CARES 

Commission, a federal advisory 

committee that conducted 38 public 

hearings and 81 site visits in 2003, and 

the Secretary’s CARES Decision in May 

2004 (based largely upon 

recommendations in the CARES 

Commission report). 

The Secretary’s CARES Decision 

identified implementation issues that 

required further study, to include 

additional stakeholder input, at selected 

sites. The Committee will fulfill the 

pledge to consult with stakeholders at 

those sites during implementation of the 

Secretary’s CARES Decision. The 

Committee will ensure that the full 

range of stakeholder interests and 

concerns are assembled, publicly 

articulated, accurately documented, and 

considered in the development of sitelevel business plans. 

Subcommittees will be established to 

perform duties and functions within the 

Committee’s purview. The Committee or 

designated subcommittee will collect 

and consider stakeholder input related 

to the development and selection of 

business plans at the 21 sites designated 

for further study by the Secretary’s 

CARES Decision in May 2004. The 

Committee or designated subcommittee 

will provide advice on proposed 

business plans or alternative business 

plans to be considered, and may relay 

any general concerns that the 

Department should consider during 

CARES implementation. 

The Committee or designated 

subcommittee will hold public meetings 

at each site to seek stakeholder input. In 

addition to the public meetings, the 

Committee or designated subcommittee 

will gather stakeholder input through 

other means, such as advertising and 

Web site communications. 

The Committee and its subcommittees 

may consist of representatives from 

veterans service organizations, 

governmental agencies, health care 

providers, planning agencies, and 

community organizations with a direct 

interest in the CARES process. The 

Committee and its subcommittees are 

expected to carry out their functions 

through December 2005.

Dated: September 29, 2004.

By Direction of the Secretary. 

E. Philip Riggin, 

Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–22440 Filed 10–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Office of Research and Development 

Government Owned Invention 

Available for Licensing

AGENCY: Office of Research and 

Development.

ACTION: Notice of government owned 

invention available for licensing. 

SUMMARY: The invention listed below is 

owned by the U.S. Government as 

represented by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and is available for 

licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 

207 and 37 CFR part 404 and/or CRADA 

Collaboration under 15 U.S.C. 3710a to 

achieve expeditious commercialization 

of results of federally funded research 

and development. Foreign patents are 

filed on selected inventions to extend 

market coverage for U.S. companies and 

may also be available for licensing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Technical and licensing information on 

the invention may be obtained by 

writing to: Mindy L. Aisen, M.D., 

Department of Veterans Affairs, Acting 

Director Technology Transfer Program, 

Office of Research and Development, 

810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420; fax: 202–254–

0473; e-mail at: 

mindy.aisen@mail.va.gov. Any request 

for information should include the 

Number and Title for the relevant 

invention as indicated below. Issued 

patents may be obtained from the 

Commissioner of Patents, U.S. Patent 

and Trademark Office, Washington, DC 

20231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

invention available for licensing is: 

U.S. Patent Application No. 10/

324,374 ‘‘Method of Predicting Cytokine 

Response to Tissue Injury’’.

Dated: September 27, 2004. 

Anthony J. Principi, 

Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.

[FR Doc. 04–22435 Filed 10–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Summary of Precedent Opinions of the 

General Counsel

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) is publishing a summary of 

legal interpretations issued by the 

Department’s Office of General Counsel 

involving veterans’ benefits under laws 

administered by VA. These 

interpretations are considered 

precedential by VA and will be followed 

by VA officials and employees in future 

claim matters. They are being published 

to provide the public, and, in particular, 

veterans’ benefit claimants and their 

representatives, with notice of VA’s 

interpretations regarding the legal 

matters at issue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan P. Sokoll, Law Librarian, 

Department of Veterans Affairs (026H), 

810 Vermont Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20420, (202) 273–6558.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA 

regulations at 38 CFR 2.6(e)(8) and 

14.507 authorize the Department’s 

Office of General Counsel to issue 

written legal opinions having 

precedential effect in adjudications and 

appeals involving veterans’ benefits 

under the laws administered by VA. The 

General Counsel’s interpretations on 

legal matters, contained in such 

opinions, are conclusive as to all VA 

officials and employees not only in the 

matter at issue but also in future 

adjudications and appeals, in the 

absence of a change in controlling 

statute or regulation or a superseding 

written legal opinion of the General 

Counsel. 

VA publishes summaries of such 

opinions in order to provide the public 

with notice of those interpretations of 

the General Counsel, which must be, 

followed in future benefit matters and to 

assist veterans’ benefit claimants and 

their representatives in the prosecution 

of benefit claims. The full text of such 

opinions, with personal identifiers 

deleted, may be obtained by contacting 

the VA official named above or by 

accessing them on the Internet at

http://www1.va.gov/OGC/.

VAOPGCPREC 4–2004 

Question Presented: How can the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

reconcile the decision of the United 

States Court of Appeals for the Federal 

Circuit (Federal Circuit) in Moody v. 

Principi, 360 F.3d 1306 (Fed. Cir. 2004), 

and law on claims alleging clear and