Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 205 / Monday, October 25, 2004 / Proposed Rules 62237

disability rating retroactively in 

accordance with §§ 3.156(c) and 

3.400(q)(2) of this part for the period 

specified in paragraph (c) of this 

section; or 

(iii) At the time of death, the veteran 

had a service-connected disability that 

was continuously rated totally disabling 

by VA for the period specified in 

paragraph (c) of this section, but was not 

receiving compensation because: 

(A) VA was paying the compensation 

to the veteran’s dependents; 

(B) VA was withholding the 

compensation under the authority of 38 

U.S.C. 5314 to offset an indebtedness of 

the veteran; 

(C) The veteran had not waived 

retired or retirement pay in order to 

receive compensation; 

(D) VA was withholding payments 

under the provisions of 10 U.S.C. 

1174(h)(2);

(E) VA was withholding payments 

because the veteran’s whereabouts were 

unknown, but the veteran was otherwise 

entitled to continued payments based 

on a total service-connected disability 

rating; or 

(F) VA was withholding payments 

under 38 U.S.C. 5308 but determines 

that benefits were payable under 38 

U.S.C. 5309.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), 1311, 1314, and 

1321).

4. Section 3.22 is amended by revising 

paragraph (b) to read as follows:

§ 3.22 DIC benefits for survivors of certain 

veterans rated totally disabled at time of 

death.

* * * * *

(b) For purposes of this section, 

‘‘entitled to receive’’ means that the 

veteran filed a claim for disability 

compensation during his or her lifetime 

and one of the following circumstances 

is satisfied: 

(1) The veteran would have received 

total disability compensation at the time 

of death for a service-connected 

disability rated totally disabling for the 

period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of 

this section but for clear and 

unmistakable error committed by VA in 

a decision on a claim filed during the 

veteran’s lifetime; or 

(2) Additional evidence submitted to 

VA before or after the veteran’s death, 

consisting solely of service department 

records that existed at the time of a prior 

VA decision but were not previously 

considered by VA, provides a basis for 

reopening a claim finally decided 

during the veteran’s lifetime and for 

awarding a total service-connected 

disability rating retroactively in 

accordance with §§ 3.156(c) and 

3.400(q)(2) of this part for the relevant 

period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of 

this section; or 

(3) At the time of death, the veteran 

had a service-connected disability that 

was continuously rated totally disabling 

by VA for the period specified in 

paragraph (a)(2), but was not receiving 

compensation because: 

(i) VA was paying the compensation 

to the veteran’s dependents; 

(ii) VA was withholding the 

compensation under authority of 38 

U.S.C. 5314 to offset an indebtedness of 

the veteran; 

(iii) The veteran had not waived 

retired or retirement pay in order to 

receive compensation; 

(iv) VA was withholding payments 

under the provisions of 10 U.S.C. 

1174(h)(2); 

(v) VA was withholding payments 

because the veteran’s whereabouts were 

unknown, but the veteran was otherwise 

entitled to continued payments based 

on a total service-connected disability 

rating; or 

(vi) VA was withholding payments 

under 38 U.S.C. 5308 but determines 

that benefits were payable under 38 

U.S.C. 5309.

* * * * *

PART 20—BOARD OF VETERANS’

APPEALS: RULES OF PRACTICE 

5. The authority citation for part 20 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a) and as noted in 

specific sections.

Subpart L—Finality 

6. Section 20.1106 is revised to read 

as follows:

§ 20.1106 Rule 1106. Claim for death 

benefits by survivor—prior unfavorable 

decisions during veteran’s lifetime. 

Except with respect to benefits under 

the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1311(a)(2), 

1318, and certain cases involving 

individuals whose Department of 

Veterans Affairs benefits have been 

forfeited for treason or for subversive 

activities under the provisions of 38 

U.S.C. 6104 and 6105, issues involved 

in a survivor’s claim for death benefits 

will be decided without regard to any 

prior unfavorable disposition of those 

issues during the veteran’s lifetime.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7104(b))

[FR Doc. 04–23488 Filed 10–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 262 

[OA–2004–0004; FRL–7829–9] 

RIN 2090–AA13 

National Environmental Performance 

Track Program, Parallel Proposal To 

Direct Final Rule for RCRA Corrections

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed Rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rulemaking is 

a parallel proposal to the direct final 

rulemaking EPA is also publishing 

today. EPA is taking direct final action 

on the National Environmental 

Performance Track Program, Direct 

Final Rule for RCRA Corrections. The 

revisions concern the proposed rule 

published on August 13, 2002 (67 FR 

52674), and the subsequent final rule 

published on April 22, 2004 (69 FR 

21737). Both the 2002 proposal and the 

2004 final rule contained an 

inconsistency between the preamble 

language and regulatory language. The 

final rule also inadvertently omitted 

three references to applicable regulatory 

provisions that were properly 

referenced in the proposed rule. We are 

proposing today’s revisions to address 

the inconsistency between the preamble 

and regulatory language, and to correct 

the inadvertently omitted applicable 

regulatory provisions. 

In the ‘‘Rules and Regulations’’

section of today’s Federal Register, we 

are approving these revisions and 

corrections in a direct final rulemaking 

because we view this as a 

noncontroversial amendment and 

anticipate no adverse comment. We 

have explained our reasons for this 

approval in the preamble to the direct 

final rule. If we receive no adverse 

comment, we will not take further 

action on this proposed rule. If we 

receive adverse comment, we will 

withdraw the direct final rule and it will 

not take effect, and we will address all 

public comments in a subsequent final 

rule based on this proposed rule. We 

will not institute a second comment 

period on this action. Any parties 

interested in commenting must do so at 

this time.

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by November 24, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. OA–2004–

0004, by one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

62238 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 205 / Monday, October 25, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

• Agency Web site: http://

www.epa.gov/edocket. EDOCKET, EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

system, is EPA’s preferred method for 

receiving comments. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments.

• Mail: Mr. Robert D. Sachs, 

Environmental Protection Agency, Mail 

code 1807T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

Washington, DC 20460 telephone 

number 202–566–2884; fax number 

202–566–0966; e-mail address: 

sachs.robert@epa.gov.

• Hand Delivery: Office of 

Environmental Information Docket, 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

West Building, Room B102, 1301 

Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. Such deliveries are only 

accepted during the Docket’s normal 

hours of operation, and special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. OA–2004–0004. EPA’s 

policy is that all comments received 

will be included in the public docket 

without change and may be made 

available online at http://www.epa.gov/

edocket, including any personal 

information provided, unless the 

comment includes information claimed 

to be Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. Do 

not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through EDOCKET, 

regulations.gov, or e-mail. The EPA 

EDOCKET and the federal 

regulations.gov Web sites are 

‘‘anonymous access’’ systems, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

EDOCKET or regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the EDOCKET index at 

http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in EDOCKET or in hard 

copy at the Office of Environmental 

Information Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, 

Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 

NW., Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the Office of Environmental 

Information Docket is (202) 566–1752.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Robert D. Sachs, Performance Incentives 

Division, Office of Business and 

Community Innovation, Office of Policy, 

Economics and Innovation, Office of 

Administrator, Mail Code 1807T, United 

States Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

Washington, DC 20460 telephone 

number 202–566–2884; fax number 

202–566–0966; e-mail address: 

sachs.robert@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document concerns revisions to the 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act to address an inconsistency between 

the preamble and regulatory language at 

67 FR 52674 and 69 FR 21737, and to 

correct three inadvertently omitted 

applicable regulatory provisions at 69 

FR 21737. The revisions proposed here 

are identical to those contained in the 

Direct Final Rule located in the ‘‘Rules 

and Regulations’’ section of this Federal 

Register publication. Please refer to the 

preamble and regulatory text of the 

direct final action for further 

information and the actual text of the 

revisions. Additionally, all information 

regarding Statutory and Executive 

Orders for this proposed rule can be 

found in the Statutory and Executive 

Order Review section of the direct final 

action.

Dated: October 19, 2004. 

Michael O. Leavitt, 

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 04–23841 Filed 10–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

RIN 1018–AT57 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Reopening of the Public 

Comment Period for the Draft 

Economic Analysis and Proposed 

Designation of Critical Habitat for the 

Santa Ana Sucker

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of the 

public comment period. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

reopening of the public comment period 

for the draft economic analysis on the 

proposed designation of critical habitat 

for the Santa Ana sucker (Catostomus 

santaanae) and on the proposed 

designation itself. The comment period 

will provide the public, Federal, State, 

and local agencies, and tribes with an 

additional opportunity to submit 

written comments on this proposal and 

its respective draft economic analysis. 

Comments previously submitted for this 

proposed rule and draft economic 

analysis need not be resubmitted as they 

have already been incorporated into the 

public record and will be fully 

considered in any final decision.

DATES: The public comment period on 

the proposed designation and draft 

economic analysis is now reopened 

until November 24, 2004. We will 

accept comments and information until 

5 p.m. p.s.t. on that date.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

materials may be submitted to us by one 

of the following methods: 

1. You may submit written comments 

and information to the Field Supervisor, 

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 

Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad, 

California, 92009. 

2. You may hand-deliver written 

comments and information to our 

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office at the 

above address, or fax your comments to 

(760) 431–9618. 

3. You may send comments by 

electronic mail (e-mail) to 

fw1sasu@r1.fws.gov. Please see the 

Public Comments Solicited section 

below for file format and other 

information about electronic filing. 

Comments and materials received, as 

well as supporting documentation used 

in preparation of the proposed critical 

habitat rule for the Santa Ana sucker 

and the draft economic analysis on the