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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1130-1131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00025]

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Reimbursement for Caskets and Urns for Burial of Unclaimed 
Remains in a National Cemetery or a VA-Funded State or Tribal Veterans' 
Cemetery

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is updating the 
monetary reimbursement rates for caskets and urns purchased for 
interment in a VA national cemetery or a VA-funded state or tribal 
veterans' cemetery of veterans who die with no known next of kin and 
where there are insufficient resources for furnishing a burial 
container. The purpose of this notice is to notify interested parties 
of the rates that will apply to reimbursement claims that occur during 
calendar year (CY) 2021.

DATES: The applicable date of this notice is January 1, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Sowders, National Cemetery 
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 4850 Lemay Ferry Road, 
Saint Louis, MO, 63129. The telephone number is 314-461-6216. This is 
not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2306(f) of title 38, United States 
Code, authorizes VA's National Cemetery Administration to furnish a 
casket or urn for interment in a VA national cemetery or a VA-funded 
state or tribal veterans' cemetery of the unclaimed remains of veterans 
for whom VA cannot identify a next of kin, and determines that 
sufficient financial resources for the furnishing of a casket or urn 
for burial are not available. VA implemented regulations to administer

[[Page 1131]]

this authority as a reimbursement benefit in 38 CFR 38.628.
    Reimbursement for a claim received in any CY will not exceed the 
average cost of a 20-gauge metal casket or a durable plastic urn during 
the fiscal year (FY) preceding the CY of the claim. Average costs are 
determined by market analysis for 20-gauge metal caskets, designed to 
contain human remains, with a gasketed seal, and external rails or 
handles. The same analysis is completed for durable plastic urns, 
designed to contain human remains, which include a secure closure to 
contain the cremated remains.
    Using this method of computation, in FY 2020, the average costs 
were determined to be $1,984.00 for caskets and $145.00 for urns. 
Accordingly, the maximum reimbursement rates payable for qualifying 
interments occurring during
    CY 2021 are $1,984.00 for caskets and $145.00 for urns.

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. Brooks D. 
Tucker, Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs, 
Performing the Delegable Duties of the Chief of Staff, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, approved this document on December 31, 2020, for 
publication.

Luvenia Potts,
Regulation Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2021-00025 Filed 1-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
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