39886 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 156 / Monday, August 13, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 50 U.S.C. 191; 

33 CFR 1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6, and 160.5; 

Department of Homeland Security Delegation 

No. 0170.1. 

■ 2. Add § 165.T08–0718 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T08–0718 Safety Zone; Allegheny 

River, miles 43.5 to 45.5, Kittanning, PA. 

(a) Location. The following area is a 

safety zone: All navigable waters of the 

Allegheny River, extending the entire 

width of the river, from mile marker 

(MM) 43.5 to MM 45.5. 

(b) Effective period. This section is 

effective each day from 9 a.m. through 

8 p.m. August 17, 2018 through August 

19, 2018. 

(c) Regulations. (1) In accordance with 

the general regulations in § 165.23, entry 

into this zone is prohibited unless 

authorized by the Captain of the Port 

Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh (COTP) or 

a designated representative. A 

designated representative is a 

commissioned, warrant, or petty officer 

of the U.S. Coast Guard assigned to 

units under the operational control of 

USCG Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh. 

(2) Persons and vessels seeking entry 

into this safety zone must request 

permission from the COTP or a 

designated representative. They may be 

contacted on VHF–FM Channel 16 or by 

telephone at (412) 221–0807. 

(3) Persons and vessels permitted to 

enter this safety zone must transit at 

their slowest safe speed and comply 

with all lawful instructions of the COTP 

or a designated representative. 

(e) Informational broadcasts. The 

COTP or a designated representative 

will inform the public of the 

enforcement period for the safety zone 

as well as any changes in the schedule 

through Broadcast Notices to Mariners 

(BNMs), Local Notices to Mariners 

(LNMs), and/or Marine Safety 

Information Broadcasts (MSIBs) as 

appropriate. 

Dated: August 6, 2018. 

F.M. Smith, 

Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, 

Acting Captain of the Port Marine Safety Unit 

Pittsburgh. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17262 Filed 8–10–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 3 

RIN 2900–AQ10 

Automatic Burial Benefits for 

Previously Unestablished Surviving 

Spouses 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

regulation governing persons who may 

receive VA burial benefits on behalf of 

a deceased veteran. As amended, the 

regulation reflects VA’s current policy 

of paying an automatic burial benefit to 

surviving spouses who were not 

established in VA systems as a veteran’s 

spouse at the time of the veteran’s 

death. The intended effect of this 

amendment is to ensure that a veteran’s 

surviving spouse receives burial benefits 

to which he or she is entitled at the 

earliest possible time. 

DATES: This final rule is effective August 

13, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Julieann (Jewels) Brantseg, Pension 

Analyst, Pension and Fiduciary Service, 

Veterans Benefits Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, DC 

20420, (202) 632–8863. (This is not a 

toll-free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final 

rule amends the VA regulation 

regarding persons who may receive 

burial benefits, paid by the Veterans 

Benefits Administration (VBA), to 

ensure that the regulation properly 

reflects current VBA policy. On June 6, 

2014, VA published in the Federal 

Register final burial regulations that 

permit VBA to automate certain burial 

allowance payments, pay flat-rate burial 

and plot or interment allowances, and 

establish priority of payments to certain 

survivors and estate representatives. 

Burial Benefits, 79 FR 32653. The 

revised burial regulations became 

effective July 7, 2014. See 79 FR 32653. 

Burial regulations at 38 CFR 3.1700 

through 3.1713 streamlined VBA’s 

burial benefits program to ensure that 

VBA quickly, efficiently, and accurately 

delivers benefits to survivors and other 

individuals who incur the cost of a 

veteran’s burial and funeral. The 

regulations established rules for the 

automatic payment of burial allowances 

that facilitated payment to many 

surviving spouses at the time VA 

updates its computer system to reflect 

the veteran’s date of death. Other 

individuals seeking reimbursement for 

burial expenses are paid on a first-to-file 

basis. 

On December 16, 2016, Congress 

enacted Public Law 114–315, Sec. 101, 

which authorized VA to pay benefits 

under 38 U.S.C. chapters 13 and 15 and 

sections 2302, 2307, and 5121 ‘‘to a 

survivor of a veteran who has not filed 

a formal claim if [VA] determines that 

the record contains sufficient evidence 

to establish the entitlement of the 

survivor to such benefits.’’ See 38 U.S.C. 

5101(a)(1)(B). This new statutory 

provision essentially affirmed VA’s 

practice of providing automatic burial 

payments to surviving spouses under 

the current regulation. This rule brings 

about a procedural change that would 

allow VA to provide automatic burial 

payments to other surviving spouses 

whom VA determines are entitled to 

such benefits based on the record at the 

time VA updates its computer system to 

reflect the veteran’s death, which we 

believe is consistent with the intent of 

section 5101(a)(1)(B). 

Therefore, at this time, we amend 38 

CFR 3.1702, which pertains to persons 

who may receive burial benefits and the 

priority of payments. The change in this 

final rule reflects the intent of the 

original amendments—to expedite the 

payment of these small, one-time benefit 

payments to survivors who generally 

have an immediate need for 

supplemental financial assistance after 

the veteran’s death. 

We amend § 3.1702(a), which permits 

VA to make automatic burial benefit 

payments to a deceased veteran’s 

surviving spouse when VA is able to 

determine eligibility based on evidence 

of record at the time VA updates its 

computer system to reflect the veteran’s 

date of death. We amend paragraph (a) 

to specifically state that a surviving 

spouse may receive an automatic burial 

benefit under certain circumstances, 

whether or not previously established as 

a dependent spouse on the veteran’s 

compensation or pension award at the 

time of the veteran’s death. There are 

several reasons why VA systems may 

not reflect the existence of a spouse at 

the time of a veteran’s death even 

though a spouse does, in fact, exist. This 

could occur if a veteran was receiving 

disability compensation but was rated 

less than 30-percent disabled under the 

rating schedule. Such veterans with a 

service-connected disability rating of 

less than 30 percent are not entitled to 

additional compensation for spouses. 

See 38 U.S.C. 1115. It could also occur 

if a veteran has never claimed his or her 

spouse as a dependent. In addition, VA 

systems could show a spouse who is not 

the current spouse. This could occur if 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 156 / Monday, August 13, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 39887 

VA was never notified that the veteran’s 

dependency status had changed. The 

amended regulation clarifies that VBA 

may pay the automatic burial benefit to 

an eligible surviving spouse when, at 

the time VA updates its computer 

system to reflect the veteran’s date of 

death, VA knows of or is informed of 

the existence of the surviving spouse, 

can establish the individual’s dependent 

status as the veteran’s surviving spouse 

in accordance with § 3.204 (when 

applicable), and is able to determine 

burial benefits eligibility based on 

evidence of record at the time VA 

updates its computer system to reflect 

the veteran’s date of death. 

At this time, VA systems only permit 

automatic payments to surviving 

spouses. In the future, VA may consider 

making automatic payments to other 

persons. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

This rule reflects VA’s current 

practice and effectuates a procedural 

change to VA’s final burial regulations 

published on June 6, 2014, to establish 

a uniform process for providing 

automatic burial payments to all 

surviving spouses. The lack of 

documentation of a dependent spouse 

in VA’s system at the time of the 

veteran’s death should not impose 

additional procedural requirements on 

those individuals when applying for 

burial benefits established under the 

regulations. 

This rule does not make any 

substantive policy change or impose 

new rights, duties, or obligations on 

affected individuals but simply reflects 

VA’s existing policy and effectuates a 

procedural change to VA’s final burial 

regulations published on June 6, 2014, 

to ensure uniform procedures for 

eligible surviving spouses to receive 

burial allowance payments faster. In 

other words, this rule does not expand 

the class of individuals eligible for 

burial allowance payments but merely 

ensures faster payment of the burial 

allowance to surviving spouses who 

otherwise would have to submit an 

application for the burial allowance. 

Also, this rule does not adversely 

impact surviving spouses who would 

have been eligible for automatic 

payment under the 2014 amendments; 

we contemplate that all such 

individuals would also qualify for such 

payments under this rule. As a rule of 

agency procedure or practice, this rule 

is exempt under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) from 

the prior notice-and-comment 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. Also, this 

rule is exempt from the delayed 

effective date requirement under 5 

U.S.C. 553(d) because it is a procedural 

rule and, alternatively, because this rule 

is beneficial to surviving spouses at a 

time of need, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3), VA finds good cause to make 

the amendments effective on the date of 

publication. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

Section 3.1703 contains an 

information collection approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under OMB control number 

2900–0003. This final rule does not 

contain any provisions constituting an 

additional collection of information 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3521) and does 

not alter the existing information 

collection contained in § 3.1703; rather, 

the final rule merely provides that VA 

may grant benefits in certain cases even 

if the claimant has not filed an 

application under the existing 

information collection. 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

13771 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess the 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 

effects, and other advantages; 

distributive impacts; and equity). 

Executive Order 13563 (Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review) 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

12866 (Regulatory Planning and 

Review) defines a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action,’’ which requires 

review by OMB, 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 this 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. VA’s impact analysis can be 

found as a supporting document at 

http://www.regulations.gov, usually 

within 48 hours after the rulemaking 

document is published. Additionally, a 

copy of the rulemaking and its impact 

analysis are available on VA’s website at 

http://www.va.gov/orpm by following 

the link for ‘‘VA Regulations Published 

from FY 2004 through Fiscal Year to 

Date.’’ This rule is not an Executive 

Order 13771 regulatory action because 

this rule is not significant under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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 the 

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 

one year. This final rule will have no 

such effect on State, local, and tribal 

governments, or on the private sector. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Secretary 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 

will not directly affect any small 

entities; only individuals will be 

directly affected. Therefore, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 605(b), this rulemaking is 

exempt from the initial and final 

regulatory flexibility analysis 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number and title for the 

program affected by this rulemaking is 

64.101, Burial Expenses Allowance for 

Veterans. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, 

Health care, Pensions, Radioactive 

materials, Veterans, Vietnam. 

Signing Authority 

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

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. Robert L. Wilkie, 

Secretary, Department of Veterans 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with RULES
39888 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 156 / Monday, August 13, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Affairs, approved this document on 

August 6, 2018, for publication. 

Dated: August 6, 2018. 

Jeffrey M. Martin, 

Impact Analyst, Office of Regulation Policy 

& Management, Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

For reasons set out in the preamble, 

the Department of Veterans Affairs 

amends 38 CFR part 3 as follows: 

PART 3—ADJUDICATION 

Subpart A—Pension, Compensation, 

and Dependency and Indemnity 

Compensation 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 3, 

subpart A continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless 

otherwise noted. 

■ 2. Amend § 3.1702 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 3.1702 Persons who may receive burial 

benefits; priority of payments. 

(a) Automatic payments to surviving 

spouses of eligible deceased veterans. 

(1) On or after July 7, 2014, VA may 

automatically pay a burial benefit to an 

eligible veteran’s surviving spouse, 

whether or not previously established as 

a dependent spouse on the deceased 

veteran’s compensation or pension 

award, when VA knows of or is 

informed of the existence of the 

surviving spouse, can establish the 

surviving spouse’s relationship under 

§ 3.204 (when applicable), and is able to 

determine burial benefits eligibility 

based on evidence of record at the time 

VA updates its computer system to 

reflect the veteran’s date of death. 

(2) VA may grant additional burial 

benefits, including the plot or interment 

allowance, reimbursement for 

transportation, and the serviceconnected burial allowance under 

§ 3.1704, to the surviving spouse or any 

other eligible person in accordance with 

paragraph (b) of this section and based 

on a claim described in § 3.1703. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–17274 Filed 8–10–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R01–OAR–2018–0098; A–1–FRL– 

9981–55—Region 1] 

Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; 

Control of Volatile Organic Compound 

Emissions, Control of Nitrogen Oxide 

Emissions, and Sulfur Content of Fuels 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 

submitted by the State of Rhode Island. 

This revision updates Rhode Island Air 

Pollution Control Regulations (APCRs) 

for volatile organic compound (VOC) 

emissions, nitrogen oxide (NOX) 

emissions, sulfur content in fuel 

requirements and associated general 

definitions. The intended effect of this 

action is to approve the revised 

regulations. This action is being taken 

under the Clean Air Act. 

DATES: This rule is effective September 

12, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket 

Identification No. EPA–R01–OAR– 

2018–0098. All documents in the docket 

are listed on the https://

www.regulations.gov website. 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 at https://

www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

Region 1, Office of Ecosystem 

Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 

Post Office Square—Suite 100, Boston, 

MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, 

you contact the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David L. Mackintosh, Air Quality 

Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post 

Office Square—Suite 100, (Mail code 

OEP05–2), Boston, MA 02109–3912, tel. 

617–918–1584, email 

Mackintosh.David@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background and Purpose 

II. Response to Comments 

III. Final Action 

IV. Incorporation by Reference 

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background and Purpose 

On June 15, 2018 (83 FR 25981), EPA 

issued a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) for the State of Rhode Island. In 

the NPRM, EPA proposed approval of 

SIP revisions submitted by the Rhode 

Island Department of Environmental 

Management (RI DEM) on February 10, 

2017. This SIP submittal included six 

revised Air Pollution Control 

Regulations (APCRs): No. 8, ‘‘Sulfur 

Content of Fuels;’’ No. 19, ‘‘Control of 

Volatile Organic Compounds from 

Surface Coating Operations;’’ No. 27, 

‘‘Control of Nitrogen Oxides 

Emissions;’’ No. 35, ‘‘Control of Volatile 

Organic Compounds and Volatile 

Hazardous Air Pollutants from Wood 

Products Manufacturing Operations;’’ 

No. 36, ‘‘Control of Emissions from 

Organic Solvent Cleaning;’’ and General 

Definitions. 

The NPRM provides the rationale for 

EPA’s proposed approval, which will 

not be restated here. 

II. Response to Comments 

EPA received two anonymous 

comments in response to the notice of 

proposed rulemaking. The comments 

address subjects outside the scope of the 

proposed action, did not explain (or 

provide a legal basis for) how the 

proposed action should differ in any 

way, and made no specific mention of 

the proposed action. Therefore, the 

comments are not germane and EPA 

provides no further response. 

III. Final Action 

EPA is approving the February 10, 

2017 RI DEM SIP submittal consisting of 

the six revised APCRs: No. 8, ‘‘Sulfur 

Content of Fuels’’ (with the exception of 

sections 8.7 and 8.8.3); No. 19, ‘‘Control 

of Volatile Organic Compounds from 

Surface Coating Operations’’ (with the 

exception of sections 19.2.2 and 19.9.2); 

No. 27, ‘‘Control of Nitrogen Oxides 

Emissions’’ (with the exception of 

section 27.7.3); No. 35, ‘‘Control of 

Volatile Organic Compounds and 

Volatile Hazardous Air Pollutants from 

Wood Products Manufacturing 

Operations’’ (with the exception of 

sections 35.2.3 and 35.9.3); No. 36, 

‘‘Control of Emissions from Organic 

Solvent Cleaning’’ (with the exception 

of sections 36.2.2 and 36.14.2); and 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with RULES