This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

14832

Vol. 62, No. 60

Friday, March 28, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 4

RIN 2900–AI46

Schedule for Rating Disabilities: Cold

Injuries

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) Schedule for Rating

Disabilities (38 CFR part 4) by revising

the evaluation criteria for frozen feet.

The intended effect of this amendment

is to provide evaluation criteria based

on current medical knowledge about the

long-term effects of cold injury that can

be applied to any part of the body

affected by cold injury.

DATES: Comments must be received by

VA on or before May 27, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written

comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments

should indicate that they are in

response to ‘‘RIN 2900–AI46.’’ All

written comments received will be

available for public inspection at the

above address in the Office of

Regulations Management, Room 1158,

between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday (except

holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Caroll McBrine, M.D., Consultant,

Regulations Staff (213A), Compensation

and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits

Administration, Department of Veterans

Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC 20420, (202) 273–7230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Disability

due to frozen feet is currently evaluated

under diagnostic code (DC) 7122 in 38

CFR 4.104, the section of VA’s Schedule

for Rating Disabilities that is titled

‘‘Schedule of ratings—cardiovascular

system.’’ Because much more is now

known about the long-term effects of

cold injury than when these criteria

were established, we propose to update

the criteria to assure that they are

consistent with modern medical

knowledge and encompass the broad

range of residuals that may result from

cold injury. Since cold injuries may

affect parts of the body other than the

feet, particularly the hands, nose, and

ears, we propose to retitle DC 7122

‘‘Cold injury, residuals of’’ to indicate

that it may be used to evaluate any cold

injury.

The current evaluation criteria for

frozen feet provide three levels of

evaluation, with separate evaluations at

each level, for unilateral and bilateral

involvement. The evaluations, which

range from 10 to 50 percent, are based

on the presence of chilblains, swelling,

tenderness, and redness, and there are

subjective indicators, e.g., ‘‘mild’’

symptoms, ‘‘persistent severe’’

symptoms, at each level. A major goal

of the overall revision of VA’s rating

schedule that is underway is to provide

more objective evaluation criteria. We

therefore propose to provide criteria that

are both more objective and more

consistent with the current state of

medical knowledge.

We propose new criteria based on the

presence of pain, numbness, cold

sensitivity, or arthralgia for a 10-percent

evaluation; the same symptoms plus

tissue loss, nail abnormalities, color

changes, locally impaired sensation,

hyperhidrosis, or X-ray abnormalities

such as osteoporosis, subarticular

punched out lesions, and osteoarthritis

for a 20-percent evaluation and the same

symptoms plus two or more of the

following: Tissue loss, nail

abnormalities, color changes, locally

impaired sensation, hyperhidrosis, or Xray abnormalities (same as above) for a

30-percent evaluation. These are the

most common long-term residuals of

cold injury (‘‘Harrison’s Principles of

Internal Medicine’’ 2199 (Jean D.

Wilson, M.D. et al. eds., 12th ed. 1991)),

and the proposed criteria should assure

consistent evaluations of veterans with

cold injury.

In the current schedule, a note under

DC 7122 advises that higher ratings may

be warranted for amputation of toes. We

propose to revise the note to indicate

that there are other conditions besides

amputations, such as squamous cell

carcinoma at the site of a cold injury

scar, or peripheral neuropathy, that

warrant separate evaluation.

In addition to revising the criteria

themselves, and in light of the fact that

under the revised code, parts of the

body other than the feet may be

evaluated, we propose to revise the

method of determining an overall

evaluation when more than one body

part is affected. Rather than providing

specific evaluations for unilateral and

bilateral evaluations, we propose to add

a second note following DC 7122

directing that each affected part (hand,

foot, ear, nose) be evaluated separately

and the ratings combined. This will not

only allow separate evaluations for

affected parts other than the feet but

will, unlike the current schedule,

provide a means of appropriately

evaluating each of paired parts when

they are not equally affected.

The Secretary hereby certifies that

this regulatory amendment will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities as

they are defined in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

The reason for this certification is that

this amendment would not directly

affect any small entities. Only VA

beneficiaries could be directly affected.

Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b),

this amendment is exempt from the

initial and final regulatory flexibility

analysis requirements of sections 603

and 604.

This regulatory amendment has been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget under the provisions of

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory

Planning and Review, dated September

30, 1993.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

program numbers are 64.104 and 64.109.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 4

Disability benefits, Individuals with

disabilities, Pensions, Veterans.

Approved: December 17, 1996.

Jesse Brown,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 38 CFR part 4, subpart B, is

proposed to be amended as set forth

below:
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 60 / Friday, March 28, 1997 / Proposed Rules 14833

PART 4—SCHEDULE FOR RATING

DISABILITIES

Subpart B—Disability Ratings

1. The authority citation for part 4

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155.

2. Section 4.104 is amended by

revising diagnostic code 7122 and

adding a new authority citation at the

end of the section, to read as follows:

§ 4.104 Schedule of ratings—

cardiovascular system.

* * * * *

Rating

7122 Cold injury, residuals of:

With pain, numbness, cold sensitivity, or arthralgia plus two or

more of the following: Tissue

loss, nail abnormalities, color

changes, locally impaired sensation, hyperhidrosis, X-ray abnormalities (osteoporosis, subarticular punched out lesions, or

osteoarthritis) of affected parts .. 30

With pain, numbness, cold sensitivity, or arthralgia plus tissue

loss, nail abnormalities, color

changes, locally impaired sensation, hyperhidrosis, or X-ray abnormalities (osteoporosis, subarticular punched out lesions, or

osteoarthritis) of affected parts .. 20

With pain, numbness, cold sensitivity, or arthralgia .................... 10

Note (1): Amputations of fingers or toes,

and complications such as squamous cell

carcinoma at the site of a cold injury scar or

peripheral neuropathy should be separately

evaluated under other diagnostic codes.

Note (2): Evaluate each affected part (hand,

foot, ear, nose) separately and combine the

ratings, if appropriate, in accordance with 38

CFR 4.25.

* * * * *

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155)

[FR Doc. 97–7833 Filed 3–27–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Parts 111 and 502

Manufacture, Distribution, and Use of

Postal Security Devices and

Information Based Indicia

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposal would add new

sections to the Domestic Mail Manual

(DMM) and title 39, Code of Federal

Regulations (CFR), to reflect policies

and regulations pertaining to the

Information Based Indicia Program

(IBIP). The proposal supports the IBIP

technical specifications published on

July 2, 1996, in the Federal Register (61

FR 34460). The standards and

regulations for the products/devices are

in some ways similar to those for

postage meters but are to be contained

in separate parts of the DMM and the

CFR. The DMM pertains to customer

requirements and product/service

provider support of those customers,

whereas the CFR contains requirements

such as authorization to manufacture

and distribute, product testing and

approval, security standards, and

financial arrangements.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or delivered to the Manager,

Retail Systems and Equipment, Room

8430, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW,

Washington, DC 20260–6807. Copies of

all written comments will be available

at the above address for inspection and

photocopying between 9 a.m. and 4

p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Nicholas S. Stankosky, (202) 268–5311.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Information Based Indicia Program

(IBIP) involves the development of new

technology to produce forms of postage

evidencing through the use of twodimensional barcodes and

cryptographic services to produce

postage from personal computers. This

technology will support Postal Service

efforts to reduce fraud and the potential

for misuse associated with current

mechanical postage meters. In addition,

IBIP provides a convenient access to

postage and an opportunity for customer

defined ‘‘value added’’ services.

There are five primary elements to

IBIP. The indicia includes:

• Town circle information.

• Postage amount applied.

• Device identifier.

• 2 dimensional bar code.

• Optional advertising art.

The postal security device (PSD)

performs core security functions such as

digital signature generation and

verification and the management of

registers. The host system controls the

customers infrastructure in device

authorization, device audit, postage

resetting and, together with the PSD,

produces the indicia.

The key management component

employs a public-key certificate based

digital signature that features a data

integrity service and provides the means

to validate the indicium. Finally, the

product/service provider infrastructure

provides support for all IBIP functions

including licensing, PSD production

and life cycle support, and provides an

interface with both the customer and the

Postal Service infrastructure. The Postal

Service interface involves the issuance

of licenses, updating licensee

information, product/device inventory

and tracking, resetting support and

account reconciliation, lost and stolen/

irregularity monitoring, and the

assignment of digital certificates.

In this proposal, the Postal Service

has taken into consideration and

evaluated applicable comments received

as a result of the July 2 Federal Register

notice, the July 19 public meeting on

technical specifications, and the

September 25 public meeting on policy

and regulations. The following is a

summary of the Postal Service’s position

on the general interest IBIP policy

issues:

• Any proposed product or device

must be submitted for approval under

proposed draft IBIP interim product

submission procedures (Jan 8, 1997

Federal Register). These procedures

include specifics on letters of intent,

nondisclosure agreements, the product/

service provider’s concept of operations

and infrastructure, documentation

requirements, product submissions, and

most testing activities.

• In an attempt to use the existing

Postal Service infrastructure as much as

possible, customer licensing and

product/device tracking will be

included in the Centralized Meter

Licensing System currently under

development. A license must be

obtained prior to the initialization or

use of a device. A customer already

licensed to use postage meters will not

have to apply again for an additional

license. The Postal Service will simply

update the customer’s file.

• The terms ‘‘manufacturer’’ and

‘‘vendor’’ are no longer referenced in

IBIP. These have been replaced by the

more appropriate term ‘‘product/service

provider’’, also known simply as

‘‘Provider.’’

• The PSD must be leased by the

product/service provider but customers

may purchase the software under two

circumstances. The first is in an open

system where the PSD operates

independently of the software. The

second is in a closed system where the

meter is rendered nonfunctional for

printing postage without the PSD. The

Postal Service will not offer PSDs to

customers.

• Until the Postal Service has

captured historical data on reliability

and security, the total amount of postage

in a descending register will be limited

to $500. Ascending registers must show

all postage printed over time.