Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 134 /Tuesday, July 14, 1998 / Notices 37941

Dated: June 29, 1998.

Steve L. Mathis,

Acting Assistant Director (Management)/CFO.

[FR Doc. 98–18535 Filed 7–13–98; 8:45 am]

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UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

Culturally Significant Objects Imported

for Exhibition

AGENCY: United States Information

Agency.

SUBJECT: Culturally Significant Objects

Imported for Exhibition Determinations.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the

following determinations: Pursuant to

the authority vested in me by the Act of

October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985, 22 U.S.C.

2459), Executive Order 12047 of March

27, 1978 (43 F.R. 13359, March 29,

1978), and Delegation Order No. 85–5 of

June 27, 1985 (50 F.R. 27393, July 2,

1985).

ACTION: I hereby determine that the

objects on the list specified below, to be

included in the exhibit, ‘‘Buddhist

Treasures from Nara,’’ imported from

abroad for the temporary exhibition

without profit within the United States,

are of cultural significance. These

objects are imported pursuant to a loan

agreement with the foreign lenders. I

also determine that the exhibition or

display of the listed exhibit objects at

the Cleveland Museum of Art, in

Cleveland, Ohio, from on or about

August 9, 1998, to on or about

September 27, 1998, is in the national

interest. Public Notice of these

determinations is ordered to be

published in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carol Epstein, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

202/619–6981, and the address is Room

700, U.S. Information Agency, 301 4th

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20547–

0001.

Dated: July 8, 1998.

Les Jin,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98–18696 Filed 7–13–98; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Privacy Act of 1974, Addition of

Routine Use to Three Systems of

Records

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy

Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e), notice is

hereby given that the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to add a

routine use to three existing systems of

records.

DATES: The proposed routine use will be

effective 30 calendar days from the date

of this publication July 14, 1998, unless

comments are received before this date

which would result in a contrary

determination.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments,

suggestions, or objections regarding the

proposed amended routine use

statements to the Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW., Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. All relevant

material received before August 13,

1998, will be considered. 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 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas D. Roberts, Deputy Chief

Counsel, Board of Veterans’ Appeals

(01C3), Department of Veterans Affairs,

810 Vermont Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20420, (202) 565–5978.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under

current law and regulations, VA reviews

fee agreements between beneficiaries

and attorneys for two reasons: to award

attorney fees out of a beneficiary’s pastdue benefits (38 U.S.C. 5904(d)) and to

review fee agreements between a

beneficiary and an attorney under 38

U.S.C. 5904(c)(2). Both actions are taken

by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. In

either instance, VA regulations (for

example, 38 CFR 20.609) and principles

of due process require that both the

beneficiary and the attorney have notice

and a right to present evidence and/or

argument before the Board makes a

decision. Because the nature of

representation before VA includes

waiver of Privacy Act provisions, there

is generally no legal bar to providing a

representative the information necessary

to make whatever presentation is

appropriate—for example, notice of an

award of past-due benefits.

In some cases, a beneficiary, for a

number of possible reasons, will have

discharged the attorney prior to the

Board’s action. VA’s General Counsel

has ruled that, under some

circumstances, a discharged attorney

may be paid a fee out of past-due

benefits awarded to the beneficiary.

VAOPGREC 22–95, 61 FR 10063, 10064

(Mar. 12, 1996). Similarly, the Board

could be required to review an

agreement for reasonableness after the

attorney has been discharged. In either

case, because of Privacy Act restrictions,

the Board is required to contact the

beneficiary to obtain permission to

provide proper notice to the attorney.

This routine use would permit VA to

disclose information to former

representatives to the extent necessary

to develop and adjudicate a claim for

payment of attorney fees from past-due

benefits or to review a fee agreement.

VA would not be permitted to release a

beneficiary’s address under this routine

use.

VA has determined that release of

information under circumstances such

as those described above is a necessary

and proper use of information in this

system of records and that the specific

routine use proposed for the transfer of

this information is appropriate.

VA proposes to add the routine use to

the following systems of records which

are contained in the Federal Register at

the following pages indicated.

44VA01 Veterans Appellate Records

System, established at 40 FR 38095 (8/

26/75) and revised at 56 FR 15663 (4/

17/91).

81VA01 Representatives’ Fee

Agreement Records system established

at 56 FR 18874 (4/24/91) and amended

at 57 FR 8792 (3/12/92).

58VA21/22 Compensation, Pension,

Education and Rehabilitation Records

established at 41 FR 9294 (3/3/76) and

amended at 43 FR 3984 (1/30/78); 43 FR

15026 (4/10/78); 43 FR 23797 (6/1/78);

45 FR 57641 (8/28/80); 45 FR 77220 (11/

21/80); 47 FR 367 (1/5/82); 47 FR 16132

(4/14/82); 47 FR 40742 (9/15/82); 48 FR

1384 (1/12/83); 48 FR 15994 (4/13/83);

48 FR 39197 (8/29/83); 48 FR 52798 (11/

22/83); 49 FR 23974 (6/8/84); 49 FR

36046 (9/13/84); 50 FR 10886 (3/18/85);

50 FR 26875 (6/28/85); 50 FR 31453 (8/

2/85); 51 FR 24781 (7/8/86); 51 FR

25141 (7/10/86); 51 FR 28289 (8/6/86);

51 FR 36894 (10/16/86); 52 FR 4078 (2/

9/87); 54 FR 36933 (9/5/89); 55 FR

28508 (7/11/90); 55 FR 42540 (10/19/

90); 56 FR 15667 (4/17/91); 56 FR 16354

(4/22/91); 57 FR 12374 (4/9/92); 57 FR

44007 (9/23/92); 58 FR 38164 (7/15/93);

58 FR 54643 (10/22/93); 60 FR 20156 (4/

24/95), and 63 FR 7196 (2/12/98).

A ‘‘Report of Altered System’’ and an

advance copy of the revised system have

been sent to the chairmen and ranking

members of the Committee on

Governmental Reform and Oversight of

the House of Representatives and the

Committee on Governmental Affairs of

the Senate, and to the Office of

Management and Budget, as required by

5 U.S.C. 552a(o) (Privacy Act) and
37942 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 134 /Tuesday, July 14, 1998 / Notices

guidelines issued by the Office of

Management and Budget.

Approved: July 1, 1998.

Togo D. West, Jr.,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Notice of Addition of Routine Use to

Systems of Records

1. In the system identified as 44VA01,

‘‘Veterans Appellate Records System’’,

established at 40 FR 38095 (8/26/75)

and revised at 56 FR 15663 (4/17/91) the

following routine use is added:

44VA01

SYSTEM NAME:

Veterans Appellate Records System—

VA.

* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

* * * * *

6. A record from this system (other

than the address of the beneficiary) may

be disclosed to a former representative

of a beneficiary to the extent necessary

to develop and adjudicate a claim for

payment of attorney fees to such

representative from past-due benefits

under 38 U.S.C. 5904(d) or to review a

fee agreement between such

representative and the beneficiary for

reasonableness under 38 U.S.C.

5904(c)(2).

2. In the system identified as 81VA01

‘‘Representatives’ Fee Agreement

Records System’’, appearing at 56 FR

18874 (4/24/91) and amended at 57 FR

8792 (3/12/92)’’ the following routine

use is added:

81VA01

SYSTEM NAME:

Representatives’ Fee Agreement

Records System—VA.

* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

* * * * *

5. A record from this system (other

than the address of the beneficiary) may

be disclosed to a former representative

of a beneficiary to the extent necessary

to develop and adjudicate a claim for

payment of attorney fees to such

representative from past-due benefits

under 38 U.S.C. 5904(d) or to review a

fee agreement between such

representative and the beneficiary for

reasonableness under 38 U.S.C.

5904(c)(2).

3. In the system identified as 58VA21/

22 ‘‘Compensation, Pension, Education

and Rehabilitation Records’’, appearing

at 41 FR 9294 (3/3/76) and amended at

43 FR 3984 (1/30/78); 43 FR 15026 (4/

10/78); 43 FR 23797 (6/1/78); 45 FR

57641 (8/28/80); 45 FR 77220 (11/21/

80); 47 FR 367 (1/5/82); 47 FR 16132 (4/

14/82); 47 FR 40742 (9/15/82); 48 FR

1384 (1/12/83); 48 FR 15994 (4/13/83);

48 FR 39197 (8/29/83); 48 FR 52798 (11/

22/83); 49 FR 23974 (6/8/84); 49 FR

36046 (9/13/84); 50 FR 10886 (3/18/85);

50 FR 26875 (6/28/85); 50 FR 31453 (8/

2/85); 51 FR 24781 (7/8/86); 51 FR

25141 (7/10/86); 51 FR 28289 (8/6/86);

51 FR 36894 (10/16/86); 52 FR 4078 (2/

9/87); 54 FR 36933 (9/5/89); 55 FR

28508 (7/11/90); 55 FR 42540 (10/19/

90); 56 FR 15667 (4/17/91); 56 FR 16354

(4/22/91); 57 FR 12374 (4/9/92); 57 FR

44007 (9/23/92); 58 FR 38164 (7/15/93);

58 FR 54643 (10/22/93); 60 FR 20156 (4/

24/95), and 63 FR 7196 (2/12/98), the

following routine use is added:

58VA21/22

SYSTEM NAME:

Compensation, Pension, Education

and Rehabilitation Records—VA.

* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

* * * * *

61. A record from this system (other

than the address of the beneficiary) may

be disclosed to a former representative

of a beneficiary to the extent necessary

to develop and adjudicate a claim for

payment of attorney fees to such

representative from past-due benefits

under 38 U.S.C. 5904(d) or to review a

fee agreement between such

representative and the beneficiary for

reasonableness under 38 U.S.C.

5904(c)(2).

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 98–18643 Filed 7–13–98; 8:45 am]

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