37786 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 134 / Friday, July 16, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

[OMB Control No. 2900–0697] 

Agency Information Collection Activity 

Under OMB Review: Application for 

Approval of a Licensing or 

Certification Test and Organization or 

Entity 

AGENCY: Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, this notice announces that the 

Veterans Benefits Administration 

(VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs, 

will submit the collection of 

information abstracted below to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and comment. The 

PRA submission describes the nature of 

the information collection and its 

expected cost and burden and it 

includes the actual data collection 

instrument. 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Refer to ‘‘OMB Control 

No. 2900–0697. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise 

and Integration, Data Governance 

Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266–4688 

or email maribel.aponte@va.gov. Please 

refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0697’’ 

in any correspondence. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3689. 

Title: Application for Approval of a 

Licensing or Certification Test and 

Organization or Entity. 

OMB Control Number: 2900–0697. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: SAAs and VA will use the 

information to decide whether the 

licensing and certification tests, and the 

organizations offering them, should be 

approved for use under the education 

programs VA administers. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on this collection 

of information was published at 86 FR 

9546 on May 6, 2021, page 24440. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 1,713 

hours. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Respondent: 3 hours. 

Frequency of Response: Annually. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

571. 

By direction of the Secretary. 

Maribel Aponte, 

VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

Enterprise and Integration, Data Governance 

Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15169 Filed 7–15–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

[OMB Control No. 2900–0469] 

Agency Information Collection Activity 

Under OMB Review: Certificate 

Showing Residence and Heirs of 

Deceased Veterans or Beneficiary 

AGENCY: Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, this notice announces that the 

Veterans Benefits Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, will 

submit the collection of information 

abstracted below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and comment. The PRA 

submission describes the nature of the 

information collection and its expected 

cost and burden and it includes the 

actual data collection instrument. 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Refer to ‘‘OMB Control 

No. 2900–0469. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise 

and Integration, Data Governance 

Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266–4688 

or email maribel.aponte@va.gov. Please 

refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0469’’ 

in any correspondence. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–21. 

Title: Certificate Showing Residence 

and Heirs of Deceased Veterans of 

Beneficiary VA Form 29–541. 

OMB Control Number: 2900–0469. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The form is used by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to 

establish entitlement to Government 

Life Insurance proceeds in estate cases 

when formal administration of the estate 

is not required. The information on the 

form is required by law, Title 38, U.S.C. 

1817 and 1950. This form expired due 

to high volume of work and staffing 

changes. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on this collection 

of information was published at 86 FR 

26604 on May 14, 2021, pages 26604 

and 26605. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 1,039. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Respondent: 30 minutes. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

2,078. 

By direction of the Secretary. 

Maribel Aponte, 

VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

Enterprise and Integration, Data Governance 

Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15130 Filed 7–15–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs Housing Loan 

Program 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: VA announces the availability 

of the Draft Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) 

for the Housing Loan Program (HLP) for 

public review and comment. The Draft 

PEIS identifies, analyzes and documents 

the potential physical, environmental, 

cultural, socioeconomic and cumulative 

impacts of continued administration 

and operation of VA’s HLP. The 

comprehensive HLP, which is managed 

by VA’s Veterans Benefits 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 134 / Friday, July 16, 2021 / Notices 37787 

Administration (VBA), administers VAguaranteed housing loan benefits and 

other housing-related benefits that assist 

eligible Veterans, surviving spouses, 

active duty personnel, Selected 

Reservists and National Guardsmen 

(collectively referred to as Veterans) in 

purchasing, constructing, repairing, 

adapting, or improving a home. 

DATES: VA invites Federal, state, tribal 

and local entities; non-profit 

organizations; businesses; interested 

parties; and the general public to submit 

written comments on the Draft PEIS 

during the 45-day public comment 

period that ends August 30, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted through http://

www.regulations.gov. The Draft PEIS is 

available for viewing at the VA website 

https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/ 

environmental_impact.asp. Due to the 

COVID–19 pandemic, virtual public 

presentations will be available in lieu of 

public hearings, and the presentations 

will be continually accessible through 

the project website. Printed copies of 

the document may be obtained by 

contacting VA at 

VAHLPNEPA.VBAVACO@va.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elysium Drumm, Supervisory 

Management Analyst, Loan Guaranty 

Service, Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20420, 202–632–8862 

(This is not a toll-free number.) or 

VAHLPNEPA.VBAVACO@va.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft 

PEIS was developed pursuant to the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4321, et seq.), the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s regulations for 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA (40 CFR 1500–1508) and VA’s 

NEPA regulations titled ‘‘Environmental 

Effects of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs Actions’’ (38 CFR 26). 

The most significant element of the 

HLP is the provision of housing benefits 

that assist eligible Veterans in financing 

the purchase, construction, repair, or 

improvement of a home for their 

personal occupancy. See 38 U.S.C. 3701 

et seq. VBA provides Federal assistance 

in the form of loans made, insured, or 

guaranteed by VA. VBA is also 

responsible for the management, 

marketing and disposition of real estate 

owned properties that VA acquires 

following the foreclosure of certain VAguaranteed loans and loans held in VA’s 

portfolio. Under HLP, VA also provides 

direct loans to Native American 

Veterans to purchase homes on trust, 

tribal, or communally-owned lands, and 

HLP extends grants for home 

adaptations to Veterans with serviceconnected disabilities through the 

Specially Adapted Housing program. 

HLP provides what can be, for some 

Veterans, their sole opportunity to 

obtain crucial housing loans and grants. 

Through the PEIS, VA is using the 

NEPA process to evaluate the potential 

physical, environmental, cultural, 

socioeconomic and cumulative effects of 

HLP; to invite public comments; and to 

assist with and inform future agency 

planning and decision- making related 

to HLP. The PEIS evaluates HLP, which 

assists hundreds of thousands of 

Veterans each year across the United 

States and its territories, to ensure VA 

appropriately considers the human 

environmental elements and effects 

specified in 40 CFR 1508.8 (including 

ecological, aesthetic, historic, cultural, 

economic, social, or health, whether 

direct, indirect, or cumulative) in 

carrying out the various elements and 

aspects of the program. Environmental 

topics that have been addressed in the 

Draft PEIS include the following: 

Aesthetics; air quality; biological 

resources; cultural resources; 

floodplains, wetlands and coastal zones; 

geology and soils; hydrology and water 

quality; infrastructure and community 

services; land use and planning; noise; 

and socioeconomics and environmental 

justice. The PEIS also identifies and 

analyzes potential cumulative impacts, 

which are the potential incremental 

impacts on the environment resulting 

from continued administration and 

operation of the HLP in combination 

with other past, present and reasonably 

foreseeable future actions from other 

relevant Federal and non-Federal 

programs. 

The PEIS is atypical in that it 

addresses an existing program, and VA 

has no specific or immediate need to 

change its operational structure or 

procedures to address environmental 

impacts. Furthermore, the making of 

loan guaranties, direct loans and grants 

do not typically result in direct 

environmental impacts. Environmental 

impacts, if they occur, would be the 

result of private citizen actions (e.g., 

construction of a house funded by VAguaranteed loan financing) related to a 

specific property. In this case, the 

primary environmental impacts of 

concern for VA would be the potential 

indirect impacts from homeowner 

actions and the potentially significant 

cumulative impacts of small 

incremental actions on local and 

regional resources. 

Signing Authority 

Denis McDonough, Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, approved this 

document on March 29, 2021, 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. 

Luvenia Potts, 

Regulation Development Coordinator, Office 

of Regulation Policy & Management, Office 

of the Secretary, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15014 Filed 7–15–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 


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