46982 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

provides the effective date of the 

determination by VA or the date the 

Secretary received the SSA notice of 

award for SSDI or SSI benefits, and 

directs the holder of each FFELP loan 

made to the borrower to submit a 

disability claim to the guaranty agency 

in accordance with paragraph (g)(1) of 

this section. 

(iii) If the claim meets the 

requirements of paragraph (g)(1) of this 

section and § 682.406, the guaranty 

agency pays the claim and must— 

(A) Discharge the loan, in the case of 

a discharge based on data from VA; or 

(B) Assign the loan to the Secretary, 

in the case of a discharge based on data 

from the SSA. 

(iv) The Secretary reimburses the 

guaranty agency for a disability claim 

after the agency pays the claim to the 

lender. 

(v) Upon receipt of the claim payment 

from the guaranty agency, the loan 

holder returns to the person who made 

the payments any payments received on 

or after— 

(A) The effective date of the 

determination by VA that the borrower 

is unemployable due to a serviceconnected disability; or 

(B) The date the Secretary received 

the SSA notice of award for SSDI or SSI 

benefits. 

(vi) For a loan that is assigned to the 

Secretary for discharge based on data 

from the SSA, the Secretary discharges 

the loan in accordance with paragraph 

(c)(3)(iv) of this section. 

(vii) If the borrower notifies the 

Secretary that they do not wish to 

receive the discharge, the borrower will 

remain responsible for repayment of the 

borrower’s loans in accordance with the 

terms and conditions of the promissory 

notes that the borrower signed. 

* * * * * 

PART 685—WILLIAM D. FORD 

FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM 

■ 5. The authority citation for part 685 

continues to read in part as follows: 

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070g, 1087a, et seq., 

unless otherwise noted. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Section 685.213 is amended by: 

■ a. In paragraph (b)(1) introductory 

text, removing the words ‘‘To qualify’’ 

and adding, in their place, ‘‘Except as 

provided in paragraph (d)(2) of this 

section, to qualify’’. 

■ b. In paragraph (c)(1) introductory 

text, removing ‘‘To qualify’’ and adding 

in their place ‘‘Except as provided in 

paragraph (d)(1) of this section, to 

qualify’’. 

■ c. Removing paragraph (c)(1)(v). 

■ d. Adding paragraphs (d) and (e). 

■ e. Removing the parenthetical 

authority citation at the end of the 

section. 

The additions read as follows: 

§ 685.213 Total and permanent disability 

discharge. 

* * * * * 

(d) Discharge without an application. 

(1) The Secretary may discharge a loan 

under this section without an 

application or any additional 

documentation from the borrower if the 

Secretary— 

(i) Obtains data from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs showing that the 

borrower is unemployable due to a 

service-connected disability; or 

(ii) Obtains data from the Social 

Security Administration (SSA) showing 

that the borrower qualifies for SSDI or 

SSI benefits and that the borrower’s next 

scheduled disability review will be no 

earlier than five nor later than seven 

years. 

(2) [Reserved] 

(e) Notification to the borrower. (1) 

After determining that a borrower 

qualifies for a total and permanent 

disability discharge under paragraph (d) 

of this section, the Secretary sends a 

notification to the borrower informing 

the borrower that the Secretary will 

discharge the borrower’s title IV loans 

unless the borrower notifies the 

Secretary, by a date specified in the 

Secretary’s notification, that the 

borrower does not wish to receive the 

loan discharge. 

(2) Unless the borrower notifies the 

Secretary that the borrower does not 

wish to receive the discharge the 

Secretary discharges the loan— 

(i) In accordance with paragraph 

(b)(4)(iii) of this section for a discharge 

based on data from the SSA; or 

(ii) In accordance with paragraph 

(c)(2)(i) of this section for a discharge 

based on data from VA. 

(3) If the borrower notifies the 

Secretary that they do not wish to 

receive the discharge, the borrower will 

remain responsible for repayment of the 

borrower’s loans in accordance with the 

terms and conditions of the promissory 

notes that the borrower signed. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2021–18081 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 9 

RIN 2900–AR24 

Extension of Veterans’ Group Life 

Insurance (VGLI) Application Periods 

in Response to the COVID–19 Public 

Health Emergency 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document adopts as a 

final rule, without change, an interim 

final rule amending the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) regulation 

regarding Veterans’ Group Life 

Insurance (VGLI). The amendment was 

necessary in order to extend the 

deadline for former members to apply 

for VGLI coverage following separation 

from service to address the inability of 

former members directly or indirectly 

affected by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus 

(COVID–19) public health emergency to 

purchase VGLI. 

DATES: Effective September 22, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Weaver, Department of Veterans Affairs 

Insurance Service (310/290B), 5000 

Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 

19144, (215) 842–2000, ext. 4263. (This 

is not a toll-free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

interim final rule amending VA’s 

regulation regarding the deadline for 

former members to apply for VGLI 

coverage following separation from 

service was published in the Federal 

Register on June 9, 2021 (86 FR 30541). 

VA provided a 30-day comment 

period that ended on July 9, 2021. No 

comments were received. Based on the 

rationale set forth in the interim final 

rule, we now adopt the interim final 

rule as a final rule without change. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

In the June 9, 2021, Federal Register 

notice, VA determined that there was a 

basis under the Administrative 

Procedure Act for issuing the interim 

final rule with immediate effect. We 

invited and did not receive public 

comment on the interim final rule. This 

document adopts the interim final rule 

as a final rule without change. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule contains no provisions 

constituting a collection of information 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521). 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess the costs and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 46983 

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. The Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs has 

determined that this rule is not a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866. The Regulatory 

Impact Analysis associated with this 

rulemaking can be found as a 

supporting document at 

www.regulations.gov. 

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. The provisions 

contained in this final rulemaking are 

applicable to individual Veterans, and 

applications for VGLI, as submitted by 

such individuals, and are specifically 

managed and processed within VA and 

through Prudential Insurance Company 

of America, which is not considered to 

be a small entity. Therefore, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 605(b), the initial and final 

regulatory flexibility analysis 

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

not apply. 

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 an 

expenditure by the State, local, and 

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or 

by the private sector of $100 million or 

more (adjusted annually for inflation) in 

any given year. This final rule will have 

no such effect on State, local, and tribal 

governments or on the private sector. 

Congressional Review Act 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this rule as not a major rule, 

as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Program number and title for 

this rule is 64.103, Life Insurance for 

Veterans. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 9 

Life insurance, Military personnel, 

Veterans. 

Signing Authority 

Denis McDonough, Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, approved this 

document on August 16, 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. 

Jeffrey M. Martin, 

Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy 

& Management, Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

PART 9—SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP 

LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS’ 

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE 

Accordingly, the Department of 

Veterans Affairs is adopting the interim 

rule amending 38 CFR part 9 that was 

published at 85 FR 35562 on June 9, 

2021, as final without change. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18089 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 36 

RIN 2900–AR05 

Loan Guaranty: COVID–19 Veterans 

Assistance Partial Claim Payment 

Program 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Technical amendments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) is making technical 

amendments to the final rule published 

on Friday, May 28, 2021. The final rule 

establishes the COVID–19 Veterans 

Assistance Partial Claim Payment 

program (COVID–VAPCP), a temporary 

program to help Veterans return to 

making normal loan payments on a VAguaranteed loan after exiting a 

forbearance for financial hardship due, 

directly or indirectly, to the COVID–19 

national emergency. 

DATES: These technical amendments are 

effective August 23, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrew Trevayne, Assistant Director, 

Loan Property and Management, Loan 

Guaranty Service (26), Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20420, (202) 632–8862. 

(This is not a toll-free telephone 

number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA is 

amending its final rule, ‘‘RIN 2900– 

AR05; Loan Guaranty: COVID–VAPCP’’, 

that was published on May 28, 2021, in 

the Federal Register at 86 FR 28692. In 

the Paperwork Reduction Act section of 

the final rule, VA noted it had 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for approval new 

information collections under 38 CFR 

36.4803 and 36.4805 through 36.4807. 

OMB has approved these collections of 

information and assigned an OMB 

control number. Therefore, VA is 

issuing these technical amendments to 

add the OMB control number to the 

published regulation. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 36 

Condominiums, Housing, Individuals 

with disabilities, Loan programs— 

housing and community development, 

Loan programs—veterans, Manufactured 

homes, Mortgage insurance, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Veterans. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the VA amends 38 CFR part 

36 to read as follows: 

PART 38—PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND 

VETERAN’S RELIEF 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 36 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501 and 3720. 

■ 2. Amend § 36.4803 by revising the 

sentence in parenthesis at the end of the 

section to read as follows: 

§ 36.4803 General requirements of the 

COVID–19 Veterans Assistance Partial 

Claim Payment program. 

* * * * * 

(The Office of Management and 

Budget has approved the information 

collection requirements in this section 

under control number 2900–0889). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 36.4805 by revising the 

sentence in parenthesis at the end of the 

section to read as follows: 

§ 36.4805 Terms of the partial claim 

payment. 

* * * * * 

(The Office of Management and 

Budget has approved the information 

collection requirements in this section 

under control number 2900–0889). 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Amend § 36.4806 by revising the 

sentence in parenthesis at the end of the 

section to read as follows: 

§ 36.4806 Terms of the assistance to the 

veteran. 

* * * * * 


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