31428 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 24, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

the timeframes specified in paragraphs 

(k)(4) and (8) of this section. 

* * * * * 

Dated: May 18, 2022. 

Shira Perlmutter, 

Register of Copyrights and Director of the 

U.S. Copyright Office. 

Approved by: 

Carla D. Hayden, 

Librarian of Congress. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11174 Filed 5–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 21 

Clarification Regarding SelfEmployment in the Context of 

‘‘Employment’’ for VET TEC Training 

Programs 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notification of interpretation. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) provides notice of a policy 

advisory released on January 19, 2022, 

by VA’s Education Service. The policy 

advisory clarifies VA’s previous 

regulatory interpretation of 

‘‘employment’’ and also explains when 

‘‘self-employment’’ will be considered 

‘‘employment’’ for the purpose of 

paying training providers participating 

in the Veterans Employment Through 

Technology Education Courses (VET 

TEC) training program. 

DATES: May 24, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cheryl Amitay, Chief of Policy and 

Regulations Team, Education Service 

(225), Veterans Benefits Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 

20420, at 202–461–9800. This is not a 

toll-free number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

16, 2017, Public Law 115–48, the Harry 

W. Colmery Veterans Educational 

Assistance Act of 2017, was signed into 

law. Section 116 of this Act, codified at 

38 U.S.C. 3001 note, requires the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program (commonly known as 

VET TEC) for 5 years to provide eligible 

Veterans who are entitled to educational 

assistance under 38 U.S.C. chapter 30, 

32, 33, 34, or 35, or 10 U.S.C. chapter 

1606 or 1607, with the opportunity to 

enroll in high technology programs of 

education intended to provide training 

and skills sought by employers in a 

relevant field or industry. Under section 

116(c)(2)(C) of Public Law 115–48, VA 

must pay 50% of the cost of providing 

a high technology program of education 

to qualified providers upon 

‘‘employment’’ of a Veteran in a certain 

field of study. Also, under section 

116(c)(5)(B), VA is required to give 

preference to a qualified provider that 

offers tuition reimbursement for 

students who do not find full-time 

‘‘meaningful employment’’ in their field 

of study within 180 days after 

completing their program. 

Based on a review of employment 

information since the initial roll-out of 

VET TEC, VA issued a policy advisory 

on January 19, 2022, titled Clarification 

Regarding Self-Employment in the 

Context of ‘‘Employment’’ for VET TEC 

Training Programs Established under 

section 116 of Public Law 115–48, to 

clarify how self-employment satisfies 

the meaning of ‘‘employment’’ for the 

purposes of determining whether VA 

must pay qualified providers for 

training provided to Veterans and 

selecting qualified providers. The 

advisory establishes objective standards 

for determining under what 

circumstances VA will consider selfemployment to be employment and is 

intended to maximize economic 

outcomes for VET TEC participants. The 

advisory states generally that VA 

considers a person to be ‘‘employed’’ if 

that person performs services for 

another individual and is compensated 

for such services. It further states that 

the nature of the relationship may be 

that of an employee/employer or 

contractor/client. More specifically, the 

advisory states that ‘‘employment’’ 

includes the following: 

• Establishing a new employee/ 

employer relationship in a career 

supported by the completed program of 

study; or, 

• Promotion in the Veteran’s current 

employee/employer relationship in a 

career supported by the completed 

program of study; or, 

• Self-employment in a career 

supported by the completed program of 

study. 

With regard to clarifying the job 

certification requirements surrounding 

what is deemed as acceptable and 

reasonable for the reporting of 

employment, including selfemployment (i.e., the minimum 

standards for declaring a Veteran has 

obtained employment), the advisory 

provides as follows: 

The following documentation is 

required for payment of employment 

certifications that claim any form of 

employment (both ‘‘employment’’ under 

section 116(c)(2)(C) and ‘‘meaningful 

employment’’ under section 

116(c)(5)(B)): 

• Contract Jobs. Reports of Contract 

Jobs must be at least 6 months in length. 

• Salary or hourly wages. 

• Hours worked per week. 

Employment must be full-time. There is 

a minimum 30 hours per week 

requirement for all employment claims. 

• Promotion in current job. Must be a 

monetary promotion. A promotion is 

NOT simply a job title change without 

an increase in salary. 

• Offer letter and/or first pay stub. 

Documentation must be official and 

display the official company letterhead. 

‘‘Self-Employment’’ Criteria and 

Verification Regarding SelfEmployment 

VA supports self-employment and 

other entrepreneurial endeavors as 

viable paths to achieving meaningful 

employment. However, training 

providers should encourage students to 

explore all possible employment 

prospects and opportunities, and should 

not direct students towards selfemployment as the primary option for 

employment. To ensure that individuals 

electing to pursue employment through 

self-employment are adequately 

equipped for success, the following 

documentation is required for payment 

of employment certifications that claim 

any form of self-employment: 

• Proof of ownership of the business. 

These can include a Federal Tax ID 

Number; Articles of Organization, or 

Articles of Incorporation; copy of 

personal tax return with schedule C; a 

copy of the Doing Business As 

declarations, etc. It may also include a 

state tax ID Number or state business 

registration information. 

• Copies of any valid personal 

licenses or certifications required for 

business operations. 

• A bill and payment from a client to 

show proof of legitimate business 

transactions for the type of services 

being provided and/or products sold; 

and 

• Other documents: VA may request 

additional documentation to support the 

claim if existing evidence provided is 

insufficient to make a determination. 

To avoid a conflict of interest, neither 

the training provider, its subsidiaries, 

nor a parent company may become the 

client of the self-employed VET TEC 

student. 

Implementation of the new policy 

began on February 1, 2022, and it is 

applicable to both VET TEC students 

and training providers, regardless of 

when the student began or graduated 

from their program. Compliance with 

the requirements specified in the new 

policy is part of the annual approval or 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 24, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 31429 

1 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997). 

reapproval process for training 

providers. 

Signing Authority 

Denis McDonough, Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, approved this 

document on May 11, 2022, 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, 

Regulations Development Coordinator, Office 

of Regulation Policy & Management, Office 

of General Counsel, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2022–10693 Filed 5–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R10–OAR–2021–0950; FRL–9395–02– 

R10] 

Air Plan Approval; ID; Incorporation by 

Reference Updates 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to 

the Idaho State Implementation Plan 

(SIP) submitted on October 12, 2021. 

The submission updates the 

incorporation by reference of the 

national ambient air quality standards 

(NAAQS) and other Federal provisions 

into the Idaho SIP as of July 1, 2020. 

Idaho undertakes regular updates to 

ensure State air rules and the SIP 

remain consistent with Federal air 

program requirements. 

DATES: This final rule is effective June 

23, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R10–OAR–2021–0950. 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, e.g., Confidential Business 

Information or other information the 

disclosure of which 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 please contact 

the person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section for 

additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristin Hall (15–H13), EPA Region 10, 

1200 Sixth Avenue (Suite 155), Seattle, 

WA 98101, (206) 553–6357, 

hall.kristin@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document wherever 

‘‘we’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, it refers to the 

EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. Final Action 

III. Incorporation by Reference 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background 

On October 12, 2021, Idaho submitted 

updates to the SIP to incorporate the 

NAAQS and other Federal regulations 

by reference as of July 1, 2020. The SIP 

revision, State effective June 17, 2021, 

includes specific air quality regulations 

codified in the Idaho Rules for the 

Control of Air Pollution (IDAPA 

58.01.01). 

On March 22, 2022, the EPA proposed 

to approve the submitted SIP revision 

(87 FR 16131). The reasons for our 

proposed approval are included in the 

proposal and will not be restated here. 

The public comment period closed on 

April 21, 2022. We received no public 

comments. Therefore, we are finalizing 

the action as proposed. 

II. Final Action 

The EPA is approving and 

incorporating by reference updates to 

the Idaho SIP submitted on October 12, 

2021. Upon the effective date of this 

action, the Idaho SIP will include 

IDAPA 58.01.01.107.03, paragraphs a 

through e, State effective June 17, 2021. 

III. Incorporation by Reference 

In this document, the EPA is 

finalizing regulatory text that includes 

incorporation by reference. In 

accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 

51.5, we are finalizing the incorporation 

by reference of Idaho regulatory 

provisions described in Section II of this 

preamble and set forth below in the 

amendments to 40 CFR part 52. The 

EPA has made, and will continue to 

make, these materials generally 

available through https:// 

www.regulations.gov and at the EPA 

Region 10 Office (please contact the 

person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

preamble for more information). 

Therefore, these materials have been 

approved by the EPA for inclusion in 

the SIP, have been incorporated by 

reference by the EPA into that plan, are 

fully federally enforceable under 

sections 110 and 113 of the Clean Air 

Act as of the effective date of the final 

rule of the EPA’s approval, and will be 

incorporated by reference in the next 

update to the SIP compilation.1

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the 

Administrator is required to approve a 

SIP submission that complies with the 

provisions of the CAA and applicable 

Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 

40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP 

submissions, the EPA’s role is to 

approve state choices, provided that 

they meet the criteria of the CAA. 

Accordingly, this action merely 

approves State law as meeting Federal 

requirements and does not impose 

additional requirements beyond those 

imposed by State law. For that reason, 

this action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is not subject to requirements of 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• Does not provide the EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with RULES1