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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 130 (Friday, July 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40884-40885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14544]

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

[OMB Control No. 2900-0853]

Agency Information Collection Activity under OMB Review: 
Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country

AGENCY: Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans 
Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 revision 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. 2900-0853.

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 [email protected]. 
Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900-0853'' in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Authority: 38 CFR 21.4260; Public Law 115-407; Public Law 116.135, 
sections 1019 and 1020.
    Title: Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country.
    OMB Control Number: 2900-0853.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: VA will use the information collected to determine if a 
program in a foreign country is approvable under

[[Page 40885]]

CFR 21.4260. In order for a review and decision to be made, the VA 
needs supporting information from a foreign educational institution. 
The Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country, VA Form 
22-0976 OMB ICR #2900-0853 is being submitted as a ``Revision''. We are 
changing the formatting of the form, as well as changing most of the 
existing questions to be written in the form of a statement. There is 
no change to the current burden as a result of making these revisions.
    Currently, the VA Form 22-0976 questions are written to solicit 
YES/NO responses regarding compliance to the current and new provisions 
established for foreign institutions. We believe the questions should 
be instead written and displayed in the form of a statement to indicate 
the VA requirements necessary for the achievement of compliance for 
foreign institutions.
    Public Law 116-135, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans 
Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 amended a number of VA 
benefits that requires the revision of VA Form 22-0976 to comply with 
these changes. The VA Form 22-0976 is the official application that all 
foreign institutions outside of the United States must use to formally 
request foreign program approval for GI Bill benefits from VA.
    The current form is inadequate to comply with both the current and 
new changes in the law. Therefore, the purpose of revising VA Form 22-
0976 is to support the provisions of Public Law 116-135, and the 
Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018, Public Law 115-407 
necessary in order for foreign institutions to acknowledge and adhered 
to the requirement of Section 104 of this law. The provisions of this 
law require foreign institutions to allow eligible individuals to stay 
enrolled in courses of education pending the receipt of educational 
assistance from Department of Veterans Affairs. The institution's 
policy must ensure that they will not impose any penalty, including the 
assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries, or 
other institutional facilities, or make it a requirement that a covered 
individual borrow additional funds because of the individual's 
inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution 
due to the delayed disbursement funding from VA under chapter 31 or 33.
    The purpose of revising this form also supports the provisions of 
Isakson and ROE, Public Law 116-315, Sections 1019 and 1020. Section 
1019 requires schools and training programs to be financially 
responsible (School Liability), instead of the student, for payments 
which are directly paid to an educational institution pursuant to the 
Post-9/11 GI Bill, (i.e., payments paid to an educational institution 
pursuant to the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement program and the 
Advance payments of the initial educational assistance to an 
institution.). Section 1020 limits the type of Advertising, Sales, and 
Marketing that schools can conduct and remain eligible for GI Bill 
funds. This section would also create a tiered penalty system against 
institutions that do not comply with the law and set up a mechanism for 
institutions to work with the SAAs and VA on coming back into 
compliance, and for institutions to not engage in advertising and/or 
enrollment practices of any type, which are erroneous, deceptive, or 
misleading either by actual statement, omission, or intimidation.
    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 87 FR 85 on May 3, 2022, pages 26264 and 
26265.
    Affected Public: Education Institutions.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 338 hours.
    Estimated Average Burden Time per Respondent: 20 minutes.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1014.

    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. 2022-14544 Filed 7-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
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