61510 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / Notices 

states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and 

Alabama. As a result, operations at the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

Regional Offices in New Orleans, 

Louisiana, and Jackson, Mississippi, 

were interrupted. Additionally, postal 

services in the affected regions have 

been interrupted. As a result of the 

interruptions, correspondence 

containing claims, information, or 

evidence sent to the affected VA 

Regional Offices is likely to be 

interrupted. VA wishes to protect the 

claimants who send correspondence to 

the Veterans Benefits Administration 

(VBA) through the normal channels of 

communication from being deprived of 

benefits solely because those channels 

of communication have been disrupted 

due to events outside of the claimants’

control. Therefore, VA is instituting 

procedures to consider alternative dates 

as the date of receipt of correspondence. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maya Ferrandino, Consultant, 

Compensation and Pension Service, 

Policy and Regulations Staff (211D), 

Veterans Benefits Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420, (202) 273–7211. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A VA 

regulation allows the Under Secretary 

for Benefits to establish exceptions to 

VA’s rule about date of receipt of 

claims, information, or evidence. 

Ordinarily, ‘‘date of receipt,’’ means the 

date on which a claim, information, or 

evidence was received in a VA office. 

The regulation states that exceptions 

may be established when a natural or 

man-made interference with the normal 

channels through which VA ordinarily 

receives correspondence has resulted in 

one or more VA Regional Offices 

experiencing extended delays in receipt 

of claims, information, or evidence to an 

extent that, if not addressed, would 

adversely affect such claimants through 

no fault of their own. The full regulation 

can be found at 38 CFR 3.1(r). 

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane 

Katrina came through the states of 

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. 

As a result, operations at VA’s Regional 

Offices in New Orleans, Louisiana, and 

Jackson, Mississippi, were interrupted. 

Additionally, postal services in the 

affected regions, including parts of 

Alabama, have been interrupted. 

As a result of the interruptions, 

correspondence containing claims, 

information, or evidence sent to the 

affected VA Regional Offices has been 

significantly interrupted. Because the 

New Orleans Regional Office was 

closed, VA established that mail 

addressed there would be forwarded by 

the U.S. Postal Service to the Muskogee 

Regional Office in Oklahoma. In 

addition, claimants and beneficiaries in 

Louisiana have been instructed to send 

their correspondence to the Muskogee 

Regional Office. 

VA wishes to prevent claimants and 

beneficiaries who send correspondence 

to VA from being deprived of benefits 

because the mail service has been 

disrupted due to events outside of their 

control. We have therefore established 

the following exceptions to the standard 

rule on date of receipt. 

Exceptions to Date of Receipt for 

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama 

The Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) hereby gives notice that for 

purposes of determining the date of 

entitlement, any correspondence 

received by the New Orleans Regional 

Office (or by the Muskogee Regional 

Office from Louisiana), the Jackson 

Regional Office, or the Montgomery 

Regional Office, which contains claims, 

information, or evidence will be 

considered received on the date the 

claimant or beneficiary (or 

representative) signed the 

correspondence. If there is no dated 

signature on the correspondence, then 

the correspondence will be considered 

received on the date it was postmarked. 

This exception is effective for 

correspondence received by the New 

Orleans Regional Office (or by the 

Muskogee Regional Office from 

Louisiana) from August 29, 2005 

through October 27, 2005. 

This exception is effective for 

correspondence received by the Jackson 

Regional Office or the Montgomery 

Regional Office from August 29, 2005 

through September 27, 2005. 

Approved: October 17, 2005. 

R. James Nicholson, 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. E5–5851 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Performance Review Board Members 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of 5 

U.S.C. 4314(c)(4) agencies are required 

to publish a notice in the Federal 

Register of the appointment of 

Performance Review Board (PRB) 

members. This notice updates the VA 

Performance Review Board of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs that was 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 7, 2005 (70 FR 58793)). 

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 24, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charlotte Moment, Office of Human 

Resources Management (052B), 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420, (202) 273–8165. 

VA Performance Review Board (PRB) 

R. Allen Pittman, Assistant Secretary for 

Human Resources and Administration 

(Chairperson). 

Claude M. Kicklighter, Chief of Staff. 

Thomas G. Bowman, Deputy Chief of 

Staff (Alternate). 

Sharon K. Barnes, Executive Secretary. 

Edward F. Meagher, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Information Technology 

Management. 

Ronald R. Aument, Deputy Under 

Secretary for Benefits, Veterans 

Benefits Administration. 

Michael Walcoff, Associate Deputy 

Under Secretary for Operations, 

Veterans Benefits Administration 

(Alternate). 

Michael J. Kussman, M.D., Deputy 

Under Secretary for Health, Veterans 

Health Administration. 

Dennis M. Lewis, Acting Deputy Under 

Secretary for Health for Operations 

and Management, Veterans Health 

Administration (Alternate). 

John H. Thompson, Deputy General 

Counsel. 

Rita Reed, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Budget. 

Jon A. Wooditch, Deputy Inspector 

General. 

Richard Wannemacher, Jr., Acting 

Under Secretary, National Cemetery 

Administration. 

Veterans Benefits Administration PRB 

Ronald R. Aument, Deputy Under 

Secretary for Benefits, (Chairperson). 

Geraldine V. Breakfield, Associate 

Deputy Under Secretary for 

Management. 

Jack F. McCoy, Associate Deputy Under 

Secretary for Policy & Program 

Management. 

Michael Walcoff, Associate Deputy 

Under Secretary for Field Operations. 

James Bohmbach, Chief Financial 

Officer. 

Diana M. Rubens, Director, Western 

Area Office. 

Thomas Bowman, Deputy Chief of Staff, 

Office of the Secretary. 

Veterans Health Administration PRB 

Michael J. Kussman, MD, Chair, Deputy 

Under Secretary for Health. 

Dennis M. Lewis, Vice-Chair, Acting 

Deputy Under Secretary for Health for 

Operations and Management. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / Notices 61511 

Linda W. Belton, Network Director, 

VISN 11. 

Everett A. Chasen, Chief 

Communications Officer. 

Jeanette A. Chirico-Post, MD, Network 

Director, VISN 1. 

William F. Feeley, Network Director, 

VISN 2. 

Barbara B. Fleming, MD, PhD, Chief 

Quality and Performance Officer. 

Arthur S. Hamerschlag, VHA Chief of 

Staff. 

Robert M. Kolodner, MD, Associate 

Chief Information Officer. 

Robert E. Lynch, MD, Network Director, 

VISN 16. 

Jimmy A. Norris, Chief Financial 

Officer. 

Robert A. Petzel, MD, Network Director, 

VISN 23. 

Catherine J. Rick, RN, MSN, Chief 

Nursing Officer. 

Patricia Vandenberg, Assistant Deputy 

Under Secretary for Health for Policy 

and Planning. 

Linda F. Watson, Network Director, 

VISN 7. 

Nevin M. Weaver, Director, 

Management Support Office (Ex 

Officio). 

Robert L. Wiebe, MD, Network Director, 

VISN 21. 

Mark E. Shelhorse, Acting Chief 

Consultant, Mental Health Strategic 

Health Care Group. 

Dennis Duffy, Acting Assistant 

Secretary for Policy, Planning, and 

Preparedness. 

Office of Inspector General PRB 

Stephen J. Cossu, Assistant Inspector 

General for Investigations, 

Department of Labor. 

Michael P. Stephens, Deputy Inspector 

General, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, Office of 

Inspector General. 

R. Joe Haban, Assistant Inspector 

General for Investigations, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Office of Inspector General. 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

R. James Nicholson, 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 05–21119 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M