Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 30541 

home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/ 

financial-markets-financial-institutionsand-fiscal-service/federal-insuranceoffice/terrorism-risk-insurance-program. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Amend § 50.90 by revising 

paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 50.90 Mandatory and discretionary 

recoupment. 

* * * * * 

(c) If the Secretary imposes a federal 

terrorism policy surcharge as provided 

in paragraph (a) of this section, then the 

required amounts, based upon the 

extent to which payments for the 

Federal Share of Compensation have 

been made by the collection deadlines 

in section 103(e)(7)(E) of the Act, shall 

be collected in accordance with such 

deadlines: 

(1) For any act of terrorism that occurs 

on or before December 31, 2022, the 

Secretary shall collect all required 

amounts by September 30, 2024; 

(2) For any act of terrorism that occurs 

between January 1, 2023 and December 

31, 2023, the Secretary shall collect 35% 

of any required amounts by September 

30, 2024, and the remainder by 

September 30, 2029; and 

(3) For any act of terrorism that occurs 

on or after January 1, 2024, the Secretary 

shall collect all required amounts by 

September 30, 2029. 

■ 11. Amend § 50.103 by revising 

paragraph (a) as to read as follows: 

§ 50.103 Procedure for requesting 

approval of proposed settlements. 

(a) Submission of notice. Insurers 

must request advance approval of a 

proposed settlement by submitting a 

notice of the proposed settlement and 

other required information in writing to 

the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program 

Office or its designated representative. 

The address where notices are to be 

submitted will be available at https://

home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/ 

financial-markets-financial-institutionsand-fiscal-service/federal-insuranceoffice/terrorism-risk-insurance-program 

following any certification of an act of 

terrorism pursuant to section 102(1) of 

the Act. 

* * * * * 

Dated: June 3, 2021. 

Steven E. Seitz, 

Director, Federal Insurance Office, 

performing the Delegable Duties of the 

Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12014 Filed 6–8–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–25–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: Interim final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final 

rule to extend the deadline for former 

members insured under 

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance 

(SGLI) to apply for VGLI coverage 

following separation from service in 

order to address the inability of former 

members directly or indirectly affected 

by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID– 

19) public health emergency to purchase 

VGLI. This rule will be in effect until 

December 11, 2021. 

DATES: This interim final rule is 

effective June 9, 2021. 

Comment date: Comments must be 

received on or before July 9, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted through www.Regulations.gov 

or mailed to Director, VA Insurance 

Service (29), 5000 Wissahickon Avenue, 

Philadelphia, PA 19144. Please note that 

due to circumstances associated with 

the COVID–19 pandemic, VA 

discourages the submission of 

comments by mail. Comments should 

indicate that they are submitted in 

response to ‘‘RIN 2900–AR24 Interim 

Final Rule—Extension of VGLI 

Application Periods in Response to the 

COVID–19 Public Health Emergency.’’ 

Comments received will be available at 

regulations.gov for public viewing, 

inspection or copies. 

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: Section 

1977 of title 38, United States Code, 

authorizes the VGLI program, which 

provides former members separating 

from service with the option of 

converting existing SGLI coverage into 

renewable, 5-year term group life 

insurance coverage in amounts ranging 

from $10,000 to $400,000 based upon 

the amount of SGLI coverage. See 38 

U.S.C. 1967(a), 1968(b)(1)(A), 1977(a), 

(b). Section 9.2 of title 38, Code of 

Federal Regulations, provides the 

effective dates of VGLI coverage and 

application requirements. VGLI 

coverage may be granted if an 

application, the initial premium, and 

evidence of insurability are received 

within 1 year and 120 days following 

termination of duty. 38 CFR 9.2(c). 

Evidence of insurability is not required 

during the initial 240 days following 

termination of duty. Id. 

On October 7, 2020, VA published a 

final rule in the Federal Register (85 FR 

63208) that amended 38 CFR 9.2 by 

adding new paragraph (f)(1) to extend 

by 90 days the time periods under 38 

CFR 9.2(c) during which former 

members may apply for VGLI. Thus, 

former members who submit a VGLI 

application and the initial premium 

within 330 days following separation 

from service will not be required to 

submit evidence of insurability. Former 

members who do not apply for VGLI 

within 330 days following separation 

from service may still receive VGLI 

coverage if they apply for the coverage 

within 1 year and 210 days following 

separation from service and submit the 

initial premium and evidence of 

insurability. The 90-day extensions for 

former members to apply for VGLI are 

in effect from June 11, 2020, through 

June 11, 2021. Between June 11, 2020 

and March 31, 2021, 14,855 former 

members utilized these 90-day 

extensions to purchase VGLI coverage. 

The rationale for applying the rule for 

one year was that VA is obligated to 

manage VGLI according to sound and 

accepted actuarial principles (see 38 

U.S.C. 1977(c), (f), (g)), and that VA 

would be able to utilize this one-year 

time period to gather and analyze data 

on VGLI claims experience to determine 

if it would be actuarially sound to 

further extend the applicability date. 

VGLI is funded by premiums from 

insured Veterans, and VA has 

determined that current premium 

amounts that insured Veterans pay for 

VGLI coverage are sufficient to absorb 

the cost of any additional VGLI claims 

that would be paid due to VA extending 

that application deadline period for an 

additional six months. Considering the 

continuing challenges involved with 

obtaining necessary medical records 

brought about by the COVID–19 

pandemic, and that VA has determined 

that it would be actuarially sound to 

extend VGLI application deadlines, VA 

will be extending the deadline for VGLI 

applications received between June 12, 

2021 and December 11, 2021. This 

interim final rulemaking will continue 

to provide separating service members 

an additional 90 days to apply for VGLI 

during the COVID–19 pandemic and is 

intended to ease some of the financial 

consequences of the COVID–19 


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30542 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

pandemic for former members, 

especially those with disabilities 

incurred while in service, since many of 

these former members would otherwise 

not qualify for a private commercial 

plan of insurance due to such 

disabilities. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

finds that there is good cause to 

dispense with the opportunity for prior 

comment with respect to this rule and 

to make the rule effective upon 

publication. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), the opportunity for advance 

public comment is not required with 

respect to a rulemaking when an 

‘‘agency for good cause finds (and 

incorporates the finding and a brief 

statement of reasons therefor in the 

rules issued) that notice and public 

procedure thereon are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ 

VA previously published an interim 

final rule on June 11, 2020 which 

expires on June 11, 2021. In this interim 

final rulemaking, we are extending the 

prior rulemaking by an additional six 

months. If the interim final rulemaking 

is not published prior to the expiration 

date, then there will be a gap in the 

application deadline extensions for 

those individuals applying for VGLI. 

The need for this interim final rule 

was unanticipated because the data 

pertaining to COVID–19 was 

continuously evolving and VA had to 

evaluate data from an actuarial 

perspective to ensure that another 

extension of the application deadlines 

would not put upward pressure on VGLI 

premiums or otherwise negatively 

impact the financial stability of the 

program. The Secretary finds that it is 

impracticable to delay this regulation 

for the purpose of soliciting public 

comment because former members 

cannot receive VGLI coverage if they do 

not satisfy the application requirements 

within the deadlines established by 38 

CFR 9.2(c). The VGLI statute does not 

authorize retroactive adjudication of 

applications for VGLI coverage, and 

former members who wish to apply for 

VGLI would be significantly harmed if 

these extensions lapse, since many 

former members choose to purchase 

VGLI because these former members are 

unable to qualify for private commercial 

plans of insurance coverage due to 

disabilities incurred while in service. 

Section 553(d) also requires a 30-day 

delayed effective date following 

publication of a rule, except for ‘‘(1) a 

substantive rule which grants or 

recognizes an exemption or relieves a 

restriction; (2) interpretative rules and 

statements of policy; or (3) as otherwise 

provided by the agency for good cause 

found and published with the rule.’’ 

Pursuant to section 553(d)(1), the 

Secretary finds that this interim final 

rule should be effective immediately 

upon publication because this is a 

substantive rule which relieves 

restrictions, i.e., extends deadlines for 

VGLI applications. Also, pursuant to 

section 553(d)(3), the Secretary finds 

that there is good cause to make the rule 

effective upon publication because of 

the impracticability of delaying 

implementation of the regulatory 

amendment, as discussed above. 

For the foregoing reasons, the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs is issuing 

this rule as an interim final rule with an 

immediate effective date. The Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs will consider and 

address comments that are received 

within 30 days of the date this interim 

final rule is published in the Federal 

Register. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess the costs and 

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 interim 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 interim 

final rulemaking are applicable to 

individual Veterans, and applications 

for VGLI, as submitted by such 

individuals, 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 the 

expenditure by State, local, and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

(adjusted annually for inflation) in any 

one year. This interim 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). 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This interim final rule contains no 

provisions constituting a collection of 

information under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501– 

3521). 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number and title for the 

program affected by this document 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 May 24, 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. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Department of Veterans 

Affairs amends 38 CFR part 9 as set 

forth below: 

PART 9—SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP 

LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS’ 

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 9 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1965–1980A, 

unless otherwise noted. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 30543 

1 882 F.3d 1138 (D.C. Cir. 2018). 

2 ‘‘Procedures for Processing Requests to 

Redesignate Areas to Attainment,’’ Memorandum 

from John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality 

Management Division, September 4, 1992 (Calcagni 

Memo). 

3The ozone design value for a monitoring site is 

the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 

maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations. 

The design value for an ozone nonattainment area 

is the highest design value of any monitoring site 

in the area. 

■ 2. Section 9.2 is amended by revising 

paragraph (f)(2) to read as follows: 

§ 9.2 Effective date; applications 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(2) Paragraph (f)(1) of this section 

shall not apply to an application or 

initial premium received after December 

11, 2021. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12017 Filed 6–8–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R03–OAR–2020–0321; FRL–10023– 

81–Region 3] 

Air Plan Approval; Pennsylvania; 1997 

8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards Second 

Maintenance Plan for the Tioga County 

Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a state 

implementation plan (SIP) revision 

submitted by the Commonwealth of 

Pennsylvania. The revision pertains to 

the Commonwealth’s plan, submitted by 

the Pennsylvania Department of 

Environmental Protection (PADEP), for 

maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone 

national ambient air quality standard 

(NAAQS) (referred to as the ‘‘1997 

ozone NAAQS’’) in the Tioga County, 

Pennsylvania area (Tioga County Area). 

EPA is approving these revisions to the 

Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with 

the requirements of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA). 

DATES: This final rule is effective on July 

9, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

Number EPA–R03–OAR–2020–0321. 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 (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure 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 through https://

www.regulations.gov, or please contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section for 

additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adam Yarina, Planning & 

Implementation Branch (3AD30), Air & 

Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 

Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

19103. The telephone number is (215) 

814–2108. Mr. Yarina can also be 

reached via electronic mail at 

Yarina.Adam@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On February 8, 2021 (86 FR 8569), 

EPA published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) for the 

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the 

NPRM, EPA proposed approval of 

Pennsylvania’s plan for maintaining the 

1997 ozone NAAQS in the Tioga County 

Area through July 6, 2027, in 

accordance with CAA section 175A. The 

formal SIP revision was submitted by 

PADEP on March 10, 2020. 

II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA 

Analysis 

On July 6, 2007 (72 FR 36892, 

effective same day), EPA approved a 

redesignation request and maintenance 

plan from PADEP for the Tioga County 

Area. In accordance with CAA section 

175A(b), at the end of the eighth year 

after the effective date of the 

redesignation, the state must also 

submit a second maintenance plan to 

ensure ongoing maintenance of the 

standard for an additional 10 years, and 

in South Coast Air Quality Management 

District v. EPA,1 the D.C. Circuit held 

that this requirement cannot be waived 

for areas—like the Tioga County Area— 

that had been redesignated to 

attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS prior to revocation and that 

were designated attainment for the 2008 

ozone NAAQS. CAA section 175A sets 

forth the criteria for adequate 

maintenance plans. In addition, EPA 

has published longstanding guidance 

that provides further insight on the 

content of an approvable maintenance 

plan, explaining that a maintenance 

plan should address five elements: (1) 

An attainment emissions inventory; (2) 

a maintenance demonstration; (3) a 

commitment for continued air quality 

monitoring; (4) a process for verification 

of continued attainment; and (5) a 

contingency plan.2 PADEP’s March 10, 

2020 submittal fulfills Pennsylvania’s 

obligation to submit a second 

maintenance plan and addresses each of 

the five necessary elements. 

As discussed in the February 8, 2021 

NPRM, EPA allows the submittal of a 

limited maintenance plan (LMP) to meet 

the statutory requirement that the area 

will maintain for the statutory period. 

Qualifying areas may meet the 

maintenance demonstration by showing 

that the area’s design value 3 is well 

below the NAAQS and that the 

historical stability of the area’s air 

quality levels indicates that the area is 

unlikely to violate the NAAQS in the 

future. EPA evaluated PADEP’s March 

10, 2020 submittal for consistency with 

all applicable EPA guidance and CAA 

requirements. EPA found that the 

submittal met CAA section 175A and all 

CAA requirements and proposed 

approval of the LMP for the Tioga 

County Area as a revision to the 

Pennsylvania SIP. 

Other specific requirements of 

PADEP’s March 10, 2020 submittal and 

the rationale for EPA’s proposed action 

are explained in the NPRM and will not 

be restated here. 

III. EPA’s Response to Comments 

Received 

EPA received comments on the 

February 8, 2021 NPRM from two 

commenters. All comments received are 

in the docket for this rulemaking action. 

A summary of the comments and EPA’s 

responses are provided herein. 

The first commenter asserts that EPA 

cannot approve this plan because air 

quality levels were not at or below 85% 

of the NAAQS, and that one of EPA’s 

methods for demonstrating continued 

future maintenance of the NAAQS is 

flawed. 

Comment 1: The commenter asserts 

that EPA cannot approve this plan 

‘‘because the air quality has not been 

below 85% of the NAAQS for the time 

period EPA claims.’’ The commenter 

claims that the following statement in 

EPA’s proposed approval of the limited 

maintenance plan is incorrect: ‘‘The 

Tioga County Area has maintained air 

quality levels below the 1997 ozone 

NAAQS since the Area first attained the 

NAAQS in 2006, and maintained air 

quality levels at or below 85% of the 

NAAQS since 2009.’’ The commenter 

claims that this statement is refuted by 

EPA’s own data, which shows the air 

quality was at 0.071 for the years 2010– 

2012. 


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