Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 112 / Monday, June 10, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 29293

38 U.S.C. 1917’’; by removing

paragraphs (b) and (c).

§ 8.18 [Amended]

40. Newly redesignated § 8.18 is

amended by removing ‘‘as set forth in

§ 8.26(a)’’.

41. The newly redesignated § 8.19 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.19 Conversion of a 5-year level

premium term policy as provided for under

§ 1904 of title 38 U.S.C.

National Service Life Insurance on the

level premium term plan which is in

force may be exchanged for a permanent

plan policy upon written application by

the insured and the payment of the

current monthly premium at the

attained age for the plan of insurance

selected (except where premium waiver

under 38 U.S.C. 1912 is effective). The

reserve (if any) on the policy will be

allowed as a credit on the current

monthly premium except where

premium waiver is effective. Conversion

to an endowment plan may not be made

while the insured is totally disabled.

The conversion will be made without

medical examination, except when

deemed necessary to determine whether

an applicant for conversion to an

endowment plan is totally disabled, and

upon complete surrender of the term

insurance while in force by payment or

waiver of premium.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1904)

42. The newly redesignated § 8.21 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.21 Total disability-speech.

The organic loss of speech shall be

deemed to be total disability under

National Service Life Insurance. Organic

loss of speech will mean the loss of the

ability to express oneself, both by voice

and whisper, through the normal organs

of speech if such loss is caused by

organic changes in such organs. Where

such loss exists, the fact that some

speech can be produced through the use

of an artificial appliance or other organs

of the body will be disregarded.

43. The newly redesignated § 8.22 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.22 Beneficiary and optional settlement

changes.

The insured shall have the right at

any time, and from time to time, and

without the knowledge or consent of the

beneficiary to cancel or change a

beneficiary and/or optional settlement

designation. A change of beneficiary or

optional settlement to be effective must

be made by notice in writing signed by

the insured and forwarded to the

Department of Veterans Affairs by the

insured or designated agent, and must

contain sufficient information to

identify the insured. A beneficiary

designation and an optional settlement

selection, but not a change of

beneficiary, may be made by last will

and testament duly probated. Upon

receipt by the Department of Veterans

Affairs, a valid designation or change of

beneficiary or option shall be deemed to

be effective as of the date of execution.

Any payment made before proper notice

of designation or change of beneficiary

has been received in the Department of

Veterans Affairs shall be deemed to

have been properly made and to satisfy

fully the obligations of the United States

under such insurance policy to the

extent of such payments.

§ 8.23 [Amended]

44. Newly redesignated § 8.23 is

amended by removing ‘‘of §§ 3.1(j),

3.204, 3.205 (a) and (b), 3.209, 3.211,

and 3.212’’ and adding, in its place,

‘‘found in Part 3’’.

§ 8.25 [Amended]

45. In newly redesignated § 8.25,

paragraph (b) is removed; and paragraph

(a) is amended by removing ‘‘(a) Except

as provided in paragraph (b) of this

section where’’ and adding, in its place,

‘‘Where’’.

§ 8.27 [Amended]

46. Newly redesignated § 8.27 is

amended by removing ‘‘§ 8.64(b)’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘§ 8.25’’.

47. The newly redesignated § 8.29 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.29 Options.

Insurance will be paid in a lump sum

only when selected by the insured

during his or her lifetime or by his or

her last will and testament.

§ 8.30 [Amended]

48. In newly redesignated § 8.30, in

the heading, ‘‘and limited convertible 5-

year level premium plan’’ is removed; in

paragraph (a), in the first sentence,

‘‘except as provided in paragraph (c) of

this section,’’ is removed; and ‘‘or

limited convertible 5-year level

premium term plan’’ is removed; in

paragraph (b)(3)(ii), ‘‘(§ 8.1)’’ is removed

and ‘‘(8.0)’’ is added in its place;

paragraph (c) is removed

49. Newly redesignated § 8.32 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.32 Application for reinstatement of

total disability income provision.

A total disability income provision

which is lapsed may be reinstated if the

insured meets the same requirements as

those for reinstatement of the policy to

which the total disability income

provision is attached; except that in no

event shall the requirement of a health

statement or other medical evidence be

waived in connection with the

reinstatement of the total disability

income provision.

50. Newly redesignated § 8.33 is

revised to read as follows:

§ 8.33 Policy provisions.

Contracts of insurance authorized to

be made in accordance with the terms

and conditions set forth in the forms

and policy plans are subject in all

respects to the applicable provisions of

title 38 U.S.C., amendments and

supplements thereto, and applicable

Department of Veterans Affairs

regulations promulgated pursuant

thereto, all of which together with the

insured’s application, required evidence

of health, including physical

examination, if required, and tender of

premium shall constitute the contract.

[FR Doc. 96–14365 Filed 6–7–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

38 CFR Part 17

RIN 2900–AI07

Autopsies

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends the

autopsies regulations. The regulations in

effect prior to the effective date of this

document set forth a mechanism for

informing the appropriate United States

Attorney through a VA Regional

Counsel’s Office of a death at a VA

facility when it is ‘‘suspected that the

death resulted from crime or the cause

of death is unknown.’’ This merely was

intended to apply when there was a

suspicion that a death resulted from a

crime. The words ‘‘or the cause of death

is unknown’’ are removed based on the

determination that they are not

necessary to accomplish the intended

purpose and could be misunderstood to

mean that the autopsy procedures were

intended to apply when there is no

suspicion of a crime. This document

also changes the term ‘‘coroner’’ to

‘‘medical examiner/coroner’’ to reflect

that in the context of the regulations it

is appropriate for both names to be used

interchangeably.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 10, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary M. Stitak, Staff Assistant to

Director, Pathology and Laboratory

Medicine Service (111F), Patient Care

Services, Veterans Health

Administration, Department of Veterans

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20420, (202) 565–7075.
29294 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 112 / Monday, June 10, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final

rule consists of nonsubstantive changes

and, therefore, is not subject to the

notice and comment and effective date

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553.

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

(RFA), 5. U.S.C. 601–602. This final rule

would not cause a significant effect on

any entities since it does not contain

any substantive provisions. Therefore,

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this

amendment is exempt from the initial

and final regulatory flexibility analysis

requirements of sections 603 and 604.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance program numbers are 64008,

64009, and 64010.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 17

Administrative practice and

procedure, Alcohol abuse, Alcoholism,

Claims, Day care, Dental health, Drug

abuse, Foreign relations, Government

contracts, Grant programs-health, Grant

programs-veterans, Health care, Health

facilities, Health professions, Health

records, Homeless, Medical and dental

schools, Medical devices, Medical

research, Mental health programs,

Nursing homes, Philippines, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Scholarships and fellowships, Travel

and transportation expenses, Veterans.

Approved: May 31, 1996.

Jesse Brown,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 38 CFR part 17 is amended as

set forth below:

PART 17—MEDICAL

1. The authority citation for part 17

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1721, unless

otherwise noted.

§ 17.170 [Amended]

2. In § 17.170, paragraph (c) is

amended by removing ‘‘or the cause of

death is unknown’’, and paragraph (d) is

amended by removing ‘‘coroner’’ each

time it appears and adding, in its place,

‘‘medical examiner/coroner’’.

[FR Doc. 96–14362 Filed 6–7–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

38 CFR Part 21

RIN 2900–AH31

Educational Assistance Programs and

Service Members Occupational

Conversion and Training Act Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends the

educational assistance regulations and

the Service Members Occupational

Conversion and Training Act

(SMOCTA) regulations. It restates

statutory provisions of the Veterans’

Benefits Improvement Act of 1994 and

the National Defense Authorization Act

for Fiscal Year 1995. It also makes

changes to set forth statutory

interpretations of the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA), to reflect current

organizational structure within VA, and

to provide clarification. These changes

affect the Survivors’ and Dependents’

Educational Assistance program, the

Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty

program, the Montgomery GI Bill—

Selected Reserve program, the SMOCTA

program, and the Post-Vietnam Era

Veterans’ Educational Assistance

program (VEAP).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is

effective June 10, 1996. For more

information concerning the application

of the provisions of the final rule, see

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June

C. Schaeffer, Assistant Director for

Policy and Program Administration,

Education Service, Veterans Benefits

Administration, (202) 273–7187.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document amends regulations in 38 CFR

Part 21. It amends educational

assistance regulations concerning the

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational

Assistance program in subpart C and the

Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty

program in subpart K. Also, this

document makes changes to the

administrative provisions in subpart D

that affect the Survivors’ and

Dependents’ Educational Assistance

program, the Montgomery GI Bill—

Active Duty program, the Montgomery

GI Bill—Selected Reserve program, and

VEAP. Further, this document amends

the SMOCTA regulations in subpart F–

3.

The Veterans’ Benefits Improvement

Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103–446) contains

many provisions that affect the

Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty

program. These include making

vocational flight training permanently

available under the Montgomery GI

Bill—Active Duty program; permitting

approval of alternative teacher

certification programs for training under

the Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty

program; eliminating VA’s authority to

functionally supervise State approving

agencies; restricting approved

correspondence courses to accredited

courses; and permitting approval of

programs of education offered by foreign

educational institutions when those

programs include courses offered away

from the institution’s main campus.

Accordingly, the regulations in subparts

D and K are amended to incorporate the

statutory changes.

Pursuant to Pub. L. 103–446, the

provisions concerning alternative

teacher certification do not apply to the

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational

Assistance program, and regulations in

subpart C governing that program are

revised to clarify that fact. The

provisions of Pub. L. 103–446 also

provide that certain recipients of

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational

Assistance in the Philippines who were

being paid at the rate equivalent to 50

cents on the dollar in Philippine pesos

will now be paid in U.S. dollars. The

regulations in subpart C are amended

accordingly. We also made various

changes to SMOCTA regulations in

subpart F–3 to reflect the statutory

changes made by Pub. L. 103–446. In

this regard, the SMOCTA regulations are

amended by eliminating the prohibition

against training programs that lasted

more than 18 months, by eliminating

provisions that required a two week

wait before a veteran could begin a

training program, and by adding an

aggregate limit of not more than $10,000

or $12,000, as applicable, that could be

paid to employers when a trainee was

in more than one training program.

The National Defense Authorization

Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Pub. L. 103–

337) contains provisions permitting

additional members of the Coast Guard

to qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill—

Active Duty program. The regulations in

subpart K are amended to reflect the

statutory change.

VA is prohibited by statute from

approving the enrollment of an eligible

veteran in a course if 85% or more of

the students enrolled in the course are

VA-supported. In this regard, vocational

flight training is now a permanent part

of the Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty

program, the Montgomery GI Bill—

Selected Reserve program, and VEAP.

The regulations are amended by

providing that solo flight training and

training in flight simulators are to be

included in the calculations for

determining whether the 85%–15%

requirement has been met in flight

courses. This is necessary since in our