Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2002/12/06/02-30779/vocational-training-for-certain-children-of-vietnam-veterans-covered-birth-defects-and-spina-bifida
Timestamp: 2017-08-19 06:48:18
Document Index: 696677444

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 21', 'art 21', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', 'art 21', 'art 21', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200917', '§\u200921', '§\u200921', '§\u200921']

A Rule by the Veterans Affairs Department on 12/06/2002
67 FR 72563
72563-72573 (11 pages)
02-30779
Services and Assistance to Program Particpants
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/02-30779 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/02-30779
This document establishes regulations regarding provision of vocational training and rehabilitation for women Vietnam veterans' children with covered birth defects. It revises the current regulations regarding vocational training and rehabilitation for Vietnam veterans' children suffering from spina bifida to also encompass vocational training and rehabilitation for women Vietnam veterans' children with certain other birth defects. This is necessary to provide vocational training and rehabilitation for such children in accordance with recently enacted legislation.
Effective Date: December 6, 2002.
Applicability Date: This rule is applicable retroactively to December 1, 2001, for benefits added by Public Law 106-419. For more information concerning the dates of applicability, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
Charles A. Graffam, Consultant, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service (282), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20420; (202) 273-7344.
In a document published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2002 (67 FR 215), we proposed to amend VA's “Vocational Rehabilitation and Education” regulations (38 CFR part 21) by revising the regulations in part 21, subpart M (§§ 21.8010 through 21.8410) concerning the provision of vocational training and rehabilitation. These regulations had only concerned the provision of vocational training and rehabilitation for Vietnam veterans' children with spina bifida. We proposed to revise the regulations by adding women Vietnam veterans' children with covered birth defects to the existing regulatory framework, as well as to correct certain references and to make other nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity.
Prior to the enactment of Public Law 106-419 on November 1, 2000, the provisions of 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 only Start Printed Page 72564concerned benefits for children with spina bifida who were born to Vietnam veterans. Effective December 1, 2001, section 401 of Public Law 106-419 amended 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 to add benefits for women Vietnam veterans' children with certain birth defects (referred to as “covered birth defects”).
Two companion proposed rule documents concerning the provision of benefits for certain children of Vietnam veterans under that legislation were also set forth in the January 2, 2002, issue of the Federal Register. One concerned monetary allowances and the identification of covered birth defects (RIN: 2900-AK67) (67 FR 200). The other concerned the provision of health care (RIN: 2900-AK88) (67 FR 209). With respect to the first document, we published a final rule entitled “Monetary Allowances for Certain Children of Vietnam Veterans; Identification of Covered Birth Defects” in the July 31, 2002, issue of the Federal Register (67 FR 49585).
For the proposed rule on vocational training and rehabilitation, we provided, except for the information collection provisions, a thirty-day period for public comments, which ended on February 1, 2002. Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, we provided for the information collections in the document a 60-day comment period, which ended on March 4, 2002. We received comments from the Spina Bifida Association of America and from two individuals. None of the comments concerned the information collections.
A comment was received from the Spina Bifida Association of America that discussed the importance of higher education for individuals with disabilities and requested that the regulations be changed to offer “48 months of either vocational or educational assistance.” No changes are made based on this comment.
With respect to this commenter's request to include educational assistance, the provisions in proposed 38 CFR 21.8010, 21.8050, and 21.8120 appropriately reflect the legal limits on VA's authority to consider a program of education at an institution of higher learning to be within or outside the scope of vocational training benefits for children who are eligible for benefits under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18. Under the provisions concerning vocational training for children eligible for benefits under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18, 38 U.S.C. 1804(c)(1)(B) provides that a vocational training program “may include a program of education at an institution of higher learning if the Secretary determines that the program of education is predominantly vocational in content.” We have no other legal authority to provide benefits for a program of education at an institution of higher learning for these children of Vietnam veterans.
With respect to the commenter's request that 48 months be the length of vocational assistance under these regulations, the proposed regulations in 38 CFR 21.8016, 21.8020, and 21.8170 appropriately reflect the statutory limits on the length of vocational assistance. Under 38 U.S.C. 1804(d)(1) and 1814, 24 months is the maximum length of a vocational training program for these children of Vietnam veterans, except that the Secretary may grant an extension for up to 24 additional months when the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 1804(d)(2) are met.
One of the individual commenters felt that the U.S. government is displaying a bias in favor of women veterans in this regulation and that the hidden effect of Agent Orange may also have remained dormant in men's systems and produced chromosomal disorders in their children. No changes are made based on this comment. Public Law 106-419, which was based on a comprehensive health study conducted by VA of 8,280 women Vietnam-era veterans, provides benefits specifically for women Vietnam veterans' children with certain birth defects. We have no legal authority to award the statute's new vocational training benefits to children of male Vietnam veterans.
The other individual commenter suggested adding to 38 CFR 21.8370 a new paragraph concerning payment of transportation expenses that would constitute a substantive change in the provisions of § 21.8370 concerning those payments. The proposed rule in § 21.8370 has the same language concerning transportation expenses, with the exception of nonsubstantive changes, as in the current § 21.8370 concerning vocational training and rehabilitation for Vietnam veterans' children with spina bifida. We believe that a substantive change to the provisions concerning payment of transportation expenses for beneficiaries under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 is beyond the scope of this rulemaking.
That same commenter also suggested changing the first sentence of proposed 38 CFR 21.8370(a), which states that “VA will authorize transportation services * * *”, by replacing the word “will” with “shall” to show the obligation of VA. The commenter noted that “shall” is used in § 21.8370 as in effect prior to this final rule. In our view, adopting the proposed rule's change from “shall” to “will” would not change the meaning of the sentence. However, we have concluded that neither term is necessary in this context, and we are making in this final rule a nonsubstantive change from the proposed rule for purposes of clarification to state that “VA authorizes transportation services * * *. ”
We are also making nonsubstantive changes from the proposed rule for purposes of clarity or to remove obsolete nomenclature.
Based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule and in this document, we are adopting the provisions of the proposed rule as a final rule without change, except that we are making the changes discussed above and we are adding a statement following each of the sections in the rule with information collection requirements to reflect the approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the information collection requirements contained in those sections.
This rule provides for new benefits and otherwise merely makes nonsubstantive changes. To avoid delay in furnishing the new benefits, we find that there is good cause to make this final rule effective without a 30-day delay of its effective date. Accordingly, under 5 U.S.C. 553, there is no need for delay in this rule's effective date.
This rule is applicable retroactively to the statutory effective date of December 1, 2001, for benefits added by section 401 of Public Law 106-419. This rule is otherwise applicable on the rule's effective date, December 6, 2002, for the already existing program of vocational training and rehabilitation for Vietnam veterans' children determined under 38 CFR 3.814 to suffer from spina bifida.
Information collection requirements associated with this final rule in 38 CFR 21.8014 and 21.8370 have been approved by OMB under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and have been assigned OMB control numbers 2900-0579 and 2900-0580. The information collection requirements of § 21.8014 concern applications for vocational training benefits for certain children of Vietnam veterans. The information collection requirements of § 21.8370 concern requests for transportation expense reimbursement. (In addition, OMB has approved VA's request to discontinue the information collection approval for 38 CFR 21.8016 concerning an election between benefits because its information collection requirements Start Printed Page 72565affect fewer than 10 respondents annually.)
This final rule has been reviewed by OMB under Executive Order 12866.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs hereby certifies that this 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. It is estimated that there are only 1,200 Vietnam veterans' children who suffer from spina bifida and women Vietnam veteran's children who suffer from spina bifida or other covered birth defects. They are widely dispersed geographically, and the services provided to them would not have a significant impact on any small businesses. Moreover, the institutions capable of providing appropriate services and vocational training to Vietnam veteran's children with covered birth defects or spina bifida are generally large capitalization facilities. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this rule is exempt from the initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses requirements of sections 603 and 604.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program number for benefits affected by this rule is 64.128. There is no Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program number for other benefits affected by this rule.
Approved: September 25, 2002.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 38 CFR part 21 is amended as set forth below:
In part 21, subpart M is revised to read as follows:
Subpart M—Vocational Training and Rehabilitation for Certain Children of Vietnam Veterans—Spina Bifida and Covered Birth Defects General
21.8014
21.8072
21.8074
21.8080
21.8082
21.8210
21.8280
21.8310
21.8340
Employment assistance means employment counseling, placement and Start Printed Page 72566post-placement services, and personal and work adjustment training.
(b) Time for filing. For a child claiming eligibility based on having spina bifida, an application under this subpart may be filed at any time after September 30, 1997. For a child claiming eligibility based on a covered birth defect, an application under this subpart may be filed at any time after November 30, 2001. (The Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements in this section under control number 2900-0579)
(b) Reelections of benefits—chapter 35. An eligible child receiving benefits under this subpart or under 38 U.S.C. chapter 35 may change his or her election at any time. A reelection between benefits under this subpart and under 38 U.S.C. chapter 35 must be prospective, however, and may not result in an eligible child receiving benefits under both programs for the same period of training.
(b) Services and assistance. An eligible child may receive the services and assistance described in § 21.8050(a). The following sections in subpart A of this part apply to the provision of these services and assistance in a manner comparable to their application for a veteran under the 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 program:
(c) Requirements to receive employment services and assistance. VA will provide employment services and assistance under paragraph (b) of this section only if the eligible child: Start Printed Page 72567
(e) Program entitlement usage.—(1) Basic entitlement period. An eligible child will be entitled to receive 24 months of full-time training, services, and assistance (including employment assistance) or the part-time equivalent, as part of a vocational training program.
(4) Evaluation of employability by professional staff of an educational or rehabilitation facility, for a period not to exceed 30 days.
(b) Vocational training program. VA will provide either directly or by contract, agreement, or arrangement with another entity, and at no cost to the beneficiary, the vocationally oriented training, other services, and assistance that VA approves for the individual child's program under this subpart. Authorization and payment for approved services will be made in a comparable manner to that VA provides Start Printed Page 72568for veterans under the 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 program.
(ii) Receipt of extended evaluation-type services and training, or services and training to enable the child to prepare for vocational training or employment, if a veteran in a 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 program would have received a subsistence allowance while Start Printed Page 72569receiving the same type of services and training; and
(ii) Before the end of any allowable extension under §§ 21.8020(e)(2) and 21.8072 if the new vocational goal in another field or occupational family was identified during the basic 24-month entitlement period.
(1) Remedial, deficiency, and refresher training; and Start Printed Page 72570
(3) Referral for medical care and treatment pursuant to §§ 17.900 through 17.905 of this title for the spina bifida, covered birth defects, or related conditions;
(6) Orientation, adjustment, mobility and related services; and
(1) Section 21.216(a)(3) pertaining to special modifications, including automobile adaptive equipment; Start Printed Page 72571
(1) Performing the duties of the occupation for which VA provided training, services, or assistance, or in a related occupation; or
Start Printed Page 72572
(c) Effect on entitlement. During a leave of absence, VA suspends the running of the basic 24-month period of entitlement, plus any extensions thereto, until the child resumes the program.
(a) General. VA authorizes transportation services necessary for an eligible child to pursue a vocational training program. The sections in subpart A of this part that are referred to in this paragraph apply to children under this subpart in a manner comparable to the way they apply to veterans under the 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 program. Transportation services include:
(c) Payment for commuting expenses for training and seeking employment. VA may pay for transportation during the period of vocational training and the first 3 months the child receives employment services. VA may reimburse the child's costs, not to exceed $200 per month, of commuting to and from training and seeking employment if he or she requests this assistance and VA determines, after careful examination of the child's situation and subject to the limitations in paragraph (d) of this section, that the child would be unable to pursue training or employment without this assistance. VA may:
(f) Nonduplication. If a child is eligible for reimbursement of transportation services both under this section and under § 21.154, the child will receive only the benefit under § 21.154.
(The Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements in this section under control number 2900-0580)
The following regulations are applicable to children in this program in a manner comparable to that provided for veterans under the 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 program: §§ 21.380, 21.412, 21.414 (except (c), (d), and (e)), 21.420, and 21.430.
The Secretary delegates authority for making findings and decisions under 38 Start Printed Page 72573U.S.C. 1804 and 1814 and the applicable regulations, precedents, and instructions for the program under this subpart to the Under Secretary for Benefits and to VR&E supervisory or non-supervisory staff members.
[FR Doc. 02-30779 Filed 12-5-02; 8:45 am]