DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA)

Statement of Regulatory Priorities

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers benefit programs that recognize the important public obligations to those who served this Nation. VA's regulatory responsibility is almost solely confined to carrying out mandates of the laws enacted by Congress relating to programs for veterans and their families. VA's major regulatory objective is to implement these laws with fairness, justice, and efficiency.

Most of the regulations issued by VA involve at least one of three VA components: The Veterans Benefits Administration, the Veterans Health Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. The primary mission of the Veterans Benefits Administration is to provide high-quality and timely nonmedical benefits to eligible veterans and their dependents. The primary mission of the Veterans Health Administration is to provide high-quality health care on a timely basis to eligible veterans through its system of medical centers, nursing homes, domiciliaries, and outpatient medical and dental facilities. The primary mission of the National Cemetery Administration is to bury eligible veterans, members of the Reserve components, and their dependents in VA National Cemeteries and to maintain those cemeteries as national shrines in perpetuity as a final tribute of a grateful Nation to commemorate their service and sacrifice to our Nation.

VA Regulatory Priorities

VA's regulatory priorities include a special project to undertake a comprehensive review and improvement of its existing regulations. The first portion of this project is devoted to reviewing, reorganizing, and rewriting the VA's compensation and pension regulations found in 38 CFR part 3. The goal of the Regulation Rewrite Project is to improve the clarity and consistency of these regulations to make them easier to find, read, understand, and apply.

A second VA regulatory priority is to implement title I of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, which was signed into law on August 7, 2014. The purpose of the new law is to establish a program to furnish hospital care and medical services through non-VA health care providers to veterans who either cannot be seen within VA's wait time goals or who live far from any VA medical facility. The statute requires that VA publish an interim final rule by November 5, 2014, and VA met this deadline when we published AP24, Expanded Access to Non-VA Care through the Veterans Choice Program.

A third VA regulatory priority is to codify Section 707 of the Act, which gives the Secretary more authority to dismiss members of the Senior Executive Service based on performance or misconduct. As VA announced on October 6, 2014, the Secretary is already implementing that provision. To codify the new statute into the Code of Federal Regulations, VA plans to publish a rulemaking, AP30, Changes to Expedited Senior Executive Removal Authority, as an interim final rule.

VA is also drafting regulation AP29 to implement Section 702 of the Act which requires that public colleges charge in-state tuition for veterans under certain circumstances.

Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations

Pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13563 "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review" (Jan. 18, 2011), the following Regulatory Identifier Numbers (RINs) have been identified as associated with retrospective review and analysis in the Department's final retrospective review of regulations plan. Some of these entries on this list may be completed actions, which do not appear in The Regulatory Plan. However, more information can be found about these completed rulemakings in past publications of the Unified Agenda on Reginfo.gov in the Completed Actions section for that agency. These rulemakings can also be found on Regulations.gov. The final agency plans can be found at: http://www.va.gov/ORPM/docs/RegMgmt_VA_EO13563_RegRevPlan20110810.docx.

*Consolidating Proposed Rules: 2900-AL67, AL70, AL71, AL72, AL74, AL76, AL82, AL83, AL84, AL87, AL88, AL89, AL94, AL95, AM01, AM04, AM05, AM06, AM07, AM16.