Department of Veterans Affairs May 19, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to amend its regulations governing Federal grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries. We propose to implement through regulation new statutory authority to provide grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of Tribal Organization veterans cemeteries, as authorized by Section 403 of the ``Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006'' (the Act). The Act requires VA to administer grants to Tribal Organizations in the same manner and under the same conditions as grants to States. The proposed rule would make non-substantive changes to the part heading of part 39 and the name of the State Cemetery Grants Service to more accurately reflect that VA awards veteran cemetery grants to States and Tribal Organizations. The proposed rule would establish criteria to guide VA's decisions on granting Tribal Organization requests to obtain grants for establishing, expanding, and improving veterans cemeteries that are or will be owned and operated by a Tribal Organization. The proposed rule would also expand VA's preapplication requirement to all veterans cemetery grants as a means to promote consistency and communication in the grant application process. Further, the proposed rule would revise VA regulations to address structural differences between Tribal Organizations and States.