Department of Veterans Affairs January 30, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing Federal grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries. This final rule implements 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. This final rule makes 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 final rule establishes 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 final rule also expands VA's preapplication requirement to all veterans cemetery grants as a means to promote consistency and communication in the grant application process. Further, the final rule revises VA regulations to address structural differences between Tribal Organizations and States.