Department of Veterans Affairs October 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is correcting a Notice that published in the Federal Register on September 12, 2018 which provides information that podiatrists be paid from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) physician and dentist pay system.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), is seeking nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment as a member of the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation (hereinafter referred to as ``the Committee'').

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and it includes the actual data collection instrument.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is adopting as final an interim final rule published on June 19, 2015, to amend its adjudication regulation governing individuals presumed to have been exposed to certain herbicides. Specifically, VA expanded the regulation to include an additional group consisting of individuals who performed service in the Air Force or Air Force Reserve under circumstances in which they had regular and repeated contact with C-123 aircraft known to have been used to spray an herbicide agent (``Agent Orange'') during the Vietnam era. In addition, the regulation established a presumption that members of this group who later develop an Agent Orange presumptive condition were disabled during the relevant period of service, thus establishing that service as ``active military, naval, or air service.'' The effect of this action is to presume herbicide exposure for these individuals and to create a presumption that the individuals who are presumed exposed to herbicides during reserve service also meet the statutory definition of ``veteran'' (hereinafter, ``veteran status'') for VA purposes and eligibility for some VA benefits.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its medical regulations to establish standards for VA clinical laboratories. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established standards for the staffing, management, procedures, and oversight of clinical laboratories that perform testing used for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or health assessment of, human beings. VA is required, in consultation with HHS, to establish standards equal to those applicable to other clinical laboratories. As a matter of policy and practice VA has applied HHS standards to its VA laboratory operations, and this proposed rule would formalize this practice. The proposed rule would establish quality standards for laboratory testing performed on specimens from humans, such as blood, body fluid and tissue, for the purpose of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease, or assessment of health. Specifically, it would address how VA applies regulations as the controlling standards for VA medical facility laboratories.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and it includes the actual data collection instrument.