Department of Veterans Affairs September 1, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rulemaking adopts as final, with changes, an interim final rule that amended the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations governing presumptive service connection based on presumed exposures to fine particulate matter. The amendment was necessary to provide health care, services, and benefits to Gulf War Veterans who were exposed to fine particulate matter associated with deployment to the Southwest Asia theater of operations, as well as Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti, and Uzbekistan. The amendment eased the evidentiary burden of Gulf War Veterans who file claims with VA for asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis, to include rhinosinusitis.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its medical regulations and State Veterans Home (State home) regulations. VA proposes to update the criteria used by VA in determining whether a veteran has no adequate means of support relative to eligibility for domiciliary care, and to shift the focus of the regulatory language from the veterans' ability to pursue substantially gainful employment to a broader consideration of available support systems and medical conditions or disabilities that might impact the veteran's ability to live independently. In addition, we propose amending our State home regulations to implement VA's authority to waive certain eligibility requirements for receipt of State home domiciliary care per diem.