Notice2022-14544
Agency Information Collection Activity under OMB Review: Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 8, 2022
Issuing agencies
Veterans Affairs Department
Abstract
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 130 (Friday, July 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 130 (Friday, July 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40884-40885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14544]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
[OMB Control No. 2900-0853]
Agency Information Collection Activity under OMB Review:
Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country
AGENCY: Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995,
this notice announces that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA),
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.
DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection revision should be sent within 30 days of
publication of this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find
this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under
30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function. Refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900-0853.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise
and Integration, Data Governance Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW,
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266-4688 or email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9c4c8dbc0cbccc587c8d9c6c7ddcce9dfc887cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="86ebe7f4efe4e3eaa8e7f6e9e8f2e3c6f0e7a8e1e9f0">[email protected]</span></a>.
Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900-0853'' in any correspondence.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: 38 CFR 21.4260; Public Law 115-407; Public Law 116.135,
sections 1019 and 1020.
Title: Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country.
OMB Control Number: 2900-0853.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: VA will use the information collected to determine if a
program in a foreign country is approvable under
[[Page 40885]]
CFR 21.4260. In order for a review and decision to be made, the VA
needs supporting information from a foreign educational institution.
The Application for Approval of a Program in a Foreign Country, VA Form
22-0976 OMB ICR #2900-0853 is being submitted as a ``Revision''. We are
changing the formatting of the form, as well as changing most of the
existing questions to be written in the form of a statement. There is
no change to the current burden as a result of making these revisions.
Currently, the VA Form 22-0976 questions are written to solicit
YES/NO responses regarding compliance to the current and new provisions
established for foreign institutions. We believe the questions should
be instead written and displayed in the form of a statement to indicate
the VA requirements necessary for the achievement of compliance for
foreign institutions.
Public Law 116-135, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans
Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 amended a number of VA
benefits that requires the revision of VA Form 22-0976 to comply with
these changes. The VA Form 22-0976 is the official application that all
foreign institutions outside of the United States must use to formally
request foreign program approval for GI Bill benefits from VA.
The current form is inadequate to comply with both the current and
new changes in the law. Therefore, the purpose of revising VA Form 22-
0976 is to support the provisions of Public Law 116-135, and the
Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018, Public Law 115-407
necessary in order for foreign institutions to acknowledge and adhered
to the requirement of Section 104 of this law. The provisions of this
law require foreign institutions to allow eligible individuals to stay
enrolled in courses of education pending the receipt of educational
assistance from Department of Veterans Affairs. The institution's
policy must ensure that they will not impose any penalty, including the
assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries, or
other institutional facilities, or make it a requirement that a covered
individual borrow additional funds because of the individual's
inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution
due to the delayed disbursement funding from VA under chapter 31 or 33.
The purpose of revising this form also supports the provisions of
Isakson and ROE, Public Law 116-315, Sections 1019 and 1020. Section
1019 requires schools and training programs to be financially
responsible (School Liability), instead of the student, for payments
which are directly paid to an educational institution pursuant to the
Post-9/11 GI Bill, (i.e., payments paid to an educational institution
pursuant to the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement program and the
Advance payments of the initial educational assistance to an
institution.). Section 1020 limits the type of Advertising, Sales, and
Marketing that schools can conduct and remain eligible for GI Bill
funds. This section would also create a tiered penalty system against
institutions that do not comply with the law and set up a mechanism for
institutions to work with the SAAs and VA on coming back into
compliance, and for institutions to not engage in advertising and/or
enrollment practices of any type, which are erroneous, deceptive, or
misleading either by actual statement, omission, or intimidation.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number. The Federal Register Notice with a
60-day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of
information was published at 87 FR 85 on May 3, 2022, pages 26264 and
26265.
Affected Public: Education Institutions.
Estimated Annual Burden: 338 hours.
Estimated Average Burden Time per Respondent: 20 minutes.
Frequency of Response: Once.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1014.
By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of Enterprise and Integration, Data
Governance Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2022-14544 Filed 7-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
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