2023-02447. Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Reimbursement of Qualifying Adoption Expenses for Certain Veterans

AGENCY:

Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 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 should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. 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. 2900-0860.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise and Integration, Data Governance Analytics (008), 810 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20420, [phone] or email [e-mail]. Please refer to “OMB Control No. 2900-0860” in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority:44 U.S.C. 3501-3521.

Title: Reimbursement of Qualifying Adoption Expenses for Certain Veterans, VA Form 10-10152.

OMB Control Number: 2900-0860.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Abstract: The VA's authority to provide reimbursement of qualifying adoption expenses for certain covered Veterans is found in Section 236 of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018, Public Law 115-141 (March 23, 2018) (the “2018 Act”) and Section 235 of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019, Public Law 115-244 (September 21, 2018) (the “2019 Act”), which renewed and extended in nearly identical form Section 260 of the prior authorizing “2017 Act,” Public Law 114-223. VA has eliminated the section in the regulations that specifies an expiration date in order to accommodate Congressional renewal and extension of this authority under subsequent appropriations law.

Veterans with a service-connected disability that results in their inability to procreate without the use of fertility treatments are authorized to receive reimbursement for certain adoption-related expenses for an adoption that is finalized after September 29, 2016 (the date the 2017 Act was enacted). To implement this benefit, VA uses VA Form 10-10152, paralleling DD 2675, which requires any Veteran requesting reimbursement of qualifying adoption expenses to submit the same types of evidence as required under similar DoD policy. VA Form 10-10152 was previously approved by OMB through the PRA clearance process, and VA now seeks a three-year extension of that approval of this information collection.

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 228 on November 29, 2022, page 73396.

Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

Estimated Annual Burden: 480 hours.

Estimated Average Burden per Respondent: 6 hours.

Frequency of Response: Once annually.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 80.

By direction of the Secretary.

Maribel Aponte,

VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of Enterprise and Integration, Data Governance Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.