STANDARDS FOR COLLECTION, COMPROMISE, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF COLLECTION EFFORT, AND REFERRAL OF CIVIL CLAIMS FOR MONEY OR PROPERTY

1.900 Prescription of standards. 1.901 Omissions not a defense.

1.902 Fraud, antitrust and tax claims excluded.

1.903 Settlement, waiver, or compromise under other statutory or regulatory authority.

1.904 Conversion claims.

1.905 Subdivision of claims not authorized. 1.906 Required administrative proceedings.

STANDARDS for COLLECTION OF CLAIMS

1.910 Aggressive collection action. 1.911 Demand for payment.

1.911a Collection of debts owed by reason of participation in a benefits program. 1.912 Collection by offset. 1.912a Collection by offset. 1.913

Personal interview with debtor. 1.914 Contact with debtor's employing

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THE UNITED STATES FLAG FOR BURIAL PURPOSES

§ 1.10 Eligibility for and disposition of the United States flag for burial purposes. (a) Eligibility for burial flags-(1) Persons eligible. (i) A veteran of any war, of Mexican border service, or of service after January 31, 1955, discharged or released from active duty under conditions other than dishonorable. (For the purpose of this section, the term "Mexican border service" means active military, naval, or air service during the period beginning on January 1, 1911, and ending on April 5, 1917, in Mexico, on the borders thereof, or in the waters adjacent thereto.)

(ii) A peacetime veteran discharged or released, before June 27, 1950, from the active military, naval, or air service, under conditions other than dishonorable, after serving at least one enlistment, or for a disability incurred or aggravated in line of duty.

(iii) Any person who has died while in military or naval service of the United States after May 27, 1941. This subdivision authorizes and requires the furnishing of a flag only where the military or naval service does not furnish a flag immediately. The only cases wherein a flag is not supplied immediately are those of persons whose remains are interred outside the continental limits of the United States, or whose remains are not recovered or are recovered and not identified.

(iv) Any person who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to the military order of the President of the United States, dated July 26, 1941, including among such military forces organized guerrilla forces under commanders appointed, designated, or subsequently recognized by the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, or other competent authority in the Army of the United States, and who dies after separation from such service under conditions other than dishonorable, on or after April 25, 1951. (38 U.S.C. 107(a)).

(b) Disposition of burial flags. (1) When a flag is actually used to drape

the casket of a deceased veteran, it must be delivered to the next of kin following interment. Where the flag is not claimed by the next of kin it may be given upon request to a close friend or associate of the deceased veteran. Such action will constitute final and conclusive determination of rights under this section. (38 U.S.C. 901.)

(2) The phrase "next of kin" for the purpose of disposing of the flag used for burial purposes is defined as follows, with preference to entitlement in the order listed:

(i) Widow or widower.

(ii) Children, according to age (minor child may be issued a flag on application signed by guardian).

(iii) Parents, including adoptive, stepparents, and foster parents.

(iv) Brothers or sisters, including brothers or sisters of the halfblood. (v) Uncles or aunts.

(vi) Nephews or nieces.

(vii) Others-cousins, grandparents, etc. (but not in-laws).

(3) The phrase "close friend or associate" for the purpose of disposing of the burial flag means any person who because of his or her relationship with the deceased veteran arranged for the burial or assisted in the burial arrangements. In the absence of a person falling in either of these categories, any person who establishes by evidence that he or she was a close friend or associate of the veteran may be furnished the burial flag. Where more than one request for the burial flag is received and each is accompanied by satisfactory evidence of relationship or association, the head of the field station having jurisdiction of the burial flag quota will determine which applicant is the one most equitably entitled to the burial flag.

(72 Stat. 1114, 1169, as amended; 38 U.S.C. 210, 901)

[13 FR 6999, Nov. 27, 1948, as amended at 20 FR 8350, Nov. 8, 1955; 24 FR 10106, Dec. 15, 1959; 31 FR 4959, Mar. 26, 1966; 42 FR 27245, May 27, 1977]

QUARTERS FOR VETERANS ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYEES OVERSEAS

§1.11 Quarters for Veterans Administration employees in Government-owned or rented buildings overseas.

Pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5912, a U.S. citizen employee of the Veterans Administration permanently stationed in a foreign country may be furnished, without cost to him, living quarters, including heat, fuel, and light, in a Government-owned or rented building. When in the interest of the service and when administratively feasible, an agreement may be entered into by the Chief Benefits Director or his designee with another Federal agency, which is authorized to furnish quarters, to provide such quarters for Veterans Administration employees under the provisions of 31 U.S.C. 686. Quarters provided will be in lieu of any living quarters allowance to which the employee may otherwise be entitled.

(72 Stat. 1114; 38 U.S.C. 210) [33 FR 362, Jan. 10, 1968]

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

§ 1.12 Public participation in regulatory development.

Act

It is the policy of the Veterans' Administration to afford the public general notice, published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, of proposed regulatory development, and an opportunity to participate in the regulatory development in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure (APA). All written comments received will be available for public inspection. Exceptions to the policy of permitting public participation in the regulatory development may be authorized by the Administrator or one of his Deputies if adequately justified and concurred in by the General Counsel. Such exceptions, unless public comment is required by statute, may be recommended when: (a) The proposed regulations consist of interpretative rules, general statements of policy, or rules of Veterans' Administration organization procedure or practice, or (b) when the Veterans' Administration for good cause finds (and incorporates the find

ing and a brief statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. (5 U.S.C. 553).

(5 U.S.C. 553; 38 U.S.C. 210) [37 FR 7157, Apr. 11, 1972]

WORDS AND STATEMENTS DENOTING GENDER

§ 1.13 Statement of VA publications and communications in a manner that does not seem to preclude benefits for female veterans, dependents or beneficiaries.

Pursuant to 1 U.S.C. 1, in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise, words importing the masculine gender include the feminine as well. But in formulating any VA publication and in any communications (within the agency or to beneficiaries or members of the public), words and statements denoting gender shall avoid any appearance of seeming to preclude benefits for female veterans, dependents, or beneficiaries. For example the use of more precise terms such as "his or her" or of "the veteran's" will avoid giving grounds for the misconceptions which may arise from the use of the term "his" when in fact both sexes are eligible for the benefits under discussion. Similar care will be exercised in the use of other words and phrases denoting gender.

(72 Stat. 1114; 38 U.S.C. 210) [39 FR 12248, Apr. 4, 1974]

PROGRAM EVALUATION

§1.15 Standards for program evaluation. (a) The Veterans Administration will evaluate all programs authorized under title 38, United States Code. These evaluations will be conducted so as to determine each program's effectiveness in achieving its stated goals and in achieving such goals in relation to their cost. In addition, these evaluations will determine each program's impact on related programs and its structure and mechanism for delivery of services. All programs will be evaluated on a continuing basis and all eval

uations will be conducted by Veterans Administration staff assigned to an organizational entity other than those responsible for program administration. These evaluations will be conducted with sufficient frequency to allow for an assessment of the continued effectiveness of the programs.

(b) The program evaluation will be designed to determine if the existing program supports the intent of the law. A program evaluation must identify goals and objectives that support this intent, contain a method to measure fulfillment of the objectives, ascertain the degree to which goals and objectives are met, and report the findings and conclusions to Congress, as well as make them available to the public.

(c) The goals must be clear, specific, and measurable. To be clear they must be readily understood, free from doubt or confusion, and specific goals must be explicitly set forth. They must be measurable by objective means. These means can include use of existing record systems, observations, and information from other sources.

(d) All program evaluations require a detailed evaluation plan. The evaluation plan must clearly state the objectives of the program evaluation, the methodology to be used, resources to be committed, and a timetable of major phases.

(e) Each program evaluation must be objective. It must report the accomplishments as well as the shortcomings of the program in an unbiased way. The program evaluation must have findings that give decision-makers information which is of a level of detail and importance to enable decisions to be made affecting either direction or operation. The information in the program evaluation must be timely, and must contain information of suficient currency that decisions based on the data in the evaluation can be made with a high degree of confidence in tha data.

(f) Each program evaluation requires a systematic research design to collect the data necessary to measure the objectives. This research design should conform to the following:

(1) Rationale. The research design for each evaluation should contain a

specific rationale and should be structured to determine possible cause and effect relationships.

(2) Relevancy. It must deal with issues currently existing within the program, within the Agency, and within the environment in which the program operates.

(3) Validity. The degree of statistical validity should be assessed within the research design. Alternative inIclude an assessment of cost of data collection vs. results necessary to support decisions.

(4) Reliability. Use of the same research design by others should yield the same findings.

(g) The final program evaluation report will be reviewed for comments and concurrence by relevant organizations within the Veterans Administration, but in no case should this review unreasonably delay the results of the evaluation. Where disagreement exists, the dissenting organization's position should be summarized for a decision by the Administrator.

(h) The final program evaluation report will be forwarded, with approved recommendations, to the concerned organization. An action plan to accomplish the approved recommendations will be forwarded for evaluation by the evaluating entity.

(i) Program evaluation results should be integrated to the maximum extent possible into Veterans Administration plans and budget submissions to ensure continuity with other Veterans Admninstration management processes. (38 U.S.C. 219, Pub. L. 93508)

[47 FR 53735, Nov. 29, 1982]

trol of the Veterans Administration (and not under the charge and control of the General Services Administration) and to all persons entering in or on such property. The head of the facility is charged with the responsibility for the enforcement of these rules and regulations, and he shall cause these rules and regulations to be posted in a conspicuous place on the property.

(a) Closing property to public. The head of the facility, or his designee, shall establish visiting hours for the convenience of the public and shall establish specific hours for the transaction of business with the public. The property shall be closed to the public during other than the hours so established. In emergency situations, the property shall be closed to the public when reasonably necessary to ensure the orderly conduct of Government business. The decision to close a property during an emergency shall be made by the head of the facility or his designee. The head of the facility or his designee shall have authority to designate areas within a facility as closed to the public.

(b) Recording presence. Admission to property during periods when such property is closed to the public will be limited to persons authorized by the head of the facility or his designee. Such persons may be required to sign a register and/or display identification documents when requested to do so by the hospital police, or other authorized individual. No person, without authorization, shall enter upon or remain on such property while the property is closed. Failure to leave such premises by unauthorized persons shall constitute an offense under this paragraph.

(c) Preservation of property. The improper disposal of rubbish on property; the spitting on property; the creation of any hazard on property to persons or things; the throwing of articles of any kind from a building; the climbing upon the roof or any part of the building, without permission; or the willful destruction, damage, or removal of Government property or any part thereof, without authorization, is prohibited. The destruction, mutilation, defacement, injury, or removal of