Appeals Regulations: Title for Members of the Board of Veterans' Appeals-Rescission

In a document published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2000 (65 FR 55461), we amended the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Appeals Regulations by providing that a Member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) may also be known as a Veterans Law Judge. Consistent with legal authority, we published the amendment without providing an opportunity for notice-and-comment. On October 27, 2000, six veterans service organizations wrote to the Acting Secretary, opposing the amendment and arguing that they should have been provided an opportunity to comment before we made such a change. Under these circumstances, we agreed to rescind the amendment and propose to reestablish the amendment. Accordingly, this document rescinds the amendment. In a companion document in the "Proposed Rules" section of this issue of the Federal Register, we are proposing to amend the regulations to again provide that a Member of the Board may also be known as a Veterans Law Judge.