Reestablishing Rulemaking Procedures; Public Participation in Regulatory Development

In a document published in the Federal Register on March 20, 1996 (61 FR 11309), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amended 38 CFR Part 1 by promulgating a final rule that included the elimination of Sec. 1.12. The provisions of Sec. 1.12 set forth a policy statement concerning prior notice-and-comment for rulemaking. Judicial review of VA's action eliminating Sec. 1.12 has been sought on the basis that such action did not comply with notice-and-comment provisions. While we believe such a position is not legally correct, we are by this document reestablishing Sec. 1.12, and, in a companion document published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register, proposing to eliminate Sec. 1.12. This will provide interested parties an opportunity to provide comments concerning this matter, thus mooting the pending litigation.