C.F.R. » Title 38 » CHAPTER I—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS › PART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS

38 C.F.R. § 1.551

Definitions

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As used in §§ 1.550 through 1.562, the following definitions apply:

Agency means any executive department, military department, government corporation, government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Federal government, or independent regulatory entity.

Appeal means a requester's written disagreement with an adverse determination under the FOIA.

Beneficiary means a veteran or other individual who has received benefits (including medical benefits) or has applied for benefits pursuant to title 38, United States Code.

Benefits records means an individual's records, which pertain to programs under any of the benefits laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Business day means the time during which typical Federal government offices are open for normal business. It does not include Saturdays, Sundays, or Federal legal public holidays. The term “day” means business day unless otherwise specified.

Business information means confidential or privileged commercial or financial information obtained by VA from a submitter that may be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

Component means each distinct VA entity, including Administrations, staff offices, services, or facilities.

Expedited processing means giving a FOIA request priority for processing ahead of other pending requests because VA has determined that the requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records as provided in these regulations.

Fees. For fees and fee-related definitions, see § 1.561.

FOIA Officer means the individual within a VA component whose responsibilities include addressing and granting or denying requests for records under the FOIA.

FOIA Public Liaison means a supervisory agency FOIA official who assists in the resolution of any disputes between the requester and the agency.

Perfected request means a written FOIA request that meets the requirements set forth in § 1.554 of this part and for which there are no remaining issues about the payment of applicable fees or any other matter that requires resolution prior to processing.

Reading room means space made available, as needed, in VA components where records are available for review pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2). Ordinarily, the VA component providing a public reading room space will be the component that maintains the record.

Record means a document, a portion of a document, and information contained within a document, and can include information derived from a document or a database. Such documents may be maintained in paper, electronic, and other forms, but do not include objects, such as tissue slides, blood samples, or computer hardware.

Request means a written demand for records under the FOIA as described § 1.554(a). The term request includes any action emanating from the initial demand for records, including any subsequent action related to the request.

Requester means, generally, any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or foreign or state or local government, which has made a demand to access an agency record.

Submitter means any person or entity (including corporations, state, local and tribal governments and foreign governments) from whom VA obtains trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information either directly or indirectly.

VA means the Department of Veterans Affairs.

VA Central Office (VACO) means the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The mailing address is 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Written or in writing means communications such as letters, photocopies of letters, electronic mail, and facsimiles (faxes), and does not include any form of oral communication.

[76 FR 51892, Aug. 19, 2011, as amended at 84 FR 12125, Apr. 1, 2019]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Fugere v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 103 (Vet. App. 1990).
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Fugere v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 103 (Vet. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “See also 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (b)(3) and (4) (1989) (which imposes the same notice requirements on the YA in identical language).”
Austin v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 547 (Vet. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “” Further, 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (b) requires the development, with the Secretary’s approval, and the submission for publication in the Federal Register, of VA “regulations” containing: (1) Statements of the general course and method by which [VA] functions are channeled and…”
Oscar G. Fugere v. Edward J. Derwinski, Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 972 F.2d 331 (Fed. Cir. 1992). · cites it 2× “In addition, the court noted that 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (1991) 3 requires the Secre *334 tary to give notice and an opportunity to comment on any proposed recision of a “substantive rule.”
Epps v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 341 (Vet. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “§ 552 and 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (1995), or to provide an opportunity to comment on proposed regulations pursuant to 38 C.”
Cohen v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 128 (Vet. App. 1997). “547, 554-55 (1994) (discussing 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (e)’s prohibition against adversely affecting anyone by matter not published in Federal Register).”
Jonathan L. Haas v. R. James Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 257 (Vet. App. 2006). “§ 553 (a), and afford veterans notice and opportunity to comment regarding the promulgation and rescission of substantive rules, VA regulations require that “no person shall be required to resort to, or be adversely affected by any matter required to be published .”
Perry v. West, 11 Vet. App. 319 (Vet. App. 1998). “First, the BVA must give an adequate statement of reasons or bases “for noncompliance with *322 the notice requirements in 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (b) and (c)” (1995), or explain why compliance was not necessary pursuant to 38 C.”
Williams v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 133 (Vet. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (b), (c); see also Fugere v.”
Perry v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 2 (Vet. App. 1996). “First, the BVA must give an adequate statement of reasons or bases “for noncomplianee with the notice requirements in 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (b) and (c)” (1995), or to explain why compliance was not necessary pursuant to 38 C.”
Earle v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 558 (Vet. App. 1994). “at 110 ; see also 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (c) (1993) (person may not be “adversely affected by any matter required by this section to be published in the Federal RegisteR” that was not so published unless the person has “actual and timely notice” of its terms); see also Zarycki, 6 Vet.”
Karissa Wiggins v. Douglas A. Collins (Vet. App. 2025). “" 38 C.F.R. § 1.551 (2025). 19 Case: 24-4591 Page: 20 of 21 Filed: 08/01/2025 claims involving MST, the Board 'shall promptly determine whether [an NOD] filed with the Board is a covered case.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.