OMB21-8951(7-16-08)

Supporting Statement for VA Form 21-8951 and VA Form 21-8951-2

Notice of Waiver of VA Compensation or Pension

to Receive Military Pay and Allowances

(2900-0463)

A. Justification

1. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through its Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), administers an integrated program of benefits and services established by law for veterans, service personnel, and their dependents and/or beneficiaries. 10 U.S.C. 12316 and 38 U.S.C. 5304 require a reservist/guardsman to waive disability benefits paid by VA in order to receive active or inactive duty training pay.

2. VA Form 21-8951 and VA Form 21-8951-2 are used by reservists/guardsmen to file a waiver of VA disability benefits. At the end of each fiscal year, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) furnish VA a tape indicating which VA beneficiaries are reservists. VA sends each identified VA beneficiary/reservist a VA Form 21-8951 to report the number of days he/she trained and waive VA benefits for an equal number of days. VA Form 21-8951 is a computer-generated form that is dispatched from VA's central computer and preprinted with identification and training pay data. VA Form 21-8951-2 is used whenever a recipient loses VA Form 21-8951 or requires another copy of the form; identifying information and training pay data is not preprinted on the form. When the form is returned, the VA regional office adjusts VA benefits prospectively and no overpayment is created. After six months, VA provides DMDC with a tape identifying those reservists who have not waived VA benefits. This information is used by DoD and DOT to recover unauthorized payments.

3. VA From 21-8951-2 is available on the One-VA web site in a fillable electronic format. VBA is currently hosting this form on a secure server and does not have the technology in place to allow for the complete submission of the form. Validation edits are performed to assure data integrity. Efforts within VA are underway to provide a mechanism to allow the information to be submitted electronically with a recognized signature technology. There currently is no utility process in place that will allow the data submitted on the forms to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database. Veterans Online Applications (VONAPP) allows applicants to view, print, and submit applications electronically to VBA. However, VA Form 21-8951-2 is not one of the forms scheduled to be added to VONAPP because estimated total usage of this form is low. The majority of respondents use VA Form 21-8951, not VA Form 21-8951-2, and VA Form 21-8951 cannot be added to VONAPP because it can be generated only by VA’s central computer. The Department will reconsider adding this form to VONAPP when the resources become available or if usage of this form becomes greater.

4. Program reviews were conducted to identify potential areas of duplication; however, none were found to exist. There is no known Department or Agency which maintains the necessary information, nor is it available from other sources within our Department.

5. The collection of information does not involve small businesses or entities.

6. If the collection were not conducted or were conducted less frequently, the law could not be administered effectively.

7. There is no special circumstance requiring collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6 guidelines.

8. The Department notice was published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2008, page 24116. Field stations have not reported any difficulty on the part of respondents in using the form. No comments were received.

9. No payments or gifts to respondents have been made under this collection of information.

10. The records are maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as 58VA21/22, "Compensation, Pension, Education and Rehabilitation Records - VA" as set forth in Privacy Act Issuances, 1993 compilation found in 42 Fed. Reg. 49726 (9/27//1977).

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of Information Collection Burden.

a. Number of Respondents is estimated at 21,000 per year.

b. Frequency of Response is annually for most beneficiaries.

c. Annual burden is 3,500 hours.

d. The estimated completion time of 10 minutes is based on review by staff personnel and previous usage of this form.

e. The total estimated cost to respondents is $525,000 (3,500 hours x $15 per hour).

13. This submission does not involve any recordkeeping costs.

14. Estimated Costs to the Federal Government:

a. Processing/Analyzing costs $774,009

(GS-12/5 @ 37.89 x 21,000 x 15/60 minutes = $198923)

(GS-9/5 @ $26.13 x 21,000 x 55/60 minutes = $503,003)

(GS-3/5 @ $13.73 x 21,000 x 15/60 minutes = $ 72,083)

b. Printing and production cost $470

c. Total cost to government $774,479

15. There is no change in the reporting burden.

16. The information collection is not for publication or tabulation use.

17. The collection instrument, VA Form 21-8951 and VA Form 21-8951-2, may be reproduced and/or stocked by the respondents and veterans service organizations. These VA forms do not display an expiration date, and if required to do so would result in unnecessary waste of existing stocks of these forms. These forms are submitted to OMB every 3 years. As such, this date requirement would also result in an unnecessary burden on the respondents and would delay Department action on the benefit being sought. VA also seeks to minimize its cost to itself of collecting, processing and using the information by not displaying the expiration date. For the reasons stated, VA continues to seek an exemption that waives the displaying of the expiration date on VA Form 21-8951 and VA Form 21-8951-2.

18. This submission does not contain any exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1. The Veterans Benefits Administration does not collect information employing statistical methods.