Supporting Statement for VA Form 26-4555d,
Veterans Application for Assistance in Acquiring
Special Housing Adaptations
(2900-0300)
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Title 38, U.S.C. 2101 authorizes assistance to disabled veterans in acquiring special housing and adaptations to dwellings. Under 38 U.S.C. 2101(b), grants are available to assist veterans in making adaptations to their current residences or one which they intend to live in as long as the home is owned by the veteran or a member of the veteran's family. Personal interview questions associated with the grant program, as outlined in VBA Manual M26-12, Chapter 8.
2. VA Form 26-4555d is needed because of the difference in disabilities, the amount of alteration/adaptation to the house, and title requirements. In addition, the amount and type of information needed to process either benefit is different, and a separate numbering and filing system will be used to identify the different types of grants. The information contained on a completed VA Form 26-4555d enables field personnel to evaluate the request for adaptations. It also provides information for use in approving or disapproving a veteran's application for a grant under 38 U.S.C. 2101(b). If the information was not collected, VA would be in noncompliance with 38 U.S.C. 2101(b).
3. VA Form 26-4445d 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 currently 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 form to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database.
4. No duplication of information is involved.
5. Collection of information does not involve small businesses or other small entities.
6. This information collection is not a recurring or repetitive report. It is accomplished on a one-time basis per individual applicant.
7. There are no special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.
8. The agency notice was published in the Federal Register on March 29, 2010, page 15494.
9. No payments or gifts to respondents have been made under this collection of information.
10. "Loan Guaranty Home, Condominium and Manufactured Home Loan Applicant Records, Specially Adapted Housing Applicant Records, and Vendee Loan Applicant Records - VA" (55VA26) contained in the Privacy Act Issuances, 2001 Compilation.
11. No sensitive questions appear on the form.
12. Estimate of Information Collection Burden
a. Number of respondents is estimated at 75 per year.
Frequency of response is generally one time.
c. Annual burden is estimated at 25 hours.
d. The estimated response time of 20 minutes per case is based on the experience of VA Central Office Loan Specialists.
The total estimated cost to respondents is $375 ($15 per hour x 25 hours).
This submission does not involve any recordkeeping costs.
Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
$626.00 Estimated Loan Guaranty processing cost for FY 2010:
(75 cases x 20 minutes per case x $25.04 per hour (average
Loan Guaranty field salary))
_______
$626.00 Total Estimated Cost to Federal Government
15. There is no change in burden hours.
16. Information collection is not for tabulation or publication use.
17. The collection instrument, VA Form 26-4555d, may be reproduced and/or stocked by the respondents and veterans service organizations. This form does not display an expiration date, and if required to do so it would result in unnecessary waste of existing stocks of this form. This form is submitted to OMB for approval 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 26-4555d.
This submission does not contain any exceptions to the certification statement.
B. STATISTICAL METHODS
The data collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | VA Form 26-4555d |
| Author | NOAVA |
| File Modified | 2010-07-06 |
| File Created | 2010-06-14 |