2900-0463, Supporting Statement (VAF21-8951-2) 3

Supporting Statement - Part A

Notice of Waiver of VA Compensation or Pension to Receive Military Pay and Allowances

– OMB Control #2900-0463

Summary of Changes from Previously Approved Collection

• The respondent burden has increased due to final regulation under RIN#2900-AP86 having taken effect January 11, 2024.

• This collection used to refer to two forms, however, that was in error as they are the same form only utilized in two separate forums; one as a computer generated form which is dispatched as a yearly batch print and the other is made available on the One-VA website, for the usability of the claimant should he/she not receive the batch printed form. As such, VA now refers to this collection as containing one form: VA Form 21-8951-2.

• Two comments received during the 60-Day comment period

1. Need for the Information Collection

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. Information is requested by VA Form 21-8951-2, Notice of Waiver of VA Compensation or Pension to Receive Military Pay and Allowances, under the authorities of 10 U.S.C. 12316, Payment of Certain Reserves While on Duty, and 38 U.S.C. 5304, Prohibition Against Duplication of Benefits.

Regulatory authority is found in 38 C.F.R. Part 3, which was amended January 11, 2024 (RIN#2900-AP86), to permit VA to adjust disability compensation payments under certain circumstances upon receipt of notice from the Department of Defense (DoD) that the veteran has received or is receiving active service pay. The effect of this action is to reduce overpayments and erroneous payments associated with receipt of VA disability compensation and DoD active service pay by allowing VA to make necessary adjustments as close in time to the receipt of active service pay as possible. Additionally, the amendments will allow VA to resume payments discontinued due to receipt of active service pay based on information received from DoD. The amendments will also clarify how VA adjudicates benefit adjustments based on a veteran’s receipt of active service pay for certain types of service.

2. Use of the Information

The respondent population for VA Form 21-8951-2 is composed of individuals filing a waiver of VA disability benefits to receive active or inactive duty training pay or filing notice to VA to resume payments as active service has completed.

3. Use of Information Technology

VA Form 21-8951-2 is available as a computer generated form which is dispatched as a yearly batch print and the other is made available on the One-VA website, for the usability of the claimant should he/she not receive the batch printed form. 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. 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. Non-Duplication

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.

5. Burden on Small Businesses

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6. Less Frequent Collection

VA Form 21-8951-2 is used by reservists/guardsmen filing a waiver of VA disability benefits to receive active or inactive duty training pay or to notify VA to resume benefits as his/her active service has completed. Without this information, the reduction in overpayments and/or erroneous payments associated with receipt of VA disability compensation or pension could cause hardship on behalf of the claimant.

7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Monday, September 15, 2025. The 60-Day FRN citation is 90 FRN 44478.

Two comments were received during the 60-Day comment period.

A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Thursday, November 20, 2025. The 30-Day FRN citation is 90 FRN 52493.

Part B: CONSULTATION

No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.

9. Gifts or Payment

No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.

10. Confidentiality

The records are maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as “Compensation, Pension, Education, and Veteran Readiness and Employment Records-VA (58VA21/22/28),” published at 74 FR 29275 on June 19, 2009, and last amended at 87 FR 8740 (February 16, 2022).

11. Sensitive Questions

No questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.

12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs

1. Number of Respondents is estimated at 34,594 per year.

2. Frequency of Response is one time.

3. Annual burden hours are 5,766 hours.

4. The estimated completion time for this form is 10 minutes.

5. VA cannot make further assumptions about the population of respondents because of the variability of factors such as the educational background and wage potential of respondents. Therefore, VBA uses general wage data to estimate the respondents’ costs associated with completing the information collection.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) gathers information on full-time wage and salary workers. According to the latest available BLS data, the mean hourly wage is $32.66 based on the BLS wage code – “00-0000 All Occupations.” This information was taken from the following website: https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/industry/000000.

Legally, respondents may not pay a person or business for assistance in completing the information collection. Therefore, there are no expected overhead costs for completing the information collection. VBA estimates the total cost to all respondents to be $188,317.56 (5,766 burden hours x $32.66 per hour).

13. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs

There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.

14. Costs to the Federal Government

Grade	Step	Burden Time	Fraction of Hour	Hourly Rate	Cost Per Response	Total Responses	Total
7	3	10	0.17	$ 21.81	3.635	34,594	$ 125,749.19
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 125,749.19
9	3	5	0.08	$ 26.68	2.223	34,594	$ 76,913.99
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 76,913.99
11	3	5	0.08	$ 32.28	2.690	34,594	$ 93,057.86
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 93,057.86
Processing / Analyzing Costs							$ 591,442.09
Total Cost to Government							$ 591,442.09

Overhead costs are 100% of salary and are the same as the wage listed above and the amounts are included in the total. 

Note: The hourly wage information above is based on the hourly 2025 General Schedule (Base) Pay (SALARY TABLE 2025-GS). This rate does not include any locality adjustment as applicable.

The processing time estimates above are based on the actual amount of time employees of each grade level spend to process to completion a claim received on this form. The within-grade step (3) of each employee represents the average experience of employees within each grade.

15. Reason for Change in Burden

The respondent burden has increased due to final regulation under RIN#2900-AP86 having taken effect January 11, 2024.

16. Publication of Results

The results of this information collection will not be published.

17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.

18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.