38 U.S.C. § 7101A: Members of Board…

Summary

The Secretary appoints members of the Board (other than the Chairman) with the President’s approval and based on the Chairman’s recommendation. This includes the Vice Chairman. Each member must be a lawyer in good standing in a State. Members who are not the Chairman or not in the Senior Executive Service are paid at basic pay rates equal to those under 5 U.S.C. 5372. The Chairman must form a three-person review panel (the Chairman plus two other Board members, not the Vice Chairman) and rotate panel membership so each member (except the Vice Chairman) serves. At least one year after job standards are first set and then at least once every three years, the panel must write a finding for each member (except the Chairman and SES members) on whether they meet the standards. If a member meets the standards, the Chairman recertifies the appointment. If not, the Chairman either gives a conditional recertification or recommends noncertification to the Secretary. Conditional recertifications must be reviewed again within one year; if the member still fails, the Chairman will recommend noncertification. After a Chairman recommendation for noncertification, the Secretary may either give a conditional recertification or decide on noncertification. If the Secretary decides noncertification, the member’s appointment ends and they are removed; a removed member who was a civil service attorney before joining the Board can be reappointed to an attorney job at the Board on request, at the same grade and step they held before appointment, unless the Secretary finds them unqualified. Members (other than the Chairman or SES) may only be removed for job performance under the review rules above; they may be removed for other reasons by the Secretary on the Chairman’s recommendation, and removals that would be covered by 5 U.S.C. 7521 follow the same protections and give the member the rights in 5 U.S.C. 7513(b) (section 554(a)(2) does not apply). The Chairman, with the Secretary’s approval, must set fair and objective performance standards for members (except Chairman and SES), and the Secretary must set procedures, deadlines, and schedules to run this process.

Title 38, §7101A

Veterans' Benefits, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The members of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals other than the Chairman (and including the Vice Chairman) shall be appointed by the Secretary, with the approval of the President, based upon recommendations of the Chairman.

(2)Each member of the Board shall be a member in good standing of the bar of a State.

(b)Members of the Board (other than the Chairman and any member of the Board who is a member of the Senior Executive Service) shall, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary, be paid basic pay at rates equivalent to the rates payable under section 5372 of title 5.

(c)(1)(A)The Chairman shall establish a panel to review the performance of members of the Board. The panel shall be comprised of the Chairman and two other members of the Board (other than the Vice Chairman). The Chairman shall periodically rotate membership on the panel so as to ensure that each member of the Board (other than the Vice Chairman) serves as a member of the panel for and within a reasonable period.

(B)Not less than one year after the job performance standards under subsection (f) are initially established, and not less often than once every three years thereafter, the performance review panel shall determine, with respect to each member of the Board (other than the Chairman or a member who is a member of the Senior Executive Service), whether that member’s job performance as a member of the Board meets the performance standards for a member of the Board established under subsection (f). Each such determination shall be in writing.

(2)If the determination of the performance review panel in any case is that the member’s job performance as a member of the Board meets the performance standards for a member of the Board established under subsection (f), the Chairman shall recertify the member’s appointment as a member of the Board.

(3)If the determination of the performance review panel in any case is that the member’s job performance does not meet the performance standards for a member of the Board established under subsection (f), the Chairman shall, based upon the individual circumstances, either—

(A)grant the member a conditional recertification; or

(B)recommend to the Secretary that the member be noncertified.

(4)In the case of a member of the Board who is granted a conditional recertification under paragraph (3)(A) or (5)(A), the performance review panel shall review the member’s job performance record and make a further determination under paragraph (1) concerning that member not later than one year after the date of the conditional recertification. If the determination of the performance review panel at that time is that the member’s job performance as a member of the Board still does not meet the performance standards for a member of the Board established under subsection (f), the Chairman shall recommend to the Secretary that the member be noncertified.

(5)In a case in which the Chairman recommends to the Secretary under paragraph (3) or (4) that a member be noncertified, the Secretary, after considering the recommendation of the Chairman, may either—

(A)grant the member a conditional recertification; or

(B)determine that the member should be noncertified.

(d)(1)If the Secretary, based upon the recommendation of the Chairman, determines that a member of the Board should be noncertified, that member’s appointment as a member of the Board shall be terminated and that member shall be removed from the Board.

(2)(A)Upon removal from the Board under paragraph (1) of a member of the Board who before appointment to the Board served as an attorney in the civil service, the Secretary shall appoint that member to an attorney position at the Board, if the removed member so requests. If the removed member served in an attorney position at the Board immediately before appointment to the Board, appointment to an attorney position under this paragraph shall be in the grade and step held by the removed member immediately before such appointment to the Board.

(B)The Secretary is not required to make an appointment to an attorney position under this paragraph if the Secretary determines that the member of the Board removed under paragraph (1) is not qualified for the position.

(e)(1)A member of the Board (other than the Chairman or a member of the Senior Executive Service) may be removed as a member of the Board by reason of job performance only as provided in subsections (c) and (d). Such a member may be removed by the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the Chairman, for any other reason as determined by the Secretary.

(2)In the case of a removal of a member under this section for a reason other than job performance that would be covered by section 7521 of title 5 in the case of an administrative law judge, the removal of the member of the Board shall be carried out subject to the same requirements as apply to removal of an administrative law judge under that section. section 554(a)(2) of title 5 shall not apply to a removal action under this subsection. In such a removal action, a member shall have the rights set out in section 7513(b) of that title.

(f)The Chairman, subject to the approval of the Secretary, shall establish standards for the performance of the job of a member of the Board (other than the Chairman or a member of the Senior Executive Service). Those standards shall establish objective and fair criteria for evaluation of the job performance of a member of the Board.

(g)The Secretary shall prescribe procedures for the administration of this section, including deadlines and time schedules for different actions under this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–368, § 1002(a), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 105–368, § 1002(b), amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “Upon removal from the Board under paragraph (1), a member of the Board (other than the Chairman) who was a career or career-conditional employee in the civil service before commencement of service as a member of the Board shall revert to the civil service grade and series held by the member immediately before the appointment of the member to the Board.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 103–446, title II, § 201(c), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4657, provided that: “section 7101A(b) of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the first day of the first pay period beginning after December 31, 1994.” Save Pay Provision Pub. L. 103–446, title II, § 201(b), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4656, provided that: “The rate of basic pay payable to an individual who is a member of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 2, 1994] may not be reduced by reason of the

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section and amending section 7101 of this title] to a rate below the rate payable to such individual on the day before such date.” Deadline for Establishment of Performance Evaluation Criteria for Board Members Pub. L. 103–446, title II, § 202, Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4657, provided that: “(a) Deadline.—The job performance standards required to be established by section 7101A(f) of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 201(a), shall be established not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 2, 1994]. “(b) Submission to Congressional Committees.—Not later than the date on which the standards referred to in subsection (a) take effect, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report describing the standards established by the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.”

§7101A Members of Board: Appointment; Pay; Performance Review

Summary

Title 38, §7101A

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Amendments

Citations & Metadata