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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulations6125(xi) Cultural resources;(xii) Aesthetics;(xiii) Residential population;(xiv) Community services andfacilities;(xv) Community plans and projects;and(xvi) Other.(3) If an adverse environmentalimpact is anticipated, the action to betaken to minimize the impact should beexplained in the EA. An entity coveredby this section that believes that it doesnot have the legal capacity to carry outthe responsibilities required by 38 CFRpart 26 should contact the VA HomelessProviders Grant and Per Diem Program,Mental Health and Behavioral SciencesService (111C), U.S. Department ofVeterans Affairs, 810 Vermont AvenueNW., Washington, DC 20420, for furtherinstructions. Determinations of legalcapacity will be made on a case-by-casebasis.(Paperwork requirements were approved bythe Office of Management and Budget undercontrol number 2900–0554.)(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 7721, note)§ 17.715 Aid for supportive services andsupportive housing.(a) Per diem payments. Aid in theform of per diem payments may be paidto an entity meeting the requirements ofthe regulations of this part under theheading ‘‘VA Homeless Providers Grantand Per Diem Program,’’ including thespecific criteria of § 17.716 of this part,if:(1) VA referred the homeless veteranto a recipient of a grant under this part(or entity eligible for such a grant asdescribed in § 17.716 of this part); or(2) VA authorized the provision ofsupportive services or supportivehousing for the homeless veteran.(b) In-kind assistance. In lieu of perdiem payments under this section, VAmay, with approval of the grantrecipient (or entity eligible for such agrant as described in § 17.716 of thispart), provide in-kind assistancethrough the services of VA employeesand the use of other VA resources, to agrant recipient (or entity eligible forsuch a grant as described in § 17.716 ofthis part).(c) Selection of per diem applicants.In awarding per diem assistance,applications from grant recipients andnongrant recipients will be reviewedand ranked separately. Funds will firstbe awarded to grant recipients whorequest such assistance. If funds are stillavailable for nongrant recipients, VAwill announce funding through a Noticeof Funding Availability (NOFA) processas described in § 17.708 of this part. VAwill not award per diem payments whendoing so would decrease funding tothose entities already receiving suchpayments. For both grant recipients andnon-grant recipients, eligibility will bedetermined by the criteria described in§ 17.716 of this part, and applicationswill be ranked according to scoresachieved on the portions of theapplication described in § 17.716(b)(4)of this part. Applicants must score aminimum of 500 points on theseportions to be eligible for per diem.Those applications that meet theeligibility criteria will be conditionallyselected for per diem assistance. Fundswill be allocated to the highest-ranked,conditionally selected applicants indescending order until funds areexpended. Payments will be contingentupon meeting the requirements of a siteinspection conducted by VA pursuant to§ 17.721 of this part.(d) Continued receipt of per diemassistance. (1) Continued receipt of perdiem assistance for both grant recipientsand nongrant recipients will becontingent upon maintaining theprogram for which per diem is providedso that it would score at least therequired minimum 500 points asdescribed in § 17.716(b)(4) of this parton the application. VA will ensurecompliance by conducting inspectionsas described in § 17.721 of this part.(2) Where the recipient fails tocomply with paragraph (d)(1) of thissection, VA will issue a notice of theDepartment’s intent to discontinue perdiem payments. The recipient will thenhave 30 days to submit documentationdemonstrating why payments shouldnot be terminated. After review of anysuch documentation, VA will issue afinal decision on termination of perdiem payment.(3) Continued payment is subject toavailability of funds. When necessarydue to funding limitations, VA will, inproportion to the decrease in fundingavailable, decrease the per diempayment for each authorized veteran.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 7721, note)§ 17.716 Eligibility to receive per diempayments.An entity must be formally recognizedby VA as eligible to receive per diempayments under this section before perdiem payments can be made for the careof homeless veterans, except that perdiem payments may be made on behalfof a veteran up to three days prior tothis recognition.(a) A grant recipient will be eligible ifit receives the minimum score asdescribed in paragraph (b)(4) of thissection.(b) A nongrant recipient will beeligible if it is an entity eligible toreceive a grant, which for the purposesof this section means:(1) At least 75 percent of persons whoare receiving supportive services orsupportive housing from the entity areveterans who may be included incomputation of the amount of aidpayable from VA;(2) The supportive services orsupportive housing program for whichper diem payments is requested wasestablished after November 10, 1992;(3) The entity is a public or nonprofitprivate entity; and(4) The entity score at least 500cumulative points on the followingsections of the Grant/Per Diemapplication: Quality (1); Targeting (2);Ability (3); Description of Need (4); andCoordination with Other Programs (8).These sections correspond to theselection criteria of § 17.711(c) of thispart.(c) For grant recipients, only thoseprograms that provide supportiveservices or supportive housing (or theportions thereof) created with grantfunds will be considered for per diemassistance. For nongrant recipients, onlythose portions of the supportive servicesor supportive housing described in theapplication will be considered for perdiem assistance.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 7721, note)§ 17.717 Request for recognition ofeligibility.(a) Requests for recognition ofeligibility may be addressed to the VAHomeless Providers Grant and Per DiemPrograms, Mental Health StrategicHealthcare Group (116E), U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs, 810Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC20420.(b) For nongrant recipients, thereceipt of application for per diem willconstitute the request for recognition ofeligibility. Grant recipients seeking perdiem assistance will indicate thisrequest on the application. Grantrecipients are not required to completea separate application for per diemassistance. VA will review thoseportions of the grant application thatpertain to per diem. Those entitiesalready receiving a grant must submit arequest for recognition to initiate thescoring of their application for per diempayments.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 7721, note)§ 17.718 Approval of annexes and newfacilities.Separate applications for recognitionmust be filed for any annex, branch,enlargement, expansion, or relocation ofthe site of service provision of aneligible entity’s facility which is not on