Hearings on appeal held at Department of Veterans Affairs field facilities will be scheduled for each area served by a regional office in accordance with the place of each case on the Board's docket, established under § 20.900 of this chapter, relative to other cases for which hearings are scheduled to be held within that area. Such scheduling is subject to § 20.704(f) of this chapter pertaining to advancement of a case on the hearing docket.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7107)

(a) General. * * * Subject to paragraph (f) of this section, the hearings will be scheduled in the order specified in § 19.75 of this chapter. * * *

(f) Advancement of the case on the hearing docket. A hearing may be scheduled at a time earlier than would be provided for under § 19.75 of this chapter upon written motion of the appellant or the representative. The same grounds for granting relief, motion filing procedures, and designation of authority to rule on the motion specified in Rule 900(c) (§ 20.900(c) of this part) for advancing a case on the Board's docket shall apply.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7107) Start Printed Page 14472

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 2900-0085)

5. In § 20.900, paragraphs (b) and (c) are revised; and paragraph (e) is added, to read as follows:

(b) Appeals considered in docket order. Except as otherwise provided in this Rule, appeals are considered in the order in which they are entered on the docket.

(c) Advancement on the docket. A case may be advanced on the docket on the motion of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, a party to the case before the Board, or such party's representative. Such a motion may be granted only if the case involves interpretation of law of general application affecting other claims, if the appellant is seriously ill or is under severe financial hardship, or if other sufficient cause is shown. “Other sufficient cause” shall include, but is not limited to, administrative error resulting in a significant delay in docketing the case. Such motions must be in writing and must identify the specific reason(s) why advancement on the docket is sought, the name of the veteran, the name of the appellant if other than the veteran (e.g., a veteran's survivor, a guardian, or a fiduciary appointed to receive VA benefits on an individual's behalf), and the applicable Department of Veterans Affairs file number. The motion must be filed with: Director, Administrative Service (014), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. Where a motion is received prior to the assignment of the case to an individual member or panel of members, the ruling on the motion will be by the Vice Chairman, who may delegate such authority to a Deputy Vice Chairman. If a motion to advance a case on the docket is denied, the appellant and his or her representative will be immediately notified. If the motion to advance a case on the docket is granted, that fact will be noted in the Board's decision when rendered.

(e) Postponement to provide hearing. Any other provision of this Rule notwithstanding, a case may be postponed for later consideration and determination if such postponement is necessary to afford the appellant a hearing.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7107, Pub. Law No. 103-446, § 302)

6. In § 20.609, paragraph (i) is amended by removing “the Court of Veterans Appeals” from the next to the last sentence and adding, in its place, “the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims”.

7. Sections 20.714(a)(5), 20.717(b), and 20.900(d) are amended by removing “the United States Court of Veterans Appeals” wherever it appears and, in each such section, adding in its place “the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims”.