[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 38, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 38CFR39.2]

[Page 716]
 
            TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF
 
          CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (CONTINUED)
 
PART 39--STATE CEMETERY GRANTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 39.2  Scope of the State cemetery grants program.

    (a) Subject to the availability of an appropriation, the Secretary 
may approve grants to assist any State in establishing, expanding, or 
improving veterans' cemeteries which are or will be owned by such State. 
In order to qualify for assistance under this program, a cemetery must 
be operated solely for the interment of veterans, their wives, husbands, 
surviving spouses, minor children, and unmarried adult children who were 
physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support.


(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2408(c)(2) and 101(4))

    (b) The amount of the Federal contribution to a state is limited to 
50 percent of the combined value of the land to be acquired or dedicated 
for cemetery purposes and the dollar value of the improvements to be 
made. The remaining 50 percent of the project's cost will be contributed 
by the State.


(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2408(b)(2))

    (c) A State may dedicate for the purposes of the cemetery involved 
land which it already owns. The value of land of this nature can be 
included in the computation of the State's portion of the funding for 
the establishment of a State veterans' cemetery. The value of the land, 
however, cannot exceed 50 percent of the State's total contribution to 
the project's cost and may not be used as part of a State's contribution 
for any subsequent grant. ``Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
Acquisitions'' (Interagency Land Acquisition Conference--1973) shall be 
used as guidelines when determining the value of the land.


(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2408(b)(3))
    (d) Any grant under this part made on or after November 21, 1997, is 
made on the condition that after the date of receipt of the grant the 
State receiving the grant, subject to requirements for receipt of notice 
in 38 U.S.C. 2408 and 2411, will prohibit in the cemetery for which the 
grant is furnished the interment of the remains of or the 
memorialization of any person:
    (1) Who has been convicted of a Federal capital crime for which the 
person was sentenced to death or life imprisonment;
    (2) Who has been convicted of a State capital crime for which the 
person was sentenced to death or life without parole; or
    (3) Who has been found by an appropriate State official, under 
procedures to be established by the State, to have committed a Federal 
or State capital crime but to have not been convicted of such crime by 
reason of unavailability for trial due to death or flight to avoid 
prosecution.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2408, 2411)

[47 FR 49395, Nov. 1, 1982, as amended at 67 FR 62645, Oct. 8, 2002]

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