For the purpose of this part:

Establishment means the process of site selection, land acquisition, design and planning, earth moving, landscaping, construction, and provision of initial operating equipment necessary to convert a tract of land to an operational veterans cemetery.

Establishment, Expansion, and Improvement Project means an undertaking to establish, expand, or improve a site for use as a State or Tribal veterans cemetery.

Expansion means an increase in the burial capacity or acreage of an existing cemetery through the addition of gravesites and other facilities, such as committal service shelters, crypts (preplaced grave liners), and columbaria, necessary for the functioning of a cemetery.

Improvement means the enhancement of a cemetery through landscaping, construction, or renovation of cemetery infrastructure, such as building expansion and upgrades to roads and irrigation systems that is not directly related to the development of new gravesites: nonrecurring maintenance; and the addition of other features appropriate to cemeteries.

Indian Tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or Regional or Village Corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.

Operation and Maintenance Project means a project that assists a State or Tribal Organization to achieve VA's national shrine standards of appearance in the key cemetery operational areas of cleanliness, height and alignment of headstones and markers, leveling of gravesites, and turf conditions.

Secretary means the Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

State means each of the States, Territories, and possessions of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Tribal Organization means:

(1) The recognized governing body of any Indian Tribe;

(2) Any legally established organization of Indians that is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities;

(3) The Department of Hawaiian Homelands; and

(4) Such other organizations as the Secretary may prescribe.

Trust land means any land that:

(1) Is held in trust by the United States for Native Americans;

(2) Is subject to restrictions on alienation imposed by the United States on Indian lands, including native Hawaiian homelands;

(3) Is owned by a Regional Corporation or a Village Corporation as defined in 43 U.S.C. 1602(g) and (j); or

(4) Is on any island in the Pacific Ocean if such land is, by cultural tradition, communally-owned land, as determined by the Secretary.

VA means the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Veterans Cemetery Grants Service.

Veteran means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service who died in line of duty while in service or was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.

Veterans Cemetery Grants Service (VCGS) means the Veterans Cemetery Grants Service within VA's National Cemetery Administration.

(Authority: 25 U.S.C. 450b(l), 38 U.S.C. 101, 501, 2408, 3765)

[77 FR 4472, Jan. 30, 2012]