TIME LIMITATIONS ON RECEIPT OF CLAIM INFORMATION PURSUANT TO REQUESTS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

SEC. 701. TIME LIMITATIONS ON RECEIPT OF CLAIM INFORMATION PURSUANT TO REQUESTS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.(a) Information To Complete Claims Applications.—Section 5102 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:“(c) Time Limitation.—(1) If information that a claimant and the claimant’s representative, if any, are notified under subsection (b) is necessary to complete an application is not received by the Secretary within one year from the date such notice is sent, no benefit may be paid or furnished by reason of the claimant’s application.“(2) This subsection shall not apply to any application or claim for Government life insurance benefits.”.(b) Construction of Limitation on Information To Substantiate Claims.—Section 5103(b) is amended—(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “if such” and all that follows through “application” and inserting “such information or evidence must be received by the Secretary within one year from the date such notice is sent”; and(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(3) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary from making a decision on a claim before the expiration of the period referred to in that subsection.”.(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect as if enacted on November 9, 2000, immediately after the enactment of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–475; 114 Stat. 2096).(d) Procedures for Readjudication of Certain Claims.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall readjudicate a claim of a qualified claimant if the request for such readjudication is received not later than the end of the one-year period that begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.(2) For purposes of this subsection, a claimant is qualified within the meaning of paragraph (1) if the claimant—(A) received notice under section 5103(a) of title 38, United States Code, requesting information or evidence to substantiate a claim; (B) did not submit such information or evidence within a year after the date such notice was sent; (C) did not file a timely appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals or the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and(D) submits such information or evidence during the one-year period referred to in paragraph (1). 117 STAT. 2671(3) If the decision of the Secretary on a readjudication under this subsection is in favor of the qualified claimant, the award of the grant shall take effect as if the prior decision by the Secretary on the claim had not been made.(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to establish a duty on the part of the Secretary to identify or readjudicate any claim that—(A) is not submitted during the one-year period referred to in paragraph (1); or (B) has been the subject of a timely appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals or the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.(e) Construction on Providing Renotification.—Nothing in this section, or the amendments made by this section, shall be construed to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs—(1) to provide notice under section 5103(a) of such title with respect to a claim insofar as the Secretary has previously provided such notice; or (2) to provide for a special notice with respect to this section and the amendments made by this section.