Citation Nr: 21072597 Decision Date: 12/03/21 Archive Date: 12/03/21 DOCKET NO. 20-17 825 DATE: December 3, 2021 ORDER The claim of entitlement to a special home adaptation grant is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his service-connected chronic cough with interstitial lung disease is permanently and totally disabling and is due to residuals of an inhalation injury. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for establishing eligibility for financial assistance for a special home adaptation grant have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.809, 3.809a. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had honorable active duty service with the United States Army from June 1975 to June 1980, March 1988 to December 1992, and January 1997 to January 2000, to include Gulf War service. The instant matter is on appeal from a February 2019 rating decision. In December 2020, the Veteran testified before the undersigned in a virtual hearing. A transcript of the proceedings has been associated with the record. 1. The claim of entitlement to a special home adaptation grant The Veteran contends that he is eligible for a special home adaptation grant due to his service-connected respiratory disorder with recent bilateral lung transplant. Initially, the Board notes that the Veteran only appealed entitlement to a special home adaptation grant in his May 2019 Notice of Disagreement; thus, entitlement to specially adapted housing is not presently on appeal. For claims filed prior to November 2021, a veteran could qualify for a grant for special home adaptation grant if he has a service-connected disability that results in blindness in both eyes with 20/200 visual acuity or less in the better eye with the use of a standard correcting lens or a limitation in fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees; such a disability need not be permanent and total in nature. Additionally, a special home adaptation grant is available for a veteran that has a permanent and total disability which: (1) includes the anatomical loss or loss of use of both hands; (2) is due to deep partial thickness burns that have resulted in contracture(s) with limitation of the motion of two or more extremities or of at least one extremity and the trunk; (3) is due to full thickness or subdermal burns that have resulted in contracture(s) of one or more extremities or the truck; or, (4) is due to residuals of an inhalation injury (including, but not limited to, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a(b). Effective November 8, 2021, the regulations addressing specially adapted housing and home adaptation grants were amended. The criteria for entitlement to a home adaptation grant amended the provisions regarding visual impairment for claims filed on or after this date, which is not relevant to the present appeal. The Veteran is service connected for chronic cough with interstitial lung disease at 100 percent, and there is probative medical evidence of record demonstrating that this disability was caused by an inhalation injury. VA regulations allow for a grant of special home adaptation when a veteran has "residuals of an inhalation injury (including, but not limited to, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)." 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a(b)(1)(iv). In adding "inhalation injury" as a basis for entitlement to a grant of special home adaptation, VA intended to include injuries "from the same incidents that cause severe burns. Inhalation injury is due to breathing steam or toxic inhalants such as fumes, gases, and mists present in a fire environment." 74 Fed. Reg. 67145, 67148 (Dec. 18, 2009). The Veteran's records reflect exposure to burn pits and oil fires during his Southwest Asia service, and he has reported experiencing a cough and respiratory symptoms since that deployment. He has no history of tobacco use. The evidence of record also indicates that the Veteran has present respiratory diagnoses, including interstitial lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Veteran underwent a bilateral lung transplant in July 2020 due to the severity of these respiratory conditions. As the regulation requires residuals of an inhalation injury, the Board interprets such to mean that the presence of pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and/or COPD constitutes evidence of an inhalation injury, particularly when taken in conjunction with the Veteran's testimony regarding burn pit and oil fire exposure. Thus, if such diagnoses exist, additional confirmation of inhalation injury is not necessary. In this case, these findings of pulmonary fibrosis and underlying COPD establish an inhalation injury. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the evidence reflects that the Veteran does have service-connected respiratory disability rated at 100 percent, which is due to residuals of an inhalation injury, and he has met the criteria to be eligible for special home adaptation grant under 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a. The claim is granted. Michael J. Skaltsounis Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board H. Fisher, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.