Citation Nr: 22012641
Decision Date: 03/04/22	Archive Date: 03/04/22

DOCKET NO. 10-45 347
DATE: March 4, 2022

ORDER

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent disabling for a lumbar spine disability prior to November 7, 2011, is dismissed.

Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to April 15, 2011, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

Subsequent to an April 2021 Board remand and a May 2021 supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) addressing the issues of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for a lumbar spine disability prior to November 7, 2011, and entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 15, 2011, the Veteran opted the issues into the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) review system in May 2021; thus, these issues cannot be adjudicated in the Legacy appeals system.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The issues of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for a lumbar spine disability prior to November 7, 2011, and entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 15, 2011, are no longer before the Board in the legacy appeals system.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 20.202, 20.204.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from July 1957 to October 1981.

This case comes before the Board on appeal of a September 2010 rating decision.

This case was previously before the Board in April 2021, where the issues on appeal were remanded for further evidentiary development.

1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent disabling for a lumbar spine disability prior to November 7, 2011

2. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to April 15, 2011

The AMA applies to all claims for which VA issues notice of an initial decision on or after the effective date of the AMA, which is February 19, 2019.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 19.2.  For decisions issued prior to February 19, 2019, the AMA can only apply if an appellant opts into the system through the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) or elects to proceed under the AMA after the issuance of a statement of the case (SOC) or SSOC.  38 C.F.R. § 3.2400 (c).

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After the Board's April 2021 remand, the AOJ issued a SSOC in May 2021 addressing the issues listed above.  The Veteran elected to participate in the AMA review system by submitting a VA Form 20-0996 seeking a higher-level review in May 2021.  In that form, the Veteran specified that he was withdrawing his claims in their entirety from the legacy appeals system.  As such, the Veteran's claims should be withdrawn from the legacy appeals system.

As the Veteran's claims of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for a lumbar spine disability prior to November 7, 2011, and entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 15, 2011, have been withdrawn from the legacy appeals system, it is dismissed.

 

 

KRISTI L. GUNN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	I. Umo, 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.