18-11 916

• Court: Board of Veterans' Appeals
• Decided: September 13, 2018
• Docket: 18-11 916
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Citation Nr: 1829850 Decision Date: 09/13/18 Archive Date: 09/24/18

DOCKET NO. 18-11 916 ) DATE ) )

On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Cleveland, Ohio

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss.

REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by: The American Legion

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The Veteran

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

M. C. Wilson, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1951 to February 1955.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2016 rating decision that was issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Cleveland, Ohio. In September 2018, the Veteran appeared at a higher before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.

This appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2017). 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2) (2012).

FINDING OF FACT

During his September 2018 Board hearing and prior to the promulgation of a decision in the appeal, the Veteran notified the Board that a withdrawal of his appeal is requested.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for withdrawal of the Veteran's appeal are met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105(b)(2), (d)(5) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.204 (2017).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Board may dismiss any appeal that fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105 (2012). An appeal may be withdrawn as to any or all issues involved in the appeal at any time before the Board promulgates a decision. 38 C.F.R. § 20.204 (2017). Withdrawal may be made by the appellant or by his or her authorized representative. Id.

In the present case, the Veteran withdrew his appeal as to the pending issue, and hence, there remain no allegations of errors of fact or law for appellate consideration. Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review this matter and the appeal is dismissed. The Board acknowledges that, under Hanson v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 29 (1996), the claim no longer exists.

ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.

____________________________________________ STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs