{"data":{"id":"us/36-cfr-12.3","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"36 CFR 12.3","heading":"Definitions.","body":"The following definitions apply only to the regulations in this part:\nBurial section means a plot of land within a national cemetery specifically designated to receive casketed or cremated human remains.\nClose relative means a surviving spouse, parent, adult brother or sister, or adult child.\nCommemorative monument means a monument, tablet, structure, or other commemorative installation of permanent materials to honor more than one veteran.\nDemonstration means a demonstration, picketing, speechmaking, marching, holding a vigil or religious service, or any other like form of conduct that involves the communication or expression of views or grievances, engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which is reasonably likely to attract a crowd or onlookers. This term does not include casual park use by persons that is not reasonably likely to attract a crowd or onlookers.\nEligible person means an individual authorized by Federal statute and VA Policy to be interred or memorialized in a national cemetery.\nGovernment headstone means a standard upright stone, provided by the Veterans Administration, of the same design currently in use in a national cemetery to identify the interred remains.\nGravesite reservation means a written agreement executed between a person and the National Park Service to secure a gravesite prior to the death of an eligible person.\nHeadstone means a permanent stone placed vertically on a grave to identify the interred remains.\nHistoric enclosure means a permanent fence, wall, hedge, or other structure that surrounds the burial sections and defines the unique historic boundary of a national cemetery.\nMarker means a permanent device placed horizontally on a grave to identify the interred remains.\nMemorial headstone means a private or government headstone placed in a memorial section of a national cemetery with the words “In Memory Of” inscribed to honor a deceased eligible person whose remains could not be interred in the national cemetery.\nNPS Policy means the National Park Service's Guidelines for National Cemeteries, NPS-61.\nPrivate headstone means an upright stone provided by a person at no expense to the government and in lieu of a government headstone.\nRecreational activity means any form of athletics, sport or other leisure pursuit or event, whether organized or spontaneous, that is engaged in by one or more persons for the primary purpose of exercise, relaxation or enjoyment, including but not limited to the following: jogging, racing, skating, skateboarding, ball playing, kite flying, model airplane flying, throwing objects through the air, sunbathing, bicycling and picknicking. This term does not include walking, hiking or casual strolling.\nSpecial event means a sports event, pageant, celebration, historical reenactment, entertainment, exhibition, parade, fair, festival, or similar activity that is not a demonstration, engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which is reasonably likely to attract a crowd or onlookers. This term does not include casual park use by persons that is not reasonably likely to attract a crowd or onlookers.\nVA Policy means the current editions of the Veterans Administration's Manuals that pertain to the administration of the National Cemetery System.","path":["Title 36—Parks, Forests, and Public Property","CHAPTER I—NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR","PART 12—NATIONAL CEMETERIES"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-36.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:44Z","sha256":"b13b14c2d816e96a456a26af0dbc4f2c883896bf28ac90bb9abcf6fd8371fc57","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/36-cfr-12.2","next":"us/36-cfr-12.4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}