[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 250 (Thursday, December 30, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 73458-73460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33951]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter VI


Student Financial Assistance

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of intention to establish negotiated rulemaking 
committees on issues under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended.

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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish two negotiated 
rulemaking committees to prepare proposed regulations under Title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Each committee will 
include representatives of the interests that are significantly 
affected by the subject matter of the regulations. We request 
nominations for participants from anyone who believes that his or her 
organization or group should participate in this negotiated rulemaking 
process.

DATES: We will consider all nominations for membership on the 
committees that we receive by January 18, 2000. We will also be holding 
a meeting on January 18, 2000, at the Department of Education for 
interested parties to discuss the procedures for the negotiated 
rulemaking sessions.

ADDRESSES: Please send your nomination to Beth Grebeldinger, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., ROB-3, Washington, DC 
20202-5257, or fax to Beth Grebeldinger at (202) 708-7196. You may also 
email your nominations to:
[email protected]
    The meeting will be held at the Department of Education at the 
address above. Anyone interested in attending the meeting should 
contact Beth Grebeldinger at (202) 205-8822.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Grebeldinger, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., ROB-3, Washington, DC 20202-5257. 
Telephone: (202) 205-8822. If you use a

[[Page 73459]]

telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) you may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The meeting site is accessible to 
individuals with disabilities. If you will need an auxiliary aid or 
service to participate in the meeting (e.g. interpreting service, 
assistive listening device, or materials in alternate format), notify 
the contact person listed in this NPRM in advance of the scheduled 
meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet a request we receive, we 
may not be able to make available the requested auxiliary aid or 
service because of insufficient time to arrange it.

Structure of Committees

    We anticipate having two negotiating committees. The ultimate goal 
of negotiated rulemaking is to reach a consensus on proposed 
regulations through discussion and negotiation among interested and 
affected parties, including the Department of Education. With this in 
mind, we will conduct these negotiations within a structure that is 
designed to meet this goal fairly and efficiently. We expect to make 
the committees large enough to allow significantly affected parties to 
be represented, without making the committees so large as to be 
unmanageable and potentially unsuccessful. We therefore encourage 
organizations and groups to work together to nominate someone who would 
represent a coalition of organizations or groups. The meetings will be 
open to the public.
    We list below the issues each committee is likely to address. The 
list was developed through topic sessions held with representatives of 
the participants in the student financial aid programs in Washington, 
DC, through listening sessions held in Atlanta, Chicago, and San 
Francisco, and through listening sessions conducted by the Office of 
Student Financial Assistance's (OSFA's) Customer Service Task Force. 
This list of issues is tentative and may be revised as the process 
continues.

    Note: A comprehensive review of delinquency and default 
management (including due diligence) has not been included on the 
list of issues for this round of negotiated rulemaking. Because of 
the complexity of these issues, we will convene discussions in early 
2000 with all interested parties to begin consideration of these 
issues and to discuss what issues, if any, should be included in a 
future session of negotiated rulemaking.

Committee I: Loan Issues Committee

Cohort Default Rates

     Restructure and revise cohort default rate provisions for 
clarity and consistency (34 CFR 668.17).
     Address the effect of changes of ownership on calculation 
of cohort default rates and related determinations of eligibility (34 
CFR 668.17(g)).
     Remove or modify the list of default reduction measures in 
Appendix D to Part 668.
     Develop regulations regarding electronic appeal submission 
and processing, including consideration of the functions to be 
performed by guaranty agencies, schools, and the Department.
    Death and Disability--address evidentiary requirements for death 
discharges; standards for granting disability discharges; and processes 
for evaluating discharge applications (34 CFR 682.402(b) and (c)).
    Delinquency and Default Management--address post-default due 
diligence (34 CFR 682.410(b)(6) and (7)).

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

    False Certification Discharges--address implications of the 
decision in Jordan v. Riley and the existing ability to benefit 
standards (34 CFR 682.402(e)).
    Federal Perkins Loans--address proof of claim requirements in 
bankruptcy (34 CFR 674) and criteria regarding institutions' ability to 
maintain an acceptable record of collecting on loans.
    Cash Management--address just-in time provisions (34 CFR 668.162 
and 668.167).

Committee II: Program and Eligibility Issues Committee

    Change of Ownership--(34 CFR 668.12 and 668.13 and 34 CFR 600.20, 
600.21, 600.30, and 600.31)
     Address changes of ownership of publicly traded 
corporations.
     Consider changes of control issues that are unique to 
public institutions.
     Clarify application procedures and information required 
for changes of ownership and other situations.
     Consolidate and clarify change of ownership provisions, 
including application procedures.

Nontraditional Programs

     Consider the definitions of standard term, nonstandard 
term and non-term (34 CFR 668.2).
     Address the application of the 12 hour rule as found in 
the academic year and eligible programs definitions (34 CFR 668.2 and 
668.8).
     Revise notification and approval requirements for 
additional locations and new programs (34 CFR 600.10, 600.20, 600.21, 
and 600.30).
     Consider revisions to regulatory provisions governing 
consortium and contractual agreements (34 CFR 600.9).

Special Leveraging Education Assistance Partnerships (SLEAP)

Electronic Authorization and Verification, and Electronic Retention

     Address these issues for certain Title IV programs and 
purposes.
    Each negotiating committee will include representatives of 
significantly affected interests, such as students, and/or legal 
assistance organizations that represent students, institutions of 
higher education, guaranty agencies, lenders, secondary markets, loan 
servicers, guaranty agency servicers, and collection agencies.

Schedule for Negotiations

    There are expected to be a total of approximately four meetings of 
each committee, all of which will be held in the metropolitan 
Washington, DC area. The following is the tentative schedule for 
negotiations for each of the committees. This schedule is subject to 
change.

Committee I

Session 1: February 7-8
Session 2: March 27-29
Session 3: May 1-3
Session 4: May 30-31

Committee II

Session 1: February 17-18
Session 2: March 29-31
Session 3: May 3-5
Session 4: June 1-2

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, in Text or Adobe portable document 
format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at any of the following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg/htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/HEA/rulemaking

To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at the first of the previous sites. If 
you have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government 
Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO access at:

[[Page 73460]]

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number does not apply)
Richard W. Riley,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 99-33951 Filed 12-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U