[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4886-4887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2234]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 676


Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program

AGENCY:  Department of Education.

ACTION:  Notice of relief from specific statutory and regulatory 
provisions.

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SUMMARY:  We announce relief from specific statutory and regulatory 
provisions governing the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity 
Grant (FSEOG) Program for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 award years. This 
statutory and regulatory relief applies to additional emergency FSEOG 
funds provided under recently enacted provisions of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000. These emergency FSEOG funds 
can be used only to assist individuals who suffered financial harm from 
Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, and the flooding associated with these 
hurricanes, that struck the eastern United States in August and 
September 1999.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  Febraury 2, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Kathy S. Gause, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Regional Office Building 3, Room 
3045, Washington, DC 20202-5447. Telephone: (202) 708-8242. If you use 
a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) by contacting the Alternate Format Center at (202) 260-9895.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Many student financial aid applicants and 
recipients have been adversely affected by Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, 
and the flooding associated with these hurricanes. The President signed 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Pub. L. 106-
113) on November 29, 1999, that provides an additional emergency 
appropriation of $10 million for allocations to institutions of higher 
education for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants 
(FSEOGs) made under Title IV, part A, subpart 3, of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The additional emergency FSEOG 
funds are being specifically provided for the purpose of assisting 
students who have suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane 
Dennis or Hurricane Floyd, and are for use during award years 1999-2000 
and 2000-2001. We informed institutions of the means to request these 
emergency FSEOG funds in an announcement dated January 7, 2000, that 
was issued on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) 
Web site (http://ifap.ed.gov).
    To facilitate the use of these additional emergency FSEOG funds, 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act also grants the Secretary authority 
to waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provisions, applicable 
to the FSEOG Program, necessary to assist individuals who suffered 
financial harm resulting from these natural disasters.
    We have already provided certain regulatory relief to lenders and 
guaranty agencies in the Federal Family Education Loan Program under 
section 432(a)(6) of the HEA and 34 CFR 682.406(b) and 682.413(f). The 
guaranty agency directors were informed of this relief in a letter 
dated August 5, 1999 as Disaster Letter 99-28. We have also provided 
guidance for helping Title IV participants affected by Hurricane Floyd 
in a Dear Partner letter published in September 1999 as GEN-99-27.

Covered Individuals

    This notice is intended to assist individuals who suffered 
financial harm as a result of Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd in 1999. This 
notice will apply only to students who, at the time of the disaster, 
were residing in, employed in, or attending an institution of higher 
education located in an area designated as a Federally declared natural 
disaster area (or, in the case of an individual who is a dependent 
student, whose parent or stepparent suffered financial harm from that 
disaster, and who resided or was employed in such an area at that 
time).
    A list of those areas designated as a Federally declared natural 
disaster due to these hurricanes is available by State on the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Web site (http://www.fema.gov/library/diz99.htm). The nine States that had areas designated as a 
Federally declared natural disaster due to these hurricanes are 
Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, 
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.
    This notice of statutory and regulatory relief will be applicable 
only for awards made under the FSEOG Program from the additional 
emergency appropriation of $10 million during the 1999-2000 and 2000-
2001 award years (the periods from July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000 and 
July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001).
    For the awarding of the additional emergency appropriation of $10 
million in FSEOG funds allocated to institutions under the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000, we provide the following 
waivers and modifications of specific statutory and regulatory 
provisions governing the FSEOG Program:

1. Section 413D of the HEA--Allocation of Funds and 34 CFR 673.4  
Allocation and Reallocation of FSEOG Funds

    To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to modify 
the applicable statutory and regulatory

[[Page 4887]]

formula requirements for allocating FSEOG funds to institutions. During 
the 1999-2000 award year, the additional emergency FSEOG funds will be 
allocated for use during the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 award years, to 
participating institutions from the designated States. An institution 
must submit a request, in the format and by the deadline required by 
the Secretary, for these funds to assist students enrolled at that 
institution who suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane Dennis 
or Hurricane Floyd.
    Also, to assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to 
waive the applicable statutory and regulatory penalty for unexpended 
FSEOG allocations. This penalty is being waived for these additional 
emergency FSEOG funds to best achieve the purpose of not having these 
funds impact future allocations. Therefore, the allocation from the 
additional emergency FSEOG funds will not be used in determining 
whether an institution returned more than 10 percent of its FSEOG 
allocation that would result in a reduction of its allocation for the 
second succeeding award year by the dollar amount unexpended. Upon the 
return of any of these funds to us, the institution must identify these 
funds as part of the additional amount of FSEOG funds awarded to 
institutions to assist individuals who suffered financial harm 
resulting from Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd and their aftermath.

2. Section 413C of the HEA  Agreements With Institutions; Selection of 
Recipients and 34 CFR 676.10 Selection of Students for FSEOG Awards

    To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to waive 
the applicable statutory and regulatory priority order selection 
requirements for awarding FSEOG funds. The institution does not have to 
award these additional emergency FSEOG funds in lowest Expected Family 
Contribution order or give a priority to Federal Pell Grant recipients.
    Also, to assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to 
waive the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for offering 
a reasonable proportion of these emergency FSEOG funds to less-than-
full-time and independent students. The institution may award these 
additional emergency FSEOG funds to an otherwise eligible student 
affected by Hurricane Dennis or Hurricane Floyd who demonstrates 
financial need.
    The institution must document in the student's file that the funds 
awarded are part of these additional emergency FSEOG funds. The 
institution must also document in the student's file that the student, 
or the student's family, is from one of the designated areas and 
suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane Dennis or Hurricane 
Floyd.

3. Section 413E of the HEA--Carryover and Carryback Authority and 34 
CFR 676.18  Use of Funds

    To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to modify 
the applicable statutory and regulatory carry forward authority for the 
additional emergency FSEOG funds received for the 1999-2000 award year. 
The existing authority allows an institution to carry forward no more 
than 10 percent of its current award year FSEOG funds to spend in the 
next year. However, the institution may carry forward any amount of the 
emergency FSEOG funds necessary to be used in the 2000-2001 award year. 
Any of the additional emergency FSEOG funds that are not spent by the 
end of the 2000-2001 award year (June 30, 2001) must be returned to the 
Department.

4. Section 413C of the HEA--Agreements With Institutions; Selection of 
Recipients and 34 CFR 676.21  FSEOG Federal Share Limitations

    To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to waive 
the applicable statutory and regulatory requirement that the Federal 
share of FSEOG awards made by an institution may not exceed 75 percent. 
The Federal share for these additional emergency FSEOG funds may be 100 
percent. The institution must document in its records that it used this 
waiver of the Federal share limitation requirement for these additional 
emergency FSEOG funds.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
http://ifap.ed.gov/csb__html/fedlreg.htm

    To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
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you have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government 
Printing Office (GPO) toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the 
Washington, D.C., area at (202) 512-1530.

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


    (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 84.007)

    (Legal Authority: Pub. L. 106-113 and 20 U.S.C. 1082)

    Dated: January 27, 2000.
Richard W. Riley,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 00-2234 Filed 1-28-00; 1:33 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U