[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 174 (Monday, September 8, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51990-51992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20776]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter VI


Office of Postsecondary Education; Notice of Negotiated 
Rulemaking for Programs Authorized Under Title IV and Title II of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of invitation for public comment and establishment of 
negotiated rulemaking committees.

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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish negotiated rulemaking 
committees to prepare proposed regulations under Title IV and, 
possibly, Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended 
(HEA). The committees will include representatives of organizations or 
groups with interests that are significantly affected by the subject 
matter of the proposed regulations. We also announce six public 
hearings, at which interested parties may suggest issues that should be 
considered for action by the negotiating committees. In addition, for 
anyone unable to attend a public hearing, we announce that the 
Department will accept written comments.

DATES: The dates, times, and locations of the public hearings are 
listed under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. We 
must receive written comments suggesting issues that should be 
considered for action by the

[[Page 51991]]

negotiating committees on or before October 8, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Wendy Macias, U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 8017, Washington, DC 
20006, or by fax to Wendy Macias at (202) 502-7874. You may also e-mail 
your comments to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the public 
hearings, see http://www.ed.gov/HEOA or contact: Mary Miller, U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 8066, Washington, DC 
20006. Telephone: (202) 502-7824. You may also e-mail your questions 
about the public hearings to: [email protected].
    For information about negotiated rulemaking in general, see The 
Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV Regulations, Frequently 
Asked Questions at http://www.ed.gov/HEOA. For further information 
contact: Wendy Macias, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, 
NW., room 8017, Washington, DC 20006. Telephone (202) 502-7526. You may 
also e-mail your questions about negotiated rulemaking to: 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) by contacting the person responsible for information about 
the public hearings.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We intend to develop proposed regulations to 
implement the changes made to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) by 
the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), Public Law 110-
315. Section 492 of the HEA, as amended by the HEOA, requires that, 
before publishing any proposed regulations to implement programs 
authorized under Title IV of the HEA, the Secretary obtain public 
involvement in the development of the proposed regulations. After 
obtaining advice and recommendations from the public, the Secretary 
uses a negotiated rulemaking process to develop the proposed 
regulations. In addition, section 201(2) of the HEOA added a provision 
to section 207(c) of the HEA that requires the Secretary to submit to a 
negotiated rulemaking process any regulations the Secretary chooses to 
develop under amended section 207(b)(2) of the HEA, regarding the 
prohibition on a teacher preparation program from which the State has 
withdrawn approval or terminated financial support from accepting or 
enrolling any student who receives Title IV aid.
    We intend to develop proposed regulations by following the 
negotiated rulemaking procedures in section 492 of the HEA. We 
anticipate using the negotiated rulemaking procedures in section 492 of 
the HEA to develop any regulations for the new teacher preparation 
program provision in section 207(b)(2) of the HEA, although the 
Secretary is not required to do so. After a complete review of the HEOA 
and the public comments presented at the public hearings and through 
written submission, we will publish a subsequent notice (or notices) 
announcing the specific subject areas for which we intend to establish 
negotiated rulemaking committees, and a request for nominations for 
individual negotiators for those committees who represent the interests 
significantly affected by the proposed regulations.
    We anticipate that we will announce our intent to establish most of 
the negotiated rulemaking committees by the end of this year, with 
negotiations beginning in February 2009. For subject areas for which 
implementation must occur more quickly, the schedule will be expedited.
    For general information on the implementation of the HEOA, see 
http://www.ed.gov/HEOA.

Public Hearings

    We will hold six public hearings for interested parties to discuss 
the agenda for the negotiated rulemaking sessions. The public hearings 
will be held on:
     September 19, 2008 at Texas Christian University in Fort 
Worth, Texas;
     September 29, 2008 at the University of Rhode Island, in 
Providence, Rhode Island;
     October 2, 2008 at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, 
California;
     October 6, 2008 at Johnson C. Smith University, in 
Charlotte, North Carolina;
     October 8, 2008 at the U.S. Department of Education in 
Washington, DC; and
     October 15, 2008 at Cuyahoga Community College, in 
Cleveland, Ohio.
The public hearings will be held from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., local time, 
with the exception of the hearing at Texas Christian University in Fort 
Worth, Texas, which will be held from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., local time. 
Further information on the public hearing sites, including addresses 
and directions, is available at http://www.ed.gov/HEOA.
    Individuals desiring to present comments at the public hearings are 
encouraged to do so. It is likely that each participant choosing to 
make a statement will be limited to five minutes. Individuals 
interested in making oral statements will be able to register to make a 
statement beginning at 8:30 a.m. on the day of the public hearing (9:30 
a.m. on the day of the public hearing for the hearing at Texas 
Christian University) at the Department's on-site registration table on 
a first-come, first-served basis. If additional time slots remain, 
individuals may be given additional time to speak. If no time slots 
remain, the Department has reserved one additional hour at the end of 
the day for individuals who were not able to register to speak. The 
amount of time available will depend upon the number of individuals who 
register to speak. Speakers may also submit written comments. In 
addition, for anyone unable to attend a public hearing, the Department 
will accept written comments through October 8, 2008. (See the 
ADDRESSES sections of this notice for submission information.)
    The public hearing sites are accessible to individuals with 
disabilities. Individuals needing an auxiliary aid or service to 
participate in a meeting (e.g., interpreting service, assistive 
listening device, or materials in alternative format), should notify 
the contact person for information about hearings listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in this notice in advance of the scheduled 
meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet any request we receive, 
we may not be able to make available the requested auxiliary aid or 
service because of insufficient time to arrange it.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, in text or Adobe Portable Document 
Format (PDF), on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister. To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which 
is available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, 
call the U.S. Government Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498; 
or in the Washington, DC, 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a; Pub. L. 110-315, Sec.  
201(2).


[[Page 51992]]


    Dated: September 3, 2008.
Cheryl A. Oldham,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. E8-20776 Filed 9-5-08; 8:45 am]
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