[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57798-57799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22935]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 668

[Docket ID ED-2010-OPE-0004]
RIN 1840-AD02


Program Integrity Issues

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Final regulations; Technical amendments.

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SUMMARY: On October 29, 2010, the Department of Education published in 
the Federal Register final regulations for improving integrity in the 
programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
as amended (HEA) (October 29, 2010, final regulations). This document 
makes technical amendments to those regulations in accordance with a 
court order.

DATES: These regulations are effective September 20, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Kerrigan, U.S. Department of 
Education, 1990 K Street NW., room 8060, Washington, DC 20006. 
Telephone: (202) 219-7070 or by email at [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or compact 
disc) by contacting the contact person listed in this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The October 29, 2010, final regulations (75 
FR 66832) amended the regulations for Institutional Eligibility Under 
the HEA, the Secretary's Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, the 
Secretary's Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, the Student 
Assistance General Provisions, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) 
Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Teacher 
Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant 
Program, the Federal Pell Grant Program, and the Academic 
Competitiveness Grant (AGC) and the National Science and Mathematics 
Access to Retain Talent Grant (National Smart Grant) Programs. This 
document amends 34 CFR 668.71(a), (b), and (c) and removes 34 CFR 
668.75 of subpart F of part 668 of the Student Assistance General 
Provisions in accordance with the remand in Association of Private 
Sector Colleges and Universities v. Duncan, 681 F.3d 427 (D.C. Cir. 
2012).
    In this case, the D.C. Circuit held that the Department's 
misrepresentation regulations exceeded the HEA's limits in three 
respects: By allowing the Secretary to take certain enforcement actions 
against schools without procedural protections; by prohibiting 
misrepresentations with respect to subjects that are not set forth in 
the relevant provisions of the HEA; and by defining the term 
``misrepresentation'' to include statements that have the likelihood or 
tendency to confuse. The court remanded these provisions for actions 
consistent with its opinion. These final regulations, therefore, amend 
or remove the subject regulatory provisions in order to make the 
Department's regulations consistent with the court's opinion.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking, Negotiated Rulemaking, and Delayed 
Effective Date

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, the APA provides that an 
agency is not required to conduct notice and comment rulemaking when 
the agency for good cause finds that notice and

[[Page 57799]]

public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
the public interest. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).
    There is good cause here for waiving rulemaking under the APA. 
Notice and comment to amend current Sec.  668.71 and to remove Sec.  
668.75 are unnecessary because we are merely amending these sections 
consistent with the D.C. Circuit's decision in Association of Private 
Sector Colleges and Universities v. Duncan.
    For the same reasons, the Secretary has decided to waive the 30-day 
delay in the effective date of these regulatory changes under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3) and determined, under section 492(b)(2) of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 
1098a(b)(2), that these regulations should not be subject to negotiated 
rulemaking.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well 
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers: 84.268, Federal 
Direct Student Loans)

List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 668

    Administrative practice and procedure, Aliens, Colleges and 
universities, Consumer protection, Grant programs--education, Loan 
programs--education, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Selective Service System, Student aid, Vocational education.

    Dated: September 17, 2013.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Secretary amends 
part 668 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 668--STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS

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1. The authority citation for part 668 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002, 1003, 1070g, 1085, 1088, 1091, 
1092, 1094, 1099c, and 1099c-1, unless otherwise noted.


Sec.  668.71  [Amended]

0
2. Section 668.71 is amended by:
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A. In paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2), adding the words ``, if the 
institution is provisionally certified under Sec.  668.13(c)'' 
immediately before the semi-colon.
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B. In the second sentence of paragraph (b), removing the words 
``regarding the eligible institution, including''.
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C. In paragraph (c), in the second sentence of the definition of 
``misrepresentation'', removing the words ``or confuse''.


Sec.  668.75  [Removed]

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3. Section 668.75 is removed.

[FR Doc. 2013-22935 Filed 9-19-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P