[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28431-28432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13157]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Subtitles A and B

[Docket ID: ED-2017-OS-0074]


Evaluation of Existing Regulations

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Education.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Executive Order 13777, ``Enforcing the 
Regulatory Reform Agenda,'' the Department of Education (Department) is 
seeking input on regulations that may be appropriate for repeal, 
replacement, or modification.

DATES: We must receive your comments no later than August 21, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments by fax or email. To ensure that we do not receive 
duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In addition, 
please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit 
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, 
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting 
comments, and viewing the docket is available on the site under the 
``Help'' tab.

[[Page 28432]]

    Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: The Department 
strongly encourages commenters to submit their comments electronically. 
However, if you mail or deliver your comments in response to this 
request, address them to Hilary Malawer, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 
6E231, Washington, DC 20202.

    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to 
include in their comments only information that they wish to make 
publicly available.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this 
document, please contact Hilary Malawer, Assistant General Counsel, 
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Education, 400 
Maryland Avenue SW., Room 6E231, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 
401-6148 or by email: [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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    On February 24, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13777, 
``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,'' which established a Federal 
policy ``to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens'' on the American 
people. Section 3(a) of the Executive Order directs Federal agencies to 
establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force (Task Force). One of the 
duties of the Task Force is to evaluate existing regulations and ``make 
recommendations to the agency head regarding their repeal, replacement, 
or modification.'' The Executive Order further asks that each Task 
Force ``attempt to identify regulations that:
    (i) Eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;
    (ii) Are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;
    (iii) Impose costs that exceed benefits;
    (iv) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with 
regulatory reform initiatives and policies;
    (v) Are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the 
Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 
3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision, in 
particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, 
information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are 
insufficiently transparent to meet the standard for reproducibility; or
    (vi) Derive from or implement Executive Orders or other 
Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or 
substantially modified.''
    Section 3(e) of the Executive order calls on the Task Force to 
``seek input and other assistance, as permitted by law, from entities 
significantly affected by Federal regulations, including State, local, 
and tribal governments, small businesses, consumers, non-governmental 
organizations, and trade associations'' on regulations that meet some 
or all of the criteria above. A ``regulation'' for this purpose ``means 
an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future 
effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or 
to describe the procedure or practice requirements of an agency . . . 
.'' See Executive Order 13771, section 4.
    Through this announcement, the Department is soliciting such input 
from the public to inform its Task Force's evaluation of existing 
regulations and guidance that have a policy impact. The Department's 
regulations are codified in subtitles A and B of title 34 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR), which are available in electronic format 
at www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=0717200349ac02b730b4600ba4a5ed05&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title34/34tab_02.tpl. A list of the Department's significant guidance 
documents is available at: www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/significant-guidance.html. Other Department guidance may be accessed at www.ed.gov 
by program office. The Department requests that commenters be as 
specific as possible by: Providing a Federal Register (FR) or CFR 
citation when referencing a specific regulation or, where practicable, 
a link when referencing a particular guidance document; including any 
supporting data or other applicable information; providing specific 
suggestions regarding repeal, replacement, or modification; and 
explaining with specificity why the referenced regulation or guidance 
should be repealed, replaced, or modified. Wherever possible, please 
list the citations to the specific regulatory sections or titles of 
guidance documents to which your comments pertain in a subject line or 
otherwise at the beginning of your comments. We are particularly 
interested in regulatory provisions that you find unduly costly or 
unnecessarily burdensome. Although we will not respond to individual 
comments, the Department values public feedback and will give careful 
consideration to all input that we receive. Individual program offices 
of the Department will also be conducting outreach on this same topic.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    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 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.

    Dated: June 19, 2017.
Betsy DeVos,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-13157 Filed 6-21-17; 8:45 am]
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