[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 57 (Friday, March 24, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17777-17778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06028]
[[Page 17777]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter VI
[Docket ID ED-2023-OPE-0039]
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Public Hearings
AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
ACTION: Intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee.
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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish one or more negotiated
rulemaking committee(s), which may include a subcommittee, to prepare
proposed regulations for the Federal Student Aid programs authorized
under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).
The committee will include representatives of organizations or groups
with interests that are significantly affected by the subject matter of
the proposed regulations. We also announce three public hearings at
which interested parties may comment on the topics suggested by the
Department and may suggest additional topics that we should consider
for action by the negotiating committee. In addition, we announce that
the Department will accept written comments on the topics suggested by
the Department and suggestions for additional topics that we should
consider for action by the negotiating committee.
DATES: The dates, times, and locations of the public hearings are
listed under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. We
must receive written comments on the topics suggested by the Department
and additional topics that you believe we should consider for action by
the negotiating committee(s) on or before April 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at regulations.gov. Information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for submitting comments, is available on the
site under ``FAQ.'' If you require an accommodation or cannot otherwise
submit your comments via regulations.gov, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The Department will not
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or comments submitted
after the comment period closes. To ensure that we do not receive
duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. Additionally,
please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to generally make 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. Commenters should not include in their comments any
information that identifies other individuals or that permits readers
to identify other individuals. The Department reserves the right to
redact at any time any information in comments that identifies other
individuals, includes information that would allow readers to identify
other individuals, or includes threats of harm to another person.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about negotiated
rulemaking, see The Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV
Regulations, Frequently Asked Questions at: www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html. For information
about the public hearings, or for additional information about
negotiated rulemaking, contact: Ashley Clark, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 2C-185, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 453-7977. Email: [email protected].
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 492 of the HEA requires that, before
publishing any proposed regulations to implement programs authorized
under title IV of the HEA, the Secretary must obtain public involvement
in the development of the proposed regulations. After obtaining advice
and recommendations from the public, the Secretary conducts negotiated
rulemaking to develop the proposed regulations. We announce our intent
to develop proposed title IV regulations by following the negotiated
rulemaking procedures in section 492 of the HEA.
We intend to select negotiators from nominees of the organizations
and groups that represent the interests significantly affected by the
proposed regulations. To the extent possible, we will select individual
negotiators from the nominees who reflect the diversity among program
participants, in accordance with section 492(b)(1) of the HEA.
Regulatory Issues
We intend to convene one or more committee(s), which may include a
subcommittee, to develop proposed regulations pertaining to the title
IV, HEA programs. Topics may include:
(1) The Federal TRIO programs, including improvements to
programmatic eligibility and operations under 34 CFR parts 642 through
647;
(2) The Secretary's recognition of accrediting agencies in 34 CFR
part 602 and related parts;
(3) Institutional eligibility under 34 CFR 600.2, including State
authorization as a component of such eligibility under 34 CFR 600.9;
(4) Return of title IV funds, to address requirements for
participating institutions to return unearned title IV funds in a
manner that protects students and taxpayers while easing administrative
burden for institutions of higher education under 34 CFR 668.22;
(5) Cash management, to address timely student access to
disbursements of title IV, HEA Federal student financial assistance and
provisions related to credit balances, escheatment, or loss of such
funds under 34 CFR part 668, subpart K;
(6) Third-party servicers and related issues, such as reporting,
financial responsibility, compliance, and past performance requirements
as a component of institutional eligibility for participation in the
title IV, HEA Federal student financial assistance programs under 34
CFR 668.25 and 682.416; and
(7) The definition of ``distance education'' under 34 CFR 600.2 as
it pertains to clock hour programs and reporting for students who
enroll primarily online.
We also invite public input on how the Department could, through
its title IV regulations, help improve borrowers' understanding of
repayment options and ensure borrowers select an income-driven
repayment plan instead of a deferment or forbearance if doing so would
be the most beneficial payment plan.
After reviewing the public comments presented at the public
hearings and in the written submissions, we will publish a document (or
documents) in the Federal Register announcing the specific topics for
which we intend to establish negotiated rulemaking committees, and
subcommittee if applicable, and a request for nominations for
individual negotiators for the committee who represent the communities
of interest that would be significantly affected by the proposed
regulations. This document will also be
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posted on the Department's website at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html.
Public Hearings
We will hold public hearings for interested parties to discuss the
rulemaking agenda from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Eastern
time, on April 11-13, 2023. Further information on the public hearings
is available at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html.
Individuals who would like to present comments at one of the public
hearings must register by sending an email message to
[email protected] no later than noon, Eastern time, on the business
day prior to the public hearing. The message should include the name of
the presenter, the general topic(s) the individual would like to
address, and one or more dates and times during which the individual
would be available to speak. We will attempt to accommodate each
speaker's preference, but, if we are unable to do so, we will select
speakers on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date and
time we received the message. We will limit each participant to four
minutes.
The Department will notify speakers of the time slot reserved for
them and provide information on how to log in to the hearing as a
speaker. An individual may make only one presentation at the public
hearings. If we receive more registrations than we can accommodate, we
reserve the right to reject or cancel the registration of an entity or
individual affiliated with an entity or individual that is already
scheduled to present comments to ensure that a broad range of entities
and individuals are able to present. Registration is required to view
the virtual public hearings. We will post links for attendees who wish
to observe on our website at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html. The Department will also post
transcripts of the hearings on that site.
The Department will accept written comments via the Federal
eRulemaking portal through April 14, 2023. See the ADDRESSES section of
this document for submission information.
Schedule for Negotiations
We anticipate that any committee established after the public
hearings will begin negotiations in early fall 2023 and will meet for
three sessions of 4 days each at roughly 4-week intervals. The dates
and locations of these virtual meetings will be published in a
subsequent Federal Register document and posted online at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html.
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file,
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible
format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. 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 for
free on 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.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a.
Nasser H. Paydar,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2023-06028 Filed 3-23-23; 8:45 am]
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