[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]



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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]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P