[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 53478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16927]



[[Page 53478]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2023-SCC-0145]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Income 
Driven Repayment Plan Request for the William D. Ford Federal Direct 
Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Programs

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct an 
emergency review of a revision to a previously approved information 
collection.

DATES: The Department requested emergency processing from OMB for this 
information collection request on July 26, 2023. As a result, the 
Department is providing the public with the opportunity to comment 
under the full comment period. Interested persons are invited to submit 
comments on or before October 10, 2023.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2023-SCC-0145. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal 
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov 
site is not available to the public for any reason, the Department will 
temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please include the 
docket ID number and the title of the information collection request 
when requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note that 
comments submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. 
Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail 
or delivery should be addressed to the Manager of the Strategic 
Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W203, 
Washington, DC 20202-8240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Beth Grebeldinger, 202-708-8242.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department, in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of 
information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. The Department is soliciting comments on the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 
The Department is especially interested in public comment addressing 
the following issues: (1) is this collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and 
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) 
how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department 
minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including 
through the use of information technology. Please note that written 
comments received in response to this notice will be considered public 
records.
    Title of Collection: Income Driven Repayment Plan (IDR) Request for 
the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans and Federal Family Education 
Loan Programs.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0102.
    Type of Review: A revision of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 9,500,000.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 3,135,000.
    Abstract: The Department of Education (Department) requested 
emergency processing for this revised information collection, 1845-
0102; and therefore, is requesting the 60-day public comment period for 
the full ICR. The Department updated the IDR Request Form that is used 
by a borrower to enroll, recertify, or change their IDR plan to support 
the provisions identified for early implementation in the final rule 
published July 10, 2023, and the provisions in the FUTURE ACT related 
to borrower consent to use tax information for IDR participation. 
Specifically, the form has been updated to include a new section 
related to the borrower's consent to use tax information for this 
application and on an ongoing basis and to reflect the name change of 
the REPAYE Plan to the SAVE Plan. The form has also been updated to 
remove the need for spousal income information in the situation where a 
borrower files taxes separately from their spouse. This removes the 
need to collect the signature of the spouse as the spouse's information 
is no longer necessary to participate in any IDR plan. Additional 
updates were made to improve readability and the borrower experience.
    The Department received emergency clearance on June 28, 2023, since 
normal processing would not enable the Department to implement the 
required regulatory changes by July 30, 2023, that would have resulted 
in several months of delays in providing eligible borrowers financial 
relief and not meeting the requirements of the Master Calendar. Any 
delay in discharging loans for eligible borrowers would have increased 
the potential for public harm through delayed financial relief to 
borrowers who have been employed in public service, and the possibility 
of additional interest accrual and an increase in overall debt by 
affected borrowers being unable to receive the relief that is allowed 
to them under the new regulations, causing them further financial harm. 
This notice allows the public to comment on the full ICR under the 60-
day comment period.

    Dated: August 3, 2023.
Kun Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2023-16927 Filed 8-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P