Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 46399 

Dated: August 28, 2009. 

Joseph T. Rannazzisi, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Diversion Control. 

[FR Doc. E9–21698 Filed 9–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter VI 

Office of Postsecondary Education; 

Notice of Negotiated Rulemaking for 

Programs Authorized Under Title IV of 

the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

Amended 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice of establishment of 

negotiated rulemaking committees. 

SUMMARY: We announce our intention to 

establish two negotiated rulemaking 

committees to prepare proposed 

regulations under Title IV of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended 

(HEA). Each committee will include 

representatives of organizations or 

groups with interests that are 

significantly affected by the subject 

matter of the proposed regulations. We 

request nominations for individual 

negotiators who represent key 

stakeholder constituencies that are 

involved in the student financial 

assistance programs authorized under 

Title IV of the HEA to serve on these 

committees. 

DATES: We must receive your 

nominations for negotiators to serve on 

the committees on or before September 

25, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Please send your 

nominations for negotiators to Patty 

Chase, U.S. Department of Education, 

1990 K Street, NW., room 8034, 

Washington, DC 20006, or by fax at 

(202) 502–7874. You may also e-mail 

your nominations to 

Patty.Chase@ed.gov. Nominees will be 

notified whether or not they have been 

selected as negotiators, as soon as the 

Department’s review process is 

completed. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the content of this 

notice, including information about the 

negotiated rulemaking process or the 

nomination submission process contact: 

Wendy Macias, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 

8017, Washington, DC 20006. 

Telephone: (202) 502–7526. You may 

also e-mail your questions about the 

nomination submission process to: 

Wendy.Macias@ed.gov. 

Note: For general information about the 

negotiated rulemaking process, see The 

Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV 

Regulations, Frequently Asked Questions at 

http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/ 

hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), 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 computer diskette) by 

contacting the contact person under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

26, 2009, we published a notice in the 

Federal Register (74 FR 24728) 

announcing our intent to establish 

negotiated rulemaking committees to 

develop proposed regulations (1) 

governing foreign schools, including the 

implementation of the changes made to 

the HEA by the Higher Education 

Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), Public 

Law 110–315, that affect foreign 

schools; and (2) to maintain or improve 

program integrity in the Title IV, HEA 

programs. We announced our intent to 

develop these proposed regulations by 

following the negotiated rulemaking 

procedures in section 492 of the HEA. 

The notice also announced a series of 

three regional hearings at which 

interested parties could comment on the 

topics suggested by the Department, and 

suggest additional topics for 

consideration for action by the 

negotiating committees. We invited 

parties to comment and submit topics 

for consideration in writing, as well. We 

heard testimony and received written 

comments from approximately 290 

individuals. Transcripts from the 

hearings and copies of the written 

comments can be found at http:// 

www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/ 

hearulemaking/2009/negregsummerfall.html. 

Regulatory Issues: After consideration 

of the information received at the 

regional hearings and in writing, we 

have decided to establish the following 

two negotiating committees: 

• Team I—Program Integrity Issues 

• Team II—Foreign School Issues 

We received many comments 

suggesting that we negotiate issues 

related to the student loan programs 

authorized under Title IV of the HEA. 

As we anticipate the need to convene a 

negotiated rulemaking committee 

following the completion of pending 

legislative action related to student 

loans, we will not be including student 

loan issues on the agenda at this time. 

Many of those who testified and those 

who provided written comments made 

the case for changes to bankruptcy rules 

as they relate to student loans; some 

also called for changes in statutes of 

limitations and loan refinancing rules. 

While those issues are important, 

addressing them would require action 

by Congress. 

We also received comments 

suggesting revisions to the institutional 

financial responsibility regulations for 

Title IV, HEA institutional eligibility. 

We agree that this is an area where 

changes may be beneficial. However, 

significant analysis must be done by the 

Department before we can bring this 

issue to a committee for negotiation. We 

will be beginning this process in the 

near future. More information about the 

public aspects of this process will be 

forthcoming on the Department’s Web 

site. 

We list the topics each committee is 

likely to address during this round of 

negotiations elsewhere in this notice 

under Committee Topics. 

We intend to select negotiators for the 

committees that represent the interests 

significantly affected by the topics 

proposed for negotiations. In so doing, 

we will follow the requirement in 

section 492(b)(1) of the HEA that the 

individuals selected must have 

demonstrated expertise or experience in 

the relevant subjects under negotiation. 

We will also select individual 

negotiators who reflect the diversity 

among program participants, in 

accordance with section 492(b)(1) of the 

HEA. Our goal is to establish 

committees that will allow significantly 

affected parties to be represented while 

keeping the committee size manageable. 

The committees may create subgroups 

on particular topics that would involve 

additional individuals who are not 

members of the committees. Individuals 

who are not selected as members of the 

committees will be able to attend the 

meetings, have access to the individuals 

representing their constituencies, and 

participate in informal working groups 

on various issues between the meetings. 

The committee meetings will be open to 

the public. 

The Department has identified the 

following constituencies as having 

interests that are significantly affected 

by the topics proposed for negotiations. 

The Department plans to seat as 

negotiators individuals from 

organizations or groups representing 

each of these constituencies. The 

Department anticipates that individuals 

from organizations or groups 

representing each of these 

constituencies will participate as 

members of one or more committees as 

appropriate. These constituencies are: 

• Students. 


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46400 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

• Legal assistance organizations that 

represent students. 

• Consumer advocacy organizations. 

• Financial aid administrators at 

postsecondary institutions. 

• Business officers and bursars at 

postsecondary institutions. 

• Admissions officers at 

postsecondary institutions. 

• Institutional third-party servicers 

who perform functions related to the 

Title IV programs (including collection 

agencies). 

• State higher education executive 

officers. 

• State Attorneys General and other 

appropriate State officials. 

• Business and industry. 

• Institutions of higher education 

eligible to receive Federal assistance 

under Title III, Parts A and B, and Title 

V of the HEA, which include 

Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities, Hispanic-Serving 

Institutions, American Indian Tribally 

Controlled Colleges and Universities, 

Alaska Native and Native HawaiianServing Institutions, and other 

institutions with a substantial 

enrollment of needy students as defined 

in Title III of the HEA. 

• Two-year public institutions of 

higher education. 

• Four-year public institutions of 

higher education. 

• Private, non-profit institutions of 

higher education. 

• Private, for-profit institutions of 

higher education. 

• Guaranty agencies and guaranty 

agency servicers (including collection 

agencies). 

• Lenders, secondary markets, and 

loan servicers. 

• Regional accrediting agencies. 

• National accrediting agencies. 

• Specialized accrediting agencies. 

• State approval agencies. 

• State student grant agencies. 

• State agencies addressing secondary 

education. 

• Private secondary schools. 

• Home schools for secondary 

education. 

• Foreign institutions. 

• Governmental entities overseeing 

public foreign institutions. 

• Clinical sites of foreign medical 

institutions located in the United States 

(for Team II—Foreign School Issues, 

Issues specific to foreign medical 

schools). 

• State agencies that certify clinical 

sites of foreign medical institutions in 

the United States (for Team II—Foreign 

School Issues, Issues specific to foreign 

medical schools). 

The negotiation of proposed 

regulations for issues specific to foreign 

medical schools on the Team II agenda 

requires some specific constituencies 

who are affected parties for purposes of 

these issues only. 

For these issues, we will be selecting 

‘‘single-issue negotiators’’ whose 

participation on the committee will be 

limited to the negotiation of only the 

issues specific to foreign medical 

schools. As previously noted, the 

committee may form subgroups for 

preliminary discussions of these, or 

other, issues to include individuals who 

are not members of the committee but 

who have expertise that would be 

helpful. 

The goal of each committee is to 

develop proposed regulations that 

reflect a final consensus of the 

committee. Consensus means that there 

is no dissent by any member of the 

negotiating committee. An individual 

selected as a negotiator will be expected 

to represent the interests of their 

organization or group. If consensus is 

reached, all members of the organization 

or group represented by a negotiator are 

bound by the consensus and are 

prohibited from commenting negatively 

on the resulting proposed regulations. 

The Department will not consider any 

such negative comments that are 

submitted by members of such an 

organization or group. 

Nominations should include: 

• The name of the nominee, the 

organization or group the nominee 

represents, and a description of the 

interests that the nominee represents. 

• Evidence of the nominee’s expertise 

or experience in the subject, or subjects, 

to be negotiated. 

• Evidence of support from 

individuals or groups of the 

constituency that the nominee will 

represent. 

• The nominee’s commitment that he 

or she will actively participate in good 

faith in the development of the 

proposed regulations. 

• The nominee’s contact information, 

including address, phone number, fax 

number, and e-mail address. 

For a better understanding of the 

negotiated rulemaking process, 

nominees should review The Negotiated 

Rulemaking Process for Title IV 

Regulations, Frequently Asked 

Questions at http://www.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/negreg-faq.html prior to committing to 

serve as a negotiator. 

Committee Topics 

The topics the committees are likely 

to address are as follows: 

Team I—Program Integrity Issues 

• Satisfactory academic progress. 

• Monitoring grade point averages. 

• Incentive compensation. 

• Gainful employment in a 

recognized occupation. 

• State authorization as a component 

of institutional eligibility. 

• Definition of a credit hour. 

• Verification of information 

included on a Free Application for 

Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 

• Definition of a high school diploma 

for purposes of establishing eligibility to 

participate in Federal student aid 

programs. 

• Misrepresentation of information 

provided to students and prospective 

students. 

• Ability to benefit. 

• Agreements between institutions of 

higher education. 

• Retaking coursework. 

• Term-based module programs. 

• Institutions required to take 

attendance for purposes of the Return of 

Title IV Funds requirements. 

• Timeliness and method of 

disbursement of Title IV funds. 

Team II—Foreign School Issues 

• United States Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) 

financial statements (section 493(b) of 

the HEOA). 

• Compliance audits (section 493(b) 

of the HEOA). 

• Definition of a foreign school. 

• Non-profit status for foreign 

schools. 

• Public foreign schools and financial 

responsibility. 

• Consolidation of select Title IV 

requirements on a countrywide basis. 

• Deferments for eligible non-citizens. 

• Non-degree programs. 

• Issues specific to foreign medical 

schools: 

Æ New eligibility criteria for foreign 

medical schools (section 102(a)(1)(B) 

and (b) of the HEOA). 

Æ Clinical sites of foreign medical 

schools in other countries. 

Æ Basic science locations of foreign 

medical schools in other countries. 

• Eligibility requirements for foreign 

veterinary schools. 

• Eligibility requirements for foreign 

nursing schools (sections 102(a)(1)(A) 

and (D) of the HEOA). 

• Foreign medical and veterinary 

schools certified separately from larger 

school. 

These topics are tentative. Topics may 

be added or removed as the process 

continues. 

Schedule for Negotiations 

We anticipate that negotiations for 

these committees will begin at the end 

of October 2009, with each committee 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 46401 

meeting for three sessions of 

approximately five days at roughly 

monthly intervals. Meetings will start 

on a Monday at 1:00 and end on a 

Friday at noon. The committees will 

meet in the Washington, DC area. The 

dates and locations of these meetings 

will be posted on the Department’s Web 

site at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/ 

negreg-summerfall.html. 

The schedule for these negotiations 

has been developed to ensure 

publication of the final regulations by 

the November 1, 2010 statutory deadline 

for publishing Title IV, HEA student 

financial assistance final regulations. 

Electronic Access to This Document 

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), on the Internet 

at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/ 

news/fedregister. 

To use PDF you must have Adobe 

Acrobat Reader, which is available free 

at this site. If you have questions about 

using PDF, call the U.S. Government 

Printing Office toll free at 1–888–293– 

6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at 

(202) 512–1530. 

Note: 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 on GPO 

Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/ 

index.html. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Daniel T. Madzelan, Director, 

Forecasting and Policy Analysis for the 

Office of Postsecondary Education, to 

perform the functions and duties of the 

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary 

Education. 

Dated: September 3, 2009. 

Daniel T. Madzelan, 

Director, Forecasting and Policy Analysis. 

[FR Doc. E9–21695 Filed 9–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 60 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2008–0697; FRL–8948–9] 

RIN 2060–AP08 

Revisions to Test Method for 

Determining Stack Gas Velocity Taking 

Into Account Velocity Decay Near the 

Stack Walls 

Correction 

In proposed rule document E9–20395 

beginning on page 42819 in the issue of 

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 make the 

following correction: 

Appendix A–2 to Part 60 [Corrected] 

On page 42819, in Appendix A–2 to 

Part 60, Equation 2H–1 is reprinted 

correctly to read as set forth below: 

d r p

p

r rd d rem last last = − ⎛ −

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ − +

1 1

2

2 2 Eq. 2H-1

[FR Doc. Z9–20395 Filed 9–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1505–01–D 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[FWS-R4-ES-2009-0029 

MO 9221050083-B2] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a 

Petition to List the Eastern Population 

of the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus 

polyphemus) as Threatened 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of 90–day petition 

finding and initiation of status review. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, announce a 90–day 

finding on a petition to list the eastern 

population of the gopher tortoise 

(Gopherus polyphemus) as threatened 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (Act) and designate 

critical habitat. Herein, the Service 

refers to the eastern population of the 

gopher tortoise as the gopher tortoise in 

the eastern portion of its range. 

Following a review of the petition, we 

find that the petition presents 

substantial scientific or commercial 

information indicating that listing the 

gopher tortoise in the eastern portion of 

its range may be warranted. Therefore, 

with the publication of this notice, we 

are initiating a status review to 

determine if listing the gopher tortoise 

in the eastern portion of the range is 

warranted. To ensure that the status 

review is comprehensive, we are 

soliciting scientific and commercial data 

and other information regarding the 

status of and threats facing the gopher 

tortoise throughout all of its range. 

DATES: We made the finding announced 

in this document on September 9, 2009. 

To allow us adequate time to conduct 

this review, we request that we receive 

information on or before November 9, 

2009 to allow us time to review and 

consider the information in our status 

review. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit 

information by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public 

Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R4- 

ES-2009-0029; Division of Policy and 

Directives Management; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, 

Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203. 

We will post all information received 

on http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David L. Hankla, Field Supervisor, 

Jacksonville Ecological Services Field 

Office, 7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 

200, Jacksonville, FL 32256, by 

telephone 904/731-3336, or by facsimile 

904/731-3045. Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Information Solicited 

When we make a finding that a 

petition presents substantial 

information indicating that listing a 

species may be warranted, we are 

required to promptly commence a 

review of the status of the species. To 

ensure that the status review is 

complete and based on the best 

available scientific and commercial 

information, we are soliciting 

information concerning the status of the 

gopher tortoise throughout all of its 

range. We request information from 

other concerned governmental agencies, 

Native American Tribes, the scientific 

community, industry, or any other 

interested parties concerning the status 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALSEP25AU09.003</MATH>