72960 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 236 / Friday, December 7, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Part 685 

RIN 1840–AD05 

[Docket ID ED–2012–OPE–0010] 

William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 

Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Announcement of early 

implementation date. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) issues this 

document to establish the date for the 

early implementation of William D. 

Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) 

program regulations that establish a new 

income-contingent repayment plan 

based on the President’s ‘‘Pay As You 

Earn’’ repayment initiative (the Pay As 

You Earn repayment plan). 

DATES: The early implementation date 

for §§ 685.208(k)(1) and 685.209(a), 

published November 1, 2012 (77 FR 

66087), is December 21, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the Pay As You Earn 

repayment plan or how to apply for Pay 

As You Earn repayment, the Federal 

Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) 

at 1–800–4FEDAID (1–800–433–3243). 

For information on the establishment of 

the early implementation date, Jeff 

Baker at 1–202–377–3000. 

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: 

Background 

Section 482(c) of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended 

(HEA), requires that regulations 

affecting programs under title IV of the 

HEA be published in final form by 

November 1 prior to the start of the 

award year (July 1) to which they apply. 

However, that section also permits the 

Secretary to designate any regulation as 

one that an entity subject to the 

regulations may choose to implement 

earlier and the conditions for early 

implementation. 

On November 1, 2012, the Department 

issued final regulations in 34 CFR part 

685 for the Pay As You Earn repayment 

plan (77 FR 66087). In the preamble to 

the final regulations, the Secretary 

announced the Department’s intent to 

implement the new Direct Loan program 

regulations establishing the Pay As You 

Earn repayment plan as soon as 

possible. 

Implementation Date of These 

Regulations 

The Secretary is exercising the 

authority under section 482(c) of the 

HEA to designate the following 

amended regulations in 34 CFR part 685 

for early implementation beginning on 

December 21, 2012, at the discretion of 

individual borrowers: 

(1) § 685.208(k)(1). 

(2) § 685.209(a). 

If a borrower elects to implement the 

Pay As You Earn repayment plan early 

in accordance with this notice, the 

borrower will have the rights and be 

subject to the obligations under both 

§§ 685.208(k)(1) and 685.209(a). To 

implement the Pay As You Earn Plan 

early, a Direct Loan borrower must 

request to repay his or her eligible loans 

under that plan. 

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 one of the contact persons 

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 Adobe 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. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Number: 84.268.) 

Dated: December 3, 2012. 

Arne Duncan, 

Secretary of Education. 

[FR Doc. 2012–29525 Filed 12–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 20 

International Mail: Product Rate and 

Fee Changes 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: On October 11, 2012, the 

Postal Service filed a notice of 

international mailing services price 

adjustments with the Postal Regulatory 

Commission (PRC), effective on January 

27, 2013. On October 23, 2012, the 

USPSTM published a proposed rule in 

the Federal Register with changes to 

Mailing Standards of the United States 

Postal Service, International Mail 

Manual (IMM®). The proposed rule 

included changes that we would adopt 

to implement the changes coincident 

with the price adjustments and 

classification changes, including 

changes resulting from the Postal 

Regulatory Commission granting the 

Postal Service’s request in Docket No. 

MC2012–44 to transfer First-Class Mail 

International® packages (small packets) 

and rolls from the market-dominant 

product list to the competitive product 

list. This final rule conveys the 

comments received on the proposal and 

the final mailing standards. 

DATES: Effective January 27, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

Klutts at 813–877–0372. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 23, 2012, the USPSTM

published a proposed rule in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 64768) with 

changes to Mailing Standards of the 

United States Postal Service, 

International Mail Manual (IMM®). 

Prices will be available under Docket 

Number R2013–1 on the Postal 

Regulatory Commission’s Web site at 

www.prc.gov. 

Comments 

We received comments from 93 

respondents on various aspects of the 

proposed changes. The comments and 

responses are included in the applicable 

subject matter sections below. 

Price Adjustment 

Two respondents were in favor of the 

price adjustment, stating the overall 

increase was modest and will increase 

Postal Service revenue. 

Global Forever Stamps 

Three respondents were in favor of 

the Global Forever® stamp, stating this 

concept will benefit mailers by having 

one stamp for all international 

destinations for letter-size mailpieces, 

and may be used regardless of future 

increases. 

Restricted Delivery 

Three respondents supported the 

discontinuance of outbound 

international restricted delivery service 

stating the Postal Service should 


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