[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 234 (Friday, December 5, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64301-64303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31770]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

45 CFR Parts 205, 232, 233, 235, 250, 251, 255, 256, and 257

RIN 0970-AB84


Repeal of Obsolete Title IV-A and IV-F Program Rules

AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families (ACF), HHS.

ACTION: Final rule; removal.

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SUMMARY: This document removes regulations governing certain programs 
repealed or eliminated under the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, including: Emergency 
Assistance; Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training; and three 
child care programs authorized under title IV-A of the Social Security 
Act. It also repeals some administrative rules of the AFDC program, 
because the program was repealed effective July 1, 1997.

DATES: Effective date is December 5, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mack Storrs, Director, Division of 
Self-Sufficiency Programs, Office of Family Assistance, ACF, at 202-
401-9289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed 
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 
1996--or PRWORA--into law. This law replaced the nation's largest 
public assistance program, known as Aid to Families with Dependent 
Children, and affiliated programs, with a new block grant to States. It 
also made substantial changes to the Federal child care programs that 
served welfare recipients and other low-income families.
    This legislation made a number of our existing regulations 
obsolete, effective July 1, 1997, or earlier. The purpose of this 
rulemaking is to remove many of the obsolete rules. Thus, this 
rulemaking reflects ACF's continuing commitment to the Administration's 
regulatory reinvention initiative. In particular, it responds to the 
first directive in the President's strategy--to ``cut obsolete 
regulations.'' Through this rulemaking, we are eliminating 
approximately 82 pages of obsolete rules from the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

Aid to Families With Dependent Children and Emergency Assistance

    Section 103(a) of PRWORA (Pub. L. 104-193) repealed the provisions 
in the existing part A of title IV of the Social Security Act and 
replaced them with provisions governing the new welfare block grant. 
Under section 116 of PRWORA, this change took effect on July 1, 1997, 
except in States that chose to implement their new welfare programs at 
an earlier date. The provisions that were repealed governed the 
existing programs of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and 
Emergency Assistance (EA).
    The regulations for the Emergency Assistance program are found at 
45 CFR 233.120. This rulemaking would remove this section of the 
regulation in its entirety.
    The regulations for the AFDC program are found throughout Chapter 
II of Title 45 in the Code of Federal Regulations.
    In this rulemaking we are removing only a limited number of 
administrative rules. They are those AFDC rules that address the AFDC 
Quality Control System (authorized under section 408 of the Social 
Security Act, as in effect under prior law), some provisions related to 
child support requirements and fraud control, and certain provisions 
related to financial penalties against the States under prior law.
    We will make other conforming changes to the AFDC regulations at a 
later date. We must exercise care in repealing the AFDC rules because: 
(1) eligibility for other programs, such as title IV-E (Foster Care) 
and title XIX (Medicaid), retain a direct connection to the AFDC rules 
in effect prior to PRWORA; and (2) many of the AFDC provisions are 
intertwined with provisions for other assistance programs that were not 
repealed. (The most notable example of this latter problem is the 
overlap between the AFDC rules and the rules for the adult programs 
operated by the Territories under titles I, X, IV, and XVI of the 
Social Security Act.) To address these more sensitive and complicated 
conforming changes, we need to engage in additional analysis and 
consult with other Federal agencies and other interested groups. Thus, 
most of the conforming changes to the AFDC regulations will be reserved 
for future rulemaking efforts.

The IV-A Child Care Programs

    Section 103(c) of PRWORA eliminated the child care provisions that 
were in title IV-A of the Social Security Act at the time of enactment. 
Under section 116(c) of PRWORA, the elimination of those provisions 
took effect on October 1, 1996. The new child care provisions in title 
VI of PRWORA took effect that same day.
    The programs eliminated by PRWORA were: child care for AFDC 
recipients and JOBS participants under section 402(g) of the Act, 
transitional child care for former AFDC recipients under section 402(g) 
of the Act, and child care for at-risk families under

[[Page 64302]]

section 402(i) of the Act. The rules governing these three programs are 
found at parts 255, 256, and 257 of Chapter II. In this rulemaking, we 
are removing all of our child care regulations in these parts.
    Section 603(b) of PRWORA created a new section 418 of the Social 
Security Act that provides new funding for child care assistance under 
title IV-A of the Social Security Act. Child care funds provided in 
section 418 are under the control of the lead agency in the State 
responsible for administering the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant (CCDBG) program, and they are subject to the rules of that 
program. Together, we refer to the two types of child care funding as 
``The Child Care and Development Fund,'' or CCDF.
    The CCDBG regulations are found at 45 CFR part 98. On July 23, 
1997, ACF issued an NPRM (at 62 FR 39610) to add the new IV-A child 
care provisions to part 98 and address the other changes necessitated 
by PRWORA.
    Note that some of the provisions in part 255 (i.e., Secs. 255.1(c), 
255.1(d), 255.1(h), 255.2(c), 255.2(d), 255.2(e), 255.3(g), 255.3(h), 
255.4(d), and 255.4(e)) address supportive services funded under the 
JOBS program. We are also removing all JOBS-related provisions in the 
regulations, as discussed below.
    Because all the provisions in parts 255 through 257 deal with 
either child care or JOBS supportive services provisions (or both) that 
were eliminated, we are removing these three parts in their entirety.

Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS)

    Finally, section 108(e) of PRWORA repeals title IV-F of the Social 
Security Act (i.e., the JOBS program). Under section 116 of PRWORA, 
this repeal is effective at the same time as the repeal of the AFDC 
program, or no later than July 1, 1997. With the exception of the rules 
on JOBS supportive services, which we have already discussed, the JOBS 
rules are found at parts 250 and 251 of Chapter II of title 45. In this 
rulemaking, we are removing these JOBS regulations in their entirety.

Effect of Rulemaking on Prior or Pending Actions

    You should be aware that the regulations we are removing still 
would apply with respect to State actions and behavior that occurred 
before the effective date of the new legislation. Under the transition 
rules of PRWORA (see section 116(b)(2)-(3) of the Act), the provisions 
of the new law do not apply ``with respect to *  *  * duties, 
functions, rights, claims, penalties, or obligations applicable to aid, 
assistance, or services provided before'' such effective date. They 
also do not apply to ``administrative actions and proceedings'' 
authorized to commence before that date.
    Thus, the regulatory provisions that we are removing will continue 
to apply to State actions that took place prior to the implementation 
of the new programs, and we would base any penalty, disallowance, or 
claims against the State on such regulations.

General Statutory Authority

    We are publishing these rules under the general authority of 
section 1102 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1302. This section 
requires publication of rules that may be necessary for the efficient 
administration of the functions under the Social Security Act.

Regulatory Authority

    We are issuing a final rule rather than a notice of proposed 
rulemaking because we have determined, for good cause, that publication 
of a proposed rule and solicitation of comments is unnecessary. This 
final rule removes only obsolete provisions and programs.
    Furthermore, this final rule will be effective immediately upon 
publication. It is unnecessary to postpone the effective date since 
none of the provisions being removed are still in effect, and no time 
for implementation is required.

Executive Order 12866

    Executive Order 12866 requires that regulations be drafted to 
ensure that they are consistent with the priorities and principles set 
forth in the Executive Order. The Department has determined that this 
proposed rule is consistent with these priorities and principles.
    The Executive Order encourages agencies, as appropriate, to provide 
the public with meaningful participation in the regulatory process. 
Such consultation was not necessary or appropriate for this particular 
rulemaking effort because of its technical nature in removing only 
obsolete provisions.
    However, we will be engaging in consultation on the subsequent 
rulemaking that we are planning to address the more complex conforming 
changes to the AFDC regulation.
    These regulations respond to the President's directive to Federal 
agencies regarding their responsibilities under his Regulatory 
Reinvention Initiative and the National Performance Review by cutting 
obsolete regulations and getting rid of yesterday's government. It 
entails no increase in cost or burden on State and local governments or 
other entities.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. Ch. 6) requires the 
Federal government to anticipate and reduce the impact of rules and 
paperwork requirements on small businesses and other small entities. 
Small entities are defined in the Act to include small businesses, 
small non-profit organizations, and small governmental entities. 
Because of the nature of this rule, the Secretary certifies that it 
will not have a significant impact on small entities.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule contains no information collection activities subject to 
review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Unfunded Mandates Act

    The Department has determined that this rule is not a significant 
regulatory action within the meaning of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4).

List of Subjects

45 CFR Part 205

    Administrative practice and procedure, Aid to Families with 
Dependent Children, Computer technology, Grant programs--social 
programs, Penalties, Public assistance programs, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Wages.

45 CFR Part 232

    Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Child support enforcement, 
Grant programs--social programs, Penalties, Public assistance programs, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

45 CFR Part 233

    Aliens, Grant programs--social programs, Public assistance 
programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

45 CFR Part 235

    Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Fraud, Grant programs--
social programs, Public assistance programs.

45 CFR Parts 250 and 251

    Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Employment, Grant 
programs--social programs, Manpower training programs, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Vocational education.

[[Page 64303]]

45 CFR Parts 255 and 256

    Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Day care, Education and 
training, Employment, Grant programs--social programs.

45 CFR Part 257

    Day care, Grant programs--social programs, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Programs: 93.560--Family 
Support Payments to States--Assistance Payments; 93.561--Job 
Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS); 93.574--Child Care 
for Families at Risk of Welfare Dependency)

    2Dated: November 14, 1997.
Olivia A. Golden,
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

    Under the authority of sections 116 of Pub. L. 104-193 and section 
1302 of the Social Security Act, and for the reasons set forth in the 
preamble, we are amending Chapter II of title 45 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, as follows:

PART 205--GENERAL ADMINISTRATION--PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

    1. The authority citation for Part 205 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 602, 603, 606, 608, 1302, and 1306(a).

    2. Remove sections 205.40 through 205.43 (including the appendix to 
Sec. 205.41) and 205.146.

PART 232--SPECIAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TITLE IV-A OF THE SOCIAL 
SECURITY ACT

    1. Remove part 232 (including appendix A).

PART 233--COVERAGE AND CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY IN FINANCIAL 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

    1. The authority citation for part 233 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 301, 602, 602 (note), 606, 607, 1202, 1302, 
1352, and 1382 (note).

    2. Remove Sec. 233.120.

PART 235--ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

    1. The authority citation for part 235 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 603, 616, and 1302.

    2. Remove Secs. 235.111, 235.112, and 235.113.

PART 250--JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND BASIC SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM

    1. Remove part 250.

PART 251--PROGRAM PARTICIPANT EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION

    1. Remove part 251.

PART 255--CHILD CARE AND OTHER WORK-RELATED SUPPORTIVE SERVICES 
DURING PARTICIPATION IN EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING

    1. Remove part 255.

PART 256--TRANSITIONAL CHILD CARE

    1. Remove part 256.

PART 257--AT-RISK CHILD CARE PROGRAM

    1. Remove part 257.

[FR Doc. 97-31770 Filed 12-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P