Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 12919 

VII. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, the Administrator is 

required to approve a SIP submission 

that complies with the provisions of the 

Act and applicable Federal regulations. 

42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the 

EPA’s role is to approve state choices, 

provided that they meet the criteria of 

the CAA. Accordingly, this action 

merely proposes to approve state law as 

meeting Federal requirements and does 

not impose additional requirements 

beyond those imposed by state law. For 

that reason, this action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is not subject to requirements of 

section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• Does not provide EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where EPA or an 

Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the proposed rule does 

not have tribal implications and will not 

impose substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

List of Subjects 

40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 

Greenhouse gases, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 

Particulate matter, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 

oxides, Volatile organic compounds. 

40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, National parks, and 

Wilderness areas. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: February 28, 2022. 

K.C. Becker, 

Regional Administrator, Region 8. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04758 Filed 3–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

42 CFR Part 68 

[Docket No. NIH–2020–0001] 

RIN 0925–AA68 

National Institutes of Health Loan 

Repayment Programs 

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS or Department), 

through the National Institutes of Health 

(NIH), proposes to update the existing 

regulation for NIH Loan Repayment 

Programs (LRPs) to reflect the 

consolidation of NIH LRPs into two 

programs, the Intramural Loan 

Repayment Program (for NIH 

researchers) and the Extramural Loan 

Repayment Program (for non-NIH 

researchers); the direct authority of the 

NIH Director to administer the NIH 

LRPs (formerly the duty of the 

Secretary, HHS); and the increase in the 

annual loan repayment amount from a 

maximum of $35,000 to a maximum of 

$50,000. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 9, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket Number NIH– 

2020–0001and/or RIN 0925–AA43, by 

any of the following methods: 

Electronic Submissions 

You may send comments 

electronically in the following way: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow 

the instructions for sending comments. 

Written Submissions 

You may send written comments in 

the following ways: 

Please allow enough time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

• Mail (for paper or CD–ROM 

submissions): Daniel Hernandez, NIH 

Regulations Officer, National Institutes 

of Health, Office of Management 

Assessment, Rockledge 1, 6705 

Rockledge Drive, Suite 601, Room 601– 

T, MSC 7901, Bethesda, Maryland 

20892–7901. 

• Hand delivery/courier (for paper or 

CD–ROM submissions): Daniel 

Hernandez, Rockledge 1, 6705 

Rockledge Drive, Suite 601, Room 601– 

T, MSC 7901, Bethesda, Maryland 

20892–7901. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. All comments will be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov/, including any 

personal information provided. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to the 

eRulemaking Portal at https://

www.regulations.gov/ and insert the 

docket number provided in brackets in 

the heading on page one of this 

document into the: ‘‘Search’’ box and 

follow the prompts. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Hernandez, NIH Regulations 

Officer, Office of Management 

Assessment, NIH, Rockledge 1, 6705 

Rockledge Drive, Suite 601, Room 601– 

T, MSC 7901, Bethesda, Maryland 

20892–7901, by email dhernandez@

od.nih.gov, or by telephone 301–435– 

3343 (not a toll-free number) for 

information about the rulemaking 

process. For program information 

contact: Matthew Lockhart, NIH 

Division of Loan Repayment, by email 

matthew.lockhart@nih.gov, or telephone 

866–849–4047. Information regarding 

the requirements, application deadline 

dates, and an on-line application for the 

NIH Loan Repayment Programs may be 

obtained from the NIH Loan Repayment 

Program website https://

www.lrp.nih.gov/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
12920 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

I. Background and Statutory Authority 

The purpose of the NIH LRP programs 

is to recruit and retain highly qualified 

health professionals as biomedical and 

behavioral researchers. The programs 

offer educational loan repayment for 

participants who agree, by written 

contract, to engage in qualifying 

domestic non-profit supported research 

at a qualifying non-NIH institution, or as 

an NIH employee for a minimum of two 

years (or three years for the Intramural 

LRP’s general research subcategory). 

On December 13, 2016, Congress 

enacted the 21st Century Cures Act, 

Public Law (Pub. L.) 114–255, Section 

2022 of which amended the Public 

Health Service (PHS) Act to authorize 

the consolidation of National Institutes 

of Health Loan Repayment Programs 

(LRPs) into the Intramural Loan 

Repayment Program and the Extramural 

Loan Repayment Program. 

The legislation also provides the NIH 

Director with the authority to establish 

or eliminate one or more subcategories 

of the LRPs to reflect workforce or 

scientific needs related to biomedical 

research. Thus, this statute allows for up 

to four subcategories for the Intramural 

Loan Repayment Program (General, 

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 

(AIDS), Clinical for Researchers from 

Disadvantaged Backgrounds, and one 

additional subcategory) and up to six 

subcategories for the Extramural Loan 

Repayment Program (Contraception & 

Infertility, Pediatric, Clinical, Health 

Disparities, Clinical for Researchers 

from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, and 

one additional subcategory). 

Furthermore, the 21st Century Cures 

Act provides the NIH Director with 

direct authority to administer the NIH 

Loan Repayment Programs (formerly the 

duty of the Secretary, HHS). 

Finally, the legislation authorizes NIH 

to raise its annual loan repayment 

amount to a maximum of $50,000, 

which reflects a change from the 

previous maximum annual loan 

repayment amount of $35,000. 

The PHS Act, as amended, now 

contains sections 487A (Intramural loan 

repayment program; 42 U.S.C. 288–1) 

and 487B (Extramural loan repayment 

program; 42 U.S.C. 288–2), with the 

removal of previous sections 464z-5, 

487C, 487E, and 487F by the 21st 

Century Cures Act. Sections 487A and 

487B of the PHS Act authorize the NIH 

Director to enter into contracts with 

qualified health professionals under 

which such professionals agree to 

conduct research in consideration of the 

Federal Government agreeing to repay, 

for each year of such service, not more 

than $50,000 of the principal and 

interest of the qualified educational 

loans of such professionals. In return for 

these loan repayments, applicants must 

agree to participate in qualifying 

research for an initial period of not less 

than two years (or a minimum of three 

years for the Intramural LRP’s general 

research subcategory), as one of the 

following: (1) An NIH employee (for 

Intramural LRP), or (2) A health 

professional engaged in qualifying 

research supported by a domestic nonprofit foundation, non-profit 

professional association, or other nonprofit institution (e.g., university), or a 

U.S. or other government agency 

(Federal, State or local). 

II. Summary of Proposed Changes 

With this notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM), we propose to 

update the existing regulation for NIH 

LRPs codified at 42 CFR part 68, and 

titled National Institutes of Health Loan 

Repayment Programs, to reflect the 

changes in NIH LRPs that resulted from 

enactment of the 21st Century Cures 

Act. 

Specifically, we propose to amend the 

authority citation by adding the United 

States Code (U.S.C.) citation 42 U.S.C. 

216 and removing U.S.C. citations 42 

U.S.C. 254o, 42 U.S. C. 288–3, 42 U.S.C. 

288–5, 42 U.S.C. 288–5a, 42 U.S.C. 288– 

6, and 42 U.S.C.285t–2. 

We propose to amend § 68.1 by 

removing the references to sections 

487C, 487E, 487F and 464z–5 of the 

Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), 

and references to U.S.C. citations 42 

U.S.C. 288–3, 42 U.S.C. 288–5, 42 U.S.C. 

288–5a, 42 U.S.C. 288–6, and 42 U.S.C. 

285t–2; and by revising the last sentence 

of the introductory narrative to indicate 

that the NIH Loan Repayment Programs 

include two separate programs, the 

Intramural Loan Repayment Program 

(for NIH researchers) and the Extramural 

Loan Repayment Program (for non-NIH 

researchers). Additionally, we propose 

to amend paragraphs (a) and (b) by 

revising them and their respective 

subparagraphs in their entirety to reflect 

that there are currently two NIH LRPs, 

the Intramural LRP with up to four 

subcategories and the Extramural LRP 

with up to six subcategories. 

We propose to amend § 68.2 by 

removing the term ‘‘Secretary,’’ adding 

the term ‘‘Research in Emerging Areas 

Critical to Human Health,’’ and revising 

the term ‘‘Nonprofit funding/support to 

read ‘‘Nonprofit research funding/ 

support.’’ We further propose to amend 

§ 68.2 by revising the definitions for 

‘‘Debt threshold,’’ ‘‘Director,’’ 

‘‘Educational expenses,’’ ‘‘Extramural 

LRPs,’’ ‘‘Intramural LRP,’’ ‘‘Loan 

repayment programs,’’ ‘‘Participant,’’ 

‘‘Program eligibility date,’’ ‘‘Qualified 

Educational Loans and Interest/Debt,’’ 

‘‘Reasonable educational and living 

expenses,’’ ‘‘Repayable debt,’’ and 

‘‘Waiver.’’ 

We propose to amend § 68.5 by 

revising paragraph (d) to state that for 

Extramural LRPs only, individuals who 

receive any salary support or participate 

in research that receives funding 

support from a for-profit institution or 

organization, or Federal Government 

employees working more than 20 hours 

per week are ineligible to participate. 

We propose to amend § 68.6 by 

removing the word ‘‘Secretary’’ and 

adding in its place the words ‘‘NIH 

Director.’’ 

We propose to amend § 68.7 by 

revising paragraph (d)(2)(iii) to state that 

for the minority health disparities 

subcategory, at least 50 percent of the 

contracts are required by statute to be 

for appropriately qualified health 

professionals who are members of a 

health disparity population. 

We propose to amend § 68.8 by 

revising paragraph (a) to state that NIH 

may pay up to $50,000 per year of a 

participant’s repayable debt rather than 

the previous $35,000 per year. 

We propose to amend § 68.12 by 

removing the word ‘‘Secretary’’ and 

adding the words ‘‘NIH Director’’ in its 

place. 

The purpose of this NPRM is to invite 

public comment concerning these 

proposed actions. We provide the 

following as public information. 

Regulatory Impact Analysis 

We have examined the impacts of this 

proposed rule under Executive Order 

(E.O.) 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review; E.O. 13563, Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review; E.O. 

13132, Federalism; the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601–612); and 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 (Pub. L. 104–4). 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

E.O. 12866 and E.O. 13563 direct 

Federal agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and equity) 

for all significant regulatory actions. A 

regulatory impact analysis (RIA) must 

be prepared for major rules with 

economically significant effects ($100 

million or more in any one year). Based 

on our analysis, we believe that the 

proposed rulemaking does not 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 12921 

constitute an economically significant 

regulatory action. 

Executive Order 13132 

E.O. 13132, Federalism, requires 

Federal agencies to consult with State 

and local government officials in the 

development of regulatory policies with 

federalism implications. We reviewed 

the rule as required under the Order and 

determined that it does not have any 

federalism implications. This rule will 

not have effect on the States or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

requires agencies to analyze regulatory 

options that would minimize any 

significant impact of the rule on small 

entities. For the purpose of this analysis, 

small entities include small business 

concerns as defined by the Small 

Business Administration (SBA), usually 

businesses with fewer than 500 

employees. Applicants who are eligible 

to apply for the loan repayment awards 

are individuals, not small entities. This 

rule will not create a significant impact 

on a significant number of small 

entities. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Section 202(a) of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires 

Federal agencies to prepare a written 

statement which includes an assessment 

of anticipated costs and benefits, before 

proposing ‘‘any rule that includes any 

Federal mandate that may result in the 

expenditure by State, local, and tribal 

organizations, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100,000,000 or more 

(adjusted annually for inflation with 

base year of 1995) in any one year.’’ The 

current inflation-adjusted statutory 

threshold is approximately $156 million 

based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

inflation calculator. This rule will not 

result in a one-year expenditure that 

would meet or exceed that amount. 

Participation in the NIH loan repayment 

programs is voluntary and not 

mandated. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule does not contain 

any new information collection 

requirements which are subject to Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). More specifically, § 68.6 is 

a reporting requirement, but the 

specifics of the burden are determined 

in the approved application forms used 

by the NIH Loan Repayment Programs 

and have been separately approved by 

OMB under OMB No. 0925–0361 

(expires October 31, 2022). 

Additionally, §§ 68.3(c) and (e), 

68.11(c), 68.14(c) and (d), and 68.16(a) 

are reporting requirements and/or 

recordkeeping requirements, but they 

also are covered under OMB No. 0925– 

0361. 

Federal Assistance Listings 

The Federal Assistance Listings 

numbered programs affected by this 

proposed rule are: 

93.220—NIH Intramural Loan 

Repayment Program 

93.280—NIH Extramural Loan 

Repayment Program 

List of Subjects in 42 CFR Part 68 

Health professions; Loan programs— 

health; Medical research. 

For reasons presented in the 

preamble, the Department of Health and 

Human Services proposes to amend title 

42 of the Code of Federal Regulations by 

revising Part 68, as set forth below. 

PART 68—NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF 

HEALTH (NIH) LOAN REPAYMENT 

PROGRAMS (LRPs) 

■ 1. Revise the authority citation for part 

68 to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 216, 42 U.S.C. 288– 

1, 42 U.S.C. 288–2. 

■ 2. Revise § 68.1 to read as follows: 

§ 68.1 What are the scope and purpose of 

the NIH LRPs? 

The regulations of this part apply to 

the award of educational loan payments 

authorized by sections 487A and 487B 

of the Public Health Service Act, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 288–1, 42 U.S.C. 

288–2). The purpose of these programs 

is to address the need for biomedical 

and behavioral researchers by providing 

an economic incentive to appropriately 

qualified health professionals who are 

engaged in qualifying research 

supported by domestic nonprofit 

funding or as employees of NIH. The 

NIH Loan Repayment Programs include 

two separate programs, the Intramural 

Loan Repayment Program (for NIH 

researchers) and the Extramural Loan 

Repayment Program (for non-NIH 

researchers). 

(a) The Intramural LRP includes 

subcategories that focus on: 

(1) General research, including a 

program for Accreditation Council for 

Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) 

Fellows; 

(2) Research on acquired immune 

deficiency syndrome; 

(3) Clinical research conducted by 

appropriately qualified health 

professionals who are from 

disadvantaged backgrounds; and 

(4) An area of emerging scientific or 

workforce need. 

(b) The Extramural LRP includes 

subcategories that focus on: 

(1) Contraception or infertility 

research; 

(2) Pediatric research, including 

pediatric pharmacological research; 

(3) Minority health disparities 

research; 

(4) Clinical research; 

(5) Clinical research conducted by 

health professionals from disadvantaged 

backgrounds; and 

(6) Research in emerging areas critical 

to human health. 

■ 3. Amend § 68.2 by: 

■ a. Revising the definitions for ‘‘Debt 

threshold’’, ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘Educational 

expense’’, ‘‘Extramural LRPs’’, 

‘‘Individual from disadvantaged 

background’’, ‘‘Intramural LRPs’’, ‘‘Loan 

repayment programs (LRPs)’’, and ‘‘Loan 

Repayment Program contract’’; 

■ b. Removing the term ‘‘Nonprofit 

funding/support’’ and adding in its 

place a definition for ‘‘Nonprofit 

research funding/support’’; 

■ c. Revising the definitions of 

‘‘Participant’’, ‘‘Program eligibility 

date’’, ‘‘Qualified Educational Loans 

and Interest/Debt’’, ‘‘Reasonable 

educational and living expenses’’, and 

‘‘Repayable debt’’; 

■ d. Adding a definition for ‘‘Research 

in Emerging Areas Critical to Human 

Health’’; 

■ e. Removing the definition of 

‘‘Secretary’’; and 

■ f. Revising the definition of ‘‘Waiver’’. 

The revisions and additions read as 

follows: 

§ 68.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Debt threshold means the minimum 

amount of qualified educational debt an 

individual must have, on their program 

eligibility date, in order to be eligible for 

LRP benefits, as established by the NIH 

Director. 

Director means the Director of the 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) or 

designee. 

Educational expenses pertain to costs 

associated with the pursuit of the health 

professional’s undergraduate, graduate, 

and health professional school’s 

education, including the tuition 

expenses and other educational 

expenses such as living expenses, fees, 

books, supplies, educational equipment 

and materials, and laboratory expenses. 

Extramural LRPs refers to those 

programs for which health 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
12922 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

professionals, who are not NIH 

employees and have program-specified 

degrees and domestic nonprofit support, 

are eligible to apply. The Extramural 

LRP includes subcategories that focus 

on: 

(1) Contraception or infertility 

research; 

(2) Pediatric research, including 

pediatric pharmacological research; 

(3) Minority health disparities 

research; 

(4) Clinical research; 

(5) Clinical research conducted by 

appropriately qualified health 

professionals who are from 

disadvantaged backgrounds; and 

(6) Research in emerging areas critical 

to human health. 

* * * * * 

Individual from disadvantaged 

background means: 

(1) Comes from an environment that 

inhibited the individual from obtaining 

the knowledge, skill and ability required 

to enroll in and graduate from a health 

professions school; or 

(2) Comes from a family with an 

annual income below a level based on 

low-income thresholds according to 

family size published by the U.S. 

Bureau of the Census, adjusted annually 

for changes in the Consumer Price 

Index, and adjusted by the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) for 

use in HHS programs. The Secretary 

periodically publishes these income 

levels in the Federal Register. 

* * * * * 

Intramural LRPs refers to those 

programs for which applicants must be 

employed by the NIH. The Intramural 

LRP includes subcategories that focus 

on: 

(1) General research, including a 

program for Accreditation Council for 

Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) 

Fellows; 

(2) AIDS research; 

(3) Clinical research conducted by 

appropriately qualified health 

professionals from disadvantaged 

backgrounds; and 

(4) An area of emerging scientific or 

workforce need. 

* * * * * 

Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) 

refers to the NIH Loan Repayment 

Programs, including those authorized by 

sections 487A and 487B of the Act, as 

amended. 

Loan Repayment Program contract 

refers to the agreement signed by an 

applicant and the NIH Director (or an 

appointed designee). Under such an 

agreement, an Intramural LRP applicant 

agrees to conduct qualified research as 

an NIH employee, and an Extramural 

LRP applicant agrees to conduct 

qualified research supported by 

domestic nonprofit funding, in 

exchange for repayment of the 

applicant’s qualified educational loan(s) 

for a prescribed period. 

* * * * * 

Nonprofit research funding/support: 

applicants must conduct qualifying 

research supported by a domestic 

nonprofit foundation, nonprofit 

professional association, or other 

nonprofit institution (e.g., university), or 

a U.S. or other government agency 

(Federal, state or local). A domestic 

foundation, professional association, or 

institution is considered to be nonprofit 

if exempt from Federal tax under the 

provisions of Section 501 of the Internal 

Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501). 

Participant means an individual 

whose application to any of the NIH 

LRPs has been approved and whose 

Program contract has been executed by 

the NIH Director or designee. 

* * * * * 

Program eligibility date means the 

date on which an individual’s LRP 

contract is executed by the NIH Director 

or designee. 

Qualified Educational Loans and 

Interest/Debt (see Educational Expenses) 

as established by the NIH Director, 

include Government and commercial 

educational loans and interest for: 

(1) Undergraduate, graduate, and 

health professional school tuition 

expenses; 

(2) Other reasonable educational 

expenses required by the school(s) 

attended, including fees, books, 

supplies, educational equipment and 

materials, and laboratory expenses; and 

(3) Reasonable living expenses, 

including the cost of room and board, 

transportation and commuting costs, 

and other reasonable living expenses 

incurred. 

Reasonable educational and living 

expenses means those educational and 

living expenses that are equal to or less 

than the sum of the school’s estimated 

standard student budget for educational 

and living expenses for the degree 

program and for the year(s) during 

which the participant was enrolled in 

school. If there is no standard budget 

available from the school, or if the 

participant requests repayment for 

educational and living expenses that 

exceed the standard student budget, 

reasonableness of educational and living 

expenses incurred must be substantiated 

by additional contemporaneous 

documentation, as determined by the 

Secretary of HHS. 

Repayable debt means the proportion, 

as established by the NIH Director, of an 

individual’s total qualified educational 

debt that can be repaid by an NIH LRP. 

Research in Emerging Areas Critical 

to Human Health refers to research 

designed to pursue major opportunities 

and gaps in biomedical research and 

expand research in emerging areas of 

human health. Emerging areas are 

considered new areas of biomedical and 

biobehavioral research where a critical 

mass of capability and expertise is still 

emerging across the biomedical and 

biobehavioral research community. 

* * * * * 

Waiver means a waiver of the service 

obligation granted by the NIH Director 

when compliance by the participant is 

impossible or would involve extreme 

hardship, or where enforcement with 

respect to the individual would be 

unconscionable. (See Breach of 

contract.) 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Amend § 68.5 by revising paragraph 

(d) to read as follows: 

§ 68.5 Who is ineligible to participate? 

* * * * * 

(d) For Extramural LRPs only: 

Individuals who receive any salary 

support or participate in research that 

receives funding support from a forprofit institution or organization, or 

Federal Government employees working 

more than 20 hours per week; 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Revise § 68.6 to read as follows: 

§ 68.6 How do individuals apply to 

participate in the NIH LRPs? 

An application for participation in an 

NIH LRP shall be submitted to the NIH, 

which is responsible for the Program’s 

administration, in such form and 

manner as the NIH Director prescribes. 

■ 6. Amend § 68.7 by revising paragraph 

(d)(2)(iii) to read as follows: 

§ 68.7 How are applicants selected to 

participate in the NIH LRPs? 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(iii) For the Health Disparities 

Research subcategory, at least 50 

percent of the contracts are required by 

statute to be for appropriately qualified 

health professionals who are members 

of a health disparity population. 

■ 7. Amend § 68.8 by revising paragraph 

(a) to read as follows: 

§ 68.8 What do the NIH LRPs provide to 

participants? 

(a) Loan repayments: For each year of 

the applicable service period the 

individual agrees to serve, the NIH may 

pay up to $50,000 per year of a 

participant’s repayable debt. 

* * * * * 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 12923 

■ 8. Revise § 68.12 to read as follows: 

§ 68.12 How does an individual receive 

loan repayments beyond the initial 

applicable contract period? 

An individual may apply for a 

competitive extension contract for at 

least a one-year period if the individual 

is engaged in qualifying research and 

satisfies the eligibility requirements 

specified under §§ 68.3 and 68.4 of this 

part for the extension period and has 

remaining repayable debt as established 

by the NIH Director. 

Xavier Becerra, 

Secretary, Health and Human Services. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04640 Filed 3–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Defense Acquisition Regulations 

System 

48 CFR Parts 212, 225, and 252 

[Docket DARS–2022–0003] 

RIN 0750–AL18 

Defense Federal Acquisition 

Regulation Supplement: United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement (DFARS 

Case 2020–D032) 

Correction 

In Proposed Rule document 2022– 

04009, appearing on pages 11002– 

11009, in the issue of Monday, February 

28, 2022, make the following correction: 

On page 11002, in the third column, 

after the DATES heading, in the third and 

fourth lines, ‘‘May 27, 2022’’ is 

corrected to read ‘‘April 29, 2022’’. 

[FR Doc. C1–2022–04009 Filed 3–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D 


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