27880 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 92 / Monday, May 13, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

■ 2. Add § 165.T09–0165 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T09–0165 Safety Zone; McAloon 

Wedding Fireworks, Catawba Island Club, 

Catawba Island, OH. 

(a) Location. All the waters of Lake 

Erie within a 250-yard radius of the 

fireworks launch site located at position 

41-34′-18.10′′ N, 082-51′-18.70′′ W (NAD 

83). 

(b) Effective and Enforcement Period. 

The safety zone will be effective and 

enforced from 9:30 p.m. until 10:15 p.m. 

on August 23, 2013. The Captain of the 

Port Detroit may suspend enforcement 

of the safety zone at any time. In the 

event that the enforcement is ended 

early, the Captain of the Port Detroit 

will notify the public via Broadcast 

Notice to Mariners. 

(c) Regulations. 

(1) In accordance with the general 

regulations in section 165.23 of this 

part, entry into, transiting, or anchoring 

within the safety zone is prohibited 

unless authorized by the Captain of the 

Port Detroit, or his designated on-scene 

representative. 

(2) This safety zone is closed to all 

vessel traffic, except as may be 

permitted by the Captain of the Port 

Detroit or his designated on-scene 

representative. 

(3) The ‘‘on-scene representative’’ of 

the Captain of the Port is any Coast 

Guard commissioned, warrant, or petty 

officer who has been designated by the 

Captain of the Port to act on his behalf. 

The on-scene representative of the 

Captain of the Port will be aboard either 

a Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary 

vessel. The Captain of the Port or his 

designated on scene representative may 

be contact via VHF Channel 16. 

(4) Vessel operators desiring to enter 

or operate within the safety zone shall 

contact the Captain of the Port Detroit 

or his on-scene representative to obtain 

permission to do so. Vessel operators 

given permission to enter or operate in 

the safety zone must comply with all 

directions given to them by the Captain 

of the Port or his on-scene 

representative. 

Dated: April 29, 2013. 

J.E. Ogden, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port, Detroit. 

[FR Doc. 2013–11234 Filed 5–10–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter VI 

[Docket ID ED–2012–OPE–0008] 

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; 

Public Hearings 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice of additional hearing and 

extension of comment date. 

SUMMARY: In May 2012, we announced 

our intention to establish a negotiated 

rulemaking committee to prepare 

proposed regulations for the Federal 

Student Aid programs authorized under 

title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended (title IV Federal 

Student Aid programs). 

On April 16, 2013, we announced 

additional topics for consideration by 

that committee and three public 

hearings at which interested parties may 

comment. 

We now announce a fourth public 

hearing at which interested parties may 

comment on the topics suggested by the 

Department and may suggest additional 

topics for consideration for action by the 

negotiated rulemaking committee. 

We extend the deadline date for the 

submission of written comments to June 

4, 2013. 

DATES: The dates, times, and locations 

of the four public hearings are listed 

under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section of this notice. 

The deadline for the receipt of written 

comments suggesting issues that should 

be considered for action by the 

negotiated rulemaking committee is 

extended to June 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

or via postal mail, commercial delivery, 

or hand delivery. We will not accept 

comments by fax or by email. To ensure 

that we do not receive duplicate copies, 

please submit your comments only 

once. In addition, please include the 

Docket ID (listed at the beginning of this 

notice) at the top of your comments. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov to submit your 

comments electronically. Information 

on using Regulations.gov, including 

instructions for accessing agency 

documents, submitting comments, and 

viewing the docket is available on the 

site under ‘‘How to Use 

Regulations.gov’’ in the Help section. 

• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, 

or Hand Delivery. If you mail or deliver 

your comments about these proposed 

regulations, address them to Wendy 

Macias, U.S. Department of Education, 

1990 K Street NW., Room 8017, 

Washington, DC 20006. 

Privacy Note: The Department’s policy is 

to make all comments received from 

members of the public available for public 

viewing in their entirety on the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. 

Therefore, commenters should be careful to 

include in their comments only information 

that they wish to make publicly available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the public hearings, 

go to http://www2.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2012/ 

index.html or contact: Wendy Macias, 

U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K 

Street NW., Room 8017, Washington, 

DC 20006. Telephone: (202) 502–7526. 

Email: wendy.macias@ed.gov. 

For information about negotiated 

rulemaking in general, see The 

Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title 

IV Regulations, Frequently Asked 

Questions at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/negreg-faq.html or contact: Wendy Macias, 

U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K 

Street NW., Room 8017, Washington, 

DC 20006. Telephone: (202) 502–7526. 

Email: wendy.macias@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or text 

telephone (TTY), 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 compact disc) by 

contacting Wendy Macias, U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street 

NW., Room 8017, Washington, DC 

20006. Telephone: (202) 502–7526. 

Email: wendy.macias@ed.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 1, 

2012, we published a notice in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 25658) 

announcing our intent to establish a 

negotiated rulemaking committee under 

section 492 of the HEA to develop 

proposed regulations designed to 

prevent fraud and otherwise ensure 

proper use of title IV Federal Student 

Aid program funds, especially within 

the context of current technologies. In 

particular, we announced our intent to 

propose regulations to address the use 

of debit cards and other banking 

mechanisms for disbursing title IV 

Federal Student Aid program funds, and 

to improve and streamline the campusbased Federal Student Aid programs. 

That notice also announced two public 

hearings at which interested parties 

could comment on the topics suggested 

by the Department and suggest 

additional topics for consideration for 

action by the negotiated rulemaking 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 92 / Monday, May 13, 2013 / Proposed Rules 27881 

committee. Those hearings were held on 

May 23, 2012, in Phoenix, Arizona, and 

on May 31, 2012, in Washington, DC. 

We invited parties to comment and 

submit topics for consideration in 

writing as well. 

On April 16, 2013, we published a 

notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 

2247), as corrected at 78 FR 25235, 

announcing additional topics for 

consideration for action by the 

negotiated rulemaking committee. We 

announced three additional public 

hearings at which interested parties 

could comment on the new topics 

suggested by the Department and 

suggest additional topics for 

consideration for action by the 

negotiating committee. We also invited 

parties unable to attend a public hearing 

to submit written comments on the 

additional topics and to submit other 

topics for consideration. 

We now announce a fourth public 

hearing. 

We are also extending the deadline 

date for the submission of written 

comments from May 30, 2013, to June 

4, 2013. 

Public Hearings 

We will hold four public hearings for 

interested parties to discuss the topics 

suggested by the Department for 

consideration for action by the 

negotiated rulemaking committee and to 

suggest additional topics for the 

rulemaking agenda. The public hearings 

will be held on: 

• May 21, 2013, at the U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street 

NW., Eighth Floor Conference Center, 

Washington, DC 20006. 

• May 23, 2013, at the University of 

Minnesota, Twin Cities, Hubert H. 

Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 

Cowles Auditorium, 301 19th Avenue S, 

Minneapolis, MN 55455. 

• May 30, 2013, at the University of 

California, San Francisco, UC Hall, 

Toland Hall Auditorium (Room U142), 

533 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, 

CA 94143. 

• June 4, 2013, at Spelman College, 

William and Camille Cosby Auditorium, 

350 Spelman Lane, Atlanta, GA 30314. 

The public hearings will be held from 

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., local time. 

Further information on the public 

hearing sites, including directions, is 

available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2012/ 

index.html. 

Individuals desiring to present 

comments at the public hearing must 

register by sending email to 

negreghearing@ed.gov. The email 

should include the name of the 

presenter along with a general 

timeframe during which the individual 

would like to speak (for example, a 

presenter could indicate morning or 

afternoon, or before 11 a.m. or after 3 

p.m.). We will attempt to accommodate 

each speaker’s preference but, if we are 

unable to do so, we will make the 

determination on a first-come, firstserved basis (based on the time and date 

the email was received). It is likely that 

each participant will be limited to five 

minutes. The Department will notify 

registrants of the location and time slot 

reserved for them. An individual may 

make only one presentation at the 

public hearings. If we receive more 

registrations than we are able to 

accommodate, the Department reserves 

the right to reject the registration of an 

entity or individual that is affiliated 

with an entity or individual that is 

already scheduled to present comments 

and to select among registrants to ensure 

that a broad range of entities and 

individuals is allowed to present. We 

will accept walk-in registrations for any 

remaining time slots on a first-come, 

first-served basis beginning at 8:30 a.m. 

on the day of the public hearing at the 

Department’s on-site registration table. 

Speakers may also submit written 

comments. In addition, for anyone who 

does not present at a public hearing, the 

Department will accept written 

comments through June 4, 2013. (See 

the ADDRESSES sections of this notice for 

submission information.) 

Transcripts from the hearings can be 

found at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2012/ 

index.html. Written comments may be 

viewed through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at 

www.regulations.gov. Instructions for 

finding comments are available on the 

site under ‘‘How to Use 

Regulations.gov’’ in the Help section. 

Individuals can enter docket ID ED– 

2012–OPE–0008 in the search box to 

locate the appropriate docket. 

After a review of the public comments 

presented at the public hearings and in 

the written submissions, we will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the specific subject areas for 

which we intend to establish a 

negotiated rulemaking committee and 

requesting nominations for individual 

negotiators for the committee. This 

notice will also be posted on the 

Department’s Web site at: http:// 

www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/ 

hearulemaking/2012/index.html. 

We intend to select participants for 

the negotiated rulemaking committee 

from nominees of the organizations and 

groups that represent the interests 

significantly affected by the proposed 

regulations. To the extent possible, we 

will select individual negotiators who 

reflect the diversity among program 

participants, in accordance with section 

492(b)(1) of the HEA. 

Regulatory Issues 

For the convenience of the reader, we 

repeat the additional topics for 

consideration that we published in 

April 2013. The topics are: cash 

management of funds provided under 

the title IV Federal Student Aid 

programs; State authorization for 

programs offered through distance 

education or correspondence education; 

State authorization for foreign locations 

of institutions located in a State; clock 

to credit hour conversion; gainful 

employment; changes made by the 

Violence Against Women 

Reauthorization Act of 2013, Public Law 

113–4, to the campus safety and security 

reporting requirements in the HEA; and 

the definition of ‘‘adverse credit’’ for 

borrowers in the Federal Direct PLUS 

Loan Program. Descriptions of these 

issues are in the April 16, 2013 notice. 

Schedule for Negotiations 

We anticipate that any committee 

established after the public hearings 

will begin negotiations in September 

2013, with the committee meeting for 

up to three sessions of approximately 

four days each at roughly monthly 

intervals. The committee will meet in 

the Washington, DC area. The dates and 

locations of these meetings will be 

published in a subsequent document in 

the Federal Register, and will be posted 

on the Department’s Web site at: http:// 

www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/ 

hearulemaking/2012/index.html. 

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 the 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. 

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


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
27882 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 92 / Monday, May 13, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant 

Secretary for Vocational and Adult 

Education, to perform the functions and 

duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Postsecondary Education. 

Dated: May 8, 2013. 

Brenda Dann-Messier, 

Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult 

Education, delegated the authority to perform 

the functions and duties of the Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education. 

[FR Doc. 2013–11287 Filed 5–10–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 74 

RIN 2900–AO63 

VA Veteran-Owned Small Business 

(VOSB) Verification Guidelines 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Small and 

Disadvantaged Business Utilization 

(OSDBU) is currently reviewing its 

regulations governing the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran-Owned 

Small Business (VOSB) Verification 

Program. OSDBU intends to improve the 

regulations to provide greater clarity, to 

streamline the program, and to 

encourage more VOSBs to apply for 

verification. By issuing this notice of 

proposed rulemaking, OSDBU seeks 

comments on how best to approach this 

undertaking. Although OSDBU 

identified specific issues for discussion 

below, it encourages commenters to 

discuss any issue related to improving 

these specific regulations and the 

program. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before July 12, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted through 

www.Regulations.gov; by mail or handdelivery to Director, Regulation Policy 

and Management (02REG), Department 

of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave. 

NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 

20420; or by fax to (202) 273–9026. 

(This is not a toll-free number.) 

Comments should indicate that they are 

submitted in response to ‘‘RIN 2900– 

AO63—VA Veteran-Owned Small 

Business (VOSB) Verification 

Guidelines.’’ Copies of comments 

received will be available for public 

inspection in the Office of Regulation 

Policy and Management, Room 1068, 

between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday (except 

holidays). Please call (202) 461–4902 for 

an appointment. (This is not a toll-free 

number.) In addition, during the 

comment period, comments may be 

viewed online through the Federal 

Docket Management System (FDMS) at 

www.Regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Leney, Executive Director, Center for 

Veterans Enterprise (00VE), Department 

of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave. 

NW., Washington DC 20420, (202) 461– 

4300. (This is not a toll-free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

A. The Verification Regulations 

VA first published its regulations 

governing the VA VOSB Verification 

Program on February 8, 2010 (75 FR 

6101), and most recently amended them 

on January 19, 2011 (76 FR 3022). The 

regulations are codified at 38 CFR part 

74. These regulations were developed 

using the Small Business 

Administration’s (SBA) regulations 

governing the Government-wide 

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small 

Business (SDVOSB) program (13 CFR 

part 125) and the 8(a) Business 

Development Program (13 CFR part 124) 

for guidance generally with respect to 

Federal small business set-aside 

programs that involve agency 

verification. VA’s regulations lay out the 

criteria for determining a firm’s 

eligibility to participate in VA’s 

Veterans First Contracting Program that 

provides set-aside and sole source 

authority placing SDVOSBs and VOSBs 

as first and second priority in VA 

acquisitions from commercial sources 

under the Federal Acquisition 

Regulation (FAR). VA’s Veterans First 

Contracting Program does not apply to 

other Federal agencies. 

B. Evaluation of Verification 

Regulations and Justification for the 

Rulemaking 

VA seeks to find an appropriate 

balance between preventing fraud in the 

Veterans First Contracting Program and 

providing a process that would make it 

easier for more VOSBs to become 

verified. The Verification Program has 

been the subject of reports from both the 

Government Accountability Office and 

VA’s Office of Inspector General stating 

that despite VA’s Verification Program, 

fraud still exists in the Veterans First 

Contracting Program. Some stakeholder 

feedback has been that the current 

regulations at 38 CFR part 74 are too 

open to interpretation and are 

unnecessarily more rigorous than 

similar certification programs run by 

SBA. 

In addition to regulatory 

improvements, VA is also committed to 

making the verification process more 

efficient and less burdensome and 

creating greater clarity by providing 

improved training tools. The 

Verification Assistance Program 

currently consists of four parts aimed at 

helping veterans understand the 

regulation and how to bring their 

businesses into compliance in order to 

be eligible for Veterans First contracting 

opportunities. These include 

Verification Assistance Briefs that 

address the most common causes of 

eligibility denial and where the issues 

are found; a Verification SelfAssessment Tool that walks the veteran 

through the regulation and how it 

applies to the required documentation; 

Verification Assistance Partners 

consisting of veterans service 

organizations and other non-profit 

organizations to provide individual 

counseling services to veterans; and the 

Pre-Application Workshop that outlines 

what a veteran needs to know and do to 

put together a successful verification 

application. 

II. Questions for Comment 

VA is considering ways to improve 

the VA VOSB Verification Guidelines. 

VA has already collected suggestions 

from a wide range of sources for changes 

to the regulations, and has compiled 

them into a single document. This 

compilation document and the existing 

regulations can both be found at http:// 

www.vetbiz.gov. 

VA invites comments on the ideas 

offered in this compilation document as 

well as the following questions: 

1. What could be changed to improve 

the clarity of the regulations? Where 

might bright lines be drawn to more 

clearly indicate compliance with the 

regulations and reduce potential for 

misinterpretation? Where might the 

addition of bright line tests create 

unintended consequences? 

2. It has been suggested that VA 

should develop a list that would clearly 

delineate what constitutes ownership 

and control and what constitutes lack of 

control or ownership. Should a list like 

this be included in the rule, and if so, 

what should be on the list? 

3. Are there changes to VA’s 

regulations that could be made to 

reduce the economic impact on VOSBs? 

4. Are there changes to VA Form 0877 

(application) that could streamline the 

process? 

5. What verification process 

improvements could help to increase 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS