40348 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 144 /Tuesday, July 28, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 668

Student Assistance General Provisions

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Final regulations.

SUMMARY: The Secretary amends the

Student Assistance General Provisions

regulations. These technical

amendments are necessary to correct

citations and typographical errors, to

clarify regulatory language, and to add

Office of Management and Budget

control numbers.

EFFECTIVE DATE: These regulations take

effect July 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Kolotos or Lloyd Horwich, U.S.

Department of Education, 7th and D

Streets, SW, Regional Office Building 3,

Room 3045, Washington, DC 20202–

5345. Telephone: (202) 708–8242.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed in

the preceding paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

following regulations are amended to

correct citations and typographical

errors and to clarify regulatory language

in the text of the Student Assistance

General Provisions regulations, 34 CFR

Part 668.

Sections 668.172 and 668.173 are

amended to clarify regulatory language

explaining the general standards of

financial responsibility. Sections

668.174 and 668.175 are amended to

correct certain citations to other

sections.

Section 668.174 also is amended to

correct typographical errors concerning

the percentage of ownership necessary

for a person or entity to be considered

to exercise substantial control over an

institution that receives funds under

title IV of the Higher Education Act of

1965, as amended, or over a third-party

servicer to such an institution.

Final regulations for §§ 668.171,

668.172, 668.174, and 668.175 were

published on November 25, 1997 (62 FR

62830). Compliance with information

collection requirements in these

sections was subject to Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

approval and assignment of an OMB

control number. OMB assigned a control

number on January 20, 1998.

Publication of the control number in

these final regulations notifies the

public that OMB has approved these

information collection requirements

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995.

Appendix G to Part 668 is amended

to clarify the definition of an accounting

term used in calculating an institution’s

Primary Reserve Ratio.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

In accordance with the

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.

553, it is the Secretary’s practice to offer

interested parties the opportunity to

comment on proposed regulations.

However, the regulatory changes in this

document are necessary to add OMB

control numbers and correct minor

technical errors and omissions in the

Student Assistance General Provisions

regulations, 34 CFR 668. They do not

establish any new substantive rules.

Therefore, the Secretary has determined

that publication of a proposed rule is

unnecessary and contrary to the public

interest under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

The Secretary certifies that these final

regulations will not have significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Small entities

affected by these regulations are small

institutions of higher education. These

regulations contain technical

amendments designed to clarify and

correct current regulations. The changes

will not have a significant economic

impact on any of the institutions

affected.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

These regulations have been

examined under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 and have been

found to contain no information

collection requirements.

Assessment of Educational Impact

Based on its own review, the

Department has determined that the

regulations in this document do not

require transmission of information that

is being gathered by or is available from

any other agency or authority of the

United States.

Electronic Access to This Document

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web at either of the following

sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gpv/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the Adobe

Acrobat Reader Program with Search,

which is available free at either of the

previous sites. If you have questions

about using the pdf, call the U.S.

Government Printing Office toll free at

1–888–293–6498.

List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 668

Administrative practice and

procedure, Colleges and universities,

Student aid, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: July 20, 1998.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

The Secretary amends Part 668 of

Title 34 of the Code of Federal

Regulations as follows:

PART 668—STUDENT ASSISTANCE

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 668

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1085, 1088, 1091,

1092, 1094, 1099c, and 1141, unless

otherwise noted.

§§ 668.171, 668.172, 668.174, 668.175

[Amended]

2. Sections 668.171, 668.172, 668.174,

and 668.175 are amended by adding the

OMB control number following the

sections to read as follows: ‘‘(Approved

by Office of Management and Budget

under control number 1840–0537)’’.

§ 668.172 [Amended]

3. Section 668.172 is amended by

removing ‘‘Primary Reserve ratio’’ and

adding in its place ‘‘ratio calculations’’

in paragraph (c)(5)(ii).

4. Section 668.173 is amended by

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

§ 668.173 Refund reserve standards.

* * * * *

(b) Timely refunds. An institution

demonstrates that it makes required

refunds within the time permitted under

§ 668.22(j)(4) if the auditor(s) who

conducted the institution’s compliance

audits for the institution’s two most

recently completed fiscal years, or the

Secretary or a State or guaranty agency

that conducted a review of the

institution covering those fiscal years—

(1) Finds in the sample of student

records audited or reviewed for each of

those fiscal years that—

(i) Less than five percent of the

refunds that the institution made within

that sample were late (for purposes of

determining the percentage of late

refunds under this paragraph, the

auditor or reviewer must include in the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 144 /Tuesday, July 28, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 40349

sample only those title IV, HEA program

recipients who received or should have

received a refund under § 668.22); or

(ii) The institution made only one late

refund within that sample (regardless of

the percentage of the refunds within

that sample represented by the one late

refund); and

(2) Did not note for either of those

fiscal years a material weakness or a

reportable condition in the institution’s

report on internal controls that is related

to refunds.

* * * * *

§ 668.174 [Amended]

5. Section 668.174 is amended by

removing ‘‘20 percent ownership’’ and

adding in its place ‘‘25 percent

ownership’’ in paragraphs (c)(3)(i), (ii),

(iii) and (iv)(B).

6. Section 668.174 is amended by

adding ‘‘a general partner’’ after ‘‘board

of directors’’ in paragraph (c)(3)(iv)

introductory text.

§ 668.175 [Amended]

7. Section 668.175 is amended by

removing ‘‘668.174(d)’’ and adding in its

place ‘‘668.174(b)(1) and (c)’’ in

paragraphs (f)(3)(i) and (ii).

8. Section 668.175 is amended by

removing the semicolon and inserting ‘‘,

except that this requirement does not

apply to a public institution;’’ at the end

of paragraph (f)(2)(i).

9. Section 668.175 is amended by

removing ‘‘668.174(d)’’ and adding in

place ‘‘668.174(b)(1) and (c)’’ and by

removing ‘‘668.174(c)(2)(ii)’’ and adding

in its place ‘‘668.174(b)(2)(ii)’’ in

paragraph (g)(1)(i)(A).

10. Section 668.175 is amended by

removing ‘‘668.171(b) and (d)’’ and

adding in its place ‘‘668.171(b) and

(d)(1)’’ in paragraph (g)(1)(ii).

Appendix G—[Amended]

11. Appendix G, Section 1, to Part 668

is amended by inserting

‘‘—(unsecured related-party receivables)’’ at the end of the definition of

Expendable Net Assets.

[FR Doc. 98–20124 Filed 7–27–98; 8:45 am]

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