Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Notices 9089 

Dated: February 24, 2009. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of Management. 

Office of Postsecondary Education 

Type of Review: New. 

Title: Competitive Loan Auction Pilot 

Program. 

Abstract: The Department of 

Education is requesting emergency 

clearance of all documents associated 

with this clearance by March 2, 2009 to 

meet Congressional legislative 

mandates. This data collection is 

necessary to conduct an auction for the 

rights to originate PLUS loans to parent 

borrowers under the Federal PLUS 

Program authorized by Section 428B of 

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended (HEA), for the period 

beginning on or after July 1, 2009 and 

ending June 30, 2011. The HEA, as 

amended by the Higher Education 

Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), 

requires that the right to originate PLUS 

loans to new parent borrowers under the 

Federal PLUS Program be determined 

through a competitive sealed bid, oneround auction to be conducted for each 

State, the District of Columbia, and 

Puerto Rico (State). The information 

requested is necessary to determine 

whether the winning bidders will be 

able to make and service the PLUS loans 

made to parents as a result of the 

auction as well as to conduct the 

auction itself. 

Additional Information: The U.S. 

Department of Education requests that 

OMB grant an emergency clearance by 

March 2, 2009 for all documents 

associated with the Competitive Loan 

Auction Pilot Program for PLUS loans, 

so that Congressional legislative 

mandates may be satisfied. The 

Competitive Loan Auction Pilot 

Program for PLUS loans is a new 

Federal Family Education Loan 

program. This pilot program was 

mandated by Congress in the College 

Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 

(CCRAA) and in the Higher Education 

Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, Title 

IV, Part I, Section 499, Competitive 

Loan Auction Pilot Program. We are 

requesting permission for an emergency 

clearance to allow eligible lenders to 

participate in the prequalification 

process. We must meet the deadline set 

by Congress to have the pilot program 

in place and running by July 1, 2009, so 

that lenders may process student aid 

applications. 

The Department will conduct The 

Competitive Loan Auction Pilot 

Program in two parts. First, lenders 

must submit a prequalification form that 

collects specific information necessary 

for the Department to determine if the 

lender has the financial and 

technological resources necessary to 

make loans to parents under the PLUS 

loan program in the state(s) in which the 

lender will bid. Secondly, once prequalified, lenders may submit a bid 

which is the lowest special allowance 

payment (SAP), as defined in Section 

438 of the HEA, they are willing to 

accept for Federal PLUS Loans made 

pursuant to the auction. Only two 

eligible lenders (as defined in Section 

435(d) of the HEA) meeting the prequalification requirements will be 

identified for each State and they will 

be the sole eligible lenders authorized to 

originate Federal PLUS loans to new 

parent borrowers. The Department must 

have clearance of the documents by 

March 2, 2009 so that the 

prequalification process can begin, the 

subsequent auction held, and winning 

bidders notified so they will have 

sufficient time to operationalize their 

business processes. 

Frequency: Biennally. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profit; Not-for-profit institutions. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 25. 

Burden Hours: 18. 

Requests for copies of the proposed 

information collection request may be 

accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, 

by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending 

Collections’’ link and by clicking on 

link number 3966. When you access the 

information collection, click on 

‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view. 

Written requests for information should 

be addressed to U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to the Internet address 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed to 202– 

401–0920. Please specify the complete 

title of the information collection when 

making your request. 

Comments regarding burden and/or 

the collection activity requirements 

should be electronically mailed to 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339. 

[FR Doc. E9–4333 Filed 2–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[CFDA No. 84.031A] 

Strengthening Institutions Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to fund down 

the fiscal year (FY) 2008 grant slate for 

the Strengthening Institutions Program. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary intends to use 

the grant slate developed in FY 2008 for 

the Strengthening Institutions Program 

authorized by Title III, Part A of the 

Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

amended (HEA), to make new grant 

awards in FY 2009. The Secretary takes 

this action because a significant number 

of high-quality applications remain on 

last year’s grant slate. We expect to use 

an estimated $19,308,000 for new 

awards in FY 2009. The actual level of 

funding depends on final Congressional 

action. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darlene B. Collins, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 6th 

Floor, Washington, DC 20006–6450. 

Telephone: (202) 502–7576 or via 

Internet: darlene.collins@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), 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 computer diskette) on 

request to the contact person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On April 22, 2008, we published a 

notice in the Federal Register (73 FR 

21614) inviting applications for new 

awards under the Strengthening 

Institutions Program. 

In response to this notice, we received 

a significant number of high-quality 

applications for grants under the 

Strengthening Institutions Program and 

made 61 new grant awards. However, 

many applications that were awarded 

high scores by peer reviewers did not 

receive funding in FY 2008. 

Limited funding may be available for 

new awards under this program in FY 

2009. To conserve funding that would 

have been required for a peer review of 

new grant applications and to instead 

use those funds to support grant 

activities, we will select grantees in FY 

2009 from the existing slate of 

applicants. This slate was developed 

during the FY 2008 competition using 


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9090 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Notices 

the selection criteria, application 

requirements, and definitions 

referenced in the Federal Register 

notice. 

Note: To be eligible to receive a grant 

under the process outlined in this notice all 

Individual Development grant applicants that 

received a peer review score of 89.33 or 

above during the FY 2008 Title III, Part A 

Strengthening Institutions Program 

competition and that did not receive funding 

in the FY 2008 competition for the 

Strengthening Institutions Program MUST 

apply for designation as an eligible 

institution for the programs authorized by 

Title III and Title V of the HEA. The notice 

inviting applications for designation as an 

eligible institution under the Title III and 

Title V programs was published in the 

Federal Register on January 21, 2009 (74 FR 

3579). For those applicant institutions 

seeking eligibility to apply for funds under 

the Title III and Title V programs, the 

deadline for applications was February 20, 

2009. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057–1059d. 

Electronic Access to This Document 

You may 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), on the Internet 

at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/ 

news/fedregister. 

To use PDF, you must have Adobe 

Acrobat Reader, which is available free 

at this site. If you have questions about 

using PDF, call the U.S. Government 

Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1– 

888–293–6498; or in the Washington, 

DC, area at (202) 512–1530. 

Note: 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 on GPO 

Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/ 

index.html. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Daniel T. Madzelan, Director, 

Forecasting and Policy Analysis for the 

Office of Postsecondary Education to 

perform the functions of the Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education. 

Dated: February 25, 2009. 

Daniel T. Madzelan, 

Director, Forecasting and Policy Analysis. 

[FR Doc. E9–4360 Filed 2–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Bonneville Power Administration 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2010–2011 Proposed 

Power and Transmission Rate 

Adjustments; Public Hearing and 

Opportunities for Public Review and 

Comment; Correction 

AGENCY: Bonneville Power 

Administration (BPA), Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of FY 2010–2011 

Proposed Power and Transmission Rate 

Adjustments; Correction. 

SUMMARY: On February 10, 2009, BPA 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register (74 FR 6609), (February 10, 

2009 Notice) announcing its upcoming 

consolidated rate proceeding, BPA–10, 

with separate sub-dockets for power and 

transmission rates for FY 2010–2011. 

However, on page 6611, third column in 

Part III.A., Distinguishing Between 

‘‘Participants’’ and ‘‘Parties,’’ of the 

February 10, 2009 Notice, BPA made a 

misstatement that it now wishes to 

correct. The fifth sentence in this 

section, which stated ‘‘BPA customers 

whose rates are subject to this 

proceeding, or their affiliated customer 

groups, may not submit participant 

comments.’’, is hereby deleted in its 

entirety and replaced with the following 

sentence ‘‘Any entity that has 

intervened in this proceeding may not 

submit participant comments.’’ 

Part III.A., on page 6611, third column 

is corrected to read as follows: 

Part III—Public Participation 

A. Distinguishing Between 

‘‘Participants’’ and ‘‘Parties’’ 

BPA distinguishes between 

‘‘participants in’’ and ‘‘parties to’’ the 

hearings. Apart from the formal hearing 

process, BPA will receive written 

comments, views, opinions, and 

information from ‘‘participants,’’ who 

are defined in BPA’s Procedures as 

persons who may submit comments 

without being subject to the duties of, or 

having the privileges of, parties. 

Participants’ written comments will be 

made part of the official record and 

considered by the Administrator. 

Participants are not entitled to 

participate in the prehearing conference; 

may not cross-examine parties’ 

witnesses, seek discovery, or serve or be 

served with documents; and are not 

subject to the same procedural 

requirements as parties. Any entity that 

has intervened in this proceeding may 

not submit participant comments. 

Members or employees of entities that 

have intervened in the rate proceeding 

may submit general comments as 

participants but may not use the 

comment procedures to address specific 

issues raised by their intervenor 

organization or others. 

Written comments by participants 

will be included in the record if they are 

received by April 24, 2009. Written 

views, supporting information, 

questions, and arguments should be 

submitted to the address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this Notice. 

Entities or persons become parties to 

the proceeding by filing petitions to 

intervene, which must state the name 

and address of the entity or person 

requesting party status and their interest 

in the hearing. BPA customers and 

affiliated customer groups will be 

granted intervention based on a petition 

filed in conformance with BPA’s 

Procedures. Other petitioners must 

explain their interests in sufficient 

detail to permit the hearing officer to 

determine whether such petitioners 

have a relevant interest in the hearing. 

Pursuant to Rule 1010.1(d) of BPA’s 

Procedures, BPA waives the 

requirement in Rule 1010.4(d) that an 

opposition to an intervention petition be 

filed and served 24 hours before the 

prehearing conference. Any opposition 

to an intervention petition must instead 

be made at the prehearing conference. 

Any party, including BPA, may oppose 

a petition for intervention. All timely 

petitions will be ruled on by the hearing 

officer. Late interventions are strongly 

disfavored. Opposition to an untimely 

petition to intervene must be filed and 

received by BPA within two days after 

service of the petition. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Heidi Helwig—DKE–7, Public Affairs 

Specialist, Bonneville Power 

Administration, P.O. Box 3621, 

Portland, Oregon 97208–3621; by phone 

at 503–230–3488 or toll free at 1–800– 

622–4519; or via e-mail to 

hyhelwig@bpa.gov. 

Responsible Official: Mr. Raymond D. 

Bliven, Power Rates Manager, is the 

official responsible for the development 

of BPA’s power rates, and Mr. Edison 

Elizeh, Commercial Business 

Assessment Manager, is the official 

responsible for the development of 

BPA’s transmission and ancillary 

services rates. 

BPA Attorney Advisors: Mr. Peter J. 

Burger is the principal BPA attorney 

assigned to the power rates sub-docket 

proceeding, and Mr. Barry Bennett is the 

principal BPA attorney assigned to the 

transmission and ancillary services rates 

sub-docket proceeding. Mr. Burger may 

be contacted as follows: by U.S. Mail at 

Mr. Peter J. Burger, Office of General 


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