Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 248 / Friday, December 27, 2024 / Proposed Rules 105505 

oversee registered apprenticeship 

programs in a State. A companion 

regulation, at 29 CFR part 30, also 

implements the NAA by setting forth 

minimum Equal Employment 

Opportunity in Apprenticeship 

requirements that registered 

apprenticeship programs must follow to 

obtain and maintain registration status. 

Summary of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

On January 17, 2024, the Department 

published an NPRM titled ‘‘National 

Apprenticeship System Enhancements’’ 

in the Federal Register (89 FR 3118) 

proposing to revise the regulations for 

registered apprenticeship at 29 CFR 

parts 29 and 30 by enhancing worker 

protections and equity, improving the 

quality of registered apprenticeship 

programs, revising the State governance 

provisions, and more clearly 

establishing critical pipelines to 

registered apprenticeship programs, 

such as by creating registered career and 

technical education (CTE) 

apprenticeships. The NPRM invited 

written comments from the public 

concerning the proposed rulemaking 

through March 18, 2024. 

Summary of Comments 

The Department received comment 

submissions from 2,115 commenters, 

which included 9 form letters that 

accounted for 1,760 comments, and 333 

unique comments (substantive and nonsubstantive). Additionally, 22 comments 

were duplicates or not related to the 

subject of this rulemaking. The 

commenters represented a range of 

stakeholders from the public, non-profit, 

and private sectors, and individuals, 

including current and former 

apprentices. Among other things, 

commenters focused on three primary 

areas: (1) the scope and nature of the 

proposed program quality 

enhancements and worker protections, 

and the impact and burdens on program 

sponsors and employers in making 

those enhancements, (2) proposed 

changes to the governance structure of 

SAAs, and (3) the proposal to create a 

new model of registered CTE 

apprenticeship. 

Rationale for Withdrawal 

The Department has considered the 

detailed feedback, analysis, proposed 

alternatives, and dialogue generated by 

the publication of the NPRM. The 

Department broadly notes that the 

breadth and diversity of stakeholders 

commenting, as well as the unique 

perspectives provided, is a testament to 

the strength and growth of the registered 

apprenticeship model overall as a 

solution to America’s workforce needs 

across a wide range of industries. The 

Department believes that the dialogue 

spurred by the NPRM demonstrates a 

need for a robust and modernized 

approach to registered apprenticeship 

with more clearly defined roles and 

responsibilities, more points of entry, 

and improved accessibility for 

employers to join or register programs 

and for job seekers to become 

apprentices in those programs. 

Through this rulemaking, the 

Department sought to strengthen the 

National Apprenticeship System and 

balance the needs of all apprenticeship 

stakeholders. The Department engaged 

in stakeholder outreach prior to the 

development of the proposed rule. The 

Department believes that commenters 

have raised some ideas and concepts— 

particularly regarding the impact and 

value of the proposed quality 

enhancements, proposed SAA 

governance provisions, and the 

registered CTE apprenticeship 

proposal—that would benefit from more 

outreach and dialogue with interested 

parties and the regulated community 

before it develops a new regulatory 

proposal updating the governing 

regulations for the National 

Apprenticeship System and registered 

apprenticeship programs. Therefore, the 

Department is withdrawing the 

proposed rule. 

Conclusion 

By withdrawing the proposed rule, 

the Department is eliminating the 

pending nature of this rulemaking. The 

Department intends to engage with all 

interested parties to discuss and 

consider future enhancements and 

impacts for the quality and expansion of 

registered apprenticeship and the roles 

and responsibilities of stakeholders in 

the National Apprenticeship System. If 

the Department decides to revise parts 

29 and 30 at a later date, it will issue 

a new NPRM in the Federal Register. 

Accordingly, the NPRM published in 

the Federal Register on January 17, 

2024, at 89 FR 3118 is withdrawn. 

Jose ́ Javier Rodrı ́guez, 

Assistant Secretary for Employment and 

Training, Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2024–31078 Filed 12–26–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Part 300 

[Docket ID ED–2022–OSERS–0052] 

RIN 1820–AB82 

Assistance to States for the Education 

of Children With Disabilities; 

Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary is withdrawing 

a notice of proposed rulemaking, which 

proposed to amend regulations under 

Part B of the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act (Part B of 

IDEA or the Act) that govern the 

Assistance to States for the Education of 

Children with Disabilities program, 

including the Preschool Grants program. 

Specifically, the Secretary proposed to 

amend the IDEA Part B regulations to 

remove the requirement for public 

agencies to obtain parental consent prior 

to accessing for the first time a child’s 

or parent’s public benefits or insurance 

to provide or pay for required IDEA Part 

B services. 

DATES: The notice of proposed 

rulemaking published in the Federal 

Register at 88 FR 31659 on May 18, 

2023, is withdrawn as of December 23, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebecca Walawender, U.S. Department 

of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, 

Room 5130, Potomac Center Plaza, 

Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: 

(202) 245–7399. Email: 

Rebecca.Walawender@ed.gov. 

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability and wish to 

access telecommunications relay 

services, please dial 7–1–1. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On May 18, 2023, the Department 

published in the Federal Register a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 

proposing to amend the IDEA 

regulations at 34 CFR 300.154(d)(2)(iv), 

which requires a Local Educational 

Agency to obtain informed written 

parental consent before it accesses the 

child’s or parent’s public benefits or 

insurance (e.g., Medicaid, Children’s 

Health Insurance Program) for the first 

time for the provision of Medicaidreimbursable services identified on a 

child’s individualized education 

program (IEP). 88 FR 31659. This 

consent provision was initially added to 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS
105506 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 248 / Friday, December 27, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

the 2006 final Part B regulations 

implementing the 2004 reauthorization 

of IDEA and was further revised in 

2013. A correction to the docket ID for 

the May 18, 2023, NPRM was published 

on May 26, 2023. 88 FR 34100. 

The comment period closed on 

August 1, 2023. The Department 

received over 9,700 public comments in 

response to the NPRM. There were two 

large write-in campaigns, including one 

from a national parents’ rights 

organization, totaling more than 8,000 

comments opposing the proposed 

change. Of the remaining 1,700 

comments, in general, half (including 

major national membership 

organizations representing educators 

and service providers) were in support, 

and the other half (including major 

disability rights organizations and 

parent organizations) were in 

opposition. 

Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

After publication of the NPRM, the 

Department carefully considered the 

comments received. A number of 

commenters raised concerns about 

instances where students with 

disabilities were denied reimbursement 

for and access to Medicaid services 

provided outside of school as a result of 

the student’s school accessing the 

student’s public benefits for services 

provided in school. In light of these 

comments, the Department decided to 

focus our time and attention on 

providing technical assistance and 

working with Federal agencies, States 

and other partners to improve 

implementation of school-based 

Medicaid rather than engage in further 

rulemaking. 

As part of our technical assistance 

efforts, the Department engaged with 

stakeholders to better understand the 

existing implementation challenges for 

school-based Medicaid, and we also 

worked closely with the Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services within 

the U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services to address the barriers 

related to accessing Medicaid for 

services outside of school. However, at 

this time, and with the limited time and 

resources remaining during this 

administration, the Department has not 

been able to fully analyze and develop 

responsive ways to address the State 

and local policies and practices that 

may be contributing to barriers in 

accessing Medicaid reimbursement for 

services provided outside of school. 

For the above-stated independent 

reasons, the Department is withdrawing 

the NPRM published in the Federal 

Register at 88 FR 31659 on May 18, 

2023. Withdrawal of this NPRM does 

not preclude the Department from 

issuing rulemaking on this subject in the 

future or commit the Department to any 

future course of action. 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document in an accessible format. 

The Department will provide the 

requestor with an accessible format that 

may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or 

text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 

file, braille, large print, audiotape, 

compact disc, or other accessible format. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

The official version of this document is 

the document published in the Federal 

Register. You may access the official 

edition of the Federal Register and the 

Code of Federal Regulations at 

www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can 

view this document, as well as all other 

Department documents published in the 

Federal Register, in text or Portable 

Document Format (PDF). To use PDF 

you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, 

which is available free at the site. 

You may also access Department 

documents 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. 

Miguel Cardona, 

Secretary of Education. 

[FR Doc. 2024–31187 Filed 12–23–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2021–0930; FRL–10403– 

01–R4] 

Air Plan Approval; Florida; Second 

Planning Period Regional Haze Plan 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve 

regional haze state implementation plan 

(SIP) revisions submitted by the Florida 

Department of Environmental Protection 

(FDEP) on October 8, 2021, and 

supplemented on June 14, 2024, and 

October 28, 2024, as satisfying 

applicable requirements under the 

Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and EPA’s 

Regional Haze Rule (RHR) for the 

program’s second planning period. 

Florida’s SIP submissions for the second 

planning period address the 

requirement that states must 

periodically revise their long-term 

strategies (LTSs) for making reasonable 

progress toward the national goal of 

preventing any future, and remedying 

any existing, anthropogenic impairment 

of visibility, including regional haze, in 

mandatory Class I Federal areas. These 

SIP submissions also address other 

applicable requirements for the second 

planning period of the regional haze 

program. EPA is taking this action 

pursuant to sections 110 and 169A of 

the Act. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before January 27, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2021–0930, at https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

EPA may publish any comment received 

to its public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. EPA will generally 

not consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, the full 

EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Pearlene Williams-Miles, Multi-Air 

Pollutant Coordination Section, Air 

Planning and Implementation Branch, 

Air and Radiation Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30303–8960. Ms. WilliamsMiles can be reached via telephone at 

(404) 562–9144 or electronic mail at 

williamsmiles.pearlene@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. What action is EPA proposing? 

II. Background and Requirements for 

Regional Haze Plans 

A. Regional Haze Background 

B. Roles of Agencies in Addressing 

Regional Haze 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS