104936 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

Blog (Aug. 19, 2021), https://blog.ed.gov/2021/08/ 

update-on-the-free-inquiry-rule/. 

3The Department notes that the 2020 final 

regulations do not impose conditions on 

participation in the programs authorized under title 

IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended 

(HEA). See 85 FR 59942. Any future rulemaking 

that would seek to impose conditions on 

participation in title IV programs would be subject 

to the negotiated rulemaking requirement in section 

492 of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a. 

of the review, the Department 

conducted outreach and held meetings 

with: (1) higher education and 

institutional stakeholders, including 

organizations representing public 

institutions; (2) faith-based 

organizations, including organizations 

representing religious IHEs; and (3) 

organizations that advocate for civil 

rights and civil liberties. On February 

22, 2023, the Department published a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 

in the Federal Register proposing to 

rescind portions of the rule that became 

effective on November 23, 2020. See 88 

FR 10857. Specifically, the Department 

proposed to rescind 34 CFR 75.500(d) 

and 76.500(d), which prescribe a role for 

the Department in enforcing grant 

conditions related to religious student 

organizations at certain public 

institutions of higher education (IHEs). 

These regulations apply to public IHEs 

that receive a direct grant from the 

Department or a subgrant from a Stateadministered formula grant program of 

the Department. 

The Department accepted public 

comments on the NPRM from February 

22, 2023, through March 24, 2023. In 

response to that NPRM the Department 

received approximately 58,000 public 

comments. 

Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking and Termination of the 

Rulemaking Proceeding 

The Department issued the NPRM to 

amend 34 CFR parts 75 and 76 and 

provided its reasons for proposing to 

rescind the 2020 final regulations in that 

document. However, upon further 

consideration, the Department is 

withdrawing the NPRM and terminating 

the rulemaking proceeding. 

During the public comment period, 

the Department received approximately 

58,000 comments. Several hundred of 

the comments calling for withdrawal 

were from individuals and organizations 

who argued that rescinding the current 

rule is not necessary because it is not 

complex or burdensome. Additionally, 

many comments in support of the 

current regulations pointed to ongoing 

issues faced by religious student groups 

as evidence of the need to keep these 

regulations. Numerous commenters in 

favor of rescinding these provisions 

asserted that the current regulations are 

not necessary to protect these 

constitutional freedoms and expressed 

concern that the regulations could be 

read to require institutions to afford 

preferential treatment to religious 

student groups. 

We appreciate the feedback that the 

Department received in response to the 

NPRM. In light of the concerns raised by 

commenters both in support of and in 

opposition to the proposed rescissions, 

the forthcoming change in 

administration, and the significant 

resources needed to review and 

consider all relevant matters presented 

in the public comments, the Department 

for each of these independent reasons 

does not believe that finalizing the 

proposed rescissions is an efficient use 

of Department resources at this time. 

Therefore, the Secretary exercises his 

discretion to withdraw the NPRM and 

terminate this rulemaking. We do not 

intend for a final rule to be issued on 

this NPRM. Any future rulemaking the 

Department may undertake on this topic 

would similarly be subject to the notice 

and comment requirements of the 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

551, et seq.3

Importantly, this withdrawal does not 

change or alter the Department’s role 

with respect to the other material grant 

conditions added by the 2020 final 

regulations at §§ 75.500(b) and (c) and 

76.500(b) and (c). The Department will 

determine if an IHE has violated the 

grant conditions in those provisions 

only if a State or Federal court issues a 

final, non-default judgment against a 

public IHE for violating the First 

Amendment or against a private IHE for 

violating stated institutional policies. 

Absent such a judgment, the 

Department presumes public IHEs to be 

in compliance with the First 

Amendment where the alleged 

violations concern matters other than 

denial of equal treatment to religious 

student organizations because of the 

organization’s beliefs, practices, 

policies, speech, membership standards, 

or leadership standards, which are 

informed by sincerely held religious 

beliefs. Under the 2020 final regulations 

at §§ 75.500(b) and (c) and 76.500(b) and 

(c), the Department’s role is not to 

investigate alleged violations of these 

grant conditions and is limited to 

deciding whether and to what extent to 

impose additional penalties where a 

State or Federal court has rendered a 

relevant final, non-default judgment. 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document and a copy of the 

application package 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. 2024–30923 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Part 106 

[Docket ID ED–2022–OCR–0143] 

RIN 1870–AA19 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex 

in Education Programs or Activities 

Receiving Federal Financial 

Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility 

Criteria for Male and Female Athletic 

Teams; Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Office for Civil Rights, 

Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) is withdrawing 

the notice of proposed rulemaking 

entitled ‘‘Nondiscrimination on the 

Basis of Sex in Education Programs or 

Activities Receiving Federal Financial 

Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility 

Criteria for Male and Female Athletic 

Teams’’ published in the Federal 

Register on April 13, 2023. The 

proposed rule would have amended the 

regulations implementing Title IX of the 

Education Amendments of 1972 (Title 

IX). 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules 104937 

DATES: The notice of proposed 

rulemaking published in the Federal 

Register on April 13, 2023, 88 FR 22860, 

is withdrawn as of December 20, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bianca Costello, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 

Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20202. 

Telephone: (202) 219–2126. Email: 

bianca.costello@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 April 13, 2023, the Department 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking titled ‘‘Nondiscrimination 

on the Basis of Sex in Education 

Programs or Activities Receiving 

Federal Financial Assistance: SexRelated Eligibility Criteria for Male and 

Female Athletic Teams’’ (Athletics 

NPRM) in the Federal Register that 

proposed amending 34 CFR 106.41 of 

the Department’s regulations 

implementing Title IX. 88 FR 22860. 

The intent of the Athletics NPRM was 

to ‘‘propose a regulatory standard under 

Title IX that would govern a recipient’s 

adoption or application of sex-related 

criteria that would limit or deny a 

student’s eligibility to participate on a 

male or female athletic team consistent 

with their gender identity.’’ Id. The 

Department’s proposed rule provided 

that, if a recipient adopts or applies sexrelated criteria that would limit or deny 

a student’s eligibility to participate on a 

male or female team consistent with 

their gender identity, such criteria must, 

for each sport, level of competition, and 

grade or educational level: (i) be 

substantially related to the achievement 

of an important educational objective, 

and (ii) minimize harms to students 

whose opportunity to participate on a 

male or female team consistent with 

their gender identity would be limited 

or denied. 88 FR 22891. 

The Department invited the public to 

comment on all aspects of the Athletics 

NPRM, as well as the Regulatory Impact 

Analysis. In response, the Department 

received more than 150,000 public 

comments on the Athletics NPRM 

during the 30-day comment period. 

Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking and Termination of the 

Rulemaking Proceeding 

The Department reviewed and 

considered all comments submitted 

during the comment period and 

appreciates the time and effort spent by 

commenters in sharing their views with 

the Department. Commenters offered a 

broad spectrum of opinions on the 

Athletics NPRM. Some commenters 

expressed general support for the 

proposed regulation, and some asked 

the Department to modify the proposed 

regulation to provide for more students 

to participate on a sex-separate athletic 

team consistent with their gender 

identity, particularly at the elementary 

and secondary school levels. Other 

commenters opposed the proposed 

regulation in its entirety and asked the 

Department to withdraw the Athletics 

NPRM. Numerous commenters 

expressed concerns about the 

application of the proposed regulation 

in practice, arguing that the proposed 

regulation was unclear or too complex 

for recipients to implement, and many 

commenters offered alternative 

regulatory text for the Department’s 

consideration to clarify, simplify, 

elaborate on, or substantively change 

the focus and impact of the proposed 

rule. Additionally, a significant number 

of commenters included discussions of 

case law, scientific studies and research 

papers, and existing athletic association 

policies and practices regarding athletic 

eligibility criteria that, according to the 

commenters, supported the adoption, 

modification, or withdrawal of the 

proposed regulation. 

The Department recognizes that there 

are multiple pending lawsuits related to 

the application of Title IX in the context 

of gender identity, including lawsuits 

related to Title IX’s application to 

athletic eligibility criteria in a variety of 

factual contexts. In light of the 

comments received and those various 

pending court cases, the Department has 

determined not to regulate on this issue 

at this time. Therefore, the Department 

hereby withdraws the Athletics NPRM 

and terminates this rulemaking 

proceeding. We do not intend for a final 

rule to be issued on this NPRM. If, in 

the future, we decide it is appropriate to 

issue regulations on this topic, we will 

do so via a new notice of proposed 

rulemaking, subject to the requirements 

of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 

U.S.C. 551, et seq. 

To the extent the Department receives 

complaints of discrimination about a 

recipient’s obligation to provide equal 

opportunity to participate in athletics 

regardless of sex, it will continue to 

apply the longstanding legal standards 

reflected in the athletics regulations at 

34 CFR 106.41 and in U.S. Dep’t of 

Health, Educ., and Welfare, Office for 

Civil Rights, A Policy Interpretation: 

Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics, 44 

FR 71413 (Dec. 11, 1979), https://

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1979- 

12-11/pdf/FR-1979-12-11.pdf. 

The Athletics NPRM issued on April 

13, 2023, is hereby withdrawn, and the 

rulemaking proceeding for that NPRM is 

terminated as of the date of publication 

of this notice in the Federal Register. 

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, 

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. 2024–30921 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Parts 600, 602, and 668 

[Docket ID ED–2022–OPE–0050] 

RIN 1840–AD82, 1840–AD83, 1840–AD86 

Program Integrity and Institutional 

Quality: State Authorization, Cash 

Management, Accreditation and 

Related Issues 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Termination of negotiated 

rulemaking process for State 

Authorization, Cash Management, 

Accreditation and Related Issues. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) announces the 

termination of the negotiated 

rulemaking process for three Program 

Integrity and Institutional Quality issues 

that were undertaken as part of a larger 

negotiated rulemaking process for 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1