Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 182 / Thursday, September 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 52829 

patrol and enforcement of the safety 

zone by Federal, State, and local 

agencies. 

(e) Enforcement. This safety zone will 

be enforced during the period described 

in paragraph (f) of this section. A 

‘‘BRIDGE WORK—DANGER—STAY 

AWAY’’ sign facing the northern and 

southern approaches of the navigation 

channel will be posted on the sides of 

the marine equipment on-scene within 

the location described in paragraph (a) 

of this section. 

(f) Effective period. This section is 

effective from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 

Monday through Saturday from 

September 20, 2021, through December 

31, 2021. 

(g) Enforcement period. (1) The 

section will be enforced during the 

following periods: from 7 a.m. 

September 20, 2021, through 8 p.m. 

September 24, 2021; from 7 a.m. 

October 18, 2021 through 8 p.m. 

October 22, 2021; from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

on September 25, 2021, September 27, 

2021, September 28, 2021, September 

29, 2021, September, 30, 2021, October 

1, 2021, October 2, 2021, October 4, 

2021, October 5, 2021, October 6, 2021, 

October 7, 2021, October 8, 2021, 

October 9, 2021, October 11, 2021, 

October 12, 2021, October 13, 2021, 

October 14, 2021, October 15, 2021, 

October 16, 2021, October 23, 2021, 

October 25, 2021, October 26, 2021, 

October 27, 2021, October 28, 2021, 

October 29, 2021, October 30, 2021, 

November 1, 2021, November 2, 2021, 

November 3, 2021, November 4, 2021 

November 5, 2021, November 6, 2021, 

November 8, 2021, November 9, 2021, 

November 10, 2021, November 11, 2021, 

November 12, 2021, November 13, 2021, 

November 15, 2021, November 16, 2021, 

November 17, 2021, November 18, 2021, 

November 19, 2021, November 20, 2021, 

November 22, 2021, November 23, 2021, 

November 24, 2021, November 26, 2021, 

November 27, 2021, November 29, 2021, 

November 30, 2021, December 1, 2021, 

December 2, 2021, December 3, 2021, 

December 4, 2021 December 6, 2021, 

December, 7, 2021, December 8, 2021, 

December 9, 2021, December 10, 2021, 

December 11, 2021, December 13, 2021, 

December 14, 2021, December 15, 2021, 

December 16, 2021, December 17, 2021, 

December 18, 2021, December 20, 2021, 

December 21, 2021, December 22, 2021, 

December 23, 2021, December 24, 2021, 

December 27, 2021, December 28, 2021 

December 29, 2021, December 30, 2021 

and December 31, 2021. 

Dated: September 17, 2021. 

David E. O’Connell, 

Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of 

the Port Sector Maryland-National Capital 

Region. 

[FR Doc. 2021–20587 Filed 9–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Part 81 

[Docket ID ED–2021–OFO–0121] 

RIN 1880–AA91 

Standardizing Filing Procedures for 

Administrative Appeals 

AGENCY: Office of Finance and 

Operations, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Final regulations. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) amends the 

regulations regarding administrative 

hearings and appeals to require filing 

using the Office of Hearings and 

Appeals (OHA) electronic filing system 

(OES). 

DATES: These final regulations are 

effective September 23, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anthony Cummings, 400 Maryland 

Avenue SW, Room 10089, Potomac 

Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202. 

Telephone: (202) 245–7185. Email: 

Anthony.Cummings@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As 

explained more fully below, the 

Department is amending its regulations 

in 34 CFR part 81 to require the use of 

electronic filing (e-filing) in certain 

cases before OHA, and in appeals of 

decisions issued by OHA to the Office 

of the Secretary (OS), involving the 

General Education Provisions Act 

(GEPA) or applying the procedures 

applicable to GEPA matters. These 

amendments to the regulations also 

provide an opportunity for parties to file 

a motion showing good cause that they 

are unable to utilize electronic filing. 

Summary of Changes: We discuss 

substantive issues under the sections of 

the regulations to which they pertain. 

Generally, we do not address regulatory 

provisions that are technical or 

otherwise minor in effect. 

Part 81—General Education Provisions 

Act—Enforcement 

Statute: Under 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3, the 

Secretary is vested with broad authority 

to ‘‘make, promulgate, issue, rescind, 

and amend rules and regulations 

governing the manner of operation of, 

and governing the applicable programs 

administered by, the Department.’’ This 

provision is mirrored in 20 U.S.C. 3474, 

providing the Secretary authority to 

‘‘prescribe such rules and regulations as 

the Secretary determines necessary or 

appropriate to administer and manage 

the functions of the Secretary or the 

Department.’’ In particular, under 20 

U.S.C. 1234(f)(1), ‘‘the Secretary shall 

prescribe by regulation’’ the rules for 

conducting proceedings within the 

Office of Administrative Law Judges 

(OALJ). Such rules must conform to the 

elements of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA) at 5 U.S.C. 554, 

556, and 557. 

Current Regulations: The current 

regulations in 34 CFR part 81 govern the 

enforcement of legal requirements under 

applicable programs administered by 

the Department and implement part E of 

GEPA. These regulations primarily 

concern the functioning of OALJ, 

including its hearing procedures. 

Section 81.2 provides definitions, while 

§§ 81.11, 81.12, 81.20, and 81.42 

provide procedures and requirements 

for parties filing documents with the 

Department in OALJ hearings. Sections 

81.41 and 81.44 provide procedures for 

how OALJ and the Secretary issue 

decisions. These regulations permit 

parties to file with the Department via 

mail, hand-delivery, or facsimile 

transmission. They require OALJ and 

the Secretary to issue decisions to the 

parties via certified mail, return receipt 

requested. 

New Regulations: The new regulations 

at §§ 81.2, 81.11, 81.12, 81.20, 81.41, 

81.42, and 81.44 require e-filing by the 

parties and the Department, unless, 

upon motion, a party shows good cause 

for why the document cannot be filed 

electronically. To accommodate e-filing, 

the Department is making other 

conforming amendments in part 81. 

Specifically, we are revising 

§§ 81.12(d)(1) and 81.42(g) to provide 

that the date of an e-filing is the date it 

is submitted to OES or, if the 

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has 

permitted a paper submission, the date 

the material is hand-delivered or 

mailed. We are revising § 81.12(e) to 

require a party filing electronically to 

ensure that the Department receives a 

complete and legible copy of the 

document in a format for electronic 

filing permitted under OHA procedures. 

Those procedures are currently 

accessible at https://oha.ed.gov/onlinefiling/. We are also revising §§ 81.41(c) 

and 81.44(b) to generally require the 

Department to e-file initial and final 


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decisions, respectively. Under the 

revised regulations, if the ALJ permits a 

party to make a paper submission, upon 

a showing of good cause, the 

Department must send its initial and 

final decisions by certified mail, return 

receipt requested, or another parcel 

service with delivery confirmation. We 

are also removing references to facsimile 

transmission from revised §§ 81.12, 

81.20, and 81.42 because that is an 

outdated practice that we no longer use. 

Lastly, revised §§ 81.11(c), 81.20(d)(2), 

and 81.42(d) and (f) require a party to 

serve a copy of the submission on the 

other party by hand delivery or mail 

only where the party has been permitted 

to make a paper submission. 

Reasons: The Department adopts an eFiling requirement for administrative 

litigation to align the Department’s 

general procedures with existing 

Department processes for the 

submission of documents in 

administrative litigation involving 

enforcement and compliance under the 

student financial assistance programs 

authorized under title IV of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended 

(HEA), as well as to enhance 

accessibility and operational efficiency. 

By a final rule published in the 

Federal Register on August 7, 2013 (78 

FR 48048), the Department adopted an 

electronic filing system for use in 

administrative litigation involving title 

IV, HEA programs. The rule offered 

parties an alternative to paper-based 

OHA submissions. Thus, broadening the 

scope of electronic filing aligns with a 

process the Department has already 

implemented. 

Electronic filing also promotes the 

accessibility of administrative litigation 

submissions for individuals with 

disabilities. Section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act requires that ‘‘no 

otherwise qualified individual with a 

disability in the United States . . . 

shall, solely by reason of her or his 

disability, be excluded from the 

participation in, be denied the benefits 

of, or be subjected to discrimination 

under any program . . . conducted by 

any Executive agency.’’ Section 508 

further establishes requirements for 

electronic and information technology 

developed, maintained, procured, or 

used by the Federal government and 

requires Federal electronic and 

information technology to be accessible 

to people with disabilities, including 

employees and members of the public. 

The Department has committed to 

‘‘making its electronic and information 

technologies accessible to individuals 

with disabilities by meeting or 

exceeding the requirements of Section 

508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 

794d), as amended in 1998.’’ U.S. 

Department of Education, Accessibility 

Statement (available at https://

www2.ed.gov/notices/accessibility/ 

index.html). 

Under a system requiring electronic 

filing, accessible formatting of 

documents is expedited by avoiding the 

need for Department staff to scan paper 

copies, which can sometimes number in 

the hundreds or even thousands of 

pages. Accessibility is accomplished 

through the use of assistive technology, 

like a Windows-Eyes or JAWS screen 

reader, further advancing OHA’s and the 

Department’s ability to achieve the 

objectives of the Rehabilitation Act. 

Additionally, requiring e-filing will 

make administrative litigation 

submissions more accessible to all 

parties. When a party to a matter files 

a document through OES or the 

presiding ALJ issues an order or 

decision, the document appears in the 

electronic docket. That docket is 

accessible to any person who is a party 

or who represents a party. Once a 

person has access to the electronic 

docket of filings, that person can then 

open an electronic copy of the 

document. Requiring all parties to use 

OES ensures that all parties have access 

to the same information and all parties 

know conclusively what arguments 

have been made and what evidence is 

before the tribunal in support of those 

arguments. Additionally, if a party 

changes representation, or retains 

representation at some time during the 

pendency of the matter, the new 

representative can be given access to all 

orders and filings in the case 

instantaneously. Additionally, in the 

Department’s experience, parties that 

submit filings by facsimile or in paper 

format want assurance that such filings 

have been timely received by OHA or 

OS. Having all relevant documents 

accessible through one electronic 

docket, when possible, will eliminate 

the need to confirm receipt. 

Also, there is an added efficiency to 

requiring that all filings be made in 

electronic format. Nearly any matter 

initially coming before OHA can be 

appealed, after a final agency decision is 

issued by the Secretary, to a Federal 

district court or Federal circuit court of 

appeals. All, or nearly all, Federal 

district and circuit courts use electronic 

files through the Public Access to Court 

Electronic Records (PACER) system or 

through case management/electronic 

case files (CM/ECF) systems. Having all 

documents filed in a case already in 

electronic format leads to efficiency in 

submitting the case file to the relevant 

Federal court. In fact, the United States 

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 

has sent a letter to OHA indicating that 

it requires all case files in matters 

appealed to that Court to be sent in 

electronic format. Additionally, as noted 

on the OHA website at oha.ed.gov, 

electronic filing allows parties to file 

documents and pleadings electronically 

in less time and at substantially less cost 

than paper filings by allowing the 

parties to forgo printing, postage, and 

courier costs. 

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and 

Delayed Effective Date 

Under the APA (5 U.S.C. 553), the 

Department generally offers interested 

parties the opportunity to comment on 

proposed regulations. However, the 

APA provides that an agency is not 

required to conduct notice and 

comment rulemaking for interpretative 

rules, general statements of policy, or 

rules of agency organization, procedure, 

or practice. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). See, 

e.g., Kaspar Wire Works, Inc. v. Sec’y of 

Labor, 268 F.3d 1123, 1132 (D.C. Cir. 

2001); JEM Broad. Co. v. FCC, 22 F.3d 

320, 326 (D.C. Cir. 1994) (procedural 

rules ‘‘ ‘cover[ ] agency actions that do 

not themselves alter the rights or 

interests of parties, although [they] may 

alter the manner in which the parties 

present themselves or their viewpoints 

to the agency.’ ’’ (quoting Batterton v. 

Marshall, 648 F.2d 694, 707 (D.C. Cir. 

1980))). This rule solely addresses the 

manner in which the parties submit 

certain filings to the Department and, 

accordingly, is a procedural rule for 

which notice and comment rulemaking 

is not required. 

The APA generally requires that 

regulations be published at least 30 days 

before their effective date, unless the 

agency has good cause to implement its 

regulations sooner (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)). 

As previously stated, because the final 

regulations merely reflect minor 

changes to agency procedure, which are 

designed to make the process more 

accessible, transparent, and efficient for 

all parties, there is good cause to waive 

the delayed effective date in the APA 

and make the final regulations effective 

upon publication. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Regulatory Impact Analysis 

Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) must determine whether this 

regulatory action is ‘‘significant’’ and, 

therefore, subject to the requirements of 

the Executive order and subject to 

review by OMB. Section 3(f) of E.O. 

12866 defines a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ as an action likely to result in 

a rule that may— 


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(1) Have an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more, or 

adversely affect a sector of the economy, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, public health or safety, or 

State, local, or Tribal governments or 

communities in a material way (also 

referred to as an ‘‘economically 

significant’’ rule); 

(2) Create serious inconsistency or 

otherwise interfere with an action taken 

or planned by another agency; 

(3) Materially alter the budgetary 

impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, 

or loan programs or the rights and 

obligations of recipients thereof; or 

(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues 

arising out of legal mandates, the 

President’s priorities, or the principles 

stated in the Executive order. 

This final regulatory action is not a 

significant regulatory action subject to 

review by OMB under E.O. 12866. 

We have also reviewed these 

regulations under E.O. 13563, which 

supplements and explicitly reaffirms the 

principles, structures, and definitions 

governing regulatory review established 

in E.O. 12866. To the extent permitted 

by law, E.O. 13563 requires that an 

agency— 

(1) Propose or adopt regulations only 

on a reasoned determination that their 

benefits justify their costs (recognizing 

that some benefits and costs are difficult 

to quantify); 

(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the 

least burden on society, consistent with 

obtaining regulatory objectives and 

taking into account—among other things 

and to the extent practicable—the costs 

of cumulative regulations; 

(3) In choosing among alternative 

regulatory approaches, select those 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety, 

and other advantages; distributive 

impacts; and equity); 

(4) To the extent feasible, specify 

performance objectives, rather than the 

behavior or manner of compliance a 

regulated entity must adopt; and 

(5) Identify and assess available 

alternatives to direct regulation, 

including economic incentives—such as 

user fees or marketable permits—to 

encourage the desired behavior, or 

provide information that enables the 

public to make choices. 

E.O. 13563 also requires an agency ‘‘to 

use the best available techniques to 

quantify anticipated present and future 

benefits and costs as accurately as 

possible.’’ The Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs of OMB has 

emphasized that these techniques may 

include ‘‘identifying changing future 

compliance costs that might result from 

technological innovation or anticipated 

behavioral changes.’’ 

We are issuing these final regulations 

only on a reasoned determination that 

their benefits justify their costs. 

The Department has analyzed the 

costs and benefits of complying with 

these final regulations. Due to annual 

variation in the number and size of 

administrative litigation filings, we 

cannot estimate, with absolute 

precision, the likely effects of these 

regulations. However, as discussed 

below, we estimate that these final 

regulations will result in a net cost 

savings of between $4,571 and $5,570 

over the next 10 years. 

For purposes of these estimates, the 

Department assumes that OHA and OS 

receive approximately 2.5 paper filings 

in administrative litigation per year. Of 

those, we assume that approximately 25 

percent are submitted by law offices and 

the remaining 75 percent are submitted 

by educational institutions or entities. 

We assume that submissions made by 

law offices would be completed by 

paralegals at a rate of $41.26 per hour 

and submissions made by educational 

institutions or entities would be 

completed by an administrative 

assistant at a rate of $45.10 per hour. We 

assume that submissions made by 

Department staff would be conducted by 

staff at the GS–11 level at a rate of 

approximately $51.55 per hour. 

We assume that staff who typically 

prepare and transmit paper copies of 

filings will need to familiarize 

themselves with the requirements in the 

final regulations and OES. We assume 

that this activity will take 

approximately 1 hour for an estimated 

one-time cost of $110. 

Currently, staff preparing and 

transmitting paper filings are required to 

prepare such filings in triplicate. We 

assume this work takes paralegals and 

administrative assistants approximately 

15 minutes per filing. This estimate is 

intended to capture time to compile, 

bind, and pack the filings for 

transmittal. We do not estimate time 

burdens for printing, during which time 

we assume staff could be completing 

other tasks. We also assume that each 

filing requires approximately $10 in 

materials such as paper, binders, and 

boxes. We assume that staff then ship 

the filings at a cost of approximately $50 

per filing, based on approximate costs 

for shipping a 15-pound parcel Priority 

Mail Express through the U.S. Postal 

Service. Once the paper filings are 

received by OHA, we assume it takes 

approximately 4 hours per filing for 

OHA staff to process the filing, 

including logging it in, unbinding and 

scanning the materials, creating 

necessary folders, reviewing the scans, 

and uploading them to OES. Finally, in 

accordance with the Department’s 

record retention policy, paper filings are 

eventually transferred to the National 

Archives and Record Administration for 

storage, which we assume takes 15 

minutes per filing. In total, we estimate 

that the current process of paper filings 

has an annual cost of approximately 

$725. These costs would be eliminated 

under the final regulations. 

Under the final regulations, parties 

would directly upload filings into OES, 

which we estimate would take 

approximately 15 minutes per filing. We 

also assume that Department staff would 

need to spend approximately 15 

minutes per filing for various processing 

activities. In total, we assume that the 

process under the final regulations 

would cost approximately $60 per year. 

Over the course of the next 10 years, 

we estimate that these final regulations 

will result in a net cost savings of 

between $4,571 and $5,570. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

Because notice-and-comment 

rulemaking is not necessary for this 

procedural rule, the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (96 Pub. L. 354, 5 U.S.C. 

601–612) does not apply. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

The final regulations do not create 

any new information collection 

requirements. 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

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, or compact disc, or 

another 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 

documents of this Department 

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 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 


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52832 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 182 / Thursday, September 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 81 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Grant programs—education. 

Dated: September 15, 2021. 

Denise L. Carter, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Finance and 

Operations. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Secretary amends part 81 

of title 34 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 81—GENERAL EDUCATION 

PROVISIONS ACT—ENFORCEMENT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 81 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3, 1234(f)(1), 

and 3474(a). 

■ 2. Section 81.2 is amended by adding, 

in alphabetical order, a definition for 

‘‘OES’’ to read as follows: 

§ 81.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

OES means the OHA Electronic 

System or any successor system 

designated by the Department. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Section 81.11 is amended by 

revising paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 81.11 Motions. 

* * * * * 

(c) Parties must file motions with the 

ALJ, and serve them upon the other 

party, as provided under § 81.12. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Section 81.12 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 81.12 Filing requirements. 

(a) Method of filing. (1) Any written 

submission to an ALJ or the OALJ under 

this part, including pleadings, petitions, 

and motions, must be filed by 

submission to OES unless a party shows 

the ALJ good cause why its written 

submission cannot be filed 

electronically. A party filing 

electronically is responsible for 

ensuring that a complete and legible 

document was successfully submitted in 

a format for electronic filing permitted 

under OHA procedures. 

(2) If the ALJ permits a party to file 

a written submission in paper format, 

the filing party must file the written 

submission with the ALJ or the OALJ by 

hand-delivery or regular mail. 

(b) Filing date. (1) The filing date for 

a written submission to an ALJ or the 

OALJ is the date the document is— 

(i) Submitted to OES; or 

(ii) Hand-delivered or mailed, if the 

ALJ has permitted the written 

submission to be filed in paper format. 

(2) If a scheduled filing date falls on 

a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday, 

the filing deadline is the next business 

day. 

(c) Service to other parties. (1) The 

filing of a written submission to OES 

constitutes service on other parties. 

(2) If a party is permitted by the ALJ 

to file a written submission in paper 

format, the party must serve a copy of 

the written submission on the other 

party on the filing date by hand-delivery 

or regular mail. Any such written 

submission to the ALJ or OALJ must be 

accompanied by a statement certifying 

that the material was served on the 

other party on the filing date. 

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3, 1234(f)(1), 

and 3474(a)) 

■ 5. Section 81.20 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (b)(2), (3), (c) and 

(d) to read as follows: 

§ 81.20 Interlocutory appeals to the 

Secretary from rulings of an ALJ. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) A petition may not exceed 10 

pages, double-spaced, and must be 

accompanied by a copy of the ruling 

and any findings and opinions relating 

to the ruling. 

(3)(i) The petition must be filed 

electronically, and served upon the ALJ 

and other parties, by submission to OES 

on behalf of the Office of the Secretary 

unless a party shows the Secretary good 

cause why the petition cannot be filed 

electronically. 

(ii) If the Secretary permits a party to 

file a petition in paper format, the filing 

party must file the petition with OHA 

on behalf of the Secretary by handdelivery or regular mail. The filing party 

must provide a copy of the petition to 

the ALJ at the time the petition is filed, 

and a copy of the petition must be 

served upon the other parties by handdelivery or regular mail. 

(c) If a party files a petition under this 

section, the ALJ may state to the 

Secretary a view as to whether review 

is appropriate by submitting a brief 

statement addressing the party’s petition 

within 10 days of the ALJ’s receipt of 

the petition for interlocutory review. 

The ALJ must serve a copy of the 

statement on all parties by submission 

to OES and, if the Secretary has 

permitted paper filing, by hand-delivery 

or regular mail. 

(d)(1) A party’s response, if any, to a 

petition or certification for interlocutory 

review must be filed within seven days 

after service of the petition or 

certification, and may not exceed 10 

pages, double-spaced, in length. 

(2) A copy of the response must be 

filed to OES unless the party shows the 

Secretary good cause why the response 

cannot be filed electronically. If the ALJ 

permits a party to file a petition in paper 

format, the filing party must file the 

petition with OHA on behalf of the 

Secretary by hand-delivery or regular 

mail. 

(3) If the Secretary has permitted a 

party to file the response in paper 

format, the party must file a copy of the 

response with the ALJ, and serve a copy 

of the response on all parties, on the 

filing date by hand delivery or regular 

mail. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Section 81.41 is amended by 

revising paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 81.41 Initial decision. 

* * * * * 

(c) The OALJ transmits the initial 

decision to the Secretary and to the 

parties by submission to OES and, if 

filing in paper format was permitted by 

the ALJ, by certified mail, return receipt 

requested, or by another parcel service 

with delivery confirmation. 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Section 81.42 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 81.42 Petition for review of initial 

decision. 

(a)(1) If a party seeks to obtain the 

Secretary’s review of the initial decision 

of an ALJ, the party must file a petition 

for review by submission to OES on 

behalf of the Office of the Secretary 

unless the party shows the ALJ good 

cause why the petition cannot be filed 

electronically. 

(2) If the ALJ permits a party to file 

a petition for review in paper format, 

the filing party must file the petition 

with the ALJ by hand-delivery or regular 

mail. 

(b) A party must file a petition for 

review not later than 30 days after the 

date it receives the initial decision. The 

party is deemed to have received the 

initial decision on the date the initial 

decision is uploaded to OES or, if filing 

in paper format was permitted by the 

ALJ, the party is deemed to have 

received the initial decision on the 

delivery date indicated by the certified 

mail or parcel delivery records. 

(c) Electronically filing a petition to 

OES for review constitutes service on 

the other party. 

(d) If the ALJ has permitted the 

petition to be filed in paper format, 

then— 

(1) The party must serve a copy of the 

petition on the other party on the filing 


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date by hand delivery or by ‘‘overnight’’ 

or ‘‘express’’ mail. If agreed upon by the 

parties, service of a copy of the petition 

may be made upon the other party by 

a method approved by the ALJ. 

(2) Any petition submitted under this 

section in paper format must be 

accompanied by a statement certifying 

the date that the petition was served on 

the other party. 

(e) A petition for review of an initial 

decision must— 

(1) Identify the initial decision for 

which review is sought; and 

(2) Include a statement of the reasons 

asserted by the party for affirming, 

modifying, setting aside, or remanding 

the initial decision in whole or in part. 

(f)(1) A party may respond to a 

petition for review of an initial decision 

by filing a statement of its views on the 

issues raised in the petition, as provided 

for in this section, not later than 15 days 

after the date it receives the petition. 

(2) If the ALJ has permitted the 

written submission to be filed in paper 

format, a party must serve a copy of its 

statement of views on the other party by 

hand delivery or mail and certify that it 

has done so pursuant to the provisions 

of paragraph (d) of this section. 

(g)(1) The filing date for petitions 

under this section is the date the 

document is— 

(i) Electronically filed; or 

(ii) Hand-delivered or mailed, if 

permitted to file in paper format. 

(2) If a scheduled filing date falls on 

a Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal 

holiday, the filing deadline is the next 

business day. 

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3, 1234(f)(1), 

1234a(e), and 3474(a)) 

■ 8. Section 81.44 is amended by 

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 81.44 Final decision of the Department. 

* * * * * 

(b) If the Secretary modifies or sets 

aside the ALJ’s initial decision, a copy 

of the Secretary’s decision is provided 

to the parties by submission to OES. If 

the ALJ has permitted written 

submissions to be filed in paper format, 

the decision will be sent by certified 

mail, return receipt requested, or by 

another parcel service with delivery 

confirmation. The Secretary’s decision 

becomes the final decision of the 

Department on the date it is 

electronically filed or, if sent via parcel 

delivery service, on the delivery date 

indicated by the certified mail or parcel 

delivery records. 

* * * * * 

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3, 1234(f)(1), 

1234a(g), and 3474(a)) 

[FR Doc. 2021–20304 Filed 9–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 9, 59, 60, 85, 86, 88, 89, 

90, 91, 92, 94, 1027, 1033, 1036, 1037, 

1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 

1054, 1060, 1065, 1066, 1068, and 1074 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2019–0307; FRL–10018–52– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AU62 

Improvements for Heavy-Duty Engine 

and Vehicle Test Procedures, and 

Other Technical Amendments 

Correction 

In rule document 2021–05306, 

appearing on pages 34308–34590, in the 

issue of Tuesday, June 29, 2021, make 

the following corrections: 

§ 1037.565 [Corrected] 

■ 1. On page 34486, beginning in the 

first column, Section 1037.565 is 

corrected to read as follows: 

1037.565 Transmission efficiency test. 

This section describes a procedure for 

mapping transmission efficiency 

through a determination of transmission 

power loss. 

(a) You may establish transmission 

power loss maps based on testing any 

number of transmission configurations 

within a transmission family as 

specified in § 1037.232. You may share 

data across any configurations within 

the family, as long as you test the 

transmission configuration with the 

lowest efficiency from the transmission 

family. Alternatively, you may ask us to 

approve analytically derived power loss 

maps for untested configurations within 

the same transmission family (see 

§ 1037.235(h)). 

(b) Prepare a transmission for testing 

as follows: 

(1) Select a transmission with less 

than 500 hours of operation before 

testing. 

(2) Mount the transmission to the 

dynamometer such that the geared shaft 

in the transmission is aligned with the 

input shaft from the dynamometer. 

(3) Add transmission oil according to 

the transmission manufacturer’s 

instructions. If the transmission 

manufacturer specifies multiple 

transmission oils, select the one with 

the highest viscosity at operating 

temperature. You may use a lowerviscosity transmission oil if we approve 

it as critical emission-related 

maintenance under § 1037.125. Fill the 

transmission oil to a level that 

represents in-use operation. You may 

use an external transmission oil 

conditioning system, as long as it does 

not affect measured values. 

(4) Include any internal and external 

pumps for hydraulic fluid and 

lubricating oil in the test. Determine the 

work required to drive an external 

pump according to 40 CFR 1065.210. 

(5) Install equipment for measuring 

the bulk temperature of the transmission 

oil in the oil sump or a similar location. 

(6) If the transmission is equipped 

with a torque converter, lock it for all 

testing performed in this section. 

(7) Break in the transmission using 

good engineering judgment. Maintain 

transmission oil temperature at (87 to 

93) °C for automatic transmissions and 

transmissions having more than two 

friction clutches, and at (77 to 83) °C for 

all other transmissions. You may ask us 

to approve a different range of 

transmission oil temperatures if you 

have data showing that it better 

represents in-use operation. 

(c) Measure input and output shaft 

speed and torque as described in 40 CFR 

1065.210(b). You must use a speed 

measurement system that meets an 

accuracy of ±0.05% of point. Accuracy 

requirements for torque transducers 

depend on the highest loaded 

transmission input and output torque as 

described in paragraph (d)(2) of this 

section. Use torque transducers for 

torque input measurements that meet an 

accuracy requirement of ±0.2% of the 

highest loaded transmission input for 

loaded test points and ±0.1% of the 

highest loaded transmission input 

torque for unloaded test points. For 

torque output measurements, torque 

transducers must meet an accuracy 

requirement of ±0.2% of the highest 

loaded transmission output torque for 

each gear ratio. Calibrate and verify 

measurement instruments according to 

40 CFR part 1065, subpart D. Command 

speed and torque at a minimum of 10 

Hz, and record all data, including bulk 

oil temperature, at a minimum of 1 Hz 

mean values. 

(d) Test the transmission at input 

shaft speeds and torque setpoints as 

described in this paragraph (d). You 

may exclude lower gears from testing; 

however, you must test all the gears 

above the highest excluded gear. GEM 

will use default values for any untested 

gears. The test matrix consists of test 

points representing transmission input 

shaft speeds and torque setpoints 

meeting the following specifications for 

each tested gear: 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1