24728 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

(3) Regulations. (i) In accordance with 

the general regulations in § 165.23 of 

this part, entry into, transiting, or 

anchoring within this safety zone is 

prohibited unless authorized by the 

Captain of the Port Lake Michigan, or 

his on-scene representative. 

(ii) This safety zone is closed to all 

vessel traffic, except as may be 

permitted by the Captain of the Port 

Lake Michigan or his on-scene 

representative. 

(iii) The on-scene representative of 

the Captain of the Port Lake Michigan 

may be aboard either a Coast Guard or 

Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel. The 

Captain of the Port Lake Michigan or his 

on-scene representative may be 

contacted via VHF Channel 16. 

(4) Vessel operators desiring to enter 

or operate within the safety zone shall 

contact the Captain of the Port Lake 

Michigan or his on-scene representative 

to obtain permission to do so. Vessel 

operators given permission to enter or 

operate in the safety zone must comply 

with all directions given to them by the 

Captain of the Port Lake Michigan or his 

on-scene representative. 

Dated: May 12, 2009. 

D.R. Callahan, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, 

Ninth Coast Guard District Acting. 

[FR Doc. E9–12179 Filed 5–22–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter VI 

Negotiated Rulemaking Committees; 

Establishment 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Establishment of negotiated 

rulemaking committees; and notice of 

public hearings. 

SUMMARY: We announce our intention to 

establish one or more negotiated 

rulemaking committees to prepare 

proposed regulations under Title IV of 

the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

amended (HEA). The committees will 

include representatives of organizations 

or groups with interests that are 

significantly affected by the subject 

matter of the proposed regulations. We 

also announce three public hearings, at 

which interested parties may suggest 

additional issues that should be 

considered for action by the negotiating 

committees. In addition, for anyone 

unable to attend a public hearing, we 

announce that the Department will 

accept written comments. 

The Department will also be 

conducting forums after each of the 

three hearings to discuss (1) how 

changes in the Department’s financial 

aid communications and processes 

(including the Free Application for 

Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)) could 

improve college planning, preparation 

and access, and (2) how best to leverage 

Federal postsecondary programs to 

foster student educational persistence 

and degree attainment. 

DATES: The dates, times, and locations 

of the public hearings are listed under 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

of this notice. We must receive written 

comments suggesting issues that should 

be considered for action by the 

negotiating committees on or before 

June 23, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments to Wendy Macias, U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street, 

NW., Room 8017, Washington, DC 

20006, or by fax to Wendy Macias at 

(202) 502–7874. You may also e-mail 

your comments to negreg09@ed.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the public hearings 

and forums, go to http://www.ed.gov/ 

policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/ 

2009/negreg-summerfall.html or 

contact: Mary Miller, U.S. Department 

of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 

8066, Washington, DC 20006. 

Telephone: (202) 502–7824. You may 

also e-mail your questions about the 

public hearings to: Mary.Miller@ed.gov. 

For information about negotiated 

rulemaking in general, see The 

Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title 

IV Regulations, Frequently Asked 

Questions at http://www.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/negreg-faq.html. For further information 

about negotiated rulemaking contact: 

Wendy Macias, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 

8017, Washington, DC 20006. 

Telephone (202) 502–7526. You may 

also e-mail your questions about 

negotiated rulemaking to: 

Wendy.Macias@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) by 

contacting the person responsible for 

information about the public hearings. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

492 of the HEA requires that, before 

publishing any proposed regulations to 

implement programs authorized under 

Title IV of the HEA, the Secretary obtain 

public involvement in the development 

of the proposed regulations. After 

obtaining advice and recommendations 

from the public, the Secretary uses a 

negotiated rulemaking process to 

develop the proposed regulations. 

We announce our intent to develop 

proposed regulations by following the 

negotiated rulemaking procedures in 

section 492 of the HEA. We intend to 

select participants for the negotiated 

rulemaking committees from nominees 

of the organizations and groups that 

represent the interests significantly 

affected by the proposed regulations. To 

the extent possible, we will select, from 

the nominees, individual negotiators 

who reflect the diversity among program 

participants, in accordance with section 

492(b)(1) of the HEA. 

Regulatory Issues 

We intend to convene one committee 

to develop proposed regulations 

governing foreign schools, including the 

implementation of the changes made to 

the HEA by the Higher Education 

Opportunity Act (HEOA), Public Law 

110–315, that affect foreign schools. 

We intend to convene at least one 

other committee to develop proposed 

regulations to maintain or improve 

program integrity in the Title IV, HEA 

programs, relating to topics such as the 

following: 

• Satisfactory academic progress. 

• Incentive compensation paid by 

institutions to persons or entities 

engaged in student recruiting or 

admission activities. 

• Gainful employment in a 

recognized occupation. 

• State authorization as a component 

of institutional eligibility. 

• Definition of a credit hour, for 

purposes of determining program 

eligibility status, particularly in the 

context of awarding Pell Grants. 

• Verification of information 

included on student aid applications. 

• Definition of a high school diploma 

as a condition of receiving Federal 

student aid. 

After a complete review of the public 

comments presented at the public 

hearings and from the written 

submissions, we will publish a 

subsequent notice (or notices) 

announcing the specific subject areas for 

which we intend to establish negotiated 

rulemaking committees, and a request 

for nominations for individual 

negotiators for those committees who 

represent the interests significantly 

affected by the proposed regulations. 

Public Hearings 

We will hold three public hearings for 

interested parties to discuss the agenda 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 24729 

for the negotiated rulemaking sessions. 

The public hearings will be held on: 

• June 15–16, 2009 at the Community 

College of Denver. 

• June 18–19, 2009 at the University 

of Arkansas at Little Rock. 

• June 22–23, 2009 at the Community 

College of Philadelphia. 

The public hearings will be held from 

9 a.m.–4 p.m., local time. Further 

information on the public hearing sites, 

including addresses and directions, is 

available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/ 

negreg-summerfall.html. 

On the day following each public 

hearing, the Department will also be 

conducting two forums at the same 

location as the public hearing, from 9 

a.m.–1 p.m., local time. These forums 

will be conducted concurrently. One 

forum will focus on approaches to the 

Department’s financial aid 

communications and processes 

(including the FAFSA) that could 

improve college planning, preparation 

and access. The other forum will focus 

on ways that Federal postsecondary 

programs could play a stronger role in 

fostering student educational 

persistence and degree attainment. 

While the Department will be inviting 

representatives of students, families, 

college access professionals, and college 

success practitioners to participate in 

these forums, the forums will be open 

to the public with opportunities for 

public comment provided. 

Individuals desiring to present 

comments at the public hearings are 

encouraged to do so. It is likely that 

each participant choosing to make a 

statement will be limited to five 

minutes. Individuals interested in 

making oral statements will be able to 

register to make a statement beginning 

at 8:30 a.m. on the day of the public 

hearing at the Department’s on-site 

registration table on a first-come, firstserved basis. If additional time slots 

remain, individuals may be given 

additional time to speak. If no time slots 

remain, the Department has reserved 

one additional hour at the end of the 

day for individuals who were not able 

to register to speak. The amount of time 

available will depend upon the number 

of individuals who register to speak. 

Speakers may also submit written 

comments. In addition, for anyone 

unable to attend a public hearing, the 

Department will accept written 

comments through June 23, 2009. (See 

the ADDRESSES section of this notice for 

submission information.) 

The public hearing sites are accessible 

to individuals with disabilities. 

Individuals needing an auxiliary aid or 

service to participate in the hearing or 

a forum (e.g., interpreting service, 

assistive listening device, or materials in 

alternative format) should notify the 

contact person for information about 

hearings listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT in this notice in 

advance of the scheduled hearing date. 

Although we will attempt to meet any 

request we receive, we may not be able 

to make available the requested 

auxiliary aid or service because of 

insufficient time to arrange it. 

Schedule for Negotiations 

We anticipate that these committees 

will begin negotiations in September 

2009, with each committee meeting for 

three sessions of approximately three 

days at roughly monthly intervals. The 

committees will meet in the 

Washington, DC area. The dates and 

locations of these meetings will be 

published in a subsequent notice in the 

Federal Register, and will be posted on 

the Department’s Web site at: http:// 

www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/ 

hearulemaking/2009/negregsummerfall.html. 

Electronic Access to This Document 

You may view this document, 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 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. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a. 

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: May 20, 2009. 

Daniel T. Madzelan, 

Director, Forecasting and Policy Analysis. 

[FR Doc. E9–12092 Filed 5–22–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

44 CFR Part 67 

[Docket ID FEMA–2008–0020; Internal 

Agency Docket No. FEMA–B–1053] 

Proposed Flood Elevation 

Determinations 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: Comments are requested on 

the proposed Base (1% annual-chance) 

Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed 

BFE modifications for the communities 

listed in the table below. The purpose 

of this notice is to seek general 

information and comment regarding the 

proposed regulatory flood elevations for 

the reach described by the downstream 

and upstream locations in the table 

below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are 

a part of the floodplain management 

measures that the community is 

required either to adopt or show 

evidence of having in effect in order to 

qualify or remain qualified for 

participation in the National Flood 

Insurance Program (NFIP). In addition, 

these elevations, once finalized, will be 

used by insurance agents, and others to 

calculate appropriate flood insurance 

premium rates for new buildings and 

the contents in those buildings. 

DATES: Comments are to be submitted 

on or before August 24, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: The corresponding 

preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map 

(FIRM) for the proposed BFEs for each 

community are available for inspection 

at the community’s map repository. The 

respective addresses are listed in the 

table below. 

You may submit comments, identified 

by Docket No. FEMA–B–1053, to 

William R. Blanton, Jr., Chief, 

Engineering Management Branch, 

Mitigation Directorate, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, 500 C 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20472, 

(202) 646–3151, or (e-mail) 

bill.blanton@dhs.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William R. Blanton, Jr., Chief, 

Engineering Management Branch, 

Mitigation Directorate, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, 500 C 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20472, 

(202) 646–3151 or (e-mail) 

bill.blanton@dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Emergency Management Agency