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 must obtain public involvement in the development of the proposed regulations. After obtaining advice and recommendations from the public, the Secretary conducts negotiated rulemaking to develop the proposed regulations. We announce our intent to develop proposed title IV regulations by following the negotiated rulemaking procedures in section 492 of the HEA.

We intend to select negotiators from nominees of the organizations and groups that represent the interests significantly affected by the proposed regulations. To the extent possible, we will select individual negotiators from the nominees who reflect the diversity among program participants, in accordance with section 492(b)(1) of the HEA.

Regulatory Issue

We intend to convene a committee to develop proposed regulations pertaining to topics in the title IV, HEA programs. Those topics are the authorities granted to the Secretary in HEA Section 432(a), which relate to the modification, waiver, or compromise of Federal student loans.

After reviewing the public comments presented at the public hearing and in the written submissions, we will publish a document (or documents) in the Federal Register announcing the specific topics for which we intend to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee and a request for nominations for individual negotiators for the committee who represent the communities of interest that would be significantly affected by the proposed regulations. This document will also be posted on the Department's website at: www2.ed.gov/​policy/​highered/​reg/​hearulemaking/​2023/​index.html.

Public Hearing

We will hold a virtual public hearing for interested parties to discuss the rulemaking agenda from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time, on July 18, 2023. Further information on the public hearing is available at: www2.ed.gov/​policy/​highered/​reg/​hearulemaking/​2023/​index.html.

Individuals who would like to present comments at the public hearing must register by sending an email message to negreghearing@ed.gov no later than noon, Eastern time, on the business day prior to the public hearing. The message should include the name of the presenter, the general topic(s) the individual would like to address, and one or more dates and times during which the individual would be available ( printed page 43070) to speak. We will attempt to accommodate each speaker's preference, but, if we are unable to do so, we will select speakers on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date and time we received the message. We will limit each participant to four minutes.

The Department will notify speakers of the time slot reserved for them and provide information on how to log in to the hearing as a speaker. An individual may make only one presentation at the public hearing. If we receive more registrations than we can accommodate, we reserve the right to reject or cancel the registration of an entity or individual affiliated with an entity or individual that is already scheduled to present comments to ensure that a broad range of entities and individuals are able to present. Registration is required to view the virtual public hearing. We will post links for attendees who wish to observe on our website at www2.ed.gov/​policy/​highered/​reg/​hearulemaking/​2023/​index.html. The Department will also post transcripts of the hearing on that site.

The Department will accept written comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal through July 20, 2023. See the ADDRESSES section of this document for submission information.

Schedule for Negotiations

We will announce dates for negotiations of any committee established after the public hearing through a notice published in the Federal Register . We anticipate holding three sessions of no less than 2 days each at roughly 4-week intervals. The dates and locations of these virtual meetings will be published in a subsequent Federal Register document and posted online at: www2.ed.gov/​policy/​highered/​reg/​hearulemaking/​2023/​index.html.

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, or 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 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 for free on 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 your search to documents published by the Department.

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

88 FR 43069