[Federal Register: March 21, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 55)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 15115-15118]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21mr00-14]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 606, 607, and 608
Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, Strengthening
Institutions Program, and Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and
Universities Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We propose to amend the regulations governing the Developing
Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Strengthening Institutions, and
Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Programs to
incorporate statutory changes made by the Higher Education Amendments
of 1998 (1998 Amendments). The 1998 Amendments provide that an
institution's use of grant funds for endowment fund purposes under the
Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Strengthening Institutions,
and Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Programs
can be subject to appropriate requirements under the Endowment
Challenge Grant
[[Page 15116]]
Program. These regulations propose amendments to implement the
statutory changes.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 22, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about these proposed regulations to
Darlene Collins, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW, Room
6032, Washington, DC 20006-8512. If you prefer to send your comments
through the Internet, use the following address:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/idues/title3a.html
If you want to comment on the information collection requirements
you must send your comments to the Office of Management and Budget at
the address listed in the Paperwork Reduction Act section of this
preamble. You may also send a copy of these comments to the Department
representative named in this preamble.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darlene Collins. Telephone: (202) 502-
7576. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment
We invite you to submit comments regarding these proposed
regulations. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the final regulations, we urge you to identify clearly the
specific section or sections of the proposed regulations that each of
your comments addresses and to arrange your comments in the same order
as the proposed regulations.
We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of
reducing regulatory burden that might result from these proposed
regulations. Please let us know of any further opportunities we should
take to reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits while
preserving the effective and efficient administration of the program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about these proposed regulations in 1990 K St. N.W., Room
6032, Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,
Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public
rulemaking record for these proposed regulations. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, you may call (202) 205-
8113 or (202) 260-9895. If you use a TDD, you may call the Federal
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
Background
As amended by the 1998 Amendments, sections 311(d)(3), 323(b)(3),
and 503(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA),
provide, in effect, that we can subject an institution's use of grant
funds for endowment fund purposes under the Developing Hispanic
Serving-Institutions, Strengthening Institutions, and Strengthening
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Programs to appropriate
requirements in the Endowment Challenge Grant Program.
We have implemented the requirements contained in the Endowment
Challenge Grant Program in 34 CFR part 628. We propose that
Secs. 628.3, 628.6, 628.10, and 628.41 through 628.47 contain
appropriate requirements for grantees to follow that wish to use part
of their grant funds for endowment purposes. However, we believe that
applicable provisions in three of these sections need revision for
purposes of clarification and to reflect statutory requirements.
Based upon questions we received over the years, we propose to
revise the definition of the term ``endowment fund income'' in
Sec. 628.6 to clarify that endowment fund income includes fund
appreciation and retained fund earnings, including interest and
dividends.
We propose that the institutional match in Sec. 628.10(a) be
revised to reflect the statutory requirement that it must be made on at
least a one-to-one basis. That is, each grant dollar to be used for
endowment purposes must be matched with at least one non-Federal
dollar.
We further propose that when an institution decides to use grant
funds for endowment fund purposes, unlike the provisions in
Sec. 628.41, it must immediately match those grant funds with non-
Federal dollars. We believe this latter requirement to be appropriate
given the grantee institution's flexibility as to when to use its grant
funds for endowment purposes, and the limited amount of grant funds
that may be used for that purpose.
We propose to amend Secs. 606.10, 607.10, and 608.10 to implement
these requirements by adding a new paragraph (d) relating to the use of
grant funds by a grantee for establishing or increasing an endowment
fund.
Clarity of the Regulations
Executive Order 12866 and the President's Memorandum of June 1,
1998 on ``Plain Language in Government Writing'' require each agency to
write regulations that are easy to understand.
The Secretary invites comments on how to make these proposed
regulations easier to understand, including answers to questions such
as the following:
* Are the requirements in the proposed regulations
clearly stated?
* Do the proposed regulations contain technical terms or
other wording that interferes with their clarity?
* Does the format of the proposed regulations (grouping
and order of sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) aid or
reduce their clarity?
* Would the proposed regulations be easier to understand
if we divided them into more (but shorter) sections? (A ``section''
is preceded by the symbol ``Sec. '' and a numbered heading; for
example, Sec. 608.10 What activities may be carried out under a
grant?)
* Could the description of the proposed regulations in
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this preamble be more
helpful in making the proposed regulations easier to understand? If
so, how?
* What else could we do to make the proposed regulations
easier to understand?
* Send any comments that concern how the Department could
make these proposed regulations easier to understand to the person
listed in the ADDRESSES section of the preamble.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that these proposed regulations would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. These proposed regulations would affect small institutions of
higher education using grant funds for endowment fund purposes under
the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Strengthening
Institutions, or Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and
Universities Programs. However, the regulations implement statutory
amendments applicable to the award of grant funds under these programs
and are not expected to have a significant economic impact on the
institutions affected.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
These proposed regulations do not contain any information
collection requirements.
[[Page 15117]]
Intergovernmental Review
These programs are subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives in the Executive
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
This document provides early notification of our specific plans and
actions for these programs.
Assessment of Educational Impact
The Secretary particularly requests comments on whether these
proposed regulations would require transmission of information that any
other agency or authority of the United States gathers or makes
available.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, D.C.,
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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers: 84.031S, 84.031A,
and 84.031B)
List of Subjects in 34 CFR Parts 606, 607, and 608
Colleges and universities, Grant programs-education, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: March 13, 2000.
A. Lee Fritschler,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Secretary proposes
to amend title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations by amending parts
606, 607, and 608 as follows:
PART 606--DEVELOPING HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS PROGRAM
1. The authority citation for part 606 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., unless otherwise noted.
2. Section 606.10 is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read
as follows:
Sec. 606.10 What activities may and may not be carried out under a
grant?
* * * * *
(d) Endowment funds. If a grantee uses part of its grant funds to
establish or increase an endowment fund, it must comply with the
provisions of Secs. 628.3, 628.6, 628.10, and 628.41 through 628.47 of
this chapter with regard to the use of those funds, except--
(1) The definition of the term ``endowment fund income'' in
Sec. 628.6 of this chapter does not apply. For purposes of this
paragraph (d), ``endowment fund income'' means an amount equal to the
total value of the fund, including fund appreciation and retained
interest and dividends, minus the endowment fund corpus;
(2) Instead of the requirement in Sec. 628.10(a) of this chapter,
the grantee institution must match each dollar of Federal grant funds
used to establish or increase an endowment fund with one dollar of non-
Federal funds; and
(3) Instead of the requirements in Sec. 628.41(a)(3) through (a)(5)
and the introductory text in Sec. 628.41(b) and Sec. 628.41(b)(2) and
(b)(3) of this chapter, if a grantee institution decides to use any of
its grant funds for endowment purposes, it must match those grant funds
immediately with non-Federal funds when it places those funds into its
endowment fund.
PART 607--STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONS PROGRAM
3. The authority citation for part 607 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057-1059c, 1066-1069f, unless otherwise
noted.
4. Section 607.10 is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read
as follows:
Sec. 607.10 What activities may and may not be carried out under a
grant?
* * * * *
(d) Endowment funds. If a grantee uses part of its grant funds to
establish or increase an endowment fund, it must comply with the
provisions of Secs. 628.3, 628.6, 628.10 and 628.41 through 628.47 of
this chapter with regard to the use of those funds, except--
(1) The definition of the term ``endowment fund income'' in
Sec. 628.6 of this chapter does not apply. For the purposes of this
paragraph (d), ``endowment fund income'' means an amount equal to the
total value of the fund, including fund appreciation and retained
interest and dividends, minus the endowment fund corpus;
(2) Instead of the requirement in Sec. 628.10(a) of this chapter,
the grantee institution must match each dollar of Federal grant funds
used to establish or increase an endowment fund with one dollar of non-
Federal funds; and
(3) Instead of the requirements in Sec. 628.41(a)(3) through (a)(5)
and the introductory text in Sec. 628.41(b) and Sec. 628.41(b)(2) and
(b)(3) of this chapter, if a grantee institution decides to use any of
its grant funds for endowment purposes, it must match those grant funds
immediately with non-Federal funds when it places those funds into its
endowment fund.
PART 608-STRENGTHENING HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
PROGRAM
5. The authority citation for part 608 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1060 through 1063a, 1063c, 1066, 1068,
1069c, 1069d, and 1069f, unless otherwise noted.
6. Section 608.10 is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read
as follows:
Sec. 608.10 What activities may be carried out under a grant?
* * * * *
(d) Endowment funds. If a grantee uses part of its grant funds to
establish or increase an endowment fund, it is subject to the
provisions of Secs. 628.3, 628.6, 628.10 and 628.41 through 628.47 of
this chapter with regard to the use of those funds, except--
(1) The definition of the term ``endowment fund income'' in
Sec. 628.6 of this chapter does not apply. For purposes of this
paragraph (d), ``endowment fund income'' means an amount equal to the
total value of the fund, including fund appreciation and retained
interest and dividends, minus the endowment fund corpus;
(2) Instead of the requirement in Sec. 628.10(a) of this chapter,
the grantee institution must match each dollar of Federal grant funds
used to establish or increase an endowment fund with one dollar of non-
Federal funds; and
(3) Instead of the requirements in Sec. 628.41(a)(3) through (a)(5)
and the introductory text in Sec. 628.41(b) and Sec. 628.41(b)(2) and
(b)(3) of this chapter, if a grantee institution decides to use
[[Page 15118]]
any of its grant funds for endowment purposes, it must match those
grant funds immediately with non-Federal funds when it places those
funds into its endowment fund.
[FR Doc. 00-6650 Filed 3-20-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U