[Federal Register: March 2, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 42)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13034]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02mr01-17]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 50
RIN 1845-AA21
Performance Standards for Retention of Electronic Records in the
Student Financial Assistance Programs
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary will propose rules to implement section 101(d)
of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-
Sign Act), Public Law 106-229. These regulations will set forth
proposed performance standards regarding the accuracy, integrity, and
accessibility of electronic records that would apply to lenders,
guaranty agencies, schools, and other parties administering any student
financial assistance program authorized under Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 19, 2001. We
are offering this limited comment period in order to expedite issuance
of the proposed rule. Comments received by this date will be considered
in the development of the proposed rule. As a consequence of the
publication of this notice, and under section 107(b) of the E-Sign Act,
the authority of a program participant to retain a required record in
electronic form, in instances where that authority did not previously
exist, will become effective on June 1, 2001, rather than on March 1,
2001.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking to: Gail McLarnon, U. S. Department of Education, 1990 K
St., NW., room 8062, Washington, DC 20006-8540. If you prefer to send
your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
gail_mclarnon@ed.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gail McLarnon, 202/219-7048.
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:
Background
The E-Sign Act provides, in part, that a signature, contract, or
other record relating to a transaction may not be denied legal effect,
validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form, or
because an electronic signature or electronic record was used in its
formation. By eliminating legal barriers, the E-Sign Act will allow
lenders, guaranty agencies, schools, and other parties administering
the Title IV, HEA student financial assistance programs to use
electronic records and electronic signatures in place of records and
signatures that, under the HEA and underlying regulations, must be
maintained and provided in writing. Section 104(b)(3) of the E-Sign Act
authorizes the Secretary to set forth general requirements regarding
the accuracy, integrity, and accessibility of electronic records, and
procedures relating to the maintenance of those records. The Secretary
will be issuing proposed regulations that will contain such
requirements and procedures.
Invitation to Comment
We are seeking comments or suggestions on this notice. We are
interested in comments on assuring approaches to assuring the accuracy,
integrity, and accessibility of electronic records in the
administration of the federal student aid programs. Specifically, we
are interested in comments related to the maintenance of electronic
records by program participants. Areas of interest include the
following:
The timeframe to implement the use and maintenance of
electronic records.
The impact of using and maintaining electronic records on
the integrity of the Federal student financial aid programs.
The comparability between electronic records and hard copy
paper records.
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 PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at either of the previous sites. If you have questions about using
PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), 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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 50
Colleges and universities, Grant programs-education, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 27, 2001.
Rod Paige,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 01-5161 Filed 2-27-01; 4:34 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P