[Federal Register: February 2, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 22)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 4886-4887]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02fe00-14]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 676
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of relief from specific statutory and regulatory
provisions.
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SUMMARY: We announce relief from specific statutory and regulatory
provisions governing the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grant (FSEOG) Program for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 award years. This
statutory and regulatory relief applies to additional emergency FSEOG
funds provided under recently enacted provisions of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000. These emergency FSEOG funds
can be used only to assist individuals who suffered financial harm from
Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, and the flooding associated with these
hurricanes, that struck the eastern United States in August and
September 1999.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Febraury 2, 2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy S. Gause, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Regional Office Building 3, Room
3045, Washington, DC 20202-5447. Telephone: (202) 708-8242. 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
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the Alternate Format Center at (202) 260-9895.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Many student financial aid applicants and
recipients have been adversely affected by Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd,
and the flooding associated with these hurricanes. The President signed
the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Pub. L. 106-
113) on November 29, 1999, that provides an additional emergency
appropriation of $10 million for allocations to institutions of higher
education for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
(FSEOGs) made under Title IV, part A, subpart 3, of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The additional emergency FSEOG
funds are being specifically provided for the purpose of assisting
students who have suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane
Dennis or Hurricane Floyd, and are for use during award years 1999-2000
and 2000-2001. We informed institutions of the means to request these
emergency FSEOG funds in an announcement dated January 7, 2000, that
was issued on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP)
Web site (http://ifap.ed.gov).
To facilitate the use of these additional emergency FSEOG funds,
the Consolidated Appropriations Act also grants the Secretary authority
to waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provisions, applicable
to the FSEOG Program, necessary to assist individuals who suffered
financial harm resulting from these natural disasters.
We have already provided certain regulatory relief to lenders and
guaranty agencies in the Federal Family Education Loan Program under
section 432(a)(6) of the HEA and 34 CFR 682.406(b) and 682.413(f). The
guaranty agency directors were informed of this relief in a letter
dated August 5, 1999 as Disaster Letter 99-28. We have also provided
guidance for helping Title IV participants affected by Hurricane Floyd
in a Dear Partner letter published in September 1999 as GEN-99-27.
Covered Individuals
This notice is intended to assist individuals who suffered
financial harm as a result of Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd in 1999. This
notice will apply only to students who, at the time of the disaster,
were residing in, employed in, or attending an institution of higher
education located in an area designated as a Federally declared natural
disaster area (or, in the case of an individual who is a dependent
student, whose parent or stepparent suffered financial harm from that
disaster, and who resided or was employed in such an area at that
time).
A list of those areas designated as a Federally declared natural
disaster due to these hurricanes is available by State on the Federal
Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Web site (http://www.fema.gov/
library/diz99.htm). The nine States that had areas designated as a
Federally declared natural disaster due to these hurricanes are
Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.
This notice of statutory and regulatory relief will be applicable
only for awards made under the FSEOG Program from the additional
emergency appropriation of $10 million during the 1999-2000 and 2000-
2001 award years (the periods from July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000 and
July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001).
For the awarding of the additional emergency appropriation of $10
million in FSEOG funds allocated to institutions under the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000, we provide the following
waivers and modifications of specific statutory and regulatory
provisions governing the FSEOG Program:
1. Section 413D of the HEA--Allocation of Funds and 34 CFR 673.4
Allocation and Reallocation of FSEOG Funds
To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to modify
the applicable statutory and regulatory
[[Page 4887]]
formula requirements for allocating FSEOG funds to institutions. During
the 1999-2000 award year, the additional emergency FSEOG funds will be
allocated for use during the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 award years, to
participating institutions from the designated States. An institution
must submit a request, in the format and by the deadline required by
the Secretary, for these funds to assist students enrolled at that
institution who suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane Dennis
or Hurricane Floyd.
Also, to assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to
waive the applicable statutory and regulatory penalty for unexpended
FSEOG allocations. This penalty is being waived for these additional
emergency FSEOG funds to best achieve the purpose of not having these
funds impact future allocations. Therefore, the allocation from the
additional emergency FSEOG funds will not be used in determining
whether an institution returned more than 10 percent of its FSEOG
allocation that would result in a reduction of its allocation for the
second succeeding award year by the dollar amount unexpended. Upon the
return of any of these funds to us, the institution must identify these
funds as part of the additional amount of FSEOG funds awarded to
institutions to assist individuals who suffered financial harm
resulting from Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd and their aftermath.
2. Section 413C of the HEA Agreements With Institutions; Selection of
Recipients and 34 CFR 676.10 Selection of Students for FSEOG Awards
To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to waive
the applicable statutory and regulatory priority order selection
requirements for awarding FSEOG funds. The institution does not have to
award these additional emergency FSEOG funds in lowest Expected Family
Contribution order or give a priority to Federal Pell Grant recipients.
Also, to assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to
waive the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for offering
a reasonable proportion of these emergency FSEOG funds to less-than-
full-time and independent students. The institution may award these
additional emergency FSEOG funds to an otherwise eligible student
affected by Hurricane Dennis or Hurricane Floyd who demonstrates
financial need.
The institution must document in the student's file that the funds
awarded are part of these additional emergency FSEOG funds. The
institution must also document in the student's file that the student,
or the student's family, is from one of the designated areas and
suffered financial harm as a result of Hurricane Dennis or Hurricane
Floyd.
3. Section 413E of the HEA--Carryover and Carryback Authority and 34
CFR 676.18 Use of Funds
To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to modify
the applicable statutory and regulatory carry forward authority for the
additional emergency FSEOG funds received for the 1999-2000 award year.
The existing authority allows an institution to carry forward no more
than 10 percent of its current award year FSEOG funds to spend in the
next year. However, the institution may carry forward any amount of the
emergency FSEOG funds necessary to be used in the 2000-2001 award year.
Any of the additional emergency FSEOG funds that are not spent by the
end of the 2000-2001 award year (June 30, 2001) must be returned to the
Department.
4. Section 413C of the HEA--Agreements With Institutions; Selection of
Recipients and 34 CFR 676.21 FSEOG Federal Share Limitations
To assist affected individuals, the Secretary has decided to waive
the applicable statutory and regulatory requirement that the Federal
share of FSEOG awards made by an institution may not exceed 75 percent.
The Federal share for these additional emergency FSEOG funds may be 100
percent. The institution must document in its records that it used this
waiver of the Federal share limitation requirement for these additional
emergency FSEOG funds.
Electronic Access to This Document
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Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
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Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://
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(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 84.007)
(Legal Authority: Pub. L. 106-113 and 20 U.S.C. 1082)
Dated: January 27, 2000.
Richard W. Riley,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 00-2234 Filed 1-28-00; 1:33 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U