SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On December 22, 2004, the Secretary ( printed page 13372) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for 34 CFR parts 606, 607, 611, 637, 648, 656, 657, 658, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, and 669 in the Federal Register (69 FR 76636). In the preamble of the NPRM, the Secretary discussed on pages 76636 and 76637 the major changes proposed to the current regulations. These are as follows:

• The Secretary proposed removing the mandatory point values from the selection criteria in the regulations associated with the application process for discretionary grant programs. These amendments provide the Secretary with the flexibility to select specific point values from year to year to address current priorities for the programs.
• The Secretary also proposed amending34 CFR part 611, which governs the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants (TQE) program. This amendment makes discretionary the existing requirement that in competitions for grants under the program's Partnership and Teacher-Recruitment components, the Secretary conduct a two-stage process for selecting applicants involving the submission and review of pre-applications and full applications.

There were no differences between the NPRM and these final regulations.

Analysis of Comments

In response to the Secretary's invitation in the NPRM, the Department did not receive any comments on the changes to the TQE program. Several parties submitted comments on the proposed regulations regarding removal of mandatory point values. An analysis of the comments follows.

Generally, we do not address technical and other minor changes—and suggested changes the law does not authorize the Secretary to make.

Analysis of Comments and Changes

Comments: Several commenters believed that the elimination of points will result in some institutions being denied the opportunity to compete for grants because they will not have enough time to prepare because of the change.

Discussion: The Secretary does not agree that eliminating specific point values from the regulations will reduce the opportunity for potential grantees to compete for grants. The regulations continue to specify the criteria used in making the grants in each program. Moreover, the points to be awarded for each criteria will be specified in a Federal Register notice or in the application package, which will be available in enough time for potential applicants to prepare their applications.

Change: None.

Comment: Several commenters wrote that eliminating points from the criteria will result in a reduced focus on institutions that serve disadvantaged students or programs that serve a particular group.

Discussion: The Secretary understands the concerns of the commenters. We do not believe that the proposed change will lead to reduced focus on institutions that serve disadvantaged students or particular groups of students. Removing point values from the regulations does not change the selection criteria or otherwise change the focus of the programs.

Change: None.

Comment: Several commenters stated that the elimination of points would result in a preference for four-year institutions over two-year institutions.

Discussion: We have no reason to believe that the removal of points from the regulations will result in a preference for four-year institutions over two-year institutions in grant awards. The selection criteria will remain the same, so the removal of points will not effect the selection of applicants.

Change: None.

Executive Order 12866

1. Potential Costs and Benefits

We have reviewed these final regulations in accordance with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order we have assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory action.

The potential costs associated with the final regulations are those resulting from statutory requirements and those we have determined to be necessary for administering these programs effectively and efficiently.

In assessing the potential costs and benefits—both quantitative and qualitative—of these final regulations, we have determined that the benefits regulations justify the costs.

We have also determined that this regulatory action would not unduly interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of their governmental functions.

2. Summary of Potential Costs and Benefits

We discussed the potential costs and benefits of these final regulations in the preamble to the NPRM in the section titled Supplementary Information .

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

The Secretary certifies that these final regulations will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities affected by these regulations are small institutions of higher education. The changes will not have a significant economic impact on the institutions affected.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 does not require you to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. We display the valid OMB control numbers assigned to collections of information in these final regulations at the end of the affected sections of the regulations.

Assessment of Educational Impact

In the NPRM we requested comments on whether the proposed regulations would require transmission of information that any other agency or authority of the United States gathers or makes available.

Based on the response to the NPRM and on our review, we have determined that these final regulations do not 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 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 (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.gpoaccess.gov/​nara/​index.html.

For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Secretary amends parts 606, 607, 611, 637, 648, 656, 657, 658, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, and 669 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

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 606.20 is amended by—

A. Revising paragraph (b);

B. In paragraph (c)(1), removing the words “scores at least 50 points” and adding, in their place, the words “meets the requirements”; and

C. Removing paragraph (c)(2)(i) and redesignating paragraphs (c)(2)(ii) and (c)(2)(iii) as paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (c)(2)(ii), respectively.

The revision reads as follows:

3. Section 606.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

4. Section 606.22 is amended by—

A. Revising the introductory text;

B. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”;

C. In paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2), removing the punctuation “.”; and

D. In paragraph (a)(3), adding the word “and” after the punctuation “;”.

The revision reads as follows:

5. Section 606.23 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “point)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text of paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows:

(b) If funds are available to fund only one additional development grant and each of the next fundable applications has received the same number of points under § 606.20 or 606.22, the Secretary awards additional points, as provided in the application package or in a notice published in the Federal Register , to any of those applicants that—

6. The authority citation for part 607 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1507-1509c, 1066-1069f, unless otherwise noted.

7. Section 607.20 is amended by—

A. Removing paragraph (c) and redesignating paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) as paragraphs (c)(1) and (2), respectively;

B. In redesignated paragraph (c)(2), removing the reference to “(b)(1)” and adding, in its place, the reference “(c)(1)”;

C. Adding a new paragraph (b); and

D. Revising paragraph (d).

The addition and revision read as follows:

8. Section 607.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

9. Section 607.22 is amended by—

A. Revising the introductory text;

B. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”;

C. In paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2), removing the punctuation “.”; and

D. In paragraph (a)(3), adding the word “and” after the punctuation “;”.

The revision reads as follows:

10. Section 607.23 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “point)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text of paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows:

11. The authority citation for part 611 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq. and 1024(e), unless otherwise noted.

12. Section 611.2 is amended by, in paragraph (a), removing the words “paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2)(iii), or (a)(3)(iii) of § 611.3” and adding, in their place, the words “paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2)(i)(B), (a)(2)(ii), (a)(3)(i)(B), or (a)(3)(ii) of § 611.3”.

13. Section 611.3 is amended by—

A. Revising paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3); and

B. In paragraph (b), removing the words “paragraphs (b)(2)(ii) and (b)(3)(ii)” and adding, in their place, the words “paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(A) and (a)(3)(i)(A)”.

The revisions read as follows:

14. The authority citation for part 637 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1067-1067c, 1067g-1067k, 1068, 1068b, unless otherwise noted.

15. Section 637.31 is amended by—

A. Revising paragraph (b); and

B. Removing paragraph (c) and redesignating paragraphs (d)(1), (2), and (3) as paragraphs (c)(1), (2), and (3), respectively.

The revision reads as follows:

16. Section 637.32 is amended by—

A. Revising the introductory text;

B. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”;

C. In paragraph (a)(2)(v), removing the parenthetical “(See EDGAR 34 CFR 75.581)” and adding, in its place, the parenthetical “(See 34 CFR 75.580)”.

D. In paragraph (b)(2)(iv), removing the word “groups” the second time it appears and adding, in its place, the word “group”;

E. In paragraph (d)(1), removing the parenthetical “(See EDGAR 34 CFR 75.590—Evaluation by the grantee; where applicable)” and adding, in its place, the parenthetical “(See 34 CFR 75.590)”;

F. Removing the authority citation that appears immediately before paragraph (f); and

G. Revising paragraph (f)(2)(iii).

The revisions read as follows:

17. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1135-1135ee, unless otherwise noted.

( printed page 13375)

18. Section 648.30 is amended by—

A. Revising paragraph (b); and

B. Removing paragraph (c).

The revision reads as follows:

19. Section 648.31 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

20. The authority citation for part 656 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1122, unless otherwise noted.

21. Section 656.20 is amended by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

22. Section 656.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

23. Section 656.22 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

24. The authority citation for part 657 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1122, unless otherwise noted.

25. Section 657.20 is amended by—

A. In paragraph (a), adding the word “institutional” before the word “application”; and

B. Revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

26. Section 657.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Adding introductory text to read as follows:

27. The authority citation for part 658 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1124, unless otherwise noted.

28. Section 658.30 is revised to read as follows:

29. Section 658.31 is amended by—

A. Removing the parentheticals “(10)” and “(5)” each time they appear; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

30. Section 658.32 is amended by—

A. Removing the parentheticals “(15)” and “(10)” each time they appear; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

31. Section 658.33 is amended by—

A. In paragraph (a), removing the parenthetical “(30)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

32. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1125, unless otherwise noted.

33. Section 660.30 is revised to read as follows:

34. Section 660.31 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

35. Section 660.32 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

36. Section 660.33 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

37. The authority citation for part 661 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1130-1130b, unless otherwise noted.

38. Section 661.30 is revised to read as follows:

39. Section 661.31 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”;

B. In paragraph (e), adding the punctuation “.” after the word “resources”; and

C. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

40. The authority citation for part 662 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Section 102(b)(6) of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays Act), 22 U.S.C. 2452(b)(6), unless otherwise noted.

41. Section 662.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)” and removing the parentheticals “(10)”, “(15)”, and “(5)” wherever they appear;

B. In paragraph (c)(2), removing the word “a”; and

C. Revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

42. The authority citation for part 663 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sec. 102(b)(6) of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays Act), 22 U.S.C. 2452(b)(6), unless otherwise noted.

43. Section 663.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)” and removing the parentheticals “(10)”, “(15)”, and “(5)” wherever they appear; and

B. Revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

44. The authority citation for part 664 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 22 U.S.C. 2452(b)(6), unless otherwise noted.

45. Section 664.30 is amended by—

A. Revising paragraph (a);

B. Removing paragraph (b); and

C. Redesignating paragraphs (c) and (d) as paragraphs (b) and (c), respectively.

The revision reads as follows:

46. Section 664.31 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points).” and removing the parenthetical that ends in “points)”; and

B. Revising the introductory text to read as follows:

47. The authority citation for part 669 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1123, unless otherwise noted.

48. Section 669.20 is revised to read as follows:

49. Section 669.21 is amended by—

A. Removing all of the parentheticals that end in “points)”;

B. In paragraph (c), removing the symbol “§”; and

C. Revising the introductory text to read as follows: