Total and Permanent Disability Discharge of Loans Under Title IV of the Higher Education Act

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65000-65007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25813]

============================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Parts 674, 682, and 685

RIN 1840-AD48
[Docket ID ED-2019-FSA-0115]


Total and Permanent Disability Discharge of Loans Under Title IV 
of the Higher Education Act

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Interim final regulations.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Education (Department) issues these interim 
final regulations to amend and update the regulations for total and 
permanent disability student loan discharge for veterans by removing 
administrative burdens that may have prevented at least 20,000 totally 
and permanently disabled veterans from obtaining discharges of their 
student loans, as the law provides. These barriers create significant 
and unnecessary hardship for these veterans. Removing these barriers is 
a matter of pressing national concern. Although the Department 
construes its interim final rulemaking power narrowly, under these 
circumstances the Department finds good cause to implement the rule immediately.

DATES: These regulations are effective July 1, 2020.

Implementation date: For the implementation date of these 
regulatory changes, see the Implementation Date of These Regulations 
section of this document.

We must receive your comments on or before January 27, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
 
If you are submitting comments electronically, we strongly 
encourage you to submit any comments or attachments in Microsoft Word 
format. If you must submit a comment in Adobe Portable Document Format 
(PDF), we strongly encourage you to convert the PDF to print-to-PDF 
format or to use some other commonly used searchable text format. 
Please do not submit the PDF in a scanned format. Using a print-to-PDF 
format allows the Department to electronically search and copy certain 
portions of your submissions.

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under "Help."

 Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: The 
Department strongly encourages commenters to submit their comments 
electronically. However, if you mail or deliver your comments, address 
them to Robert King, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. 
SW, Washington, DC 20202.

Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make comments received 
from members of the public available for public viewing on the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should 
include in their comments only information that they wish to make 
publicly available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert King, U.S. Department of 
Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20202-2241. Telephone: (202) 453-6914. Email: 
Rober.King@ed.gov.
 
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.
 
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or compact 
disc) on request to the contact person listed in this section.