1845-0020 Supporting Statement 2022 NPRM updated 2

Tracking and OMB Number: (XX) 1845-0020 Revised: 7/12/2022

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Regulations

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. What is the purpose for this information collection? Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Include a citation that authorizes the collection of information. Specify the review type of the collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change). If revised, briefly specify the changes. If a rulemaking is involved, list the sections with a brief description of the information collection requirement, and/or changes to sections, if applicable.

The Department of Education (the Department) proposes to amend the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program regulations to implement changes Subpart D – Administration of the Federal Family Education Loan Programs by a Guaranty Agency for §682.402(e) and §682.414(b). These proposed regulations are a result of negotiated rulemaking and would add new requirements to the current regulations.

The proposed regulations in §682.402(e)(6)(iii) would require if a FFEL borrower submits an application for discharge that a FFEL program loan holder determines is incomplete, the loan holder would notify the borrower of that determination and allow the borrower 30 days to amend the application and provide supplemental information.

The proposed regulations in §682.402(e)(6)(vii) would require a guaranty agency to issue a decision that explains the reasons for any adverse determination on a false certification discharge application, describes the evidence on which the decision was made, and provides the borrower, upon request, copies of the evidence. The guaranty agency would consider any response or additional information from the borrower and notify the borrower as to whether the determination is changed.

The proposed regulations in §682.402(e)(6)(ix) would provide the borrower with the option to request that the Secretary review the guaranty agency's decision.

The proposed regulations in §682.414(b)(4), would require FFEL Program lenders to report detailed information related to a borrower’s deferments, forbearances, repayment plans, delinquency, and contact information on any FFEL loan to the Department by an established deadline.

This request is to revise the current information collection to include these new regulatory requirements.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The information provided on the discharge application would be used by guaranty agencies to assist in determination of the disposition of a false certification discharge application as well as allow the borrower to request further review of the guaranty agency’s determination. Additionally the proposed information from FFEL Program lenders would allow the Secretary to receive improved data regarding outstanding FFEL borrowers and loans.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision of adopting this means of collection. Please identify systems or websites used to electronically collect this information. Also describe any consideration given to using technology to reduce burden. If there is an increase or decrease in burden related to using technology (e.g. using an electronic form, system or website from paper), please explain in number 12.

There are no prohibitions to the use of technology in providing the required materials or notifications to borrowers and receiving documentation from borrowers. It is anticipated that guaranty agencies would use electronic means to provide the required information to students as available but may also rely upon paper methods to reach borrowers and accept documentation.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

This information is not duplicated on any other information collection.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden. A small entity may be (1) a small business which is deemed to be one that is independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation; (2) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field; or (3) a small government jurisdiction, which is a government of a city, county, town, township, school district, or special district with a population of less than 50,000.

No small business or small entities would be impacted by these proposed regulations.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The proposed regulations require guaranty agencies and FFEL loan holders to maintain contact with borrowers who are determined not to qualify for a false certification discharge to inform them of opportunities to request additional reviews. Additionally the proposed regulations require a FFEL loan holder to provide detailed information related to a borrower’s deferments, forbearances, repayment plans, delinquency and contact information regarding any FFEL loan to the Department. If borrower contact is not maintained and information is not made available, the borrower could lose a benefit, and this can raise the risk of defaults and their impact on Federal resources.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results than can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or that unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information’s confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

This information collection does not require any special circumstances.

8. As applicable, state that the Department has published the 60 and 30 Federal Register notices as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

Include a citation for the 60 day comment period (e.g. Vol. 84 FR ##### and the date of publication). Summarize public comments received in response to the 60 day notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden. If only non-substantive comments are provided, please provide a statement to that effect and that it did not relate or warrant any changes to this information collection request. In your comments, please also indicate the number of public comments received.

For the 30 day notice, indicate that a notice will be published.

Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instruction and record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years – even if the collection of information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.

The Department developed these regulations after conducting negotiated rulemaking with the affected entities and other parties. The comment period for this information collection package would run concurrently with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

8. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees with meaningful justification.

There are no payments or gifts to respondents.

8. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy. If personally identifiable information (PII) is being collected, a Privacy Act statement should be included on the instrument. Please provide a citation for the Systems of Record Notice and the date a Privacy Impact Assessment was completed as indicated on the IC Data Form. A confidentiality statement with a legal citation that authorizes the pledge of confidentiality should be provided.¹ If the collection is subject to the Privacy Act, the Privacy Act statement is deemed sufficient with respect to confidentiality. If there is no expectation of confidentiality, simply state that the Department makes no pledge about the confidentiality of the data. If no PII will be collected, state that no assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents. If the Paperwork Burden Statement is not included physically on a form, you may include it here. Please ensure that your response per respondent matches the estimate provided in number 12.

There is no assurance of confidentiality provided to institutions for the submission of this information.

8. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. The justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature in this collection.

8. Provide estimates of the hour burden for this current information collection request. The statement should:

• Provide an explanation of how the burden was estimated, including identification of burden type: recordkeeping, reporting or third party disclosure. Address changes in burden due to the use of technology (if applicable). Generally, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.

• Please do not include increases in burden and respondents numerically in this table. Explain these changes in number 15.

• Indicate the number of respondents by affected public type (federal government, individuals or households, private sector – businesses or other for-profit, private sector – not-for-profit institutions, farms, state, local or tribal governments), frequency of response, annual hour burden. Unless directed to do so, agencies should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample (fewer than 10) of potential respondents is desirable.

• If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burden in the table below.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents of the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. Use this site to research the appropriate wage rate. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14. If there is no cost to respondents, indicate by entering 0 in the chart below and/or provide a statement.

Under proposed §682.402(e)(6)(iii) if a FFEL borrower submits an application for discharge that a FFEL program loan holder determines is incomplete, the loan holder would notify the borrower of that determination and allow the borrower 30 days to amend the application and provide supplemental information.

Under proposed § 682.402(e)(6)(vii) a guaranty agency would be required to issue a decision that explains the reasons for any adverse determination on a false certification discharge application, describes the evidence on which the decision was made, and provides the borrower, upon request, copies of the evidence. The guaranty agency would consider any response or additional information from the borrower and notify the borrower as to whether the determination is changed.

Under proposed § 682.402(e)(6)(ix) the borrower would be provided with the option to request that the Secretary review the guaranty agency’s decision.

Under proposed §682.414(b)(4) the Department would require FFEL Program lenders to report detailed information related to a borrower’s deferments, forbearances, repayment plans, delinquency, and contact information on any FFEL loan to the Department by an established deadline.

AFFECTED ENTITIES AND BURDEN:

The following burden estimates are for §682.402 -- False certification by a school of a student's eligibility to borrow and unauthorized disbursements.

There would be burden on FFEL loan holders to determine that a borrower may be eligible for a false certification discharge and to provide the borrower with the appropriate application and explanation for obtaining the discharge. We estimate that 31 lenders would make such a determination and that it would take 20 minutes to send an estimated 100 borrowers the correct form for completion for a total of 33 burden hours.

There would be burden on FFEL lender/loan holder to determine that the application for discharge that was received was incomplete and required notification to the borrower of that determination. We estimate that 15 lenders would make such a determination for 25 borrowers and that it would take 15 minutes to send borrowers the notice to amend their application for a total of 6 burden hours.

There would be burden on individual FFEL borrowers who receive notice of an incomplete application. We estimate that it would take an estimated 20 borrowers 30 minutes each to resubmit an amended application or provide additional documentation for a total of 10 burden hours.

There would be burden on guaranty agencies to issue decisions that explain the reasons for any adverse determination on a false certification discharge application, describe the evidence that such a decision was made using and provide to the borrower, upon request, copies of the evidence. We estimate that 18 guaranty agencies would make such a decision for 75 borrowers and that it would take 30 minutes to send the borrowers the decision for a total of 38 burden hours.

There would be burden on the part of any borrower receiving notice of adverse determination of their discharge application. We estimate that 30 borrowers would request Secretarial review of the guaranty agency’s decision and that it would take 30 minutes for each borrower’s request for a total of 15 burden hours.

The following estimates are for §682.414 -- Records, reports, and inspection requirements for guaranty agency programs.

There would be burden on the proposed reporting requirements of the FFEL program lenders. We estimate that the 310 lenders will be required to expand their current reporting and it will take 50 hours to update systems and to initially provide the additional data for a total of 15,500 burden hours.

Total of Proposed Burden:

# of Respondents # of Responses Total Burden

409 560 15,602

Current Burden:

# of Respondents # of Responses Total Burden

16,972,726 17,100,166 8,249,520

Proposed Revised Burden for Information Collection:

# of Respondents # of Responses Total Burden

16,973,135 17,100,726 8,265,122

We estimate the cost to respondents, based on $22.00 for individuals and $46.59 for institutions per burden hour, would be:

Individual = $ 550.00 (25 hours x $22.00)

Private Institutions = $ 574,501.29 (12,331 hours x $46.59)

Proprietary Institutions = $ 150,159.57 (3,223 hours x $46.59)

Public Institutions = $ 1,071.57 (23 hours x $46.59)

$ 726,282.43 Total cost

Estimated Annual Burden and Respondent Costs Table

Information Activity or IC (with type of respondent)	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses	Average Burden Hours per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Estimated Respondent Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Costs (hourly wage x total burden hours)
Individual	145,970	145,970	See above	35,685	$22.00	$785,070.00
For-Profit Institutions	14,222,534	14,222,609	See above	6,954,487	$46.59	$324,009,549.33
Private Institutions	2,438,764	2,526,667	See above	1,190,474	$46.59	$55,464,183.66
Public Institutions	165,867	205,480	See above	84,476	$46.59	$3,935,736.84
Annualized Totals	16,973,135	17,100,726		8,265,122		$384,194,539.83

Please ensure the annual total burden, respondents and response match those entered in IC Data Parts 1 and 2, and the response per respondent matches the Paperwork Burden Statement that must be included on all forms.

8. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14.)

• The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component (annualized over its expected useful life); and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component. The estimates should take into account costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the time period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment; and acquiring and maintaining record storage facilities.

• If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of contracting out information collection services should be a part of this cost burden estimate. In developing cost burden estimates, agencies may consult with a sample of respondents (fewer than 10), utilize the 60-day pre-OMB submission public comment process and use existing economic or regulatory impact analysis associated with the rulemaking containing the information collection, as appropriate.

• Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices. Also, these estimates should not include the hourly costs (i.e., the monetization of the hours) captured above in Item 12.

Total Annualized Capital/Startup Cost :

Total Annual Costs (O&M) :____________________

Total Annualized Costs Requested :

There are no start-up costs related to this proposed regulation.

8. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

There are no additional costs to the Federal government from these proposed regulations.

8. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments. Generally, adjustments in burden result from re-estimating burden and/or from economic phenomenon outside of an agency’s control (e.g., correcting a burden estimate or an organic increase in the size of the reporting universe). Program changes result from a deliberate action that materially changes a collection of information and generally are result of new statute or an agency action (e.g., changing a form, revising regulations, redefining the respondent universe, etc.). Burden changes should be disaggregated by type of change (i.e., adjustment, program change due to new statute, and/or program change due to agency discretion), type of collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change) and include totals for changes in burden hours, responses and costs (if applicable).

Provide a descriptive narrative for the reasons of any change in addition to completing the table with the burden hour change(s) here.

	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
Total Burden		+15,602
Total Responses		+560
Total Costs (if applicable)

This request is to revise the currently approved information collection. These changes are due to the proposed regulations offered through program change. The increase in burden to this information collection is 15,602 hours based on an additional total 560 estimated responses for 409 respondents.

8. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The information in the proposed rule would not be published by the Department.

8. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The Department is not seeking this approval.

8. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the Certification of Paperwork Reduction Act.

The Department is not requesting any exceptions to the “certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions” of OMB Form 83-I.

1 Requests for this information are in accordance with the following ED and OMB policies: Privacy Act of 1974, OMB Circular A-108 – Privacy Act Implementation – Guidelines and Responsibilities, OMB Circular A-130 Appendix I – Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals, OMB M-03-22 – OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, OMB M-06-15 – Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information, OM:6-104 – Privacy Act of 1974 (Collection, Use and Protection of Personally Identifiable Information)

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