Proposal FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2022 / Proposed Rules
issuing this AD to prevent an improperly
locked elevator attachment. The unsafe
condition, if not addressed, could result in
failure of the elevator connection and loss of
control of the glider.
(f) Compliance
Comply with this AD within the
compliance times specified, unless already
done.
(g) Required Actions
Within 90 days after the effective date of
this AD, do the following actions
concurrently.
(1) Install colored markings on the elevator
in accordance with Action 1 in SchemppHirth Flugzeugbau GmbH Technical Note No.
278–40/286–36/295–33/328–14/798–4,
Revision 1, dated November 12, 2020 (issued
as one document).
(2) Revise the existing aircraft flight
manual (FM) and service manual (SM) for
your glider by replacing the pages specified
in Action 2 in Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau
GmbH Technical Note No. 278–40/286–36/
295–33/328–14/798–4, Revision 1, dated
November 12, 2020 (issued as one
document), as applicable to your glider, with
the revised pages for the manual applicable
to your glider dated June 2020.
(3) The action required by paragraph (g)(2)
of this AD may be performed by the owner/
operator (pilot) holding at least a private pilot
certificate and must be entered into the
aircraft records showing compliance with
this AD in accordance with 14 CFR 43.9(a)(1)
through (4) and 14 CFR 91.417(a)(2)(v). The
record must be maintained as required by 14
CFR 91.417.

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(h) Alternative Methods of Compliance
(AMOCs)
(1) The Manager, International Validation
Branch, FAA, has the authority to approve
AMOCs for this AD, if requested using the
procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. In
accordance with 14 CFR 39.19, send your
request to your principal inspector or local
Flight Standards District Office, as
appropriate. If sending information directly
to the manager of the International Validation
Branch, send it to the attention of the person
identified in (i)(1) of this AD and email to:
9-AVS-AIR-730-AMOC@faa.gov.
(2) Before using any approved AMOC,
notify your appropriate principal inspector,
or lacking a principal inspector, the manager
of the local flight standards district office/
certificate holding district office.
(i) Related Information
(1) For more information about this AD,
contact Jim Rutherford, Aviation Safety
Engineer, General Aviation & Rotorcraft
Section, International Validation Branch,
FAA, 901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City,
MO 64106; phone: (816) 329–4165; fax: (816)
329–4090; email: jim.rutherford@faa.gov.
(2) Refer to European Union Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) AD 2020–0260, dated
November 26, 2020, for more information.
You may examine the EASA AD in the AD
docket at https://www.regulations.gov by
searching for and locating it in Docket No.
FAA–2021–1170.

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(3) For service information identified in
this AD, contact Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau
GmbH, Krebenstrasse 25, 73230 Kirchheim/
Teck, Germany; phone: +49 7021 7298–0; fax:
+49 7021 7298–199; email: info@schempphirth.com; website: https://www.schempphirth.com. You may view this referenced
service information at the FAA,
Airworthiness Products Section, Operational
Safety Branch, 901 Locust, Kansas City, MO
64106. For information on the availability of
this material at the FAA, call (817) 222–5110.
Issued on December 22, 2021.
Lance T. Gant,
Director, Compliance & Airworthiness
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–28320 Filed 12–30–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter II
[Docket ID ED–2021–OESE–0116]

Proposed Requirement—American
Rescue Plan Act Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief
Fund
Office of Elementary and
Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Proposed requirement.
AGENCY:

The Department of Education
(Department) proposes a requirement for
the American Rescue Plan Elementary
and Secondary School Emergency Relief
(ARP ESSER) Fund, under the American
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act). This
requirement is intended to promote
accountability and transparency by
requiring each State educational agency
(SEA) to post on its website
maintenance of equity information for
each applicable local educational
agency (LEA).
DATES: We must receive your comments
on or before February 2, 2022.
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.
• 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 ‘‘FAQ.’’
SUMMARY:

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57

• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery,
or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver
your comments about the proposed
requirement, address them to U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW, Room 3W113, Washington,
DC 20202.
Privacy Note: The Department’s
policy is to make all comments received
from members of the public available for
public viewing in their entirety on the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to
include in their comments only
information that they wish to make
publicly available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britt
Jung, U.S. Department of Education, 400
Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3W113,
Washington, DC 20202. Telephone:
(202) 453–5563. Email: ESSERF@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1–800–877–
8339.
Invitation
to Comment: We invite you to submit
comments regarding the proposed
requirement. To ensure that your
comments have maximum effect in
developing the requirement, we urge
you to clearly identify the specific
section of the proposed requirement that
each comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in
complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Orders 12866
and 13563 and their overall requirement
of reducing regulatory burden that
might result from the proposed
requirement.
During and after the comment period,
you may inspect all public comments
about the proposed requirement by
accessing Regulations.gov. You may also
inspect the comments in person. Please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to make
arrangements to inspect the comments
in person.
Assistance to Individuals With
Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request we will
provide an appropriate accommodation
or auxiliary aid to an individual with a
disability who needs assistance to
review the comments or other
documents in the public rulemaking
record for the proposed requirement. If
you want to schedule an appointment
for this type of accommodation or
auxiliary aid, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: The ARP ESSER
Fund provides nearly $122 billion to
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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SEAs and LEAs to help them safely
reopen and sustain the safe operation of
schools and address the impacts of the
COVID–19 pandemic by addressing
students’ academic, social, emotional,
and mental health needs. As a condition
of receiving the funds, each SEA and
LEA must comply with multiple
requirements, including the
maintenance of equity requirements in
section 2004 of the ARP Act.
Program Authority: ARP Act, Public
Law 117–2, March 11, 2021.
Proposed Requirement: This
document contains one proposed
requirement.
Background
The ARP Act provides nearly $122
billion via the ARP ESSER Fund to
SEAs and LEAs to help schools return
safely to in-person instruction; sustain
the safe operation of schools; and
address the academic, social, emotional,
and mental health impacts of the
COVID–19 pandemic on the Nation’s
students. Under section 2004 of the ARP
Act, SEAs and LEAs must meet new
maintenance of equity requirements to
receive funds under the ARP ESSER
Fund. These provisions ensure that
LEAs and schools serving a large share
of students from low-income
backgrounds do not experience a
disproportionate share of reduced
funding in fiscal years (FYs) 2022 and
2023, and that, for the highest-poverty
LEAs, State funding is not decreased
below their FY 2019 level. In addition,
the maintenance of equity provisions
ensure that each LEA safeguards its
high-poverty schools from
disproportionate cuts to funding and
staffing. On August 6, 2021, the
Department issued a Dear Colleague
Letter (DCL) to Chief State School
Officers and District School
Superintendents emphasizing the
importance of maintaining equity and
addressing specific implementation
challenges for FY 2022. On August 6,
the Department also issued updated
Frequently Asked Questions on the
Maintenance of Equity Requirements
(FAQs) 1 providing detailed guidance on
how each SEA and LEA can maintain
equity and comply with the
maintenance of equity provisions. In
that guidance, the Department indicated
that SEAs and LEAs should consider
making maintenance of equity data
publicly available.
In Appendix A to the FAQs issued in
June 2021 and updated on August 6 and
October 1, 2021, the Department
1 See

https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/08/
Maintenance-of-Equity-updated-FAQs_final_
08.06.2021.pdf.

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required each SEA to report to it
baseline and initial data on the State’s
high-need and highest-poverty LEAs.
These data include: a list of the highneed LEAs; the statewide per-pupil
amount of State funds provided to all
LEAs in FYs 2021 and 2022 as well as
the per-pupil amount provided to each
high-need LEA in those years; a list of
the highest-poverty LEAs; and the perpupil amount of State funds provided to
each highest-poverty LEA in FYs 2019
and 2022. In addition, each SEA was
required to submit a list of the highpoverty schools in each LEA that must
maintain equity in FY 2022. The
Department is posting these data on its
website at: https://oese.ed.gov/offices/
american-rescue-plan/american-rescueplan-elementary-and-secondary-schoolemergency-relief/maintenance-ofequity/ and will update the website as
new data become available. The
Department also intends to collect SEAlevel maintenance of equity data
through each State’s annual
performance report and will make those
data publicly available.
Although data on State-level
maintenance of equity will be available
on the Department’s website, there are
not publicly available data for LEA-level
maintenance of equity. Accordingly, on
October 5, 2021, the Department
proposed a requirement 2 to address this
need for transparency and
accountability consistent with the
Department’s policy goals of ensuring
that schools serving large proportions of
historically underserved groups of
students—including students from lowincome families, students of color,
English learners, students with
disabilities, migratory students, and
students experiencing homelessness—
receive an equitable share of State and
local funds as the Nation continues to
recover from the impact of the COVID–
19 pandemic on our education system.
To support these goals, and to ensure
public accountability for the
implementation of the LEA-level
maintenance of equity provisions of the
ARP Act, the Department proposed to
require that each SEA make publicly
available information on how each LEA
in the State is maintaining fiscal and
staffing equity to meet the requirements
of section 2004(c) of the ARP Act.
Requiring that maintenance of equity
data be publicly available would allow
parents, families, and local communities
to access information on how the LEA
is maintaining equity for schools with
2 www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/
05/2021-21764/proposed-requirement-americanrescue-plan-act-elementary-and-secondary-schoolemergency-relief-fund.

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high concentrations of students from
low-income families. Additionally,
public posting of data and information
on how each LEA in the State is
maintaining equity is an important
accountability tool for SEAs and the
Department.
In response to the proposed
requirement, the Department received
27 comments from States, LEAs, and
national organizations. After
considering those comments and other
stakeholder input, the Department
proposes this significantly revised
requirement.
Many commenters recommended that
the Department extend the reporting
deadline to allow more time for SEAs
and LEAs to prepare to meet the data
reporting requirements and ensure more
accurate reporting. The Department
recognizes the concerns of grantees
regarding accurate data reporting on a
constricted timeline. As a result, the
Department proposes to adjust the
deadline to significantly extend the
period for reporting data.
In addition, multiple commenters
strongly recommended allowing for
increased flexibility in the reporting
requirements to accommodate SEAs’
and LEAs’ different school finance
reporting systems. In response to these
comments, the Department proposes to
specify expanded options available to
SEAs for reporting data to allow an LEA
to demonstrate that the LEA maintained
equity by providing applicable perpupil expenditure data where
appropriate. Specifically, paragraph (d)
of the proposed requirement permits an
SEA and its LEAs, in meeting and
reporting LEA-level maintenance of
equity, to rely on the applicable perpupil expenditure data required to be
included on the State report card
pursuant to section 1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of
the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This
paragraph would provide an LEA
additional flexibility in meeting the
LEA-level maintenance of effort
requirement by using expenditure data
the LEA may already have available for
reporting per-pupil expenditures under
section 1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the ESEA
without establishing new reporting
systems.
Finally, commenters expressed
concern over the potential burden that
these data reporting requirements would
place on SEAs and LEAs, noting that
systems may not be in place yet to
collect and analyze the data and that
developing such systems takes
significant amounts of time and labor.
The Department acknowledges these
concerns and has addressed them
through changes designed to achieve the

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2022 / Proposed Rules
benefit of sharing information on State
and local funding in order to support
students who have been subject to
longstanding opportunity gaps in our
education system.
Under paragraph (c) of the proposed
requirements, each State would be
required to publish, by December 31
following each applicable school year,
specific data regarding compliance with
the LEA-level maintenance of equity
requirements. We are specifically
requesting comment on whether such
data elements would be available on the
proposed timeline and, if not, when
such data would be available. We also
solicit comment as to whether, in the
alternative, States would be able to
publish data on the same proposed
timeline demonstrating how each LEA
met the fiscal and staffing equity
requirements generally, instead of the
specific data elements in proposed
paragraph (c), and whether it would
achieve similar transparency objectives.
Under this alternative approach, States
would have additional flexibility in the
data they use to demonstrate LEA
compliance with the requirements,
though such an approach could limit
cross-State data comparability and
provide less certainty for stakeholders
regarding the types of data they may
reasonably expect from their SEA on
LEA implementation.
Finally, given the proposed
flexibilities in reporting on LEA-level
maintenance of equity, the Department
proposes in paragraph (b) that each
SEA, by March 31, 2022 for FY 2022
which is the 2021–2022 school year and
by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which
is the 2022–2023 school year, publish
on its website a description of how the
SEA will ensure that each LEA that is
not excepted from LEA-level
maintenance of equity requirements is
ensuring that its high-poverty schools
are protected from any reduction of perpupil funding by an amount that
exceeds the overall per-pupil reduction
in the LEA, if any, such that the LEA
can make any necessary adjustments in
a timely manner. This provision is
designed to ensure an SEA has a process
for determining that its LEAs actually
maintain equity and, if the LEAs do not,
are able to make any necessary
adjustments in a timely manner.
Several questions in the FAQs on
LEA-level maintenance of equity (see
generally Questions 22–32) address the
data an SEA would report under this
proposed requirement. For example,
Question 32 discusses LEAs that may be
excepted under proposed paragraph
(a)(1) from meeting the LEA-level
maintenance of equity requirements,
including those LEAs that qualify as

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having exceptional or uncontrollable
circumstances in FY 2022 due to the
pandemic. (See also the August 6, 2021,
DCL.) Similarly, Questions 23–25 clarify
how to identify high-poverty schools
under proposed paragraph (a)(2).
Question 26 provides information
applicable to proposed paragraphs (c)(1)
and (2) and (d) on how the amount of
per-pupil funding aligns with reporting
on per-pupil expenditures under section
1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the ESEA. Questions
28 and 29 clarify how to determine fulltime-equivalent (FTE) staff applicable to
proposed paragraphs (c)(3) and (4).
Finally, Questions 27 and 30 address
how to determine if an LEA has
maintained equity in its high-poverty
schools for proposed paragraph (c)(5).
Proposed Requirement
(a) By March 31, 2022 for FY 2022
which is the 2021–2022 school year and
by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which
is the 2022–2023 school year, a State
educational agency (SEA) must publish
the following LEA-level maintenance of
equity data on its website:
(1) The identity of each LEA in the
State that is excepted from LEA-level
maintenance of equity requirements
under section 2004(c)(2) of the ARP Act
for each of the following reasons:
(i) The LEA has a total enrollment of
less than 1,000 students.
(ii) The LEA operates a single school.
(iii) The LEA serves all students
within each grade span with a single
school.
(iv) The LEA has notified the SEA that
the LEA demonstrates an exceptional or
uncontrollable circumstance under
section 2004(c)(2)(D) of the ARP Act and
has not implemented an aggregate
reduction in combined State and local
per-pupil funding.
(v) The LEA has been granted an
exception from LEA-level maintenance
of equity requirements by the
Department due to an exceptional or
uncontrollable circumstance under
section 2004(c)(2)(D) of the ARP Act and
the Department has informed the SEA of
this exception.
(2) For each LEA that is not excepted
from LEA-level maintenance of equity
requirements as detailed in paragraph
(a)(1), the schools in the LEA that are
identified as ‘‘high-poverty schools’’ as
defined in section 2004(d)(4) of the ARP
Act.
(b) By March 31, 2022 for FY 2022
which is the 2021–2022 school year and
by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which
is the 2022–2023 school year, each SEA
must publish on its website a
description of how the SEA will ensure
that each LEA that is not excepted from
LEA-level maintenance of equity

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59

requirements is ensuring that its highpoverty schools are protected from any
reduction of per-pupil funding by an
amount that exceeds the overall perpupil reduction in the LEA, if any, such
that the LEA can make any necessary
adjustments in a timely manner.
(c) By December 31 following each
applicable school year (e.g., December
31, 2022, for FY 2022 which is the
2021–2022 school year) or such other
date as the Department may approve
upon request from an SEA due to the
SEA’s specific circumstances, an SEA
must publish the following LEA-level
maintenance of equity data on its
website for each LEA in the State that
is not excepted from LEA-level
maintenance of equity requirements as
detailed in paragraph (a)(1):
(1) The per-pupil amount of funding
for each high-poverty school in the LEA
in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023, as
applicable for the year for which the
data are published.
(2) The per-pupil amount of funding
in the aggregate for all schools in the
LEA, on a districtwide basis or by grade
span, in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023, as
applicable for the year for which the
data are published.
(3) The per-pupil number of full-timeequivalent (FTE) staff for each highpoverty school in the LEA in FYs 2021,
2022, and 2023, as applicable for the
year for which the data are published,
which may also be indicated as the
number of students per FTE staff.
(4) The per-pupil number of FTE staff
in the aggregate for all schools in the
LEA, on a districtwide basis or by grade
span, in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023, as
applicable for the year for which the
data are published, which may also be
indicated as the number of students per
FTEs.
(5) Whether the LEA did not maintain
equity for any high-poverty school in FY
2022 or 2023, as applicable for the year
for which the data are published.
(d) For the purpose of the reporting
required in paragraph (c), an SEA and
its LEAs may rely on the applicable perpupil expenditure data required to be
included on the State report card
pursuant to section 1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of
the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(e) All data required to be published
under paragraphs (a)–(d) must be
published in a way that is machinereadable and accessible, in a location
accessible for parents and families. LEAand school-level data must be listed by
the applicable National Center for
Education Statistics LEA ID and school
ID, where applicable.

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Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) must determine whether this
regulatory action is ‘‘significant’’ and,
therefore, subject to the requirements of
the Executive order and subject to
review by OMB. Section 3(f) of
Executive Order 12866 defines a
‘‘significant regulatory action’’ as an
action likely to result in a rule that
may—
(1) Have an annual effect on the
economy of $100 million or more, or
adversely affect a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the
environment, public health or safety, or
State, local, or Tribal governments or
communities in a material way (also
referred to as an ‘‘economically
significant’’ rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or
otherwise interfere with an action taken
or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary
impacts of entitlement grants, user fees,
or loan programs or the rights and
obligations of recipients thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues
arising out of legal mandates, the
President’s priorities, or the principles
stated in the Executive Order.
This proposed regulatory action is not
a significant regulatory action subject to
review by OMB under section 3(f) of
Executive Order 12866.
We have also reviewed this proposed
regulatory action under Executive Order
13563, which supplements and
explicitly reaffirms the principles,
structures, and definitions governing
regulatory review established in
Executive Order 12866. To the extent
permitted by law, Executive Order
13563 requires that an agency—
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only
on a reasoned determination that their
benefits justify their costs (recognizing
that some benefits and costs are difficult
to quantify);
(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the
least burden on society, consistent with
obtaining regulatory objectives and
taking into account—among other things
and to the extent practicable—the costs
of cumulative regulations;
(3) In choosing among alternative
regulatory approaches, select those
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety,
and other advantages; distributive
impacts; and equity);
(4) To the extent feasible, specify
performance objectives, rather than the
behavior or manner of compliance a
regulated entity must adopt; and

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(5) Identify and assess available
alternatives to direct regulation,
including economic incentives—such as
user fees or marketable permits—to
encourage the desired behavior, or
provide information that enables the
public to make choices.
Executive Order 13563 also requires
an agency ‘‘to use the best available
techniques to quantify anticipated
present and future benefits and costs as
accurately as possible.’’ The Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of
OMB has emphasized that these
techniques may include ‘‘identifying
changing future compliance costs that
might result from technological
innovation or anticipated behavioral
changes.’’
We are issuing the proposed
requirement only on a reasoned
determination that its benefits would
justify its costs. In choosing among
alternative regulatory approaches, we
selected the approach that would
maximize net benefits. Based on an
analysis of anticipated costs and
benefits, we believe that the proposed
requirement is consistent with the
principles in Executive Order 13563.
We also have determined that this
regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and Tribal
governments in the exercise of their
governmental functions.
In accordance with the Executive
orders, the Department has assessed the
potential costs and benefits, both
quantitative and qualitative, of this
regulatory action. The potential costs
are those resulting from statutory
requirements and those we have
determined as necessary for
administering the Department’s
programs and activities.
Potential Costs and Benefits
The Department has analyzed the
costs and benefits of complying with the
proposed requirement. Due to the
varying capacity and administrative
structures of affected entities, we cannot
estimate, with absolute precision, the
likely effects of the proposed
requirement. However, as discussed
below, we estimate that the proposed
requirement would have a net cost of
$60,000 over two years.
As an initial matter, the Department
recognizes that staff at SEAs and LEAs
nationwide expend considerable effort
every year on education finance, both in
their general supervisory capacity and
as part of their efforts to comply with
the maintenance of equity requirements
in the ARP Act. The analysis below is
not an attempt to quantify those efforts.
Rather, this analysis is limited only to
the incremental cost of complying with

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the proposed requirement (e.g., through
public reporting).
For the purposes of these estimates,
the Department assumes that the
proposed requirement does not generate
any additional data collection or
retention burdens beyond those already
imposed by the statutory requirement
itself. To the extent that these
assumptions are incorrect, actual costs
borne by States could be higher than
those outlined below.
We assume that a representative from
each of the 50 States, the District of
Columbia, and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico (hereafter collectively
referred to as States) would review the
final requirement. We assume that such
review would take, on average, one hour
per State for a one-time cost of
approximately $2,800.3
We assume that, for each State, a
management analyst would spend
approximately eight hours, on average,
compiling the relevant data and
preparing it for posting. Within this
estimate, we assume a management
analyst would employ any necessary
data suppression rules, add NCES
identifiers, and make any necessary
formatting changes for posting of the
data. We assume that posting the data
online would take a network
administrator ($59.09 4 per hour)
approximately 30 minutes. In total, we
assume posting data would cost
approximately $23,900 per year.
Finally, we assume that
approximately 20 States would need to
update their data after initial posting.
We assume the updates would take a
management analyst approximately 4
hours to complete and would require 30
minutes for a network administrator to
post. In total, we assume posting
corrections would cost approximately
$4,900 per year.
In general, we believe that the costs
outlined above could be offset with
funds the States have reserved under the
ARP ESSER grant program. The benefit
of publicly posting LEA-level
maintenance of equity data is to
facilitate public accountability so that
3 The Department assumes a loaded wage rate of
$53.79 per hour based on the average hourly wage
rate for management analysts employed in State
governments, excluding schools and hospitals
(https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_
999200.htm), which is multiplied by 1.61 to
account for the employer cost for employee
compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/
pdf/ecec.pdf).
4 The Department assumes a loaded wage rate of
$59.09 per hour based on the average hourly wage
rate for network and computer systems
administrators employed in State governments,
excluding schools and hospitals (https://
www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_999200.htm),
which is multiplied by two to account for overhead
and benefits.

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2022 / Proposed Rules
parents and families will be able to
access publicly available information on
how each LEA in the State is
maintaining fiscal and staffing equity.
Additionally, public posting of data and
information on how each LEA in the
State is maintaining equity is an
important accountability tool for SEAs
and the Department. As such, we
believe the benefit to the general public
would far outweigh any burden on
States.

revenue below $7,000,000. Nonprofit
institutions are defined as small entities
if they are independently owned and
operated and not dominant in their field
of operation. Public institutions are
defined as small organizations if they
are operated by a government
overseeing a population below 50,000.
The proposed regulatory action would
affect only States, none of which is a
small entity for the purpose of this
analysis.

Clarity of the Regulations
Executive Order 12866 and the
Presidential memorandum ‘‘Plain
Language in Government Writing’’
require each agency to write regulations
that are easy to understand.
The Secretary invites comments on
how to make the proposed requirement
easier to understand, including answers
to questions such as the following:
• Are the requirements in the
proposed regulations clearly stated?
• Do the proposed regulations contain
technical terms or other wording that
interferes with their clarity?
• Would the proposed regulations be
difficult to understand for or to explain
to someone with literacy challenges or
limited English proficiency?
• Does the format of the proposed
regulations (grouping and order of
sections, use of headings, paragraphing,
etc.) aid or reduce their clarity?
• Would the proposed regulations be
easier to understand if we divided them
into more (but shorter) sections?
• Could the description of the
proposed regulations in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this preamble be more helpful in
making the proposed regulations easier
to understand? If so, how?
• What else could we do to make the
proposed regulations easier to
understand?
To send any comments that concern
how the Department could make the
proposed requirement easier to
understand, see the instructions in the
ADDRESSES section.
Intergovernmental Review: These
programs are not subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34
CFR part 79.

Paperwork Reduction Act
As part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, the Department provides the
general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on
proposed and continuing collections of
information in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA)
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This helps
ensure that the public understands the
Department’s collection instructions,
respondents provide the requested data
in the desired format, reporting burden
(time and financial resources) is
minimized, collection instruments are
clearly understood, and the Department
can properly assess the impact of
collection requirements on respondents.
The proposed requirement that an
SEA must publish on its website LEAlevel maintenance of equity data for
each LEA in the State contains an
information collection requirement.
Under the PRA, the Department has
submitted this requirement to OMB for
its review.
A Federal agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless OMB approves the collection
under the PRA and the corresponding
information collection instrument
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. Notwithstanding any other
provision of the law, no person is
required to comply with, or is subject to
penalty for failure to comply with, a
collection of information if the
collection instrument does not display a
currently valid OMB control number.
As discussed in the Potential Costs
and Benefits section of the Regulatory
Impact Analysis, this proposed
requirement would create cost and
burden hours for SEAs. In the following
paragraphs, we estimate the cost and
burden hours associated with
complying with this proposed
requirement. Differences between the
estimates in the Regulatory Impact
Analysis and this section are due to
differences in calculating the net impact
and annual impact of this requirement.
We assume that, for each SEA,
including the District of Columbia and
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this
proposed regulatory action would not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
The U.S. Small Business Administration
Size Standards define proprietary
institutions as small businesses if they
are independently owned and operated,
are not dominant in their field of
operation, and have total annual

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61

management analyst, at an hourly rate of
$53.79, will spend approximately 8
hours compiling the relevant data and
preparing it for publication on the SEA
website. At an hourly rate of $59.09, we
estimate that posting the data online
would take a network administrator
approximately 30 minutes. We estimate
that posting the LEA-level maintenance
of equity data would cost each SEA
$460 and result in 8.5 burden hours
annually for a total annual cost of
$23,900, and 442 burden hours.
We estimate that approximately 20
States will need to update their data
after initial posting. We assume the
updates would take a management
analyst approximately 4 hours to
complete and would require 30 minutes
for a network administrator to post. We
estimate posting corrections will cost
each SEA $240 and result in 4.5 burden
hours for a total cost of $4,900, and 90
burden hours.
Collectively, we estimate that this
proposed requirement would result in a
total estimated cost of $28,800 and a
total estimated burden of 532 hours to
the public annually.
The Department is requesting
paperwork clearance on the OMB 1810–
0759 data collection associated with this
proposed requirement. That request will
account for all burden hours and costs
discussed within this section.
Consistent with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), the
Department is soliciting comments on
the information collection through this
document. Between 30 and 60 days after
publication of this document in the
Federal Register, OMB is required to
make a decision concerning the
collections of information contained in
this proposed requirement. Therefore, to
ensure that OMB gives your comments
full consideration, it is important that
OMB receives your comments on these
Information Collection Requests by
February 2, 2022. Comments related to
the information collection activities
must be submitted electronically
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
at www.regulations.gov by selecting the
Docket ID number ED–2021–OESE–0116
or via postal mail, commercial delivery,
or hand delivery by referencing the
Docket ID number and the title of the
information collection request at the top
of your comment. Comments submitted
by postal mail or delivery should be
addressed to the PRA Coordinator of the
Strategic Collections and Clearance
Governance and Strategy Division, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Ave. SW, Room 6W208D, Washington,
DC 20202–8240.
Note: The Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs and the Department
review all comments related to the

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2022 / Proposed Rules

information collection activities posted
at www.regulations.gov.

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Estimated
number of
responses

Information collection activity

Total
estimated
burden hours

Estimated
total cost

LEA-level Maintenance of Equity Data Posting ...............................................
LEA-level Maintenance of Equity Data Updates .............................................

52
20

8.5
4.5

442
90

$23,900
4,900

Annualized Total .......................................................................................

72

........................

532

28,800

Accessible Format: On request to the
program contact person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,
individuals with disabilities can obtain
this document in an accessible format.
The Department will provide the
requestor with an accessible format that
may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or
text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3
file, braille, large print, audiotape, or
compact disc, or other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document:
The official version of this document is
the document published in the Federal
Register. You may access the official
edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations at
www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can
view this document, as well as all other
documents of the Department published
in the Federal Register, in text or
Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat
Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Ian Rosenblum,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and
Programs, Delegated the authority to perform
the functions and duties of the Assistant
Secretary for Elementary and Secondary
Education.
[FR Doc. 2021–28376 Filed 12–30–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS

Hours per
response

49 CFR Parts 1144 and 1145
[Docket No. EP 711 (Sub-No. 1)]

Reciprocal Switching
Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Notification of public hearing.
AGENCY:

The Surface Transportation
Board (Board) will hold a public hearing

SUMMARY:

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on March 15 and 16, 2022, concerning
the reciprocal switching regulations it
proposed in this proceeding. The
hearing will be held in the Hearing
Room of the Board’s headquarters,
located at 395 E Street SW, Washington,
DC 20423–0001. All interested persons
are invited to appear. In addition, the
Board will pause the period for ex parte
discussions, beginning January 24, 2022,
and modify the instructions for ex parte
communications in this proceeding to
permit ex parte discussions with up to
two Board members in the same
meeting.
DATES: The hearing will be held on
March 15 and 16, 2022, beginning at
9:30 a.m., in the Hearing Room of the
Board’s headquarters and will be open
for public observation.1 The hearing
will be available for viewing on the
Board’s website. Any person wishing to
speak at the hearing should file with the
Board a notice of intent to participate
(identifying the party, proposed speaker,
and time requested) as soon as possible
but no later than January 27, 2022.
Written comments, including required
written testimony by hearing
participants, may be submitted by all
interested persons by February 14, 2022.
Hearing participants are required to
submit written testimony by February
14, 2022. Additionally, by the same
date, any interested person, including
those who will not appear at the
hearing, may submit written comments
addressing matters related to the
proceeding, including the areas of
interest identified below.
ADDRESSES: All filings should be
submitted via e-filing on the Board’s
website at www.stb.gov. Filings will be
posted to the Board’s website and need
not be served on the other hearing
participants, written commenters, or
any other party to the proceeding.
1 The Board will provide additional instructions
and requirements for facility entry in a subsequent
decision. If the Board determines that the hearing
should be held virtually, either entirely or in part,
the Board will issue a subsequent decision by no
later than March 1, 2022, indicating whether that
is the case and containing registration instructions.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sarah Fancher at (202) 245–0355.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is
available through the Federal Relay
Service at (800) 877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
Reciprocal Switching (NPRM), EP 711
(Sub-No. 1) et al., (STB served July 27,
2016),2 the Board proposed new
regulations under which the Board
would exercise its statutory authority to
require rail carriers to establish
switching arrangements in certain
circumstances. The Board received
numerous comments in response to the
proposal. In addition, Board members
have been participating in ex parte
meetings with interested persons, and
summaries of those meetings are posted
in the docket pursuant to the procedure
detailed in the NPRM. To allow
interested persons to submit testimony
to update the record, the Board will
hold a public hearing and invite
comments.
Background
Competitive access generally refers to
the ability of a shipper or a competitor
railroad to use the facilities or services
of an incumbent railroad to extend the
reach of the services provided by the
competitor railroad. The provisions of
49 U.S.C. 11102 and 10705 make three
competitive access remedies available to
shippers and carriers: The prescription
of through routes, terminal trackage
rights, and, as relevant here, reciprocal
switching. Under reciprocal switching,
an incumbent carrier transports a
shipper’s traffic to an interchange point,
where it switches the rail cars over to
the competing carrier. The competing
carrier pays the incumbent carrier a
switching fee for bringing or taking the
cars from the shipper’s facility to the
interchange point, or vice versa. The
switching fee is incorporated in some
manner into the competing carrier’s
total rate to the shipper. Reciprocal
switching thus enables a competing
carrier to offer its own single-line rate to
2 The proposed rule was published in the Federal
Register, 81 FR 51149 (Aug. 3, 2016).

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