[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 118 (Monday, June 21, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33016-33018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15622]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
28 CFR Part 92
[OJP(OJP)-1205]
RIN 1121-AA50
Timing of Police Corps Reimbursements of Educational Expenses
AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of the Police Corps and Law
Enforcement Education, Justice.
ACTION: Interim final rule.
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SUMMARY: This interim final rule concerns the timing of Police Corps
reimbursements of educational expenses. The Police Corps Act (42 U.S.C.
14091 et seq.) provides that participants who complete one or more
years of college study before being accepted into the Police Corps
program are to be reimbursed for eligible educational expenses incurred
during those years. The Police Corps Act does not specify the timing of
these reimbursements. This rule provides that
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reimbursements will be made through two equal payments at the start and
conclusion of a participant's first year of service as a police officer
or sheriff's deputy. This rule also permits the Director of the Office
of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education, on a showing of good
cause, to advance the date of a participant's first reimbursement
payment to precede the start of required service.
DATES: This Interim Final Rule is effective on June 21, 1999. Comments
on this rule must be received on or before September 20, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Police Corps Reimbursement
Schedule, Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education,
Office of Justice Programs, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC
20531.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Cole, Program Coordinator,
Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education at 202-353-
8953. This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority
This action is authorized under the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. 14091 et seq. (``Police Corps
Act'').
Background
The Office of Justice Programs, Office of the Police Corps and Law
Enforcement Education (``Office of the Police Corps'') offers, pursuant
to the Police Corps Act, 42 U.S.C. 14091 et seq., and through the
Police Corps program, financial aid on a competitive basis to college
students who agree to undergo rigorous training and serve as police
officers in specially designated areas for at least four years.
Once a college student is accepted into the Police Corps, he or she
receives financial aid on a prospective basis through scholarship
payments. 42 U.S.C. 14095(a). If a college student completes one or
more years of college study before being accepted into the Police
Corps, he or she is entitled to be reimbursed for educational expenses
incurred during the years prior to his or her acceptance into the
program. 42 U.S.C. 14095(b). The Police Corps Act does not specify the
timing of these reimbursements, and the reimbursements do not include
interest.
The relevant implementing regulation pertaining to the Police Corps
Act at 28 CFR 92.5(b)(7) currently provides that reimbursements are
made through four equal payments, one upon completion of each of the
four years of required service. This interim final rule changes the
current regulatory provision to accelerate reimbursements. Under this
new rule, participants will be reimbursed in full for all eligible
educational expenses once they successfully complete their first year
of required service.
The change will enable participants to promptly repay student loans
and, by allowing the Director flexibility in dealing with special
individual circumstances, enable participants to have funds available
to make loan payments and meet other ongoing financial obligations
during the 16 to 24 weeks of required residential training. By reducing
the number of payments per participant, the change also will ease the
administrative burden on both the Office of the Police Corps and state
lead agencies.
Executive Order 12866
This interim final regulation has been drafted and reviewed in
accordance with Executive Order 12866, section 1(b), Principles of
Regulation. The Office of Justice Programs has determined that this
rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order
12866, section 3(f), Regulatory Planning and Review, and accordingly
this rule has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
Executive Order 12612
This interim final regulation will not have substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government. Therefore, in
accordance with Executive Order 12612, it is determined that this rule
does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant preparation
of a Federalism Assessment.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Office of Justice Programs, in accordance with the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), has reviewed this regulation and by
approving it certifies that this regulation will not have a significant
economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities for the
following reasons:
(1) This interim final rule provides the schedule under which
eligible applicants receive reimbursements for educational expenses
under the Act; and
(2) Such reimbursements impose no requirements on small business or
on small entities.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This interim final rule will not result in the expenditure by
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year, and it will
not uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were
deemed necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act of 1995.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996
This interim final rule is not a major rule as defined by section
804 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
This rule will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100
million or more; a major increase in cost or prices; or significant
adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity,
innovation, or on the ability of United States-based companies to
compete in domestic and export markets.
Paperwork Reduction Act
There are no collection of information requirements contained in
this regulation that would require review and approval by the Office of
Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Good Cause Exception
This regulation is being published as an interim final rule,
without prior publication of notice and comment, and is made effective
immediately, for good cause. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). Good cause can be
demonstrated because advance notice of this interim final rule would be
impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the legislative intent, as
well as the public interest, in making the Police Corps program
available to men and women of all races and ethnicities without regard
to individual economic circumstances or financial need. Indeed, the
Police Corps Act requires that all participants be selected on a fully
competitive basis and that states make special efforts to solicit
applications from among members of all racial, ethnic, and gender
groups. 42 U.S.C. 14096(a),(c). Economic need and financial
circumstances are not a factor in the selection process. 42 U.S.C.
14096(b).
In order to achieve these ends, and in light of the substantial
financial demands on many participants during training and/or during
the first year of required service in the Police Corps program, a minor
revision of the
[[Page 33018]]
reimbursement schedule is necessary. In particular, both the Police
Corps Act and the contract that each participant must sign upon
acceptance into the Police Corps require that the participant complete
a baccalaureate degree and also complete 16 to 24 weeks (approximately
four to six months) of intense residential training before beginning
his or her required four years of service as a police officer or
sheriff's deputy. 42 U.S.C. 14095(d); 14097(b),(d). During Police Corps
training, participants are not employed by a law enforcement agency and
receive no salary. Instead, participants receive a statutory stipend of
$250 per week. 42 U.S.C. 14097(f); 14098(a).
The vast majority of Police Corps participants are accepted into
the program as college sophomores, juniors, or seniors. Such
participants frequently have student loans that they must begin to
repay shortly after graduation from college and that, if not repaid in
full shortly after graduation, accrue interest. In addition, some
participants, because they have children or other significant support
responsibilities, have ongoing financial obligations (child support,
child care, mortgages, etc.) that cannot be satisfied through the
training stipend. Reimbursement of participants in full during the
first year of service, as provided for in this rule, will enable all
participants--regardless of their personal or family economic
circumstances--to repay student loans and similar obligations on a
timely basis. Moreover, the flexibility to advance the first
reimbursement payment will enable the Director to address special
circumstances such as child support obligations. Together, these
changes will make participation in the Police Corps feasible and
practical across all economic groups, as contemplated by the Police
Corps Act.
Further demonstration that such a revision of the reimbursement
schedule is necessary and practical is evident by the activities in
recent months of states that participate in the Police Corps program.
States have requested an accelerated reimbursement schedule to address
situations such as those outlined above. In addition, at least one
state has expressed concern to the Office of the Police Corps and Law
Enforcement Education that the current rule inhibits qualified men and
women with dependents from applying to the program.
Finally, to publish a notice of a proposed rulemaking and await
receipt of comments would significantly delay an appropriate response
to the unintended financial hardships that the current rule poses to
participants and prospective participants whose financial circumstances
do not permit them to pay student loan expenses and dependent support
while they await reimbursements owed under the statute and contract.
Such delay would be contrary to the public interest and would be in
contravention of the Congressional intent set forth in the Police Corps
Act that the Police Corps be available to qualified applicants without
regard to economic circumstances.
The Office of the Police Corps is, however, interested in receiving
public comment on the interim final rule and will consider fully all
such comments. Therefore, comments to be considered in preparing a
final rule must be submitted on or before September 20, 1999.
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 92
Colleges and universities, Education, Educational facilities,
Educational study programs, Law enforcement officers, Schools, Student
aid.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 28 CFR part 92 is
amended as follows:
PART 92--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 92 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 13811-13812; 42 U.S.C. 14091-14102.
2. Section 92.5 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(7) to read as
follows:
Sec. 92.5 What educational expenses does the Police Corps cover, and
how will they be paid?
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(7) Reimbursements for past expenses will be made directly to the
Police Corps participant. One half of the reimbursement will be paid
after the participant is sworn in and starts the first year of required
service. The remainder will be paid upon successful completion of the
first year of required service. The Director may, upon a showing of
good cause, advance the date of the first reimbursement payment to an
individual participant.
Laurie Robinson,
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-15622 Filed 6-18-99; 8:45 am]
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