20 U.S.C. § 6571 — Federal regulations

(a) In general. Subject to section 6311(e) of this title, the Secretary may issue regulations necessary to reasonably ensure compliance with this subchapter, following subsections (b) through (d). (b) Negotiated rulemaking process. (1) Before publishing proposed regulations in the Federal Register, the Secretary must obtain advice and recommendations from representatives of Federal, State, and local administrators; parents; teachers; principals; other school leaders, including charter-school leaders; paraprofessionals; local school-board members; and other organizations involved in implementing and operating programs under this subchapter. (2) The Secretary may obtain this advice through regional meetings and electronic information exchanges. These meetings and exchanges must be public, and interested stakeholders must receive notice. (3) After obtaining the advice and before publishing proposed regulations, the Secretary must (A) establish negotiated rulemaking, at least on standards, assessments under section 6311(b)(2), and the requirement in section 6321 that part A funds supplement rather than replace State and local funds; (B) select participants from the people or groups that gave advice, including all geographic regions of the United States, in numbers that fairly balance parent and student representatives with educator and education-official representatives; and (C) prepare draft policy options and give them to the selected participants at least 15 days before the first meeting. (4) This process (A) is not subject to chapter 10 of title 5; and (B) unless subsection (c) provides otherwise, must follow subchapter III of chapter 5 of title V, commonly known as the “Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990.” This section does not define “consensus” except by reference to section 562 of title 5. (c) Alternative process for certain exceptions. If the selected participants do not reach “consensus,” as defined in section 562 of title 5, on a proposed regulation, or if the Secretary decides negotiated rulemaking is unnecessary, the Secretary may propose a regulation as follows. (1) Notice to Congress. At least 15 business days before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, the Secretary must notify the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and other relevant congressional committees of the intent to issue the notice. The notice must include (A) the proposed regulation; (B) why it is needed; (C) its expected burden, including time, cost, and paperwork, on State educational agencies, local educational agencies, schools, and other affected entities; (D) its expected benefits to those entities; and (E) regulations that will be repealed when the new regulation is issued. (2) Comment period for Congress. Before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking under this subsection, the Secretary must give Congress 15 business days to comment, starting when the Secretary gives the notice of intent to the appropriate committees. The Secretary must include and try to address every congressional comment in the public rulemaking record published in the Federal Register. (3) Comment and review period; emergency situations. The comment and review period for a proposed regulation must last at least 60 days unless an emergency requires less time. In an emergency, the Secretary must (A) identify the proposed regulation as an emergency and explain the emergency in the congressional notice; (B) state the comment and review period in that notice and the Federal Register; and (C) immediately afterward hold regional meetings to review the proposed regulation before issuing a final regulation. (d) Limitation. Regulations under this subchapter may not require local programs to use a particular instructional model, such as providing services outside the regular classroom or school program. (e) Rule of construction. This section does not change whether subchapter II of chapter 5 or chapter 7 of title 5, commonly known as the “Administrative Procedure Act,” or chapter 8 of title 5, commonly known as the “Congressional Review Act,” applies.