115 STAT. 2386 PUBLIC LAW 107-122 -^AN. 15, 2002 Public Law 107-122 107th Congress An Act Jan. 15, 2002 [S. 1793] Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2001. 20 USC 1070 note. To provide the Secretary of Education with specific waiver authority to respond to conditions in the national emergency declared by the President on September 14, 2001. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Higher Education Rehef Opportunities for Students Act of 2001". SEC. 2. WAIVER AUTHORITY FOR RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EMER- GENCY. (a) WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS.— (1) IN GENERAL. —Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless enacted with specific reference to this section, the Secretary of Education (referred to in this Act as the "Secretary") may waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) as the Secretary deems necessary in connection with the national emergency to provide the waivers or modifications authorized by paragraph (2). (2) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is authorized to waive or modify any provision described in paragraph (1) as may be necessary to ensure that— (A) borrowers of Federal student loans who are affected individuals are not placed in a worse position financially in relation to those loans because of their status as affected individuals; (B) administrative requirements placed on affected individuals who are borrowers of Federal student loans are minimized, to the extent possible without impairing the integrity of the student loan programs, to ease the burden on such borrowers and avoid inadvertent, technical violations or defaults; (C) the calculation of "annual adjusted family income" and "available income", as used in the determination of need for student financial assistance under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) for any such affected individual (and the determination of such need for his or her spouse and dependents, if applicable), may be modified to mean the sums received in the first calendar year of the award year for which such determination is made, in order to reflect more
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