[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32967-32968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14022]
[[Page 32967]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.326H]
Proposed Extensions and Waivers: National Early Childhood
Technical Assistance Center
AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs, Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed extension of project period and waiver for
the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the
Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), in 34
CFR 75.250 and 75.261(a) and (c), respectively, that generally prohibit
project periods exceeding five years and extensions of project periods
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. This extension of
project period and waiver would enable the currently funded project to
receive funding from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 7, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed extension of
project period and waiver to Julia Martin Eile, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4056, Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
If you prefer to send your comments by e-mail, use the following
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase
``proposed extension of project period and waiver'' in the subject line
of your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Martin Eile at the address
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Telephone: (202) 245-
7431. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call
the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.
Invitation To Comment
We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed extension
of project period and waiver.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this proposed extension of project period and waiver in
room 4056, PCP, 550 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours
of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday
of each week except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking
Record
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public
rulemaking record for this proposed extension of project period and
waiver. If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid,
please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
On April 28, 2006, the Department published a notice in the Federal
Register (71 FR 25163) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal
year (FY) 2006 for a National Early Childhood Technical Assistance
Center (NECTAC). The purpose of the NECTAC, which was funded under the
Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results
for Children with Disabilities (TA&D) program, authorized under section
663 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is to
ensure that eligible infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities
(ages birth through five years) receive, as appropriate, services under
Parts B and C of the IDEA that ultimately improve their developmental
and early learning outcomes. Another purpose of the NECTAC is to ensure
that the families of eligible infants, toddlers, and children receiving
services under Part C of the IDEA receive services necessary to enhance
families' capacity to meet the developmental needs of their infant,
toddler, or child.
Based on the 2006 notice inviting applications, the Department made
one award for a period of 60 months to the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill to carry out the activities of the NECTAC.
Currently, the NECTAC focuses on providing technical assistance to
strengthen State and local early childhood systems and improve outcomes
for infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities and families of
infants, toddlers, and children receiving services under Part C of the
IDEA.
The NECTAC's current project period is scheduled to end on
September 30, 2011. At the current time, we do not believe it would be
in the public interest to hold a new competition under this program for
a new NECTAC. An extension of the current grantee's project will align
the end of the current NECTAC project period with the expiration of the
project period for the Technical Assistance Center on Social-Emotional
Intervention for Young Children (CFDA No. 84.326B) and allow for the
Department to develop a strategic and better coordinated approach to
early childhood special education technical assistance without there
being a lapse in the provision of technical assistance services
currently provided by the NECTAC. For these reasons, the Secretary
proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which prohibit
project periods exceeding five years, and the requirements in 34 CFR
75.261(a) and (c), which limit the extension of a project period if the
extension involves the obligation of additional Federal funds, and
issue a continuation award in the amount of $3,000,000 to the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (H326H060005) for an
additional twelve-month period.
Waiving these regulations and issuing this continuation award would
ensure that technical assistance is available to strengthen State and
local early childhood systems and improve outcomes for infants,
toddlers, and children with disabilities and families of infants,
toddlers, and children receiving services under Part C of the IDEA.
With this proposed extension of project period and waiver, the
NECTAC would conduct the following activities during FY 2012:
(a) Develop products and services to respond to State needs
prioritized on the basis of results of current needs-analyses and
syntheses.
(b) Provide coordinated individualized and multi-State technical
assistance services to address high-priority needs.
(c) Support State-specific technical assistance efforts specified
by the Department's Office of Special Education Programs.
(d) Coordinate with other relevant national and State-level
technical assistance efforts.
(e) Disseminate documents to a wide audience, including State and
local directors of special education.
(f) Maintain the NECTAC's Web site.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this proposed extension of project
period and waiver would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial
[[Page 32968]]
number of small entities. The entities that would be affected are the
current grantee serving as the NECTAC and any other potential
applicant.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This proposed extension of project period and waiver does not
contain any information collection requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of
the Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism. The Executive order relies on processes
developed by State and local governments for coordination and review of
proposed Federal financial assistance. This document provides early
notification of our specific plans and actions for this program.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System
at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document,
as well as all other documents of this Department published in the
Federal Register, in text or Adobe 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: http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: June 2, 2011.
Alexa Posny,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2011-14022 Filed 6-6-11; 8:45 am]
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