[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 149 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46860-46861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18539]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter III
Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the
Technical Assistance Coordination Center
AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education.
ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.326Z.]
SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in our
regulations of the Education Department General Administrative
Regulations that, respectively, generally prohibit project periods
exceeding five years and project period extensions involving the
obligation of additional Federal funds. The proposed waiver and
extension of the project period would enable the currently funded
Technical Assistance Coordination Center to receive funding from
October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 3, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed waiver and
extension of the project period to David Guardino, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4106, Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase ``Proposed
waiver and extension of the project period'' in the subject line of
your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Guardino. Telephone: (202) 245-
6209, or by email: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf or a text
telephone, call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this proposed waiver and extension. During and after the comment
period, you may inspect all public comments about this proposed waiver
and extension of the project period in Room 4106, 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 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 this notice. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
On June 5, 2008, the Department published a notice in the Federal
Register (73 FR 32016) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal
year (FY) 2008 for a Technical Assistance Coordination Center (Center).
The Center 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). Its purpose is to support ongoing
communication, collaboration, and coordination among the centers in the
OSEP-funded TA&D Network, and between these centers and other relevant
federally funded TA&D centers, national professional organizations, and
a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Approximately 30 OSEP-funded centers
comprise the TA&D Network and provide technical assistance (TA)
covering a variety of areas to State educational agencies (SEAs), local
educational agencies (LEAs), Part C State lead agencies, early
intervention service (EIS) programs and providers, families of children
with disabilities, and others to improve services and outcomes for
children served under Part B and Part C of IDEA.
Based on the selection criteria published in the 2008 notice
inviting applications, the Department made one award for a period of 60
months to the Academy for Educational Development, Inc. (now FHI 360)
to establish the Center, which is currently known as the Technical
Assistance Coordination Center.
The Center has two broad goals:
(1) Create a resource center where the various TA&D centers funded
by OSEP and other Federal agencies that provide assistance and support
to States, LEAs, EIS programs and providers, and stakeholders in the
field can store and share information and resources developed by TA
providers.
(2) Support OSEP in developing a comprehensive network integrating
a variety of relevant federally funded centers, professional
organizations, and other stakeholders to collaborate, solve problems
together, and exchange knowledge and expertise.
The Center accomplishes this work by: (a) Creating ongoing
opportunities to promote coordination, communication, and collaboration
among OSEP-funded TA centers and other federally funded TA centers
through various workgroups, meetings, listservs, and TA communities of
practice; (b) maintaining a Web site that houses tools that TA&D
Network projects have developed or can use in their TA delivery (e.g.,
product database, discretionary database, and TA&D Network Web site
search); and (c) sharing knowledge of best practices in collaboration
with the TA&D Network and other federally funded TA centers.
The Center's current project period is scheduled to end on
September 30, 2013. We do not believe that it would be in the public
interest to run a competition for a new Center this year because the
Department is planning to change the organization of its TA activities
to better coordinate Federal TA activities to meet the needs of
children with disabilities. We also have concluded that it would be
contrary to the public interest to have a lapse in the provision of TA
services currently provided by the Center pending the changes to the
organization of the Department's TA activities. For these reasons, the
Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which
prohibit project periods exceeding five years, and waive the
requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), which allow the extension
of a project period only if the extension does
[[Page 46861]]
not involve the obligation of additional Federal funds. The waiver
would allow the Department to issue a continuation award in the amount
of $1,299,827 to FHI 360 for an additional 12-month period, which
should ensure that the Center's support of, and collaboration and
coordination with, the Federal TA&D centers will not be interrupted.
Any activities to be carried out during the year of the
continuation award would have to be consistent with, or be a logical
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of the grantee's
application as approved in the 2008 Technical Assistance Coordination
Center competition.
If the proposed waiver and extension of the project period are
announced in a final notice in the Federal Register, the requirements
applicable to continuation awards for this competition, set forth in
the June 5, 2008, notice inviting applications, and the requirements in
34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any continuation awards sought by the
current Technical Assistance Coordination Center grantee. If we
announce the waiver and extension as final, we will base our decisions
regarding a continuation award on the program narrative, budget, budget
narrative, and program performance report submitted by the current
grantee, and the requirements in 34 CFR 75.253.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Department certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of
the project period would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The only entity that would be affected by the proposed waiver and
extension of the project period is the current grantee.
The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension
would not have a significant economic impact on this entity because the
extension of an existing project imposes minimal compliance costs, and
the activities required to support the additional year of funding would
not impose additional regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal
supervision.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This notice of proposed waiver and extension of the project period
does not contain any information collection requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to 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.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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: 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:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: July 29, 2013.
Michael K. Yudin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-18539 Filed 8-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P