[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21729-21731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09028]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Community Living
Final Priority: National Institute on Disability, Independent
Living, and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Research and
Training Centers
AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and
Human Services.
ACTION: Final priority.
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[CFDA Number: 84.133B-3]
SUMMARY: The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living
announces a priority for the Rehabilitation Research and Training
Center (RRTC) Program administered by the National Institute on
Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
Specifically, we announce a priority for an RRTC on Employment Policy
and Measurement. The Administrator of the Administration for Community
Living may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2015
and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on an
area of national need. We intend for this priority to contribute to
improved employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
DATES: Effective Date: This priority is effective May 20, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Barrett, U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142, Potomac
Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2700. Telephone: (202) 245-
6211 or by email: [email protected].
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If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Disability and
Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program is to plan and
conduct research, demonstration projects, training, and related
activities, including international activities, to develop methods,
procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full
inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living,
family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals
with disabilities, especially individuals with the most severe
disabilities, and to improve the effectiveness of services authorized
under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Rehabilitation Act).
Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers
The purpose of the RRTCs, which are funded through the Disability
and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to achieve
the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized
under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training,
technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topical
areas as specified by NIDILRR. These activities are designed to benefit
rehabilitation service providers, individuals with disabilities, family
members, policymakers and other research stakeholders. Additional
information on the RRTC program can be found at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/rrtc/index.html#types.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b)(2)(A).
Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.
We published a notice of proposed priority (NPP) for this program
in the Federal Register on February 25, 2015 (80 FR 10099). That notice
contained background information and our reasons for proposing the
particular priority.
There are no differences between the proposed priority and this
final priority.
Public Comment: In response to our invitation in the notice of
proposed priority we did not receive any comments on the proposed
priority.
Final Priority
The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living
establishes a priority for an RRTC on Employment Policy and
Measurement. The purpose of the proposed RRTC on Employment Policy and
Measurement (RRTC-EPM) is to investigate the impact of Federal and
State policies and programs on employment of individuals with
disabilities, paying particular attention to the effects of program
interactions. The RRTC-EPM will also examine new ways of measuring
employment outcomes and facilitate the translation of research findings
to guide policymaking and program administration. Applicants must
identify targeted research questions in response to the problems
identified below and propose rigorous research methodologies to answer
these questions. Of particular interest is research that investigates
the interaction between the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI), and employment. The desired outcome of
this investment is new knowledge about the effect of new or existing
policies on employment-related decision-making of individuals with
disabilities, and ultimately on rates and quality of employment by
these individuals.
The RRTC must contribute to improving the employment outcomes of
individuals with disabilities by:
(a) Generating new knowledge about the effects of program
interactions on employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities,
including but not necessarily limited to the interaction between Social
Security disability benefit programs and the ACA. Specifically, the
RRTC must generate new knowledge of the potential impacts of varied
policy scenarios regarding the SSDI trust fund exhaustion on the
employment and economic outcomes of individuals with disabilities.
(b) Developing reliable and valid methods of measuring employment
outcomes for people with disabilities;
(c) Serving as a national resource center on policy issues that
impact employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities, and
(d) Increasing incorporation of research findings from the RRTC
into practice or policy by:
(1) Collaborating with stakeholder groups to develop, evaluate, or
implement strategies to increase utilization of research findings;
(2) Conducting training and dissemination activities to facilitate
the utilization of research findings by policymakers, employers, and
individuals with disabilities; (3) Providing technical assistance to
facilitate use of information produced by the RRTC research; and
(4) Collaborating and sharing information with other agencies
across the Federal government. In addition, the RRTC must collaborate
with appropriate NIDILRR-funded grantees, including knowledge
translation grantees and grantees involved with employment research.
Types of Priorities
When inviting applications for a competition using one or more
priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute,
competitive preference, or invitational through a notice in the Federal
Register. The effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority, we consider only
applications that meet the priority (45 CFR part 75).
Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference
priority, we give competitive preference to an application by: (1)
Awarding additional points, depending on the extent to which the
application meets the priority (45 CFR part 75); or (2) selecting an
application that meets the priority over an application of comparable
merit that does not meet the priority (45 CFR part 75).
Invitational priority: Under an invitational priority, we are
particularly interested in applications that meet the priority.
However, we do not give an application that meets the priority a
preference over other applications (45 CFR part 75).
This notice does not preclude us from proposing additional
priorities, requirements, definitions, or selection criteria, subject
to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use this priority, we invite applications through
a notice in the Federal Register.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether
this regulatory action is ``significant'' and, therefore, subject to
the requirements of the Executive order and subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order
12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely
to result in a rule that may--
(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more,
or adversely affect a sector of the economy, productivity, competition,
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or
tribal governments or communities in a material way (also
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referred to as an ``economically significant'' rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants,
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the
Executive order.
This final regulatory action is not a significant regulatory action
subject to review by OMB under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866.
We have also reviewed this final regulatory action under Executive
Order 13563, which supplements and explicitly reaffirms the principles,
structures, and definitions governing regulatory review established in
Executive Order 12866. To the extent permitted by law, Executive Order
13563 requires that an agency--
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits
and costs are difficult to quantify);
(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society,
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives and taking into
account--among other things and to the extent practicable--the costs of
cumulative regulations;
(3) In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select
those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other
advantages; distributive impacts; and equity);
(4) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather
than the behavior or manner of compliance a regulated entity must
adopt; and
(5) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct
regulation, including economic incentives--such as user fees or
marketable permits--to encourage the desired behavior, or provide
information that enables the public to make choices.
Executive Order 13563 also requires an agency ``to use the best
available techniques to quantify anticipated present and future
benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' The Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB has emphasized that these
techniques may include ``identifying changing future compliance costs
that might result from technological innovation or anticipated
behavioral changes.''
We are issuing this final priority only on a reasoned determination
that its benefits justify its costs. In choosing among alternative
regulatory approaches, we selected those approaches that maximize net
benefits. Based on the analysis that follows, the Administration for
Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services
believes that this regulatory action is consistent with the principles
in Executive Order 13563.
We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of
their governmental functions.
In accordance with both Executive orders, ACL assessed the
potential costs and benefits, both quantitative and qualitative, of
this regulatory action. The potential costs are those resulting from
statutory requirements and those we have determined as necessary for
administering the ACL's programs and activities.
The benefits of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects
and Centers Program have been well established over the years, as
projects similar to the one envisioned by the final priority have been
completed successfully, and the proposed priority will generate new
knowledge through research. The new RRTC will generate, disseminate,
and promote the use of new information that would improve outcomes for
individuals with disabilities in the areas of community living and
participation, employment, and health and function.
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 ACL published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have
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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: April 14, 2015.
John Tschida,
Director, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and
Rehabilitation Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-09028 Filed 4-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 41050-01-P