[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 82 (Friday, April 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10273]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 29, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Parts 300, 307, 315, 318, 346, 350, 351, 359, 361, 363, 365, 
366, 367, 369, 371, 373, 374, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 385, 386, 
387, 388, and 389

RIN 1820-AB26

 

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Programs

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking; nomenclature 
changes.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 
for revision of certain program regulations administered by the Office 
of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to change the 
term ``severe'' in all its forms to ``significant'' in referring to an 
individual's disability. No final regulations will be issued based on 
the NPRM. However, the Secretary does plan to incorporate the change in 
program regulations implementing Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, as amended (Act). These program regulations are currently being 
developed to implement changes required by the Rehabilitation Act 
Amendments of 1992 and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1993. The 
Secretary expects to publish these proposed regulations shortly.

DATES: The NPRM is withdrawn effective April 29, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory March, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3124, Mary E. Switzer 
Building, Washington, DC 20202-2741. Telephone: (202) 205-8441 for 
voice or TDD services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 27, 1993, the Secretary published 
an NPRM in the Federal Register proposing to revise certain program 
regulations administered by OSERS to change the term ``severe'' in all 
its forms to ``significant'' in referring to an individual's disability 
(58 FR 57938) (Nomenclature NPRM). Also on October 27, 1993, the 
Secretary published a separate NPRM (58 FR 57942) on the indicators of 
minimum compliance with the evaluation standards under the Centers for 
Independent Living Program (Indicators NPRM). The Indicators NPRM 
notified the public of the Nomenclature NPRM and advised the public to 
direct their comments on the proposed nomenclature change to the 
Nomenclature NPRM.
    The Secretary received 37 comments on the Nomenclature NPRM 
expressing a wide range of points of view about the proposed change. 
Commenters favoring the change generally expressed the view that the 
term ``significant'' is less pejorative than ``severe'' in referring to 
an individual's disability. These comments were generally received from 
commenters with an interest in the Independent Living Services and 
Centers for Independent Living programs authorized by Title VII of the 
Act. Commenters opposing the change raised several issues. Some 
suggested that the change is technically not accurate and that a change 
in meaning would result despite departmental assurances to the 
contrary. Others suggested that the change would be confusing and 
burdensome to implement and that the change should be made through 
legislation rather than through rulemaking. These comments were 
generally received from commenters with an interest in the Vocational 
Rehabilitation Services programs authorized by Title I of the Act.
    The Secretary received 102 comments on the ``Indicators NPRM,'' of 
which 56 included comments on the proposed change of the term 
``severe'' to ``significant.'' Of these 56 comments, only 4 expressed 
concern with the proposed change. Approximately 28 commenters 
specifically approved of the proposed change, and 24 commenters used 
the new terminology in their own comments, implicitly indicating their 
approval of the proposed change. That is, these 24 commenters used the 
term ``significant'' instead of the term ``severe'' in their comments, 
even though they did not specifically approve of the proposed change. 
The remaining 50 commenters expressed no views on the proposed change 
and did not use either of the terms ``severe'' or ``significant'' in 
their comments.
    Based on the favorable support for the nomenclature change received 
from the independent living community, the Secretary plans to propose 
the change in program regulations implementing Title VII of the Act. 
The proposed Title VII regulations would implement changes to the Act 
made by the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-569) and 
the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-73). The 
Secretary expects to publish these proposed regulations shortly. The 
Secretary does not plan to make the nomenclature change in any other 
program regulations.

    Dated: April 25, 1994.
Howard R. Moses,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 94-10273 Filed 4-28-94; 8:45 am]
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