[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 104 (Thursday, May 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37786-37788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13572]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.184A]


Grants To Reduce Alcohol Abuse; Notice Inviting Applications for 
New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide 
grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and implement 
innovative and effective alcohol abuse prevention programs for 
secondary school students.
    Eligible Applicants: LEAs.
    Applications Available: May 29, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 8, 2002.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 6, 2002.
    Estimated Available Funds: $23,250,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$750,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 47.
    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 
82, 85, 97, 98 and 99.
    Statutory Priority: Under the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act, as amended, Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Section 4129, this grant 
competition solicits applications for projects to develop and implement 
innovative and effective alcohol abuse prevention programs for 
secondary school students. We will consider only applications that meet 
this statutory priority.
    Supplementary Information: In making awards under this grant 
program, we will reserve up to 25 percent of the available funds for 
rural and low-income LEAs.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds, we may make additional 
awards in FY 2003 from the rank-ordered list of non-funded applications 
from this competition.

Definitions

    (1)``Rural and low-income local educational agency'' is an LEA: (a) 
That is designated with a locale code of 6, 7,

[[Page 37787]]

or 8, as determined by the Department's National Center for Education 
Statistics (NCES); and (b) in which 20 percent or more of the children 
ages 5 through 17 years served by the LEA are from families with 
incomes below the poverty line.
    In order to determine its locale code, an LEA should use the 
information provided by NCES at: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/grants.
    For purposes of this competition, locale codes of 6, 7 and 8 are 
described as follows: (1) Locale code 6: a large town (an incorporated 
place or a Census-designated place (CDP) with a population of at least 
25,000 and located outside a consolidated metropolitan statistical area 
(CMSA) or metropolitan statistical area (MSA)); (2) locale code 7: a 
small town (an incorporated place or CDP with a population between 
2,500 and 24,999 and located outside a CMSA or MSA); or (3) locale code 
8: any incorporated place, CDP, or non-place territory designated as 
rural by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
    In the case where there are missing data or no data in the NCES 
table to determine the locale code, applicants may substitute 
certification by the State educational agency that the LEA is located 
in an area defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.
    In the case where there are missing data or no data in the NCES 
table to determine the low-income status of the LEA, applicants may 
substitute evidence that 20 percent or more of the children ages 5 
through 17 years served by the LEA are from families with incomes below 
the poverty line.
    (2) ``Secondary school'' means a nonprofit institutional day or 
residential school, including a public secondary charter school, that 
provides secondary education, as determined under State law, except 
that the term does not include any education beyond grade 12.

Other Requirements

Application Requirements

    LEAs submitting an application under this program must:
    (1) Describe the activities to be carried out under the grant;
    (2) Provide an assurance that such activities will include one or 
more of the proven strategies for reducing underage alcohol abuse as 
determined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, whose evidence of effectiveness includes scientifically 
based research (a list is provided in the application package); and
    (3) Explain how activities to be carried out under the grant that 
are not described in (2) of this section will be effective in reducing 
underage alcohol abuse, including references to the past effectiveness 
of such activities.

Post-Award Requirements

    LEAs receiving a grant under this program must:
    (1) Submit an annual report concerning the effectiveness of the 
programs and activities funded under the grant;
    (2) Participate in any technical assistance meetings required by 
the Department; and
    (3) Use a qualified evaluator to design and implement an evaluation 
of the project using outcomes-based (summative) performance indicators 
related to behavioral change and process (formative) measures that 
assess and document the strategies used.

Participation by Private School Children and Teachers

    LEAs that receive a grant are required to provide for the equitable 
participation of eligible private school children and their teachers or 
other educational personnel. In order to ensure that grant program 
activities address the needs of private school children, timely and 
meaningful consultation with appropriate private school officials must 
occur during the design and development of the program. Administrative 
direction and control over grant funds must remain with the grantee.

Maintenance of Effort

    LEAs may receive a grant only if the State educational agency finds 
that the combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate 
expenditures of the agency and the State with respect to the provision 
of free public education by the agency for the preceding fiscal year 
was not less than 90 percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate 
expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year.

Selection Criteria

    Applications submitted under this competition will be reviewed 
using one of two sets of selection criteria in order to respond to a 
statutory requirement to streamline the application process for rural 
and low-income LEAs. The first set of criteria may be used by any 
applicant. The second set may be used only by rural and low-income 
applicants. Applications will be reviewed and scored separately 
according to the selection criteria the applicant chooses. Applications 
using the rural and low-income selection criteria that do not meet the 
definition for a rural and low income LEA will not be read. The maximum 
score for all of these criteria is 100 points.

Selection Criteria for Non-Rural, Non-Low-Income LEAs

(1) Need for the Project (20 Points)
    In determining the need for the proposed project the following 
factor is considered: The magnitude or severity of the problem to be 
addressed by the proposed project.
(2) Quality of the Project Design (50 Points)
    In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project, 
the following factors are considered:
    (i) The extent to which the design of the program reflects up-to-
date knowledge from research and effective practice.
    (ii) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is 
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target 
population or other identified needs.
    (iii) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be 
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
(3) Quality of the Project Evaluation (30 Points)
    In determining the quality of the evaluation, the following factors 
are considered: (i) The extent to which the methods of evaluation 
include the use of objective performance measures that are clearly 
related to the intended outcomes of the project and will produce 
quantitative and qualitative data to the extent possible.
    (ii) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide 
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward 
achieving intended outcomes.
    (iii) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, 
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the 
proposed project.

Selection Criteria for Rural and Low-Income LEAs

(1) Need for the Project (20 Points)
    In determining the need for the proposed project the following 
factor is considered: The magnitude or severity of the problem to be 
addressed by the proposed project.
(2) Quality of the Project Design (50 Points)
    In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project, 
the following factor is considered: The extent to which the design of 
the

[[Page 37788]]

program reflects up-to-date knowledge from research and effective 
practice.
(3) Quality of the Project Evaluation (30 Points)
    In determining the quality of the evaluation, the following factor 
is considered: The extent to which the methods of evaluation include 
the use of objective performance measures that are clearly related to 
the intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and 
qualitative data to the extent possible.

Waiver of Proposed RuleMaking

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on a proposed priority and selection criteria. Section 
437(d)(1) of the General Education Provision Act, however, exempts from 
this requirement rules that apply to the first competition under a new 
or substantially revised program. This is the first competition under 
the Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse program. These requirements will 
apply to the FY 2002 grant competition only.

For Applications and Other Information Contact

    Copies of the application for this competition are available from 
EDPubs at 1-877-4EDPubs. The complete application package is also 
available on-line via Internet at: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS. For 
all other questions please contact Ann Weinheimer, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW--Room 3E330, Washington, DC 20202-
6123. Telephone: (202) 708-5939, e-mail address: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under For 
Applications and Further Information Contact. However, the Department 
is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the standard forms 
included in the application package.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    In FY 2002, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to 
expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse program is one 
of the programs included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant 
under this grant competition, you may submit your application in either 
electronic or paper format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-APPLICATION, formerly e-GAPS) portion of the 
Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS). We request your 
participation in this pilot project. We will continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in this e-APPLICATION pilot, please note the 
following:

--Your participation is voluntary.
--You will not receive any additional point value or penalty because 
you submit a grant application in electronic or paper format.
--You can submit all documents electronically, including the 
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs, (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications.
--Within three working days of submitting your electronic application, 
fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424) to 
the Application Control Center after following these steps:

    1. Print ED 424 from the e-Application system.
    2. Make sure that the institution's Authorized Representative signs 
this form.
    3. Before faxing this form, submit your electronic application via 
the e-APPLICATION system. You will receive an automatic 
acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award number (an identifying 
number unique to your application).
    4. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right corner of the ED 
424.
    5. Fax ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202) 260-1349.
    We may request that you give us original signatures on all other 
forms at a later date.
    You may access the electronic application for Grants to Reduce 
Alcohol Abuse Program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    We have included additional information about the e-APPLICATION 
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic 
Applications) in the application package.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: 
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 
available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, 
call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO); toll free, at 1-888-
293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.


(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184A, Grants to 
Reduce Alcohol Abuse)


    Program Authority:  20 U.S.C. 7139.

    Dated: May 24, 2002.
Susan B. Neuman,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-13572 Filed 5-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P