[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55383-55385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22111]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.041C]


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Impact Aid 
Discretionary Construction Grant Program; Notice Inviting Applications 
for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 Funds

    Purpose of Program: The Impact Aid Discretionary Construction Grant 
Program will provide grants to eligible Impact Aid districts to assist 
them in addressing their school facilities emergency and modernization 
needs. The intended recipient Impact Aid school districts have a 
limited ability to raise revenues for capital improvements because they 
have high percentages of federally connected students or a large 
percentage of Federal land. As a result, these districts find it 
difficult to respond when their school facilities are in need of 
emergency improvements or modernization.
    Eligible Applicants: (A) To be eligible for an emergency 
construction grant, a local educational agency (LEA) must enroll a high 
percentage of federally connected children who reside on Indian lands 
or who reside on Federal property and have a parent on active duty in 
the U.S. uniformed services, have a school that enrolls a high 
percentage of one of these types of students, or be eligible for 
funding for heavily impacted LEAs under section 8003(b)(2) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (the Act), as amended by 
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Such factors as the LEA's total 
assessed value of real property that may be taxed for school purposes, 
its availability and use of bonding capacity, and the nature and 
severity of the emergency also will be considered as award criteria 
and, in some cases, eligibility criteria. (B) To be eligible for a 
modernization construction grant, an LEA must be eligible for Impact 
Aid funding in general; be eligible for funding for heavily impacted 
LEAs under section 8003(b)(2) of the Act; enroll a high percentage (at 
least 40 percent) of federally connected children who reside on Indian 
lands or who reside on Federal property and have a parent on active 
duty in the U.S. uniformed services; have a school that enrolls a high 
percentage of one of these types of students; or be eligible for 
funding under section 8002 of the Act (payments for Federal property). 
The Secretary must also consider such factors as an LEA's total 
assessed value of real property that may be taxed for school purposes, 
its availability and use of bonding capacity, and the nature and

[[Page 55384]]

severity of its need for modernization funds as award criteria and, in 
some cases, eligibility criteria. (C) Applications are considered in 
four priority categories. Detailed information about the eligibility 
requirements for each priority can be found in 34 CFR 222.177 through 
222.182.
    Applications Available: August 29, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: November 15, 2002.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: January 14, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: $27,000,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $500,000-$4,000,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1,000,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 10-30.

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

    Project Period: From the start date indicated on the grant award 
documents until the end of the project period indicated on the grant 
award documents.
    Page Limit: We have found that reviewers are able to conduct the 
highest-quality review when applications are concise and easy to read. 
We strongly recommend that applicants limit their response in each 
applicable narrative section to two pages. Do not include drawings, 
designs, or other extraneous documents regarding proposed projects 
because reviewers will not consider them.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75 (except for 
34 CFR 75.600 through 75.617), 77, 79, 80, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, 99, and 
222.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Application Content: Each Impact Aid Discretionary Construction 
Grant Program application must include the specific program elements 
identified in the approved application (OMB No. 1810-0657) and 34 CFR 
222.183 through 222.187 of the program regulations.
    Use of Funds: Grant recipients must, in accordance with Federal, 
State and local laws, use emergency or modernization grants for 
permissible construction activities at public elementary and secondary 
school facilities. The precise scope of a selected facilities project 
will be identified as part of the final grant award conditions. A 
grantee must also ensure that its construction expenditures under this 
program meet the requirements of 34 CFR 222.172 (allowable program 
activities) and 34 CFR 222.173 through 222.174 (prohibited activities).
    Grantee Reporting Requirements: In general, grantees must comply 
with applicable reporting requirements in 34 CFR parts 75 and 80. In 
addition, grantees will be required to provide periodic performance and 
financial reports, as specified in individual grant award conditions 
and 34 CFR 222.195.
    Methods for Applying Selection Criteria: The Secretary gives 
distinct weight to the list criteria. The maximum score for each 
criterion is indicated in parentheses. Within each criterion, the 
Secretary evaluates each factor equally, unless otherwise specified. 
The maximum score that an application may receive is 100 points. In 
evaluating applications for grants under this program competition, the 
Secretary will use the following project selection criteria.

1. Need for Project/Magnitude or Severity of the Emergency or 
Modernization Problem To Be Addressed by the Proposed Project. (up to 
40 points)

    Factors for Emergency grants:
    (a) Justification that proposed project will address a valid 
emergency; consistency of emergency description and proposed project 
with certifying local official's statement.
    (b) Impact of emergency condition on the health and safety of the 
building occupants or on program delivery (examples: The areas and 
extent of the facility affected (system(s) involved, e.g., HVAC, roof, 
floor, windows; the type of space affected, such as instructional, 
resource, food service, recreational, general support, or other areas); 
the percentage of building occupants affected by the emergency; and the 
importance of the facility or affected area to the instructional 
program).
    (c) Project urgency (examples: Risk if not addressed; projected 
increased future costs; effect of proposed project on the useful life 
of the facility or the need for major construction; or age and 
condition of facility and date of last renovation of affected areas). 
Factors for Modernization grants:
    (a) Justification that proposed project is a valid modernization 
need (example: Building capacity is 300 students; current enrollment is 
350. Three additional classrooms are needed to meet State standards re: 
capacity and 20-to-1 student/teacher ratio).
    (b) Impact of modernization challenges on building occupants or 
program delivery (examples: The percentage of building occupants 
adversely affected; the areas and extent of the facility affected (type 
of space affected, such as instructional, resource, food service, 
recreational, general support, or other areas); and the importance of 
the facility or affected space to the required instructional program).
    (c) Project urgency in fiscal terms (examples: Proposed project 
will extend useful life of current facility on cost-effective basis, or 
district can improve program quality with updated facility and delay 
replacement of facility).

2. Quality of Project Plan and Implementation Capacity. (up to 15 
points)

    (a) Extent to which the proposed project plan or goal is clearly 
specified and will address the identified need, mitigate the risks, and 
provide an immediate improvement.
    (b) Extent to which the proposed plan and budget are cost-effective 
and will extend the useful life of the facility or delay the need for 
major construction or replacement (examples: Age and condition of 
facility and date of last renovation of affected areas; reasonableness 
and completeness of cost estimate; relationship of project costs to 
projected savings).
    (c) District's general financial situation (examples: Available 
funds from other sources; ability to fund a portion of the project 
costs with local funds and cover cost over-runs).
    (d) If applicable, the justification for why it is more cost-
effective for the applicant to rebuild rather than renovate an existing 
facility.

3. Effects of Federal Presence. (up to 30 points total)

    For section 8003 districts:
    (a) Amount of non-taxable Federal property in the applicant 
district (percentage of Federal property divided by 10); (up to 10 
points)
    (b) The numbers of federally connected children identified in 
sections 8003(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D) of the Act in the district 
(percentage of identified children in district divided by 10); (up to 
10 points)
    (c) Numbers of federally connected children identified in sections 
8003(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D) of the Act in the school facility 
(percentage of children in school facility divided by 10); (up to 10 
points) or
    For section 8002 districts:
    (d) The amount of non-taxable Federal property in the applicant 
district (percentage of Federal property divided by 10 and multiplied 
by 3); (up to 30 points)

4. Ability to Respond or Pay. (up to 15 points total)

    (a) The percentage an LEA has used of its bonding capacity. Five 
points to be

[[Page 55385]]

distributed based on the LEA's quintile so that an LEA that has used 
100 percent of its bonding capacity receives all five points and an LEA 
that has used less than 20 percent of its bond limit receives only one 
point. LEAs that do not have limits on bonded indebtedness established 
by their States will be evaluated by assuming value of real property in 
the LEA. LEAs deemed to have no practical capacity to issue bonds will 
receive all five points. (up to 5 points)
    (b) Assessed value of real property per students (applicant LEA's 
total assessed valuation of real property per pupil as a percentile 
ranking of all LEAs in the State. Five points to be distributed by 
providing all five points to LEAs in the poorest quintile and only one 
point to LEAs in the wealthiest quintile). (up to 5 points)
    (c) Total tax rate for capital or school purposes (applicant LEA's 
tax rate for capital or school purposes as a percentile ranking of all 
LEAs in the State. If the State authorizes a tax rate for capital 
expenditures, then these data must be used, otherwise data on the total 
tax rate for school purposes are used. Five points to be distributed by 
providing all five points to LEAs in the highest taxing quintile and 
only one point to LEAs in the lowest quintile). (up to 5 points)
    Application Screening: Upon receipt, Impact Aid program staff will 
screen all applications to identify any that should not be included in 
the panel review process. Applications that do not meet the eligibility 
standards or are incomplete or late will be eliminated. As part of its 
initial application review, program staff will also calculate the 
objective scores for each application under criteria 3 and 4. Panel 
reviewers will receive an applicant's scores under criteria 3 and 4 and 
will assess the applications under criteria 1 and 2.
    Except as provided in 34 CFR 222.190, all eligible applications in 
the ``first priority'' emergency category must be funded before 
applications in the next priority can be funded. The Secretary will not 
subject applications in the second, third, and fourth priorities to the 
panel review process if the need for funds in the first priority and 
the number of eligible applications received greatly exceeds the $27 
million available. Likewise, if the numbers of applications and need 
for funds in the first and second priorities greatly exceed the 
available funds, the Secretary will not submit applications from the 
third and fourth priorities for a panel review. However, as prescribed 
in section 8007(b) of the Act and the implementing regulations, any 
unfunded application in any of the four priorities will be retained and 
considered along with the next fiscal year's pool of applicants.
    Applications: Electronic applications are not available for the FY 
2002 application for these grants. However, you should access and 
download the application at: http:www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ImpactAid.
    Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: It is the Secretary's practice, in 
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), to 
offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed rules. 
Section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 
however, allows the Secretary to exempt from rulemaking requirements 
rules governing the first grant competition under a new or 
substantially revised program authority (20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1)). Funding 
for this new program was provided in the Department's FY 2002 
appropriations act and authorized under section 8007(b) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001. The Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) 
of GEPA, has decided to forego public comment in order to ensure timely 
grant awards.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Schagh, Impact Aid Program, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., FOB6, 
Washington, DC 20202-6244. Telephone: (202) 260-3858 or via Internet, 
at: [email protected].
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-888-877-
8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request using the contact information provided in the 
preceding paragraph.
    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 Abode Portable Document Format (PDF) on 
the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF you must have 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.
    The Department intends to offer further information about the 
program at the following Internet site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ImpactAid/.

    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.


    Program Authority: Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965, Title VIII, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 
2001.

    Dated: August 26, 2002.
Susan B. Neuman,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-22111 Filed 8-28-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M