[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4768-4769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2193]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Special Education Programs, Office of Special Education 
and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed extension of project period and waiver.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), at 34 CFR 75.250 
and 75.261(a), that generally prohibit project periods exceeding 5 
years and project extensions involving the obligation of additional 
Federal funds to enable the Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent 
Centers to receive funding from April 1, 2003, until September 30, 
2003.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 3, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this proposal to Debra 
Sturdivant or Donna Fluke, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Room 3527, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2641. If 
you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected] or [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debra Sturdivant, Telephone: (202) 
205-8038, or Donna Fluke, Telephone: (202) 205-9161.
    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 persons listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation to Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed extension 
of project period and waiver.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this extension of project period and waiver in Room 
3414, Switzer Building, 330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the 
hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., eastern time, Monday through Friday of 
each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed extension of project period and 
waiver. If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, 
you may call (202) 205-8113 or (202) 260-9895. If you use a TDD, you 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Background

    On July 29, 2002, we published in the Federal Register (67 FR 
49014-49015) a notice of extension of project period and waiver. In 
this notice we announced that the Secretary intends to redesign the 
technical assistance component of the Training and Information for 
Parents of Children with Disabilities program and provide funding in 
fiscal year 2003. The notice of waiver and extension of project period 
was issued to enable the current technical assistance provider, the 
Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Project to receive 
funding from October 1, 2002, until March 31, 2003. The grant for the 
ALLIANCE expired, after a 5-year project period, on September 30, 2002.
    Technical assistance is provided on an ongoing basis to parent 
centers, and it would be contrary to the public interest to have any 
service lapses for the parent centers being served by the current 
grantee.

Reasons

    We have determined that an additional period of time is needed for 
redesigning the technical assistance component. To avoid any lapse in 
service for the intended beneficiaries before the redesigned technical 
assistance component can be fully implemented, the Secretary proposes 
to fund this project until September 30, 2003. However, to do so, the 
Secretary must waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250 and 
75.261(c)(2), which prohibit project periods exceeding 5 years and 
period extensions that involve the obligation of additional Federal 
funds. We are proposing a waiver at this time in order to give the 
affected grantee early notice of the availability of an additional six 
months of funding.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of 
the project period will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial

[[Page 4769]]

number of small entities. The only small entity that would be affected 
is the PACER Center, Inc., which operates the Technical Assistance 
ALLIANCE for Parent Centers project.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This extension and waiver does not contain any information 
collection requirements.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of 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.

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 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 84.328, Training and 
Information for Parents of Children with Disabilities.)

    Dated: January 27, 2003.
Robert H. Pasternack,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 03-2193 Filed 1-29-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P