[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8878-8879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4548]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.128G]


Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003

    Purpose of Program: To provide grants for vocational rehabilitation 
services to individuals with disabilities who are migrant or seasonal 
farmworkers, (individuals who have been determined in accordance with 
rules prescribed by the Secretary of Labor), and to the family members 
who are residing with those individuals (whether or not those family 
members are individuals with disabilities).
    Eligible Applicants: State designated agencies; nonprofit agencies 
working in collaboration with a State agency; and local agencies 
working in collaboration with a State agency.
    Applications Available: February 27, 2003.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 15, 2003.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 14, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: The Administration's budget request for 
FY 2003 does not include funds for this program. However, we are 
inviting applications to allow enough time to complete the grant 
process, if Congress appropriates funds for this program.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$150,000.
    Estimated Average size of Awards: $127,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 2.

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

    Project Period: Up to 60 months.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 85, and 86.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except federally recognized Indian tribes.


    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of 
higher education only.

Priority

Invitational Priority

    We are particularly interested in applications that meet the 
following priority:
    Projects that provide vocational rehabilitation services including, 
but not limited to, vocational skills development, job placement, job 
training, occupational skills training programs, cultural awareness, 
language skills development, life skills (e.g., health, education, 
socialization), English as a Second Language, dissemination of 
employment information, and training workshops.
    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), we do not give an application that meets 
the priority a competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make 
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy. 
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined 
that proposed rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to 
expand its pilot project for electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program--CFDA: 
84.128G is one of the programs included in the pilot project. If you 
are an applicant under the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program, 
you may submit your application to us in either electronic or paper 
format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-Application) portion of the Grant Administration 
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data 
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft 
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary 
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you 
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your 
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
    [sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
    [sbull] You will not receive any additional point value because you 
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize 
you if you submit an application in paper format. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of 
operation.
    [sbull] You may 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.
    [sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award 
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
    [sbull] Within 3 working days after 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) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this 
form.
    (3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.

[[Page 8879]]

    (4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at 
(202) 260-1349.
    [sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    [sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If 
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the Migrant and 
Seasonal Farmworkers Program and you are prevented from submitting your 
application on the closing date because the e-Application system is 
unavailable, we will grant you an extension of 1 business day in order 
to transmit your application electronically, by mail, or by hand 
delivery. For us to grant this extension--
    (1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have 
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
    (2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes 
or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of 
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline date. 
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of 
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this 
extension you must contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in 
this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-Grants 
help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the Migrant and 
Seasonal Farmworkers 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.
    For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), 
PO Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-
7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.
    You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.
    Or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.128G.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts 
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
room 3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: 
(202) 205-8207. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an 
alternative format the standard forms included in the application 
package.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary E. Chambers, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3322, Switzer Building, 
Washington, DC 20202-2647. Telephone: (202) 205-8435. 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 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 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.


    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 774.

    Dated: February 20, 2003.
Robert H. Pasternack,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 03-4548 Filed 2-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U