[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 98 (Wednesday, May 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27816-27818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12699]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


State Grants for Election Assistance for Individuals With 
Disabilities (EAID)

AGENCY: Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD), 
Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and 
Human Services.

ACTION: Notification of the Availability of Fiscal Year 2003 Funds 
under the Help America Vote Act, Public Law (Pub. L.) 107-252, title II 
subtitle D, part 2, section 261, Payments to States and Units of Local 
Governments to Assure Access for Individuals with Disabilities (42 
U.S.C. 15421).

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SUMMARY: The purposes of this notice are: (1) To set forth the 
requirements that must be met by a State seeking a payment under 42 
U.S.C. 15421 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA); and (2) to 
secure assurances from such a State related to conditions prior to 
receiving a payment.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 21, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Diann Winford at (202) 690-
5963, [email protected] or Carla Brown at (202) 690-8332, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Part I: Introduction

    The Help America Vote Act (HAVA), signed into law by President 
George W. Bush on October 29, 2002, contains several provisions that 
will enable an applicant to establish, expand, and improve access to 
and participation by individuals with the full range of disabilities 
(e.g., blindness or visual impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, 
mobility-related, dexterity-related, emotional or intellectual) in the 
election process. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for 
this announcement is: 93.617.

Background

    On February 20, 2003, in Division (N)--``Emergency Relief and 
Offsets,'' Title I Election Reform, Disabled Voters Services, the 
Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2003, Pub. L. 108-7, Congress 
appropriated $13 million for States to operate the Election Assistance 
for Individuals with Disabilities (EAID) grant program. HAVA assigned 
responsibility for the EAID to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (the Secretary), who has assigned responsibility for carrying 
out this program to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). 
Within ACF, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) is 
responsible for the administration of the EAID grant program.

Eligible Applicants

    As defined by section 901 of HAVA, States (including the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and 
the Virgin Islands) are eligible to apply for grants under the EAID 
program. Grants are not available to local units of government directly 
from the Federal Government in FY 2003 because Division (N)--
``Emergency Relief and Offsets,'' Title I Election Reform, Disabled 
Voters Services, the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2003, Pub. L. 
108-7, only appropriated funds for grants to States for FY 2003. Thus, 
while units of local government as well as States are eligible for 
funding under Section 261 of the Help America Vote Act, the annual 
appropriations statute did not make funds available for grants to local 
governments.

Availability and Distribution of Funds

    Congress appropriated $13,000,000 for payments to States for 
Federal fiscal year 2003. Payment amounts to States and Territories 
will be based on the relative size of the voting age population (i.e., 
number of individuals 18 years of age or older as reported in the 2000 
U.S. Census) of those States and Territories requesting payment, with 
the exception that no State or Territory applying for funds shall 
receive a payment of less than $100,000. See Table I for the amount 
reserved for each State and Territory, assuming all 55 States and 
Territories submit applications. If fewer than 55 States and 
Territories submit applications, those States and Territories applying 
for payment will receive a proportionately higher amount than that 
listed on Table I.
    Any payment distributed shall remain available until expended.
    In order to receive a payment a State must meet all of the 
requirements in Part II of this Notice. State governments receiving 
funds under this announcement will need to collaborate with local chief 
election officials and local units of government to determine where and 
how to expend funds.
    The Federal Government reserves the right to audit expenditure of 
funds received under this announcement pursuant to section 902 of the 
Help American Vote Act, 42 U.S.C. 15542 and 45 CFR 92.26, where 
applicable.

Use of Allotments

    Section 261 of HAVA provides that funds be made available to:
    a. Make polling places, including the path of travel, entrances, 
exits, and voting areas of each polling facility, accessible to 
individuals with the full range of disabilities (e.g., blindness or 
visual impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, mobility-related, 
dexterity-related, emotional, or intellectual).
    b. Provide the same opportunity for access and participation 
(including privacy and independence) to individuals with the full range 
of disabilities.
    c. Train election officials, poll workers, and election volunteers 
on how best to promote the access and participation of individuals with 
the full range of disabilities in elections for Federal office.
    d. Provide individuals with the full range of disabilities with 
information about the accessibility of polling places.

Part II: Application Requirements

    All of the following conditions must be met by an applicant seeking 
a payment under 42 U.S.C. 15421 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. 
An applicant must agree to these conditions in writing prior to 
receiving a payment by submitting an application. The conditions are to 
ensure that a payment will be used in compliance with HAVA. Payments 
must be used to pay for the activities described under Part I, Use of 
Allotments.

Conditions

    1. Some portion of the grant must be used for each of the following 
activities.
    a. Make polling places, including the path of travel, entrances, 
exits, and voting areas of each polling facility, accessible to 
individuals with the full range of disabilities.
    b. Provide the same opportunity for access and participation 
(including privacy and independence) to individuals with the full range 
of disabilities as for other voters.
    c. Train election officials, poll workers, and election volunteers 
on how best to promote the access and

[[Page 27817]]

participation of individuals with the full range of disabilities in 
elections for Federal office.
    d. Provide individuals with the full range of disabilities with 
information about the accessibility of polling places.
    2. In an application an applicant must provide:
    a. The name of the State submitting the application.
    b. The name of the Chief Election Official of the State submitting 
the application.
    c. Contact person: name, title, address, phone, fax, and e-mail 
address.
    d. A description of what the applicant intends to do in each of the 
four categories of activities outlined under 1 above.
    e. How much of the payment that the applicant intends to spend on 
each of the four categories of activities outlined in 1 above.
    f. An assurance that six months after the ending of the fiscal year 
in which a payment is received, the Chief Election Official or his/her 
designee will submit a report to the Administration on Developmental 
Disabilities for the Secretary of Health and Human Services describing 
how the payment received was used with regard to the four categories of 
activities.
    3. The application must include a completed SF 424, available at 
this Web address: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/announce.htm
    4. The application must include the following certifications:
    a. Anti-Lobbying Certification and Disclosure Form (45 CFR part 
93).
    b. Other Certifications: The signature on the application by the 
authorized official attests to the intent to comply with the following 
other certifications:
    A. Certification Regarding Drug-Free Work Place (45 CFR part 76)
    B. Debarment Certification (45 CFR 76); and
    C. Certification Regarding Environmental Tobacco Smoke.
    5. The application must be signed by the Chief Election Official.
    6. An application must be received 45 days from date of this 
notice, and no later than 4:30 p.m. EDT, at the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, ACF/Office of Grants Management, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade SW, Mail Stop 326F, Washington, DC 20447-0002, 
Attention: Joseph Lonergan. Hand-delivered applications should be 
delivered to Joseph Lonergan, Director, Division of Mandatory Grants, 
Office of Grants Management, 901 D Street, SW., 4th Floor East, 
Washington, DC (Telephone number: (202) 401-6603)). Any applications 
received after 4:30 p.m. on the deadline date will not be considered 
for payment.

Part III: Additional Information

Closing Date for Receipt of Assurances

    The closing date for receipt of all applications is 45 days from 
the date of this notice.

Grant Administration Regulations

    The regulations that govern the administration of these grants are: 
45 CFR part 16--Procedures of the Departmental Grant Appeals Board; 45 
CFR part 30--Claims Collection; 45 CFR part 76--Governmentwide 
Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) and Governmentwide 
Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants); 45 CFR part 80--
Nondiscrimination Under Programs Receiving Federal Assistance Through 
the Department of Health and Human Services Effectuation of Title VI of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 45 CFR part 81--Practice and Procedure 
for Hearings Under Part 80 of This Title; 45 CFR part 84--
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs and Activities 
Receiving Federal Financial Assistance; 45 CFR part 91--
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Age in HHS Programs or Activities 
Receiving Federal Financial Assistance; 45 CFR part 92--Uniform 
Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to 
State and Local Governments; and 45 CFR part 93--New Restrictions on 
Lobbying.

Reporting Requirements

    Each grantee is required to submit annually a narrative report that 
describes how the funds are used in regard to the four categories of 
activities authorized under 42 U.S.C. 15461 of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002. These reports are due no later than March 31 of each year. 
Reports must be mailed to:

Administration on Developmental Disabilities, 200 Independence Avenue, 
Southwest, Room 300-F, Washington, DC 20201, Attention: Debbie Powell.

    Expenditures under the EAID program are to be reported using a 
Financial Status Report (SF-269A). Grantees are required to submit 
annual financial reports (SF-269A) at the end of each 12 month grant 
period (September 1-August 31) until all funds have been expended. 
Funds under EAID are available until expended. Reports are due 90 days 
after the end of the grant period (November 30).
    Submit the original SF-269A to ACF at the address below:

Administration for Children and Families, Office of Administration, 
Division of Mandatory Grants, Attn: Joseph Lonergan, 370 L'Enfant 
Promenade, SW, Washington, DC 20447.

Notification Under Executive Order 12372

    This program is covered under E.O. 12372, ``Intergovernmental 
Review of Federal Programs'' and 45 CFR part 100, ``Intergovernmental 
Review of Department of Health and Human Services Programs and 
Activities.'' However, since units of local governments are not funded 
in Fiscal Year 2003, the review and comment provisions of the Executive 
Order and Part 100 do not apply for fiscal year 2003.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-
511), the application requirements contained in this notice have been 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
0348-0043.

  FY 2003 Tentative Allocations for Election Assistance for Individuals
                       With Disabilities.--Table I
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                                                               FY 2003
                           State                              tentative
                                                              allotments
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Alabama....................................................      185,341
Alaska.....................................................      100,000
American Samoa.............................................      100,000
Arizona....................................................      209,686
Arkansas...................................................      109,029
California.................................................    1,371,756
Colorado...................................................      178,308
Connecticut................................................      142,841
Delaware...................................................      100,000
District of Columbia.......................................      100,000
Florida....................................................      687,278
Georgia....................................................      335,237
Guam.......................................................      100,000
Hawaii.....................................................      100,000
Idaho......................................................      100,000
Illinois...................................................      511,102
Indiana....................................................      251,048
Iowa.......................................................      122,161
Kansas.....................................................      110,057
Kentucky...................................................      169,755
Louisiana..................................................      181,021
Maine......................................................      100,000
Maryland...................................................      219,527
Massachusetts..............................................      270,154
Michigan...................................................      409,083
Minnesota..................................................      202,382
Mississippi................................................      115,296
Missouri...................................................      232,185
Montana....................................................      100,000
Nebraska...................................................      100,000
Nevada.....................................................      100,000
New Hampshire..............................................      100,000
New Jersey.................................................      352,485
New Mexico.................................................      100,000
New York...................................................      795,936
North Carolina.............................................      339,029
North Dakota...............................................      100,000
Oregon.....................................................      143,454
Pennsylvania...............................................      521,409

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Puerto Rico................................................      151,345
Rhode Island...............................................      100,000
South Carolina.............................................      167,271
South Dakota...............................................      100,000
Tennessee..................................................      240,958
Texas......................................................      833,749
Utah.......................................................      100,000
Vermont....................................................      100,000
Virgin Islands.............................................      100,000
Virginia...................................................      297,522
Washington.................................................      244,039
West Virginia..............................................      100,000
Wisconsin..................................................      185,426
Wyoming....................................................      100,000
Total......................................................   13,000,000
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    Dated: May 14, 2003.
Patricia A. Morrissey,
Commissioner, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.
[FR Doc. 03-12699 Filed 5-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P