[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36977-36979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15617]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.132A-3]


Centers for Independent Living; Notice Inviting Applications for 
New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003

Purpose of Program: This program provides support for planning, 
conducting, administering, and evaluating centers for independent 
living (centers) that comply with the standards and assurances in 
section 725 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act), 
consistent with the State plan for establishing a statewide network of 
centers.

Eligible Applicants: To be eligible to apply, an applicant must--
    (a) Be a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, 
nonresidential, private nonprofit agency;
    (b) Have the power and authority to--
    (1) Carry out the purpose of part C of title VII of the Act and 
perform the functions listed in section 725(b) and (c) of the Act and 
subparts F and G of 34 CFR part 366 within a community located within 
that State or in a bordering State; and
    (2) Receive and administer--
    (i) Funds under part 366;
    (ii) Funds and contributions from private or public sources that 
may be used in support of a center; and
    (iii) Funds from other public and private programs;
    (c) Be able to plan, conduct, administer, and evaluate a center 
consistent with the standards and assurances in section 725(b) and (c) 
of the Act and subparts F and G of part 366;
    (d) Either--
    (1) Not currently be receiving funds under part C of chapter 1 of 
title VII of the Act; or
    (2) Propose the expansion of an existing center through the 
establishment of a separate and complete center (except that the 
governing board of the existing center may serve as the governing board 
of the new center) at a different geographical location;
    (e) Propose to serve one or more of the geographic areas that are 
identified as unserved or underserved by the States and territories 
listed under ESTIMATED NUMBER OF AWARDS; and
    (f) Submit appropriate documentation demonstrating that the 
establishment of a new center is consistent with the design for 
establishing a statewide network of centers in the State or territory 
whose geographic area or areas the applicant proposes to serve.
    Applications Available: June 20, 2003.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 21, 2003.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 19, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: $1,871,862.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $8,376--$250,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $103,992.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 18, distributed in the following 
manner:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Estimated   Estimated
             States and territories                available   number of
                                                     funds      awards
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.........................................     $75,914           1
American Samoa..................................     154,046           1
Florida.........................................     151,000           1
Georgia.........................................     374,874           3
Illinois........................................     126,822           1
Indiana.........................................      42,980           1
Kansas..........................................      59,296           1
Mississippi.....................................      59,296           1
New Mexico......................................      53,906           1
North Carolina..................................     160,418           1
Pennsylvania....................................     202,152           1
South Dakota....................................      59,296           1
Texas...........................................     250,000           1
Utah............................................      17,883           2
Virginia........................................      83,979           1
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 36978]]


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


    Project Period: Up to 60 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 85, and 86. (b) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR 
parts 364 and 366.
    Selection Criteria: In evaluating an application for a new grant 
under this competition, we use the selection criteria in 34 CFR 366.27. 
The selection criteria to be used for this competition will be provided 
in the application package for this competition.
    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 Centers for Independent Living program--CFDA 
84.132A-3 is one of the programs included in the pilot project. If you 
are an applicant under the Centers for Independent Living 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 Education 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 three working days after submitting your electronic 
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal Education 
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.
    (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 Centers for 
Independent Living 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 one 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 Centers for 
Independent Living 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 84.132A-3.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) 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: James Billy, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3326, Switzer Building, 
Washington, DC 20202-2740. Telephone: (202) 205-9362. 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 a copy of this notice in 
an alternative format on request to the program 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

[[Page 36979]]

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    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
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    Authority: Program 29 U.S.C. 796f-1.


    Dated: June 17, 2003.
Robert H. Pasternack,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 03-15617 Filed 6-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P