[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 133 (Friday, July 11, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41327-41328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17533]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.358A]


Small, Rural School Achievement Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice announcing application deadline.

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SUMMARY: Under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program (SRSA) 
Program, we will award grants on a formula basis to eligible local 
educational agencies (LEAs) to address the unique needs of rural school 
districts. An LEA that is eligible for fiscal year (FY) 2003 SRSA 
funding and that applied last year for FY 2002 SRSA funding does not 
have to submit another SRSA application in order to receive its FY 2003 
grant award. An LEA that is eligible for FY 2003 SRSA funding but did 
not apply last year for FY 2002 SRSA funding is required to submit a FY 
2003 SRSA application in order to receive its FY 2003 SRSA grant award. 
In this notice, we establish the deadline for submission of the FY 2003 
SRSA grant applications.
    Application Deadline: July 23, 2003, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. (Note: 
The e-application has been open since May 27, 2003).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An LEA is eligible for an award under the 
SRSA Program if--
    (a) The total number of students in average daily attendance at all 
of the schools served by the LEA is fewer than 600; or each county in 
which a school served by the LEA is located has a total population 
density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile; and
    (b) All of the schools served by the LEA are designated with a 
school locale code of 7 or 8 by the Department's National Center for 
Education Statistics; or the Secretary has determined, based on a 
demonstration by the LEA and concurrence of the SEA, that the LEA is 
located in an area defined as rural by a governmental agency of the 
State.
    Under the regulations at 34 CFR 75.104(a), the Secretary makes 
grants only to an eligible party that submits an application. The 
Secretary wants to minimize the burden on small, rural school districts 
and does not believe that it is necessary for eligible LEAs that 
applied for FY 2002 SRSA funding to submit another application for FY 
2003 funding. Instead of requiring new applications from these LEAs, 
the Department is including as a condition of their FY 2003 grant award 
a requirement that they comply with the assurances that they filed as 
part of their FY 2002 applications. Those eligible LEAs that did not 
apply for FY 2002 funding will have to submit a FY 2003 SRSA 
application in order to receive their FY 2003 SRSA grant award.
    We have provided on the Department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/reap.html a list of LEAs eligible for FY 2003 funds. The 
Web site also indicates which of these eligible LEAs must submit an 
application to receive their FY 2003 SRSA grant award, and which 
eligible LEAs do not have to re-apply for SRSA funding for FY 2003. 
Eligible LEAs that must submit an application in order to receive FY 
2003 SRSA funding must do so electronically by the deadline established 
in this notice.
    Electronic Submission of Applications: Unless it is listed on the 
Department's Web site as not required to re-apply for an SRSA FY 2003 
funding, an eligible LEA must submit an electronic application for FY 
2003 SRSA funding by July 23, 2003, 4:30 pm Eastern time. Submission of 
an electronic application involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-APPLICATION) portion of the Grant Administration 
and Payment System (GAPS).
    You can access the electronic application for the SRSA Program at: 
http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    Once you access this site, you will receive specific instructions 
regarding the information to include in your application.
    The regular hours of operation of the e-Grants Web site are 6 a.m. 
Monday until 7 p.m. Wednesday; and 6 a.m. Thursday until midnight, 
Saturday (Washington, DC time). Please note that the system is 
unavailable on Sundays, Federal holidays, and after 7 p.m. on Wednesday 
for maintenance (Washington, DC time).
    Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: It is the Secretary's practice, in 
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) 
to offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed 
rules. Ordinarily, this practice would have applied to the rules in 
this notice. However, section 437(d)(2) of the General Education 
Provisions Act (GEPA) exempts from this rulemaking requirement those 
rules where the Secretary determines it would cause extreme hardship to 
the intended beneficiaries of the program that would be affected. In 
accordance with section 437(d)(2) of the GEPA, the Secretary has 
decided to forgo public comment with respect to the rules in this 
notice in order to reduce burden on eligible rural LEAs to the extent 
possible.
    For Further Information Contact: Ms. Milagros Lanauze. Telephone: 
(202) 401-0039 or via Internet: http.//[email protected].
    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 notice in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed above.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as 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.

[[Page 41328]]

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    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
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    Program Authority: Section 6212 of the ESEA, as amended by the 
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. 107-110).

    Dated: July 7, 2003.
Eugene W. Hickok,
Under Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 03-17533 Filed 7-10-03; 8:45 am]
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