[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 43 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10188-10189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4856]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

45 CFR Chapters XII and XXV


Notice Inviting Preliminary Informal Public Input in Advance of 
Rulemaking

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice inviting preliminary informal public input in advance of 
rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (the 
Corporation) intends to undertake formal rulemaking in 2004, to address 
significant program and policy issues. The Corporation is initiating 
this rulemaking pursuant to Congressional interest, expressed in the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2004, indicating that the 
Corporation should undertake notice and comment rulemaking for ``any 
significant changes to program requirements or policy.'' Congress also 
states that the Corporation should ``increase significantly the level 
of matching funds and in-kind contributions provided by the private 
sector,'' and ``reduce the total Federal costs per participant in all 
programs.'' In addition, the Corporation's Board of Directors has 
directed the Corporation to consolidate its grant provisions and 
application guidelines and move them into regulation. Finally, on 
February 27, 2004, President Bush signed an Executive Order entitled 
``National and Community Service Programs'' in which he expressed his 
vision of a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility in the 
United States, and a strong, accountable, and efficient national and 
community service field. The Executive Order directs the Corporation to 
adhere to certain fundamental principles in implementing policies 
governing national and community service programs authorized by the 
national service laws, including (1) Supporting and encouraging greater 
engagement of Americans in volunteering; (2) increasing responsiveness 
to State and local needs; (3) making Federal support more accountable 
and effective; and (4) providing greater involvement for faith-based 
and other community organizations.
    The Corporation intends to undertake two rulemaking processes in 
2004--the first to address any significant program and policy issues in 
time for the 2005 AmeriCorps grant cycle, and the second to respond to 
the Board's directive that we streamline our guidance and incorporate 
it into regulation. The Corporation believes that these rulemaking 
processes will improve the impact, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness 
of national and community service programs, and the quality and 
transparency of program guidance and rules.
    The issues we plan to address through these rulemaking processes 
include: AmeriCorps grantee sustainability, including the parameters 
for capacity-building activities by AmeriCorps members and volunteer 
recruitment; current limitations on the Federal share of costs (match 
requirements); performance measures and evaluation; qualifications for 
AmeriCorps members serving as reading tutors and requirements for 
programs engaged in literacy activities; timing of the AmeriCorps grant 
cycle; program selection criteria; and the application process for and 
funding of the second and third years in a three-year grant. In 
addition, the Corporation intends to undertake formal rulemaking to 
reorganize the Corporation's current regulations as codified in chapter 
25 of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations and publish 
AmeriCorps grant provisions and guidelines in regulation.
    To inform the rulemaking process, the Corporation is inviting 
preliminary informal input from the public concerning the specific 
issues identified above, as well as any other issues relating to the 
Corporation's current grant provisions, guidelines, or regulations. The 
Corporation's current AmeriCorps grant provisions, and the 
Corporation's regulations are available at http://www.cns.gov/about/ogc/regulations.html, and the Corporation's current AmeriCorps 
guidelines are posted at http://www.americorps.org/resources/guidelines2004.html. We will accept comments in writing, as described 
below, or orally in one of four conference calls, and five public input 
meetings we will hold across the country in March and early April, 
2004. The Corporation will not respond to this input, but will consider 
it in drafting any Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The public will have 
a separate opportunity to provide formal comment on any proposed rule 
the Corporation publishes for comment in 2004 or thereafter. Please 
note that this Notice does not request comments on individual 
application forms used under the various programs of the Corporation. 
The Corporation periodically publishes separate requests for comments 
concerning such application forms.

DATES: Please submit written input to the Corporation as soon as 
possible. We will consider input as we begin drafting the Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking. In addition, the Corporation will hold five public 
input meetings across the country, and four conference calls to seek 
oral input under this Notice. See Supplementary Information for 
conference call and input meetings information.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written input to the Corporation by any of 
the following methods:
    (1) Electronically through the Corporation's e-mail address system 
to [email protected].
    (2) By fax to 202-565-2796, Attention Nicola Goren, Associate 
General Counsel.
    (3) By mail sent to: Corporation for National and Community 
Service, Attn: Nicola Goren, Associate General Counsel, 1201 New York 
Avenue NW., Room 8209, Washington, DC 20525.
    (4) By hand delivery or by courier to the Corporation's mailroom at 
Room 6010 at the mail address given in paragraph (3) above, between 9 
a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Due to continued delays in the Corporation's receipt of mail, we 
strongly encourage responses via e-mail or fax. You may request this 
notice in an alternative format for the visually impaired.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the 
substance of this notice, contact Nicola Goren at 202-606-5000 x.259 
([email protected]). For further information about the conference calls 
and public input meetings, please refer to our Web site at http://www.americorps.org/rulemaking or call Angela Martin at (202) 606-5000 
x.448 ([email protected]). The TDD/TTY number is (800) 833-3722.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For more information on the Corporation, 
please

[[Page 10189]]

visit our Web site at http://www.nationalservice.org. When providing 
oral or written input on the issues outlined above, please especially 
consider the following questions:
    General question: As AmeriCorps continues to grow, what changes can 
you identify to make the program more efficient and effective?
    Sustainability: How can the Corporation ensure that Federal funds 
are used most effectively to meet community needs? How can the 
Corporation and the field achieve the right balance of federal and 
private support? What criteria should the Corporation use to promote 
sustainability of national and community service programs? To what 
extent should AmeriCorps members be engaged in fundraising and other 
capacity-building activities? Should the Corporation limit the number 
of years for which a program or project may receive funding? To promote 
grantee sustainability, to what extent should the level of Corporation 
support for a program or project decrease over time? If the level of 
Corporation support were to decrease over time, what should be the 
minimum level of Corporation support? Should the Corporation calibrate 
sustainability requirements to reflect the differences among the 
programs, such as size, location, time in operation, or mission? How 
can the Corporation further support and encourage greater engagement of 
Americans in volunteering?
    Federal share: Should the Corporation calibrate matching 
requirements to reflect the differences among programs, such as size, 
location, or track record? How can the Corporation and the field 
achieve the right balance of federal and private support? Should the 
Corporation adopt matching requirements for member-related costs that 
are different from requirements for other program operation costs?
    Performance measures and evaluation: How can the Corporation ensure 
that its grantees are achieving identifiable measurable outcomes? How 
should the Corporation and its grantees establish appropriate 
performance measures? How can we identify best practices that merit 
replication? How can the Corporation ensure that its grantees regularly 
and effectively evaluate national and community programs?
    Qualifications for members serving as reading tutors and 
requirements for programs engaged in literacy activities: How can we 
ensure that members serving as reading tutors have the skill and 
ability to provide the necessary instruction to the populations they 
serve? How can we ensure that programs engaged in literacy activities 
achieve reasonable and measurable outcomes?
    Timing of grant cycle: For how many months before commencing or 
continuing a project does a grantee need to know that its application 
is approved? For how many months before commencing or continuing a 
project does a grantee need to know that its grant is awarded? What is 
a reasonable amount of time to prepare an application? Is it useful for 
the Corporation to have multiple application processes during the 
course of the year? Does the current cycle work?
    Selection Criteria: What criteria should the Corporation use in 
selecting programs?
    Three-year grants: How can the Corporation streamline its grant 
application process for continuation applications?

Conference Calls and Public Input Meetings

    The Corporation is planning five public input meetings across the 
country and four conference calls in March and early April. Please 
check our Web site at http://www.americorps.org/rulemaking for further 
information on dates, times, locations, and other information regarding 
these conference calls and meetings, or contact Angela Martin at (202) 
606-5000 x.448 ([email protected]).

    Dated: March 1, 2004.
Frank R. Trinity,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 04-4856 Filed 3-3-04; 8:45 am]
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