[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 84 (Friday, April 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23737-23738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9941]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.345A]


Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; 
Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program (URR) Notice 
Inviting Applications For New Awards For Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.345A.


DATES: Applications Available: April 30, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 1, 2004.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 29, 2004.
    Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit educational organizations that 
research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the 
history of the Underground Railroad.
    Estimated Available Funds: $2,221,813.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$1,000,000 total for up to 
three years.
    Estimated Amount of Awards: 3.

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

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: To provide grants to establish a facility to 
house, display, and interpret artifacts related to the history of the 
Underground Railroad, and to make the interpretive efforts available to 
institutions of higher education that award a baccalaureate or graduate 
degree.
    Special Requirements: Each nonprofit educational organization 
awarded a grant under this program must enter into an agreement with 
the Department. Each agreement must require the organization--
    (1) To demonstrate substantial private support for the facility 
through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a 
State or local public entity and a private entity for the support of 
the facility. The private entity must provide matching funds in an 
amount equal to four times the amount of the contribution of the State 
or local public entity, except that not more than 20 percent of the 
matching funds may be provided by the Federal Government;
    (2) To create an endowment to fund any and all shortfalls in the 
costs of the on-going operations of the facility;
    (3) To establish a network of satellite centers throughout the 
United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground 
Railroad throughout the United States. These satellite centers must 
raise 80 percent of the funds required to establish the satellite 
centers from non-Federal public and private sources;
    (4) To establish the capability to link the facility electronically 
with other local and regional facilities that have collections and 
programs that interpret the history of the Underground Railroad; and
    (5) To submit, for each fiscal year for which an organization 
receives funding under this program, a report to the Department that 
contains;
    (a) A description of the programs and activities supported by the 
funding;
    (b) The audited financial statement of the organization for the 
preceding fiscal year;
    (c) A plan for the programs and activities to be supported by the 
funding, as the Secretary may require; and
    (d) An evaluation of the programs and activities supported by the 
funding, as the Secretary may require.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1153.

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department of General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98 and 99.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary Grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $2,221,813.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000--$1,000,000 total for up to 
three years.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 3.

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

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit educational organizations that 
research, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of 
the Underground Railroad.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Not more than 20% of the total funds 
for this project may be provided by the Federal Government.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Jay Donahue, U.S. 
Department of Education, room 6162, 1990 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7507 or by e-mail: [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 a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact 
person listed in this section.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements 
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you 
must submit, are in the application package for this program.
    You may also request application forms by calling 732-544-2504 (fax 
on demand), or application guidelines by calling 202-358-3041 (voice 
mail), or submitting the name of the competition and your name and 
postal address to: [email protected]. Applications also are available on the 
FIPSE Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE.
    3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: April 30, 
2004. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 1, 2004. The dates 
and time for transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including 
a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the application package 
for this program.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 29, 2004.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this program.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding

[[Page 23738]]

restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Instructions and requirements for 
the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier 
service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this 
program.

V. Application Review Information

    Selection Criteria: The section criteria for this program are in 20 
U.S.C. 1153.

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice 
(GAN). We may also notify you informally.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Application Regulations section of this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report, including financial information as directed 
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an 
annual performance report that provides the most current performance 
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 
34 CFR 75.118.
    4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and 
Results Act (GPRA), the Department is assessing the performance of this 
program by examining the extent to which projects are being 
institutionalized and continued after grant funding. These results 
constitute OPE's indicators of the success of this program.
    Consequently, applicants for URR grants are advised to give careful 
consideration to these outcomes in conceptualizing the design, 
implementation, and evaluation of the proposed project. If funded, you 
will be asked to collect and report data in your project's annual 
performance report on steps taken toward this goal.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Baker, Fund for the 
Improvement of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 
1990 K Street, NW., suite 6140, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: 
(202) 502-7503 or by e-mail: [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 document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this 
section.

VIII. Other Information

    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/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.
    For additional program information call the FIPSE office (202) 502-
7500 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., eastern time, Monday 
through Friday.


    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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.htm1.


    Dated: April 28, 2004.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 04-9941 Filed 4-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P