[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 36 (Thursday, February 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9329-9330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2586]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools--Discretionary Grant 
Programs

AGENCY: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed eligibility requirement.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools 
proposes an eligibility requirement for the following discretionary 
grant programs administered by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools 
(OSDFS Discretionary Grant Programs):
     Federal Activities (CFDA No. 84.184).
     Alcohol Abuse Reduction (CFDA No. 84.184A).
     Mentoring Programs (CFDA No. 84.184B).
     Student Drug Testing (CFDA No. 84.184D).
     Emergency Response and Crisis Management (CFDA No. 
84.184E).
     Grants to Prevent High Risk Drinking or Violent Behavior 
Among College Students (CFDA No. 84.184H).
     Safe Schools/Healthy Students (CFDA No. 84.184L).
     Prevention Models on College Campuses (CFDA No. 84.184N).
     Grants to States to Improve Management of Drug and 
Violence Prevention Programs (CFDA No. 84.184R).
     Native Hawaiians (CFDA No. 84.186C).
     Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (CFDA 
No. 84.215E).
     Carol M. White Physical Education Program (CFDA No. 
84.215F).
     Foundations for Learning (CFDA No. 84.215H).
     Grants to Integrate Schools and Mental Health Systems 
(CFDA No. 84.215M).
     Partnerships in Character Education Program (CFDA No. 
84.215S/V).
     Cooperative Civic Education and Economic Education 
Exchange (CFDA No. 84.304A).
     Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners (CFDA No. 
84.255A).
    We may use the eligibility requirement for competitions under the 
OSDFS Discretionary Grant Programs in fiscal year 2006 and later years. 
We take this action to focus Federal financial assistance on identified 
national needs. We intend for the eligibility requirement to ensure an 
equitable distribution of awards among eligible applicants for grants 
under the OSDFS Discretionary Grant Programs.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 27, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the eligibility requirement to 
Nicole White, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
room 3E252, Washington, DC 20202-6450. If you prefer to send your 
comments through the Internet, use the following address: 
[email protected].
    You must include the phrase ``Office of Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools--Comments on Proposed Eligibility Requirement'' in the subject 
line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole White at (202) 260-1131.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) 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 contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation to Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding the proposed eligibility 
requirement. We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of 
reducing regulatory burden that might result from the proposed 
eligibility requirement. Please let us know of any further 
opportunities we should take to reduce potential costs or increase 
potential benefits while preserving the effective and efficient 
administration of the program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about the proposed eligibility requirement, in room 3E328, 400 
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 
4 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except 
Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed

[[Page 9330]]

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Proposed Eligibility Requirement

Background

    The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) administers, 
coordinates, and recommends policy for improving the quality and 
excellence of programs and activities directed toward drug and violence 
prevention in schools. The OSDFS Discretionary Grant Programs are 
intended to support this Federal priority by providing initial funding 
to develop, implement, or expand drug and violence prevention projects 
at the local and State levels. In addition to providing this initial 
funding, OSDFS also is committed to promoting sustainability of 
projects and activities by encouraging grantees to seek other sources 
of funding and support when their project period ends.
    In this notice, we are proposing a requirement that, if applied in 
a competition under one of the OSDFS Discretionary Grant Programs, 
would restrict eligibility to only those applicants that do not have an 
active grant under the specific program. By taking into account an 
applicant's current Federal funding, we hope to make it possible for 
the Department to provide funding for applicants that do not currently 
receive Federal assistance and to provide existing grantees with the 
incentive to pursue and obtain other funding so that they can continue 
their projects beyond the Federal project period. To this end, Federal 
resources and capacity-building opportunities would be made available 
to a larger pool of applicants.


    Note: We will announce the final eligibility requirement in a 
notice in the Federal Register. We will determine the final 
eligibility requirement after considering responses to this notice 
and other information available to the Department. This notice does 
not preclude us from proposing or using additional eligibility 
requirements subject to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements. 
In any given year we elect to use the eligibility requirement, we 
will announce the eligibility requirement in the Federal Register 
notice governing the applicable grant competition.


    Proposed Eligibility Requirement for the Office of Safe and Drug-
Free Schools Federal Activities (CFDA No. 84.184); Alcohol Abuse 
Reduction (CFDA No. 84.184A); Mentoring Programs (CFDA No. 84.184B); 
Student Drug Testing (CFDA No. 84.184D); Emergency Response and Crisis 
Management (CFDA No. 84.184E); Grants to Prevent High Risk Drinking or 
Violent Behavior Among College Students (CFDA No. 84.184H); Safe 
Schools/Healthy Students (CFDA No. 84.184L); Prevention Models on 
College Campuses (CFDA No. 84.184N); Grants to States to Improve 
Management of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs (CFDA No. 84.184R); 
Native Hawaiians (CFDA No. 84.186C); Elementary and Secondary School 
Counseling Program (CFDA No. 84.215E); Carol M. White Physical 
Education Program (CFDA No. 84.215F); Foundations for Learning (CFDA 
No. 84.215H); Grants to Integrate Schools and Mental Health Systems 
(CFDA No. 84.215M); Partnerships in Character Education Program (CFDA 
No. 84.215S/V); Cooperative Civic Education and Economic Education 
Exchange (CFDA No. 84.304A); and Life Skills for State and Local 
Prisoners (CFDA No. 84.255A) Programs.

Active Grants

    Under this proposed requirement, the Secretary limits eligibility 
under the discretionary grant program competition to applicants that do 
not currently have an active grant under the same discretionary grant 
program.
    For the purpose of this eligibility requirement, a grant is 
considered active until the end of the grant's project or funding 
period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the 
grantee's authority to obligate funds.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice of proposed eligibility requirement has been reviewed 
in accordance with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, 
we have assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory 
action.
    The potential costs associated with this notice of proposed 
eligibility requirement are those we have determined as necessary for 
administering this program effectively and efficiently. The benefit of 
this proposed eligibility requirement is to ensure that limited Federal 
financial assistance under the Discretionary Grant Programs is made 
available in a manner that is fair and equitable to the greatest number 
of applicants.
    In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative 
and qualitative--of this notice of proposed eligibility requirement, we 
have determined that the benefits of the proposed eligibility 
requirement justify the costs.
    We have also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.

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.

    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.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1211-2 (1991), 6715, 7117, 7131, 
7139, 7140, 7245, 7247, 7261, 7269, and 7269a.

    Dated: February 17, 2006.
Deborah A. Price,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
 [FR Doc. E6-2586 Filed 2-22-06; 8:45 am]
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