[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 150 (Friday, August 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44321-44322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12763]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA); Community-Based Job 
Training Grants Correction

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice; correction and supplemental information.

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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration published a 
document in the Federal Register on July 3, 2006, concerning the 
availability of grant funds to support workforce training for high-
growth/high-demand industries through the national system of community 
and technical colleges. This correction is to explain how One-Stop 
Career Center applicants must apply and to provide additional 
clarification regarding direct training costs, tuition payments, and 
the leveraging of Workforce Investment Act resources.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Brumback, Grants Management 
Specialist, Division of Federal Assistance, (202) 693-3381.

Corrections

    In the Federal Register of July 3, 2006, in FR Volume 71, Number 
127: On Page 37953, in the third column, Section III(A)(4) is corrected 
to read:
    4. One-Stop Career Centers, as established under Section 121 of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-220). The eligible 
applicant for One-Stop Career Centers is the One-Stop Operator, as 
defined under Section 121 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Pub. 
L. 105-220), on behalf of the One-Stop Career Center. The applicant 
must: (1) Have a letter of concurrence from all signatories to the One-
Stop Career Center Memorandum of Understanding, including the Local 
Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and all mandatory partners, as 
specified in Section 121 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998; (2) 
demonstrate that the proposed activities are consistent with the state 
strategic Workforce Investment Act plan; and (3) demonstrate that the 
Local Workforce Investment Board, or its designated fiscal agent, will 
serve as the fiscal agent for the grant. The Workforce Investment 
Board's support and involvement in the project should be detailed in 
the letter of concurrence, which should also address the above 
requirements (2) and (3). The WIB may also address above requirements 2 
and 3 in a separate letter

[[Page 44322]]

of concurrence. Applications from One-Stop Career Centers without a 
letter of concurrence from the One-Stop Career Center partners will be 
considered non-responsive. One-Stop Career Center applications must 
specify one or more community college(s) where all capacity building 
and training activities will occur under the grant.
    On page 37955, Section III(C), in the first column, is corrected to 
add:
    7. Re-designation of One-Stop Operators. If at any time, the 
applicant One-Stop Operator changes, then the One-Stop partners may 
amend their application, on behalf of the One-Stop Career Center, for 
the purpose of designating a new One-Stop Operator.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

(1) Clarification of the Intent of Behind the Requirement That a 
Component of All Applications Be Direct Training Costs That Allow 
Participants, Without Tuition Payments, To Be Enrolled in the Training 
Program (71 FR 37948 (July 3, 2006) pages 37954.)

    ETA's intent with this condition is that grantees do not ``double 
dip'' by charging tuition AND direct training costs from the grant for 
the same enrollee. It is ETA's expectation that the grant will cover 
the direct training costs for a substantive number of targeted students 
and that those students would not be charged tuition. Grantees must 
identify and track the number of individuals trained using grant 
dollars as well as the number of individuals trained using leveraged 
resources.
    The SGA requires that each project include a component of direct 
training. Traditionally, institutions of higher education charge a per-
credit hour tuition to cover these costs. ETA intends that students 
participating in the direct training component of the project not be 
required to pay costs already covered by the grant. Applicants may 
recoup the costs of the direct training component in two ways: (1) 
charging the grant the normal tuition rate for the course or (2) 
charging the actual direct and indirect costs of the course. If the 
applicants choose to recoup the costs through tuition charged to the 
grant, they may also charge the grant for the non-tuition costs of 
attending the course such as lab fees or books.
    For the targeted number of students to be trained with leveraged 
resources, direct training may be leveraged with Department of 
Education PELL grants, WIA training funds, and other cash sources. 
Also, these leveraged resources may also cover the non-tuition costs of 
attending the course such as lab fees or books.
    In addition, the capacity building component of the grant may 
enable students beyond those targeted for training under the grant to 
access training at the college. The college may charge those students 
tuition. In these instances, applicants should estimate the impact of 
this capacity building activity by projecting the numbers of students 
that will be trained in addition to those targeted for training under 
the grant and/or leveraged resources.
    For reference, direct training costs are the costs associated with 
the actual provision of a training course as opposed to the capacity 
building costs associated with the development of training capabilities 
or curriculums. Direct training costs may include (please note that 
this is not an exhaustive list):
     Faculty costs, including salaries and fringe benefits
     In-house training staff
     Support staff costs such as lab or teaching assistants
     Classroom space, including laboratories, mock-ups or other 
facilities used for training purposes
     Books, materials, and supplies used in the training 
course, including specialized equipment used in the training course
    Direct training costs do not include costs that support the college 
in general, but not the training program, such as fees to support 
student activities, the library, gym or recreation center, etc, which 
may be covered through some other mechanism, such as student fees. 
Indirect training costs may include the applicable share of the 
Institution's indirect costs (overhead) and library or other student 
activity fees associated with the operation of the Institution. Both 
direct and indirect training costs must be allowable costs under the 
applicable OMB circular. All direct and indirect training costs should 
be linked to a specific course or curriculum as specified in the 
proposal or the statement of work.

(2) Clarification of Intent Behind the 5 Bonus Points for Leveraging 
Workforce Investment Act Resources (71 FR 37948 (July 3, 2006), pages 
37951 and 37958.)

    The application currently states: ``Applications that demonstrate 
the use of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds for Individual Training 
Accounts, the pilot of Career Advancement Accounts, or for customized 
training to cover the tuition costs for the CBJTG training program for 
eligible new or incumbent workers, will receive 5 bonus points,'' 71 FR 
37948 (July 3, 2006). ETA's intent behind this criterion is to award 
bonus points to applications that demonstrate integration of WIA 
training funds into grant activities. Examples of WIA training funds 
include Individual Training Accounts, customized training, and Career 
Advancement Accounts. Applications that demonstrate the use of WIA 
training funds, whether through ITAs, customized training, or CAAs, 
will receive 5 bonus points. This does not change what is allowed for 
applications to receive bonus points, but is a clarification of the 
intent of bonus points being for use of WIA training funds generally, 
not just ITA's, CAA's, or customized training, to cover the tuition 
costs for eligible new or incumbent workers.
    Career Advancement Accounts (CAAs) have been proposed in the 
President's Fiscal Year 2007 budget; however ETA recognizes that some 
states may be piloting CAAs in advance of the FY 2007 budget, which is 
why they are included in the list of programs utilizing WIA training 
funds.

    Dated: August 2, 2006.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of August, 2006.
Laura P. Watson,
Division Chief, Division of Federal Assistance.
 [FR Doc. E6-12763 Filed 8-3-06; 8:45 am]
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