[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34901-34902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13861]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter III

[CFDA Number: 84.133P-1.]


Final Priority; National Institute on Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research--Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training 
Program

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Final priority.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Advanced 
Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) program under the Disability 
and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered 
by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research 
(NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions 
in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to ensure 
that NIDRR's resources are appropriately allocated across the three 
outcome domains--community living and participation, employment, and 
health and function. We intend this priority to (1) strengthen the 
capacity of the disability and rehabilitation field to train qualified 
individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to conduct high-
quality, advanced multidisciplinary rehabilitation research; and (2) 
improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities across the domains 
of community living and participation, employment, and health and 
function.

DATES: Effective Date: This priority is effective July 11, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlene Spencer, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5133, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2700. Telephone: (202) 245-7532 or by 
email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program is to plan and 
conduct research, demonstration projects, training, and related 
activities, including international activities, to develop methods, 
procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full 
inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, 
family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals 
with disabilities, especially individuals with the most severe 
disabilities, and to improve the effectiveness of services authorized 
under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Rehabilitation Act).

Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training

    The purpose of NIDRR's ARRT program, which is funded through the 
Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is 
to provide advanced research training and experience to individuals 
with doctorates, or similar advanced degrees, who have clinical or 
other relevant experience. ARRT projects train rehabilitation 
researchers, including researchers with disabilities, with particular 
attention to research areas that support the implementation and 
objectives of the Rehabilitation Act, and that improve the 
effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act.
    Additional information on the ARRT program can be found at: 
www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/res-program.html#ARRT.

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(a).

    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.
    We published a notice of proposed priority for this program in the 
Federal Register on March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18933). That notice contained 
our reasons for proposing the particular priority and background 
information, including on NIDRR's major domains as discussed in NIDRR's 
Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2013-2017 (78 FR 20299).
    Public Comment: In response to our invitation in the notice of 
proposed priority, we received two comments, but neither was specific 
to the proposed ARRT priority. We do not address general comments that 
raised concerns not directly related to the proposed priority. There 
are no differences between the proposed priority and this final 
priority.

Final Priority

Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training Program

    The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services announces a new priority for the Advanced Rehabilitation 
Research Training (ARRT) program. For FY 2013, and potential subsequent 
years, ARRT projects must provide advanced research training to 
eligible individuals to enhance their capacity to conduct high-quality 
multidisciplinary rehabilitation and disability research to improve 
outcomes for individuals with disabilities in one of NIDRR's major 
domains of individual well-being: (a) Community living and 
participation, (b) employment, or (c) health and function.

Types of Priorities

    When inviting applications for a competition using one or more 
priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute, 
competitive preference, or invitational through a notice in the Federal 
Register. The effect of each type of priority follows:
    Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority, we consider only 
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
    Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference 
priority,

[[Page 34902]]

we give competitive preference to an application by (1) awarding 
additional points, depending on the extent to which the application 
meets the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an 
application that meets the priority over an application of comparable 
merit that does not meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
    Invitational priority: Under an invitational priority, we are 
particularly interested in applications that meet the priority. 
However, we do not give an application that meets the priority a 
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
    This notice does not preclude us from proposing additional 
priorities, requirements, definitions, or selection criteria, subject 
to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which we choose to use this priority, we invite applications through 
a notice in the Federal Register.

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether 
this regulatory action is ``significant'' and, therefore, subject to 
the requirements of the Executive order and subject to review by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order 
12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely 
to result in a rule that may--
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, 
or adversely affect a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or 
tribal governments or communities in a material way (also referred to 
as an ``economically significant'' rule);
    (2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the 
Executive order.
    This final regulatory action is not a significant regulatory action 
subject to review by OMB under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866.
    We have also reviewed this regulatory action under Executive Order 
13563, which supplements and explicitly reaffirms the principles, 
structures, and definitions governing regulatory review established in 
Executive Order 12866. To the extent permitted by law, Executive Order 
13563 requires that an agency--
    (1) Propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination 
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits 
and costs are difficult to quantify);
    (2) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society, 
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives and taking into 
account--among other things and to the extent practicable--the costs of 
cumulative regulations;
    (3) In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select 
those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential 
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other 
advantages; distributive impacts; and equity);
    (4) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather 
than the behavior or manner of compliance a regulated entity must 
adopt; and
    (5) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct 
regulation, including economic incentives--such as user fees or 
marketable permits--to encourage the desired behavior, or provide 
information that enables the public to make choices.
    Executive Order 13563 also requires an agency ``to use the best 
available techniques to quantify anticipated present and future 
benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' The Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB has emphasized that these 
techniques may include ``identifying changing future compliance costs 
that might result from technological innovation or anticipated 
behavioral changes.''
    We are issuing this final priority only upon a reasoned 
determination that its benefits would justify its costs. In choosing 
among alternative regulatory approaches, we selected those approaches 
that would maximize net benefits. Based on the analysis that follows, 
the Department believes that this regulatory action is consistent with 
the principles in Executive Order 13563.
    We also have determined that this regulatory action would not 
unduly interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the 
exercise of their governmental functions.
    In accordance with both Executive orders, the Department has 
assessed the potential costs and benefits, both quantitative and 
qualitative, of this regulatory action. The potential costs are those 
resulting from statutory requirements and those we have determined as 
necessary for administering the Department's programs and activities.
    The benefits of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects 
and Centers Programs have been well established over the years, as 
projects similar to the one envisioned by the final priority have been 
completed successfully. Establishing new ARRT projects based on the 
final priority would strengthen the capacity of the rehabilitation and 
disability field to train qualified individuals, including individuals 
with disabilities, to conduct high-quality, advanced multidisciplinary 
research across all of NIDRR's major domains of community living and 
participation, employment, and health and function, and thereby 
contribute to advancing knowledge and solving problems encountered by 
individuals with disabilities of all ages.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can 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). To use PDF 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 6, 2013.
Michael K. Yudin,
Delegated the authority to perform the functions and the duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-13861 Filed 6-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P