[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 149 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46860-46861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18539]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter III


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the 
Technical Assistance Coordination Center

AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Office of Special 
Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education.

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.

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[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.326Z.]

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in our 
regulations of the Education Department General Administrative 
Regulations that, respectively, generally prohibit project periods 
exceeding five years and project period extensions involving the 
obligation of additional Federal funds. The proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period would enable the currently funded 
Technical Assistance Coordination Center to receive funding from 
October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 3, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period to David Guardino, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4106, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
    If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following 
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase ``Proposed 
waiver and extension of the project period'' in the subject line of 
your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Guardino. Telephone: (202) 245-
6209, or by email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf or a text 
telephone, call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this proposed waiver and extension. During and after the comment 
period, you may inspect all public comments about this proposed waiver 
and extension of the project period in Room 4106, PCP, 550 12th Street 
SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 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 provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid 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 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    On June 5, 2008, the Department published a notice in the Federal 
Register (73 FR 32016) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal 
year (FY) 2008 for a Technical Assistance Coordination Center (Center). 
The Center was funded under the Technical Assistance and Dissemination 
to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (TA&D) 
program, authorized under section 663 of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Its purpose is to support ongoing 
communication, collaboration, and coordination among the centers in the 
OSEP-funded TA&D Network, and between these centers and other relevant 
federally funded TA&D centers, national professional organizations, and 
a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Approximately 30 OSEP-funded centers 
comprise the TA&D Network and provide technical assistance (TA) 
covering a variety of areas to State educational agencies (SEAs), local 
educational agencies (LEAs), Part C State lead agencies, early 
intervention service (EIS) programs and providers, families of children 
with disabilities, and others to improve services and outcomes for 
children served under Part B and Part C of IDEA.
    Based on the selection criteria published in the 2008 notice 
inviting applications, the Department made one award for a period of 60 
months to the Academy for Educational Development, Inc. (now FHI 360) 
to establish the Center, which is currently known as the Technical 
Assistance Coordination Center.
    The Center has two broad goals:
    (1) Create a resource center where the various TA&D centers funded 
by OSEP and other Federal agencies that provide assistance and support 
to States, LEAs, EIS programs and providers, and stakeholders in the 
field can store and share information and resources developed by TA 
providers.
    (2) Support OSEP in developing a comprehensive network integrating 
a variety of relevant federally funded centers, professional 
organizations, and other stakeholders to collaborate, solve problems 
together, and exchange knowledge and expertise.
    The Center accomplishes this work by: (a) Creating ongoing 
opportunities to promote coordination, communication, and collaboration 
among OSEP-funded TA centers and other federally funded TA centers 
through various workgroups, meetings, listservs, and TA communities of 
practice; (b) maintaining a Web site that houses tools that TA&D 
Network projects have developed or can use in their TA delivery (e.g., 
product database, discretionary database, and TA&D Network Web site 
search); and (c) sharing knowledge of best practices in collaboration 
with the TA&D Network and other federally funded TA centers.
    The Center's current project period is scheduled to end on 
September 30, 2013. We do not believe that it would be in the public 
interest to run a competition for a new Center this year because the 
Department is planning to change the organization of its TA activities 
to better coordinate Federal TA activities to meet the needs of 
children with disabilities. We also have concluded that it would be 
contrary to the public interest to have a lapse in the provision of TA 
services currently provided by the Center pending the changes to the 
organization of the Department's TA activities. For these reasons, the 
Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which 
prohibit project periods exceeding five years, and waive the 
requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), which allow the extension 
of a project period only if the extension does

[[Page 46861]]

not involve the obligation of additional Federal funds. The waiver 
would allow the Department to issue a continuation award in the amount 
of $1,299,827 to FHI 360 for an additional 12-month period, which 
should ensure that the Center's support of, and collaboration and 
coordination with, the Federal TA&D centers will not be interrupted.
    Any activities to be carried out during the year of the 
continuation award would have to be consistent with, or be a logical 
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of the grantee's 
application as approved in the 2008 Technical Assistance Coordination 
Center competition.
    If the proposed waiver and extension of the project period are 
announced in a final notice in the Federal Register, the requirements 
applicable to continuation awards for this competition, set forth in 
the June 5, 2008, notice inviting applications, and the requirements in 
34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any continuation awards sought by the 
current Technical Assistance Coordination Center grantee. If we 
announce the waiver and extension as final, we will base our decisions 
regarding a continuation award on the program narrative, budget, budget 
narrative, and program performance report submitted by the current 
grantee, and the requirements in 34 CFR 75.253.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Department certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of 
the project period would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.
    The only entity that would be affected by the proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period is the current grantee.
    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension 
would not have a significant economic impact on this entity because the 
extension of an existing project imposes minimal compliance costs, and 
the activities required to support the additional year of funding would 
not impose additional regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal 
supervision.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This notice of proposed waiver and extension of the project period 
does not contain any information collection requirements.

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.
    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 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: July 29, 2013.
Michael K. Yudin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-18539 Filed 8-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P