[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21729-21731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09028]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Final Priority: National Institute on Disability, Independent 
Living, and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Research and 
Training Centers

AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and 
Human Services.

ACTION: Final priority.

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[CFDA Number: 84.133B-3]

SUMMARY: The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living 
announces a priority for the Rehabilitation Research and Training 
Center (RRTC) Program administered by the National Institute on 
Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). 
Specifically, we announce a priority for an RRTC on Employment Policy 
and Measurement. The Administrator of the Administration for Community 
Living may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2015 
and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on an 
area of national need. We intend for this priority to contribute to 
improved employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

DATES: Effective Date: This priority is effective May 20, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Barrett, U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142, Potomac 
Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2700. Telephone: (202) 245-
6211 or by email: [email protected].

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    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).

Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers

    The purpose of the RRTCs, which are funded through the Disability 
and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to achieve 
the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized 
under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training, 
technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topical 
areas as specified by NIDILRR. These activities are designed to benefit 
rehabilitation service providers, individuals with disabilities, family 
members, policymakers and other research stakeholders. Additional 
information on the RRTC program can be found at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/rrtc/index.html#types.

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b)(2)(A).

    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.
    We published a notice of proposed priority (NPP) for this program 
in the Federal Register on February 25, 2015 (80 FR 10099). That notice 
contained background information and our reasons for proposing the 
particular priority.
    There are no differences between the proposed priority and this 
final priority.
    Public Comment: In response to our invitation in the notice of 
proposed priority we did not receive any comments on the proposed 
priority.

Final Priority

    The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living 
establishes a priority for an RRTC on Employment Policy and 
Measurement. The purpose of the proposed RRTC on Employment Policy and 
Measurement (RRTC-EPM) is to investigate the impact of Federal and 
State policies and programs on employment of individuals with 
disabilities, paying particular attention to the effects of program 
interactions. The RRTC-EPM will also examine new ways of measuring 
employment outcomes and facilitate the translation of research findings 
to guide policymaking and program administration. Applicants must 
identify targeted research questions in response to the problems 
identified below and propose rigorous research methodologies to answer 
these questions. Of particular interest is research that investigates 
the interaction between the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Social Security 
Disability Insurance (SSDI), and employment. The desired outcome of 
this investment is new knowledge about the effect of new or existing 
policies on employment-related decision-making of individuals with 
disabilities, and ultimately on rates and quality of employment by 
these individuals.
    The RRTC must contribute to improving the employment outcomes of 
individuals with disabilities by:
    (a) Generating new knowledge about the effects of program 
interactions on employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities, 
including but not necessarily limited to the interaction between Social 
Security disability benefit programs and the ACA. Specifically, the 
RRTC must generate new knowledge of the potential impacts of varied 
policy scenarios regarding the SSDI trust fund exhaustion on the 
employment and economic outcomes of individuals with disabilities.
    (b) Developing reliable and valid methods of measuring employment 
outcomes for people with disabilities;
    (c) Serving as a national resource center on policy issues that 
impact employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities, and
    (d) Increasing incorporation of research findings from the RRTC 
into practice or policy by:
    (1) Collaborating with stakeholder groups to develop, evaluate, or 
implement strategies to increase utilization of research findings;
    (2) Conducting training and dissemination activities to facilitate 
the utilization of research findings by policymakers, employers, and 
individuals with disabilities; (3) Providing technical assistance to 
facilitate use of information produced by the RRTC research; and
    (4) Collaborating and sharing information with other agencies 
across the Federal government. In addition, the RRTC must collaborate 
with appropriate NIDILRR-funded grantees, including knowledge 
translation grantees and grantees involved with employment research.

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 (45 CFR part 75).
    Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference 
priority, we give competitive preference to an application by: (1) 
Awarding additional points, depending on the extent to which the 
application meets the priority (45 CFR part 75); or (2) selecting an 
application that meets the priority over an application of comparable 
merit that does not meet the priority (45 CFR part 75).
    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 (45 CFR part 75).
    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

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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 final 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 on a reasoned determination 
that its benefits justify its costs. In choosing among alternative 
regulatory approaches, we selected those approaches that maximize net 
benefits. Based on the analysis that follows, the Administration for 
Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services 
believes that this regulatory action is consistent with the principles 
in Executive Order 13563.
    We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.
    In accordance with both Executive orders, ACL 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 ACL's programs and activities.
    The benefits of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects 
and Centers Program have been well established over the years, as 
projects similar to the one envisioned by the final priority have been 
completed successfully, and the proposed priority will generate new 
knowledge through research. The new RRTC will generate, disseminate, 
and promote the use of new information that would improve outcomes for 
individuals with disabilities in the areas of community living and 
participation, employment, and health and function.
    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 ACL 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: April 14, 2015.
John Tschida,
Director, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and 
Rehabilitation Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-09028 Filed 4-17-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 41050-01-P