[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44088-44090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18223]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the 
Literacy Information and Communication System Regional Professional 
Development Centers

AGENCY: Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.

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Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.191B.

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements that 
generally prohibit project period extensions involving the obligation 
of additional Federal funds, and to extend the project period of the 
four currently-funded Literacy Information and Communication System 
(LINCS) Regional Professional Development Centers (RPDC) program grants 
for one year. The proposed waiver and extension would enable these 
grantees to receive funding for FY 2015 (through September 30, 2016), 
using FY 2014 funds. The Secretary proposes this action because we do 
not believe that it would be in the public interest to hold a LINCS 
RPDC competition during a period of significant change for State 
grantees transitioning to new program requirements under the Workforce 
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

[[Page 44089]]


DATES: We must receive your comments on or before August 24, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period to Patricia Bennett, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 11013, Potomac Center Plaza, 
Washington, DC 20202-7241.
    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 for LINCS RPDCs'' 
in the subject line of your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Bennett by telephone at (202) 
245-7758 or by email at: [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: 

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this notice. We are 
particularly interested in receiving comments on the potential impact 
that this proposed project period waiver and extension might have on 
current LINCS RPDCs and on potential applicants that would be eligible 
to apply for grant awards under any new LINCS RPDC notice inviting 
applications, should there be one.
    The following entities would be eligible to apply should the 
Department conduct a new competition for LINCS RPDCs:
    (a) Institutions of higher education;
    (b) Public or private agencies or organizations; and
    (c) Consortia of entities listed in paragraphs (a) and (b).
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed waiver and extension of the project period 
in room 11013, Potomac Center Plaza, 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 of proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period. If you want to schedule an appointment 
for this type of aid, please contact the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    In FY 2011, using FY 2010 funds, we funded four LINCS RPDC grants 
under section 243(2)(H) of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act 
(AEFLA), as authorized under title II of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998 (WIA) (20 U.S.C. 9253(2)(H)). Each RPDC served one of the 
following four regions:
    (1) Region 1--Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the Virgin 
Islands.
    (2) Region 2--Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
    (3) Region 3--Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
    (4) Region 4--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, 
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Guam, 
American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the Republic of Palau.
    Through the LINCS RPDC grants, established under WIA, we supported 
evidence-based virtual or in-person adult education professional 
development (AEPD) activities to assist educators who provide adult 
education services \1\ or adult education instruction \2\ to adult 
learners (adult educators).
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    \1\ Adult education services (e.g., career counseling, 
transportation counseling, education counseling) are provided to 
adult learners by educators who may include staff of eligible 
providers identified in section 203(5) of AEFLA under WIA, as well 
as State staff responsible for the implementation of adult education 
programs.
    \2\ Adult education instruction (e.g., instruction in basic 
literacy, mathematics, and English language skills) is provided to 
adult learners by educators who may include adult education teachers 
and other instructional personnel of eligible providers identified 
in section 203(5) of AEFLA under WIA.
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    In addition, the LINCS RPDCs supported each eligible agency 
responsible for administering or supervising policy for adult education 
and literacy programs under section 203(4) of AEFLA \3\ under WIA 
(eligible agency), and adult education and related organizations within 
each State \4\ and outlying area.\5\
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    \3\ Section 203(4) of AEFLA under WIA defines the term 
``eligible agency'' as the sole entity or agency in a State or an 
outlying area responsible for administering or supervising policy 
for adult education and literacy in the or outlying area, 
respectively, consistent with the law of the State or outlying area, 
respectively.
    \4\ See section 203(17) of AEFLA under WIA.
    \5\ See section 203(14) of AEFLA under WIA.
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    The RPDCs provided substantial and direct operational involvement 
in the management of project implementation and on plans for AEPD and 
project activities, including by facilitating the collaboration between 
grantees and the Department's LINCS Resource Collection contractor and 
the LINCS technical services contractor. The LINCS RPDCs have also 
provided high quality professional development information and 
assistance to States in support of the transition to new AEFLA program 
requirements under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), 
which was signed into law on July 22, 2014 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.).
    The project period for the four LINCS RPDC grantees that received 
awards under the FY 2011 competition was for 36 months, through FY 
2013, to end on September 30, 2014, and the Secretary had planned to 
hold a competition to award new grants. However, we determined that 
holding an RPDC competition for FY 2014--the same year in which the 
Department's LINCS Resource Collection contract and the LINCS technical 
services contract would end--was not in the public interest because it 
would have disrupted the continuity and stability of services that we 
provided to adult educators and thereby would have negatively impacted 
service delivery to our adult education customers.
    On June 2, 2014, we published in the Federal Register a final 
waiver and extension for the initial 36-month grant projects under the 
LINCS RPDC program. In that notice the Secretary waived the restriction 
against project period extensions involving the obligation of 
additional Federal funds and extended for an additional 12 months--for 
FY 2014 (through September 30, 2015), using FY 2013 funds--the project 
period of the four LINCS RPDC grants issued under the FY 2011 
competition. (See 79 FR 31315, as corrected in the Correction Notice of 
Final Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the LINCS RPDCs 
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.) This one-
year extension of the LINCS RPDC project period through September 30, 
2015, ensured seamless technical assistance service delivery to our 
adult education customers.
    In this notice of proposed waiver and extension, the Secretary 
proposes to extend the project period of the current

[[Page 44090]]

LINCS RPDC grants for an additional 12 months, for FY 2015 (through 
September 30, 2016), using FY 2014 funds. The Secretary is proposing 
this action in light of the reauthorization of AEFLA by title II of 
WIOA and the resulting period of significant change for State grantees 
in transitioning from the program requirements in AEFLA as authorized 
under WIA to the new program requirements in AEFLA as authorized under 
WIOA. This action is also consistent with the transition authority in 
section 503(c) of WIOA, 29 U.S.C. 3343(c), which states that the 
Secretary shall take such action as determined to be appropriate to 
provide for the orderly transition from any authority under AEFLA (20 
U.S.C. 9201 et seq.), as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of WIOA, to any authority under AEFLA, as amended by WIOA. 
The extension of the four current LINCS RPDCs will provide continuity 
for States, minimize disruption during the critical transition year, 
when support and technical assistance from the four experienced LINCS 
RPDC grantees would be critical, and align a LINCS RPDC grant 
competition with the full implementation of WIOA.
    If the waiver of 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2) that we propose in 
this notice is announced by the Department in a final notice, the 
requirements applicable to continuation awards for current LINCS RPDC 
grantees and the requirements in 34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any 
continuation awards sought by current LINCS RPDC grantees.
    If we announce this proposed waiver and extension of the project 
period as final, we would make continuation awards based on information 
that each grantee had provided, indicating that it is making 
substantial progress performing its LINCS RPDC grant activities based 
on the requirements in the notice inviting applications, and based on 
the regulations in 34 CFR 75.253.
    Any activities to be carried out during the continuation year must 
be consistent with, or be a logical extension of, the scope, goals, and 
objectives of each grantee's application as approved in the FY 2011 
LINCS RPDC competition. Under this proposed waiver and extension, the 
project period for current LINCS RPDC grantees would be extended 
through FY 2015 (ending September 30, 2016).

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of 
the project period and the activities required to support the 
additional year of funding would not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities. The small entities that 
would be affected by this proposed waiver and extension of the project 
period are the four currently-funded LINCS RPDC grantees and any 
potential eligible applicants for the LINCS RPDC grants.
    The proposed waiver and extension of these current projects would 
involve 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

    The LINCS RPDC program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about Intergovernmental 
Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 12372 is in the 
application package for this competition.
    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.

    Program Authority:  29 U.S.C. 3332(c)(2)(G).

    Dated: July 21, 2015.
Johan E. Uvin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.
[FR Doc. 2015-18223 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P