[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 56 (Thursday, March 25, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15829-15830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06117]



[[Page 15829]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter II

[DOCKET ID ED-2021-OESE-0037]


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Periods for the 
Equity Assistance Centers Grant Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department 
of Education.

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of project periods.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the 
Education Department General Administrative Regulations that generally 
prohibit project periods exceeding five years and project period 
extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The 
proposed waiver and extension would enable four projects under 
Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.004D to receive funding for an 
additional period, not to exceed September 30, 2022.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before April 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under ``FAQ.''
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments, address them to Ed Vitelli, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3E106, 
Washington, DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ed Vitelli, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3E106, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: 202-453-6203. 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:
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this proposed waiver and extension. To ensure that your comments have 
maximum effect in developing the final waiver and extension, we urge 
you to identify clearly the specific grantee or grantees (listed in the 
table under the Background section) that each comment addresses.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 and their overall 
requirement of reducing regulatory burden that might result from these 
proposed waivers and extensions. Please let us know of any further ways 
we could reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits while 
preserving the effective and efficient administration of the program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed waiver and extension of the project period 
by accessing Regulations.gov. Due to the current COVID-19 public health 
emergency, the Department buildings are not open to the public. 
However, upon reopening, you may also inspect the comments in person at 
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3E106, Washington, DC, between the hours 
of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Eastern 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 proposed waiver and extension. If you 
want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    On July 18, 2016, the Department of Education (Department) 
published in the Federal Register (81 FR 46820) a notice inviting 
applications for four projects for fiscal year (FY) 2016 under the 
Equity Assistance Centers (EAC) program, authorized under title IV of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000c-2000c-2, 2000c-5.
    The purpose of the EAC projects is to provide technical assistance 
(including training) at the request of school boards and other 
responsible governmental agencies in the preparation, adoption, and 
implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools, and in 
the development of effective methods of coping with special educational 
problems occasioned by desegregation. Desegregation assistance, per 34 
CFR 270.4, may include, among other activities: (1) Dissemination of 
information regarding effective methods of coping with special 
educational problems occasioned by desegregation; (2) assistance and 
advice in coping with these problems; and (3) training designed to 
improve the ability of teachers, supervisors, counselors, parents, 
community members, community organizations, and other elementary or 
secondary school personnel to deal effectively with special educational 
problems occasioned by desegregation. All four projects provide 
technical assistance (including training) in all four of the 
desegregation assistance areas: race, sex, national origin, and 
religion. A table listing the FY 2016 EAC projects follows.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   FY 2016 awards under ALN
           84.004D                        Project information
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S004D160012..................  Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Bethesda,
                                MD.
                               Project: Center for Education Equity.
S004D160005..................  Intercultural Development Research
                                Association, San Antonio, TX.
                               Project: IDRA Equity Assistance Center
                                South.
S004D160011..................  Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN.
                               Project: Midwest and Plains Equity
                                Assistance Center.
S004D160004..................  Metropolitan State University of Denver,
                                Denver, CO.
                               Project: Western Educational Equity
                                Assistance Center (WEEAC).
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[[Page 15830]]

    The EACs' project periods started on October 1, 2016, and will end 
on September 30, 2021.

Waivers and Extensions

    The Department proposes to extend the four EAC projects to ensure 
the continuity of services provided by the projects to vulnerable 
populations, schools, and school districts across the country as the 
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic unfold, and as learning recovery and 
school reentry efforts intensify over the course of the current and 
subsequent school years.
    The Department also proposes to extend the four EAC projects to 
ensure that the next EAC grant competition is, to the extent 
statutorily permitted, aligned with the Biden Administration's policy 
directives, including, for example, the Executive orders and memorandum 
included in the table below.

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                                                      Date signed by
            Title of policy directive                 President Biden
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Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity    January 20, 2021.
 and Support for Underserved Communities Through
 the Federal Government.
Executive Order 13988: Preventing and Combating   January 20, 2021.
 Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity
 or Sexual Orientation.
Memorandum: Condemning and Combating Racism,      January 26, 2021.
 Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian
 Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United
 States.
Executive Order 14012: Restoring Faith in Our     February 2, 2021.
 Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening
 Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New
 Americans.
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    These policy directives instruct the Federal Government to pursue a 
comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, to prevent and 
combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual 
orientation, to ensure that laws and policies encourage full 
participation by immigrants, including refugees, in our civic life, to 
ensure that the Federal Government eliminates sources of fear and other 
barriers that prevent immigrants from accessing government services 
available to them, and to combat xenophobia and intolerance against 
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
    For these reasons, the Department believes it is in the best 
interest of the public to extend the current EAC project periods for 
one year. Correspondingly, the Secretary proposes to waive the 
requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which prohibit project periods exceeding 
five years, as well as the requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), 
which permit the extension of a project period only if the extension 
does not involve the obligation of additional Federal funds. The waiver 
will permit the Department to issue a FY 2021 continuation award to 
each of the four currently funded EAC projects.
    Any activities carried out under these continuation awards must be 
consistent with the scope and objectives of the grantees' applications 
as approved in the FY 2016 competition. The requirements for 
continuation awards are set forth in 34 CFR 75.253.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary 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 entities that would be 
affected by the proposed waiver and extension of the project period are 
the current grantees.
    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension 
would not have a significant economic impact on these entities, because 
the extension of an existing project period 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: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. 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 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.

Ruth Ryder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs, Office of 
Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2021-06117 Filed 3-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P