[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15355-15357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05665]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living

45 CFR Part 1330

RIN 0985-AA16


National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and 
Rehabilitation Research

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living (ACL) within the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) is 
proposing to amend its regulations for the National Institute on 
Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). 
These minor amendments to NIDILRR's peer review criteria will allow 
NIDILRR to better evaluate the extent to which grant applicants conduct 
outreach to and hire people with disabilities and people from other 
groups that traditionally have been underserved and underrepresented, 
and emphasize the need for engineering research and development 
activities within NIDILRR's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers 
(RERC) program.

DATES: To be assured consideration, comments must be received at the

[[Page 15356]]

address provided below, no later than 11:59 p.m. April 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the ``Submit a comment'' 
instructions.
    Warning: Do not include any personally identifiable information 
(such as name, address, or other contact information) or confidential 
business information that you do not want publicly disclosed. All 
comments may be posted on the internet and can be retrieved by most 
internet search engines. No deletions, modifications, or redactions 
will be made to comments received.
    Inspection of Public Comments: All comments received before the 
close of the comment period will be available for viewing by the 
public, including personally identifiable or confidential business 
information that is included in a comment. You may wish to consider 
limiting the amount of personal information that you provide in any 
voluntary public comment submission you make. HHS may withhold 
information provided in comments from public viewing that it determines 
may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For additional 
information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is available via 
the link in the footer of https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
search instructions on that Website to view the public comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phillip Beatty, Director, NIDILRR 
Office of Research Sciences, Administration for Community Living, 
Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20201. Email: [email protected], Telephone: (202) 795-7305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The HHS regulation for National Institute on Disability, 
Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) programs was 
developed and finalized in 2016 following the transfer of NIDILRR to 
ACL and HHS from the Department of Education, as required by the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. NIDILRR's 
mission is to generate new knowledge and to promote its effective use 
to improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform 
activities of their choice in the community and to expand society's 
capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for 
individuals with disabilities. As the primary research enterprise 
within ACL, NIDILRR's mission is highly complementary to the 
overarching mission of ACL to maximize the independence, well-being, 
and health of older adults, people with disabilities across the 
lifespan, and their families and caregivers. NIDILRR programs address a 
wide range of disabilities and impairments across all age groups and 
promote health and function, community living and participation, and 
employment. To accomplish these goals, NIDILRR invests in research, 
knowledge translation, and capacity-building activities through its 
discretionary grant-funding authorities.
    The proposed rule would provide minor but important updates to 
provisions within Sec. Sec.  1330.23 and 1330.24 of the NIDILRR rule 
(45 CFR part 1330).
    The first update to 45 CFR part 1330 is directly responsive to 
Executive Order 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for 
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. The purpose of 
the update is to better evaluate, through the peer review of grant 
applications, the extent to which grant applicants conduct outreach to 
and hire people who are members of specific groups that have 
traditionally been underserved and underrepresented in research. 
Applicant refers to organizations such as universities or other 
organizations that apply for NIDILRR grants. NIDILRR's criterion that 
focuses on applicants' proposed ``Project Staff'' (45 CFR 1330.24(n)) 
currently combines a significant number of underrepresented groups into 
one list (``. . . based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, 
or disability), and asks reviewers to broadly evaluate the extent to 
which the grant applicant encourages applications for employment from 
people who are members of those groups in the list. This format does 
not allow reviewers to distinctly evaluate applicants' outreach and 
hiring practices for people with disabilities, or for other populations 
highlighted in the existing list.
    To better promote applicants' hiring of people with disabilities, 
and people from other underserved communities, 45 CFR 1330.24(n) will 
be revised to separate these populations into two distinct peer review 
subcriteria. This disaggregation of people with disabilities and people 
from underserved communities into separate subcriteria will allow peer 
reviewers to more directly evaluate and score the extent to which grant 
applicants encourage the hiring of people in each of these distinct 
groups. ACL will make a conforming amendment to 45 CFR 1330.23(b) 
reflecting this revision to the selection criteria. While individuals 
live at the intersection of multiple populations or groups, ACL's 
planned disaggregated review of hiring practices will compel applicants 
to describe their outreach and hiring practices for people with 
disabilities and other specific groups, separately and distinctly. ACL 
intends for grant applicants to respond to these disaggregated 
subcriteria with quantitative and/or qualitative information in the 
narrative of their proposal, and for peer reviewers to accordingly use 
this information to evaluate and score each individual application.
    The second update to 45 CFR part 1330 is to better emphasize the 
need for engineering research and development (R&D) activities in 
NIDILRR's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) program 
funding opportunities. The update will add a subcriterion under both 
the ``Design of Research Activities'' (45 CFR 1330.24(c)) and ``Design 
of Development Activities'' (45 CFR 1330.24(d)) that allow reviewers to 
evaluate the extent to which applicants are proposing engineering 
knowledge and methods as part of their RERC applications. The absence 
of such engineering-focused criteria have led to some RERC grants that 
are not optimally using the engineering R&D methods envisioned in the 
program's title and statute.

II. Required Regulatory Analyses

A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    E.O. 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' and E.O. 13563, 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' direct agencies to 
assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, 
if the regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that 
maximize net benefits.
    OMB determined that this rulemaking is not an economically 
significant regulatory action under these E.O.s. The preamble to this 
proposed rule describes that it is primarily procedural changes that 
would require Department expenditures to implement.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Department has examined the economic implications of this 
proposed rule as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq. The RFA requires an agency to describe the impact of 
a proposed rulemaking on small entities by providing an initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis, unless the agency determines that the 
proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities, provides a factual basis for this

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determination, and proposes to certify the statement. 5 U.S.C. 603(a) 
and 605(b). The Department considers a proposed or final rule to have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
if it has at least a three percent impact on revenue of at least five 
percent of small entities. The Department has determined, and the 
Secretary certifies, that this proposed rule would not have a 
significant economic impact on the operations of a substantial number 
of small entities.

C. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    E.O. 13132, ``Federalism,'' establishes certain requirements that 
an agency must meet when it promulgates a rule that imposes substantial 
direct requirement costs on State and local governments or has 
Federalism implications. The Department has determined that this 
proposed rule would not impose such costs or have any Federalism 
implications.

D. Executive Order 13175 (Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments)

    HHS has analyzed this proposed rule in accordance with the 
principles set forth in E.O. 13175. HHS has tentatively determined that 
the proposed rule does not contain policies that would have a 
substantial direct effect on one or more Indian Tribes, on the 
relationship between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, or on 
the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal 
Government and Indian Tribes. In accordance with the Department's 
Tribal consultation policy, the Department solicits comments from 
tribal officials on any potential impact on Indian Tribes from this 
proposed action.

E. National Environmental Policy Act

    HHS had determined that this proposed rule would not have a 
significant impact on the environment.

F. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its 
implementing regulations, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521; 5 CFR part 1320, 
appendix A.1, the Department has reviewed this proposed rule and has 
determined that it proposes no new collections of information.

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1330

    Disability, Grant programs, Research.

    Accordingly, ACL proposes to revise 45 CFR 1330.23 and 1330.24, to 
read as follows:

PART 1330--NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DISABILITY, INDEPENDENT LIVING, 
AND REHABILITATION RESEARCH

0
1. The authority citation for part 1330 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  29 U.S.C. 709, 3343.

0
2. Amend Sec.  1330.23 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  1330.23  Evaluation process.

* * * * *
    (b) In considering selection criteria in Sec.  1330.24, the 
Director selects one or more of the factors listed in the criteria, but 
always considers the factors in Sec.  1330.24(n) regarding people with 
disabilities, and members of groups that have traditionally been 
underrepresented based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex 
(including sexual orientation and gender identity), or age.
* * * * *
0
2. Amend Sec.  1330.24 by adding paragraphs (c)(5) and (d)(4) and 
revising paragraph (n) to read as follows:


Sec.  1330.24  Selection criteria.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (5) The extent to which research activities use engineering 
knowledge and techniques to collect, analyze, or synthesize research 
data.
* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (4) The extent to which development activities apply engineering 
knowledge and techniques to achieve development objectives.
* * * * *
    (n) Project staff. In determining the quality of the applicant's 
project staff, the Director considers one or more of the following 
factors:
    (1) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for 
employment from and hires people with disabilities.
    (2) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications from, 
and hires people who are members of groups that have traditionally been 
underrepresented in research professions based on race, ethnicity, 
national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender 
identity), or age.
    (3) The extent to which the key personnel and other key staff have 
appropriate training and experience in disciplines required to conduct 
all proposed activities.
    (4) The extent to which the commitment of staff time is adequate to 
accomplish all the proposed activities of the project.
    (5) The extent to which the key personnel are knowledgeable about 
the methodology and literature of pertinent subject areas.
    (6) The extent to which the project staff includes outstanding 
scientists in the field.
    (7) The extent to which key personnel have up-to-date knowledge 
from research or effective practice in the subject area covered in the 
priority.
* * * * *

    Dated: March 2, 2022.
Alison Barkoff,
Principal Deputy Administrator, Administration for Community Living

    Approved:
Xavier Becerra,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-05665 Filed 3-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P