4000-01-U

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

(CFDA No. 84.041C)

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Impact Aid Discretionary Construction Program

Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2003
funds.

[PURPOSE OF PROGRAM]{.underline}: The Impact Aid Discretionary
Construction Program will provide grants to eligible Impact Aid
districts to assist them in addressing their school facilities emergency
and modernization needs. The intended recipient Impact Aid school
districts have a limited ability to raise revenues for capital
improvements because they have high percentages of federally connected
students or a large percentage of Federal land. As a result, these
districts find it difficult to respond when their school facilities are
in need of emergency improvements or modernization.

[ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:]{.underline} (A) To be eligible for an emergency
construction grant, a local educational agency (LEA) must enroll a high
percentage of federally connected children who reside on Indian lands or
who reside on Federal property and have a parent on active duty in the
U.S. uniformed services, have a school that enrolls a high percentage of
one of these types of students, or be eligible for funding for heavily
impacted LEAs under section 8003(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (the Act), as amended by the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001. Such factors as the LEA's total assessed value of real
property that may be taxed for school purposes, its availability and use
of bonding capacity, and the nature and severity of the emergency also
will be considered as award criteria and, in some cases, eligibility
criteria. (B) To be eligible for a modernization construction grant, an
LEA must be eligible for Impact Aid funding in general; be eligible for
funding for heavily impacted LEAs under section 8003(b)(2) of the Act;
enroll a high percentage (at least 40 percent) of federally connected
children who reside on Indian lands or who reside on Federal property
and have a parent on active duty in the U.S. uniformed services; have a
school that enrolls a high percentage of one of these types of students;
or be eligible for funding under section 8002 of the Act (payments for
Federal property). The Secretary must also consider such factors as an
LEA's total assessed value of real property that may be taxed for school
purposes, its availability and use of bonding capacity, and the nature
and severity of its need for modernization funds as award criteria and,
in some cases, eligibility criteria. (C) Applications are considered in
four priority categories. Detailed information about the eligibility
requirements for each priority can be found in 34 CFR 222.177 through
222.182.

[APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE:]{.underline} \[INSERT DATE OF PUBLICATION IN
THE FEDERAL REGISTER\].

[DEADLINE FOR TRANSMITTAL OF APPLICATIONS:]{.underline} November , 2003.

[DEADLINE FOR INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW:]{.underline} January , 2004.

[ESTIMATED AVAILABLE FUNDS:]{.underline} \$27,000,000.

[ESTIMATED RANGE OF AWARDS:]{.underline} \$500,000-\$4,000,000.

[ESTIMATED AVERAGE SIZE OF AWARDS:]{.underline} \$1,220,000.

[ESTIMATED NUMBER OF AWARDS:]{.underline}22.

Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.

[PROJECT PERIOD:]{.underline} From the start date indicated on the grant
award documents until the end of the project period indicated on the
grant award documents.

[PAGE LIMIT:]{.underline} We have found that reviewers are able to
conduct the highest-quality review when applications are concise and
easy to read. We strongly recommend that applicants limit their response
in each applicable narrative section to two pages. Do not include
drawings, designs, or other extraneous documents regarding proposed
projects because reviewers will not consider them.

[APPLICABLE REGULATIONS:]{.underline} (a) The Education Department
General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75
(except for 34 CFR 75.600 through 75.617), 77, 79, 80, 82, 85, 86, 97,
98, 99, and 222.

[SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:]{.underline}

[APPLICATION CONTENT:]{.underline} Each Impact Aid Discretionary
Construction Program application must include the specific program
elements identified in the approved application (OMB No. 1810-0657) and
34 CFR 222.183 through 222.187 of the program regulations.

[USE OF FUNDS:]{.underline} Grant recipients must, in accordance with
Federal, State and local laws, use emergency or modernization grants for
permissible construction activities at public elementary and secondary
school facilities. The precise scope of a selected facilities project
will be identified as part of the final grant award conditions. A
grantee must also ensure that its construction expenditures under this
program meet the requirements of 34 CFR 222.172 (allowable program
activities) and 34 CFR 222.173 through 222.174 (prohibited activities).

[GRANTEE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:]{.underline} In general, grantees must

comply with applicable reporting requirements in 34 CFR parts 75 and 80.
In addition, grantees will be required to provide periodic performance
and financial reports, as specified in individual grant award conditions
and 34 CFR 222.195.

[METHODS FOR APPLYING SELECTION CRITERIA:]{.underline} The Secretary
gives distinct weight to the listed criteria. The maximum score for each
criterion is indicated in parentheses. Within each criterion, the
Secretary evaluates each factor equally, unless otherwise specified. The
maximum score that an application may receive is 100 points. In
evaluating applications for grants under this program competition, the
Secretary will use the following project selection criteria.

1\. [Need for project/severity of the school facility problem to be
addressed by the proposed project. (up to 30 points)]{.underline}

Factors for Emergency grants:

(a) Justification that proposed project will address a valid emergency;
    consistency of emergency description and proposed project with
    certifying local official's statement.

(b) Impact of emergency condition on the health and safety of the
    building occupants or on program delivery (examples: the systems or
    areas of the facility involved, e.g., HVAC, roof, floor, windows);
    the type of space affected, such as instructional, resource, food
    service, recreational, general support, or other areas); the
    percentage of building occupants affected by the emergency; and the
    importance of the facility or affected area to the instructional
    program).

Factors for Modernization grants:

(a) Justification that proposed project is a valid modernization need
    (example: building capacity is 300 students; current enrollment
    is 350. Three additional classrooms are needed to meet State
    standards re: capacity and 20-to-1 student/teacher ratio).

(b) Impact of modernization challenges on building occupants or program
    delivery (examples: the percentage of building occupants adversely
    affected; the areas and extent of the facility affected (type of
    space affected, such as instructional, resource, food service,
    recreational, general support, or other areas); and the importance
    of the facility or affected space to the required instructional
    program).

    2.  [Project Urgency]{.underline} (up to 28 points)

Factors for Emergency grants:

\(a\) Risk to occupants if facility condition is not addressed;
projected increased future costs; effect of proposed project on the
useful life of the facility or the need for major construction; or age
and condition of facility and date of last renovation of affected
areas).

\(b\) The justification for rebuilding, if proposed.

Factors for Modernization grants:

\(a\) Project urgency in fiscal terms (examples: proposed project will
extend useful life of current facility on cost-effective basis, or
district can improve program quality with updated facility and delay
replacement of facility).

\(b\) The justification for rebuilding, if proposed.

3\. [Effects of Federal presence. (up to 30 points total)]{.underline}

For section 8003 districts:

\(a\) Amount of non-taxable Federal property in the applicant district
(percentage of Federal property divided by 10); (up to 10 points)

\(b\) The numbers of federally connected children identified in sections
8003(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D) of the Act in the district (percentage
of identified children in district divided by 10); (up to 10 points)

\(c\) Numbers of federally connected children identified in sections
8003(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D) of the Act in the school facility
(percentage of children in school facility divided by 10); (up to 10
points)

or

For section 8002 districts:

\(d\) The amount of non-taxable Federal property in the applicant
district (percentage of Federal property divided by 10 and multiplied by
3); (up to 30 points)

4\. [Ability]{.underline} [to respond or pay. (up to 12 points
total)]{.underline}

\(a\) The percentage an LEA has used of its bonding capacity. Four
points to be distributed based on the LEA's quartile so that an LEA that
has used 100 percent of its bonding capacity receives all four points
and an LEA that has used less than 25 percent of its bond limit receives
only one point. LEAs that do not have limits on bonded indebtedness
established by their States will be evaluated by assuming that their
bond limit is 10 percent of the assessed value of real property in the
LEA. LEAs deemed to have no practical capacity to issue bonds will
receive all four points. (up to 4 points)

\(b\) Assessed value of real property per student (applicant LEA's total
assessed valuation of real property per pupil as a percentile ranking of
all LEAs in the State. Four points to be distributed by providing all
four points to LEAs in the poorest quartile and only one point to LEAs
in the wealthiest quartile). (up to 4 points)

\(c\) Total tax rate for capital or school purposes (applicant LEA's tax
rate for capital or school purposes as a percentile ranking of all LEAs
in the State. If the State authorizes a tax rate for capital
expenditures, then these data must be used, otherwise data on the total
tax rate for school purposes are used. Four points to be distributed by
providing all four points to LEAs in the highest taxing quartile and
only one point to LEAs in the lowest quartile). (up to 4 points)

[APPLICATION SCREENING:]{.underline} Upon receipt, Impact Aid program
staff will screen all applications to identify any that should not be
included in the panel review process. Applications that do not meet the
eligibility standards or are incomplete or late will be eliminated.
Program staff will also calculate the objective scores for each
application under criteria 3 and 4. Panel reviewers will assess the
applications under criteria 1 and 2.

Except as provided in 34 CFR 222.190, all eligible applications in the
"first priority" emergency category must be funded before applications
in the next priority can be funded. The Secretary will not subject
applications in the second, third, and fourth priorities to the panel
review process if the need for funds in the first priority and the
number of eligible applications received greatly exceeds the \$27
million available. Likewise, if the numbers of applications and need for
funds in the first and second priorities greatly exceed the available
funds, the Secretary will not submit applications from the third and
fourth priorities for a panel review. However, as prescribed in section
8007(b) of the Act and the implementing regulations, any unfunded
application in any of the four priorities will be retained and
considered along with the next fiscal year's pool of applicants.

[APPLICATIONS:]{.underline} Electronic applications are available for
the FY 2003 competition for these grants at http://e-grants.ed.gov. You
can also download a paper form for the application at:

www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ImpactAid

[FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:]{.underline} Catherine Schagh, Impact
Aid Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW,
FOB6, Washington, DC 20202-6244. Telephone: (202) 260-3858 or via
Internet, at:

# Impact.Aid@ed.gov

Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-888-877-8339.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an alternative
format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request using the contact information provided in the preceding
paragraph.

ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO THIS DOCUMENT: You may view this document, as well
as all other Department of Education documents published in the [Federal
Register]{.underline}, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
on the Internet at the following site:

http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister

To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free
at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.

The Department intends to offer further information about the program at
the following Internet site:

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ImpactAid/

[Note]{.underline}: The official version of this document is the
document published in the [Federal Register]{.underline}. Free Internet
access to the official edition of the [Federal Register]{.underline} and
the Code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO access at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

PROGRAM AUTHORITY: Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965, Title VIII, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Date:

> \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

## Eugene W. Hickok,

> [Under Secretary]{.underline}.