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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38840-38842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15605]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter III

Final Priority--National Institute on Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Final priority.

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[CFDA Number: 84.133B-8]
SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by 
the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research 
(NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for a Rehabilitation 
Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Disability in Rural Areas. The 
Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal 
year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research 
attention on areas of national need. We intend this priority to improve 
outcomes among individuals with disabilities in rural areas.

DATES: This priority is effective July 29, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlene Spencer, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5133, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2700. Telephone: (202) 245-7532 or by 
email: marlene.spencer@ed.gov.
    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 the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, through advanced 
research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities 
in general problem areas, as specified by NIDRR. These activities are 
designed to benefit rehabilitation service providers, individuals with 
disabilities, and the family members or other authorized 
representatives of individuals with disabilities. Additional 
information on the RRTC program can be found at: www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/res-program.html#RRTC.

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

    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.
    We published a notice of proposed priority (NPP) in the Federal 
Register on May 7, 2013 (78 FR 26560). That notice contained background 
information and our reasons for proposing the particular priority.
    Except for minor technical revisions, there are no differences 
between the proposed priority and the final priority.
    Public Comment: In response to our invitation in the NPP, we did 
not receive any comments on the proposed priority.

Final Priority

    RRTC on Disability in Rural Areas.
    The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services establishes a priority for a Rehabilitation Research and 
Training Center (RRTC) on Disability in Rural Areas. This RRTC must 
conduct rigorous research, and provide training, technical assistance, 
and information to improve the outcomes of individuals with 
disabilities who live in rural areas. The RRTC must:
    (a) Conduct research that examines experiences and outcomes of 
individuals with disabilities who live in rural areas and apply the 
research findings to develop interventions that improve those outcomes. 
Applicants must focus their research activities on topics that fall 
under at least one of the following major life domains identified in 
NIDRR's Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2013-2017 (78 FR 20299): 
Employment, Community Living and Participation, or Health and Function;
    (b) Serve as a national resource center for individuals with 
disabilities living in rural areas, their families, service and support 
providers, and other stakeholders by conducting knowledge translation 
activities that include, but are not limited to:
    (1) Providing information and technical assistance to service 
providers, individuals with disabilities living in rural areas and 
their representatives, and other key stakeholders;
    (2) Providing training, including graduate, pre-service, and in-
service training, to rehabilitation service providers and other 
disability service

[[Page 38841]]

providers, to facilitate more effective delivery of services to 
individuals with disabilities living in rural areas. This training may 
be provided through conferences, workshops, public education programs, 
in-service training programs, and similar activities;
    (3) Disseminating research-based information and materials related 
to living with a disability in rural areas; and
    (c) Involve individuals with disabilities who live in rural areas 
in planning and implementing the RRTC's activities, and in evaluating 
the RRTC's work.
    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 (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
    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 (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) 
selecting an application that meets the priority over an application of 
comparable merit that does not meet the priority (34 CFR 
75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
    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 (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
    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 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 Department 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, the Department has 
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 Department'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. The new RRTC will generate and promote the use 
of new knowledge that will improve the options for individuals with 
disabilities to perform regular activities of their choice in the 
community.
    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 program 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

[[Page 38842]]

search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents 
published by the Department.

    Dated: June 25, 2013.
Michael K. Yudin,
Delegated the authority to perform the functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-15605 Filed 6-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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