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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 108 (Thursday, June 5, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32487-32490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13095]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter III

[ED-2014-OSERS-0025]

Final Priority; National Institute on Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

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

ACTION: Final priority.

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[CFDA Number: 84.133E-5.]

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program

[[Page 32488]]

administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation 
Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for a 
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Technologies to 
Enhance Independence in Daily Living for Adults with Cognitive 
Impairments. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for 
competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this 
action to focus research attention on an area of national need. We 
intend the priority to contribute to improved outcomes related to 
independence in daily activities in the home, community, or workplace 
setting for adults with cognitive impairments.

DATES: Effective Date: This priority is effective July 7, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Barrett, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2700. Telephone: (202) 245-6211 or by 
email: patricia.barrett@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. The program is also intended to improve the effectiveness 
of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 
(Rehabilitation Act).

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

    The purpose of the RERCs, which are funded through the Disability 
and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to achieve 
the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized 
under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training, 
technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topical 
areas as specified by NIDRR with guidance from its Rehabilitation 
Research Advisory Council. These activities are designed to benefit 
rehabilitation service providers, individuals with disabilities, family 
members, policymakers, and other research stakeholders. Additional 
information on the RERC program can be found at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/rerc/index.html#types.

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b)(3).

    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.
    We published a notice of proposed priority for this program in the 
Federal Register on April 2, 2014 (79 FR 18490). That notice contained 
background information and our reasons for proposing the particular 
priority.
    There are no differences between the proposed priority and this 
final priority.
    Public Comment: In response to our invitation in the notice of 
proposed priority we did not receive any comments on the proposed 
priority.

Final Priority

    The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services establishes a priority for a RERC on Technologies to Enhance 
Independence in Daily Living for Adults with Cognitive Impairments.
    The RERC must focus on innovative technological solutions, new 
knowledge, and implementation strategies that enhance the independence 
and self-management of adults with cognitive impairment.
    Under this priority, the RERC must research, develop, and evaluate 
new technologies, or adapt and evaluate existing technologies, to 
enhance the ability of adults with cognitive impairment to perform 
daily activities of their choice in the home, community, or workplace. 
Technologies developed or adapted must be designed for 
commercialization as consumer products or for integration into 
rehabilitation practice or relevant service delivery systems. Research 
and development topics under this priority may include, but are not 
limited to: Monitoring and prompting technologies or other information 
or communication aids; assistive technologies, including socially 
assistive robotics; mobile and wearable technologies; virtual reality; 
and care coordination or tele-health, tele-rehabilitation, and other 
tele-support systems to facilitate improved activities of daily living.
    In responding to this priority, applicants must specify the target 
populations or subgroups of adults with cognitive impairments that they 
intend to focus on and identify the setting or settings for which they 
intend to develop technologies: Home, community, or workplace. 
Applicants must also limit the number of research and development 
projects to a maximum of eight, and restrict the range of different 
types of technologies to what is manageable with available resources.
    Under this priority, the RERC must be designed to contribute to the 
following outcomes:
    (a) Increased technical and scientific knowledge relevant to 
technologies for increasing independence in daily living for adults 
with cognitive impairments. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by 
establishing a rigorous research and development plan that is balanced 
between technology development or adaption and technology evaluation 
and incorporates needs assessment, usability testing, and intervention 
development or efficacy studies, as appropriate. The research and 
development plan must be designed to build a base of evidence for 
assessing the usability, accessibility, acceptance, utility, and cost-
benefit of technologies intended to improve independence in daily 
activities for adults with cognitive impairment in the home, community, 
or workplace settings. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by:
    (i) Building a transdisciplinary team of collaborators from 
relevant disciplines, such as: Rehabilitation and bio-engineering, 
computer science, human factors specialists, cognitive and behavioral 
scientists, clinicians, and other relevant providers;
    (ii) Conducting research and research syntheses or secondary 
analysis of existing data to evaluate user needs and specify the 
accessibility, acceptance, and human factors design features that will 
need to be built into the technology solutions developed and evaluated 
by the RERC to accommodate the cognitive impairments and preferences of 
the target population;
    (iii) Conducting rigorous usability testing in the settings in 
which the technology will be used;
    (iv) Developing and prioritizing a list of evaluation topics that, 
when addressed, will lead to research-based information on the utility 
or efficacy of technology solutions developed by the RERC; and
    (v) Involving key stakeholders in the research and research 
planning activities to maximize the relevance and usefulness of the 
research products being developed. Stakeholders can include, but are 
not limited to, individuals with disabilities and their families; 
national, State, or local-level policymakers, administrators, or 
service providers; and industry representatives.

[[Page 32489]]

    (b) Improved usability and effectiveness of technologies, products, 
devices, systems, performance guidelines, and assessment tools through 
systematic development or adaptation, testing, and evaluation of 
innovations. In developing the technologies under this priority the 
RERC must:
    (i) Incorporate user-centered design strategies and consider the 
context in which the technology product, device, or system will be 
used;
    (ii) Emphasize the principles of universal design and, as 
appropriate, conform to human factors standards, such as reliability, 
safety, and simplicity; accessibility and acceptability to users; 
protective of users' privacy preferences; intuitive user interfaces; 
feedback in meaningful sensory modalities; and appropriateness to 
diverse populations;
    (iii) Incorporate ongoing training opportunities or user supports 
into the design of the technology or into the practice settings or 
delivery systems in which the technology will be integrated; and
    (iv) Ensure that the technologies are interoperable within existing 
rehabilitation systems or home or mobile technologies and that they 
communicate with existing information technology systems, as 
appropriate.
    (c) Improved research capacity areas that will contribute to 
enhancing the ability of adults with cognitive impairment to perform 
daily activities. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by 
collaborating with the relevant institutions of higher education, 
professional associations, clinicians and service providers, and other 
researchers or educators, as appropriate.
    (d) Improved awareness and understanding of cutting-edge 
developments and promising technology solutions that will contribute to 
enhancing the ability of adults with cognitive impairment to perform 
daily activities. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by 
identifying and communicating with relevant stakeholders, including 
NIDRR, individuals with disabilities and their representatives, 
disability organizations, service providers, professional journals, 
manufacturers, and other interested parties regarding trends and 
evolving product concepts related to its designated priority research 
area.
    (e) Increased impact of research and development activities carried 
out under this priority area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome 
by:
    (i) Providing technical assistance to relevant public and private 
organizations, individuals with disabilities and their families, long-
term services and supports providers, and employers on policies, 
guidelines, and standards; and
    (ii) Establishing or contributing to an existing program or service 
that provides objective information and technical and consumer reviews 
about technologies of promise to support independence in daily living 
for adults with cognitive impairments.
    (f) Increased transfer of RERC-developed technologies to the 
marketplace for widespread testing and use by developing and 
implementing a plan to ensure that technologies developed by the RERC 
are made available to the public or to service delivery systems that 
serve the public. This technology transfer plan must be developed in 
the first year of the project period in consultation with the NIDRR-
funded Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer.

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

[[Page 32490]]

    (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 RERC would generate, disseminate, and 
promote the use of new information that is intended to improve outcomes 
for individuals with disabilities in the areas of community living and 
participation, employment, and health and function.
    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 search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 2, 2014.
Michael K. Yudin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-13095 Filed 6-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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