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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 90 (Thursday, May 9, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27129-27132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10962]

[[Page 27129]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter II

[Docket ID ED-2013-OESE-0062]

Proposed Priority and Requirements--Education Facilities 
Clearinghouse

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Proposed priority and requirements.

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CFDA Number: 84.215T.

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education 
proposes a priority and requirements under the Education Facilities 
Clearinghouse program and may use one or more of the priority and 
requirements for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. 
We intend to award funds under a cooperative agreement to support the 
collection and dissemination of best practices for the planning, 
design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, operation, 
and maintenance of safe, healthy, and high-performing elementary and 
secondary education facilities. We intend to establish a Clearinghouse 
to help stakeholders recognize the linkages between the school facility 
and three areas: Academic instruction, student and community well-
being, and school fiscal health.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 10, 2013. We 
encourage you to submit comments well in advance of this date.

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. To ensure we do not 
receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In 
addition, please include the Docket ID and the term ``Education 
Facilities Clearinghouse'' 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 ''How 
To Use Regulations.gov'' in the Help section.
    Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery. If you mail or 
deliver your comments about these proposed priorities and requirements, 
address them to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education 
(Attention: Education Facilities Clearinghouse Grants-Comments), U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP) Room 10073, Washington, DC 20202-6450.
    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: Pat Rattler. Telephone: (202) 245-7893 
or by email: Pat.Rattler@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: 
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this notice. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in 
developing the notice of final priorities and requirements, we urge you 
to identify clearly the specific priority or requirement 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 priorities and requirements. 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 notice in Room 3W110, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., 
Washington, DC 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 to aid an individual with a disability who 
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the 
public rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please 
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Education Facilities 
Clearinghouse is to provide technical assistance and training on the 
planning, design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, 
operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, and high-performing 
elementary and secondary education facilities.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131; 7243-7243b.

Background

    The Education Facilities Clearinghouse is intended to assist 
States, local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools in creating 
safe, healthy, and high-performing education facilities by collecting 
and disseminating best practices for facilities planning, design, 
financing, procurement, construction, improvement, operation, and 
maintenance.
    With this array of services, it is the Department's intent to use 
the Education Facilities Clearinghouse to assist education stakeholders 
in creating and sustaining higher quality environments for students, 
educators, and their communities. There is a growing body of research 
linking school facility quality to educational outcomes and documenting 
inequality in the distribution or quality of facilities:
     Inequality in School Facilities: There are significant 
inequalities in capital investment and in the availability of science 
labs, art rooms, music rooms, and gymnasiums between schools in low-
income areas and schools in more affluent areas.\1\
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    \1\ U.S. Department of Education: National Center for Education 
Statistics, Public School Principals' Perceptions of Their School 
Facilities: Fall 2005, NCES 2008-011 (Washington, DC: National 
Center for Education Statistics, 2008), retrieved April 2013.
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     Facilities and Health: Air quality, acoustics, levels of 
thermal comfort, and lighting can affect the health and well-being of 
school occupants and have been linked in a small number of studies to 
student educational outcomes.\2\
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    \2\ Earthman, G.I., C.S. Cash, and D. Van Berkum. 1995. 
``Student achievement and behavior and school building condition.'' 
Journal of School Business Management, 8(3): 26-37; and Shaughnessy, 
R., U. Shaughnessy, et al. 2006. ``A preliminary study on the 
association between ventilation rates in classrooms and student 
performance.'' Indoor Air 16(6):465-468.
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     Facilities and Communities: School facilities affect 
students and their communities. School siting, size, efficiency, and 
design have implications for the community surrounding the school.\3\
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    \3\ ``School Siting Guidelines,'' Environmental Protection 
Agency, accessed April 2013, http://www.epa.gov/schools/siting/.
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     Facilities and Behavior: There is evidence of a link 
between various

[[Page 27130]]

aspects of a school's physical environment, on the one hand, and 
problematic student behavior in high schools and the retention of 
teachers across elementary and secondary schools, on the other 
hand.4 5
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    \4\ Buckley, Schneider, and Shang, The Effects of School 
Facility Quality on Teacher Retention in Urban School Districts. 
National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. February 2004, 
retrieved April 2013. http://www.ncef.org/pubs/teacherretention.pdf.
    \5\ Revathy Kumar, Patrick O'Malley, and Lloyd Johnston, 
``Association between physical environment of secondary schools and 
student problem behavior: A national study, 2000-2003,'' Environment 
and Behavior 40, no. 4 (2008): 455-486, retrieved December 2012 from 
DOI: 10.1177/0013916506293987.
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    With the proposed priority and requirements, we seek to build on 
the efforts we began with the FY 2010 Education Facilities 
Clearinghouse competition by clarifying the major goals of the 
Clearinghouse in order to address many of the concerns about the status 
of education facilities and by aligning this program with the 
Department's other initiatives relating to health and safety. One such 
initiative is the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools 
(ED-GRS) program.

Proposed Priority

    This notice contains one proposed priority.

Proposed Priority--Establishment of the Clearinghouse

Background

    With the proposed priority, we reaffirm the central purpose of the 
Clearinghouse, as stated in the notice inviting applications announced 
for the FY 2010 competition (75 FR 34441), and clarify the major goals 
of the Clearinghouse's core activities. The purpose of the 
Clearinghouse is to provide technical assistance and training on the 
planning, design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, 
operation, and maintenance of elementary and secondary school 
facilities. The major goals we seek to address with this priority are: 
First, to highlight the role that school facilities might play in 
reducing education inequity and facilitating increased academic 
achievement; second, to better align the work of the Clearinghouse with 
the ED-GRS program; and, lastly, to preserve the role of the 
Clearinghouse in helping schools retrofit their facilities to increase 
security and student safety.
    The ED-GRS program honors schools that are exemplary in three key 
areas: Reducing environmental impact and costs; improving the health 
and wellness of students and staff; and providing effective 
environmental and sustainability education, which incorporates science, 
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), civic skills, and green 
career pathways. To better align with the first two GRS-ED key 
activities, the proposed priority would direct the Clearinghouse to 
help education stakeholders understand how to use education facilities 
to improve community health and safety and student achievement, 
identify cost-saving opportunities, and increase the quality of school 
time spent outdoors. More information regarding the ED-GRS program can 
be found at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html.

Proposed Priority

    Establish a Clearinghouse to collect and disseminate research and 
other information on effective practices regarding the planning, 
design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, operation, 
and maintenance of safe, healthy, and high-performing facilities for 
elementary and secondary schools in order to--
    (a) Help education stakeholders increase their use of education 
facilities to turn around low-performing schools and close academic 
achievement gaps;
    (b) Increase understanding of how education facilities affect 
community health and safety and student achievement;
    (c) Identify potential cost-saving opportunities through 
procurement, energy efficiency, and preventative maintenance;
    (d) Increase the use of education facilities and outdoor spaces as 
instructional tools and community centers (e.g., outdoor classrooms, 
school gardens, school-based health centers); and
    (e) Increase capacity to identify hazards and conduct vulnerability 
assessments, and, through facility design, increase safety against 
hazards, natural disasters, and intruders.

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, the Department 
considers 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)).

Proposed Requirements

    The Assistant Secretary proposes the following requirements for 
this program. We may apply one or more of these requirements in any 
year in which this program is in effect.

Background

    The following proposed requirements describe the four core 
activities of the Clearinghouse: Developing and maintaining a Web site 
to facilitate public access to electronic resources and research; 
developing resource materials and compiling best practices to assist in 
the creation of safe, healthy, and high-performing facilities; 
developing and implementing training programs for various education 
stakeholders; and providing direct, specialized technical assistance to 
schools and LEAs. With these requirements, we seek to clarify that the 
applicant must include in its application its plan to implement these 
four core activities.

Proposed Requirement 1--Establish and Maintain a Web Site

    An applicant must include in its application a plan to establish 
and maintain a dedicated, easily-accessible Web site that will include 
electronic resources (e.g., links to published articles and research) 
about the planning, design, financing, procurement, construction, 
improvement, operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, and high-
performing facilities for elementary and secondary schools. The Web 
site must be established within 120 days of receipt of the award and 
must be maintained for the duration of the project.

Proposed Requirement 2--Track and Compile Best Practices and Develop 
Resource Materials

    An applicant must include in its application a plan to track and 
compile best practices at the State, LEA, and school levels and a plan 
to develop

[[Page 27131]]

resources that support the planning, design, financing, procurement, 
construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, 
and high-performing facilities for elementary and secondary schools.

Proposed Requirement 3--Training

    An applicant must include in its application a plan to develop and 
conduct at least two training programs per year for individuals in 
leadership positions (such as business or operations managers) in 
elementary or secondary schools or LEAs, who are responsible for the 
construction and or maintenance of elementary and secondary education 
facilities. Training topics must include information on the planning, 
design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, operation, 
and maintenance of education facilities in order to improve the 
capacity of elementary and secondary schools or LEAs to make quality 
decisions regarding safe, healthy, and high-performing elementary and 
secondary education facilities. Training must be conducted upon request 
by the Department, elementary and secondary schools, States, or LEAs, 
and must be conducted by appropriate Clearinghouse staff or 
contractors.

Proposed Requirement 4--Technical Assistance

    An applicant must include in its application a plan to provide 
technical assistance, including a plan for providing on-site technical 
assistance to elementary schools, secondary schools, or LEAs, about 
issues related to the planning, design, financing, procurement, 
construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of education 
facilities. The technical assistance may be provided in the form of 
electronic or telephone assistance when requested by these schools, 
LEAs, or the Department. On-site technical assistance visits will be 
conducted upon request by, or based on input from, the Department, 
elementary schools, secondary schools, or LEAs and must be completed 
using appropriate Clearinghouse staff or contractors. The Department 
must approve in advance all technical assistance visits.
    The technical assistance must consist of consultation regarding the 
planning, design, financing, procurement, construction, improvement, 
operation, and maintenance of education facilities. Specific technical 
assistance topics may include information related to: assessing 
facilities and construction plans for energy efficiency; conducting 
vulnerability assessments; and developing written plans to retrofit 
education facilities to address identified hazards and security 
concerns. Technical assistance may also address low-cost measures that 
can be taken to enhance the safety and security of schools.

Final Priorities and Requirements

    We will announce the final priorities and requirements in a notice 
in the Federal Register. We will determine the final priorities and 
requirements after considering responses to this notice and other 
information available to the Department. 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 these priorities and requirements, 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 set forth in 
the Executive Order.
    This proposed 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 proposed 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 these proposed priorities, and requirements only on 
a reasoned determination that their benefits would justify their costs. 
In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, we selected those 
approaches that would 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 would 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

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administering the Department's programs and activities.
    These proposed priorities and requirements would benefit individual 
children by supporting the development and enhancement of safe, secure, 
and healthy school practices that would provide educators and 
stakeholders with timely and useful information to guide policy and 
decision making for education facilities.
    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: 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: May 3, 2013.
Deborah S. Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2013-10962 Filed 5-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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