35154 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 118 / Thursday, June 19, 2014 / Notices 

meeting agendas; and adjourn any 

meeting when the DFO, or the Alternate 

DFO, determines adjournment to be in 

the public interest or required by 

governing regulations or DoD policies 

and procedures. 

Pursuant to 41 CFR 102–3.105(j) and 

102–3.140, the public or interested 

organizations may submit written 

statements to members of the Board. 

Written statements may be submitted at 

any time or in response to the stated 

agenda of planned meeting of the Board. 

All written statements shall be 

submitted to the DFO, and this 

individual will ensure that the written 

statements are provided to the 

membership for their consideration. 

Contact information for the Board’s DFO 

is available at the GSA’s FACA 

Database—http://

www.facadatabase.gov/. The DFO, 

pursuant to 41 CFR 102–3.150, will 

announce planned meetings of the 

Board, and the DFO, at that time, may 

provide additional guidance on the 

submission of written statements that 

are in response to the stated agenda for 

the planned meeting in question. 

Dated: June 13, 2014. 

Aaron Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14289 Filed 6–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No. ED–2014–OSERS–0058] 

Request for Information on Addressing 

Significant Disproportionality Under 

Section 618(d) of the Individuals With 

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department 

of Education. 

ACTION: Request for Information. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) is requesting 

public comment on the actions that the 

Department should take to address 

significant disproportionality based on 

race and ethnicity in the identification, 

placement, and discipline of children 

with disabilities. Specifically, we are 

requesting input from the public on 

actions the Department should take 

related to: (1) Significant 

disproportionality based on race and 

ethnicity in the (a) identification of 

children as children with disabilities, 

including identification by disability 

category; (b) placement of children with 

disabilities in particular educational 

settings; and (c) the incidence, duration, 

and type of disciplinary action taken 

with respect to children with 

disabilities; and (2) ensuring that funds 

reserved for comprehensive, 

coordinated early intervening services 

(CEIS) under Part B of the IDEA are used 

to effectively address significant 

disproportionality. 

DATES: Responses must be received by 

July 21, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

or via U.S. mail, commercial delivery, or 

hand delivery. We will not accept 

comments by fax or by email or those 

submitted after the comment period. To 

ensure that we do not receive duplicate 

copies, please submit your comments 

only once. In addition, please include 

the Docket ID and the term ‘‘CEIS and 

Significant Disproportionality’’ 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 ‘‘Are you new to this site?’’ 

U.S. Mail, Commercial Delivery, or 

Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver 

your comments, address them to Larry 

Ringer, Attention: IDEA Determinations 

RFI, U.S. Department of Education, 400 

Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4032, 

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 

Washington, DC 20202–2600. 

Privacy Note: The Department’s policy for 

comments received from members of the 

public (including comments submitted by 

mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery) 

is to make these submissions 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 on the Internet. 

Submission of Proprietary 

Information: Given the subject matter, 

some comments may include 

proprietary information as it relates to 

confidential commercial information. 

The Freedom of Information Act defines 

‘‘confidential commercial information’’ 

as information the disclosure of which 

could reasonably be expected to cause 

substantial competitive harm. You may 

wish to request that we not disclose 

what you regard as confidential 

commercial information. 

To assist us in making a 

determination on your request, we 

encourage you to identify any specific 

information in your comments that you 

consider confidential commercial 

information. Please list the information 

by page and paragraph numbers. 

Note: This Request for Information (RFI) is 

issued solely for information and planning 

purposes and is not a request for proposals 

(RFP), a notice inviting applications (NIA), or 

a promise to issue an RFP or NIA. This RFI 

does not commit the Department to contract 

for any supply or service whatsoever. 

Further, the Department is not now seeking 

proposals and will not accept unsolicited 

proposals. The Department will not pay for 

any information or administrative costs that 

you may incur in responding to this RFI. 

If you do not respond to this RFI, you 

may still apply for future contracts and 

grants. The Department posts RFPs on 

the Federal Business Opportunities Web 

site (www.fbo.gov). The Department 

announces grant competitions in the 

Federal Register (www.gpo.gov/fdsys). It 

is your responsibility to monitor these 

sites to determine whether the 

Department issues an RFP or NIA after 

considering the information received in 

response to this RFI. 

The documents and information 

submitted in response to this RFI 

become the property of the U.S. 

Government and will not be returned. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Larry Ringer, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 

Room 4032, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2600. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7496. 

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: 

Background 

In section 601(c)(12)(A) and (B) of the 

IDEA, Congress found that, ‘‘[g]reater 

efforts are needed to prevent the 

intensification of problems connected 

with mislabeling and high dropout rates 

among minority children with 

disabilities,’’ and that, ‘‘[m]ore minority 

children continue to be served in 

special education than would be 

expected from the percentage of 

minority students in the general school 

population.’’ The IDEA and its 

implementing regulations include 

specific requirements to address those 

findings. 

Specifically, section 618(d)(1) of the 

IDEA and the implementing regulations 

in 34 CFR 300.646(a) require each State 

to collect and examine data to 

determine if significant 

disproportionality based on race and 

ethnicity is occurring in the State and 

the local educational agencies (LEAs) of 

the State with respect to: 

1. The identification of children as 

children with disabilities, including the 

identification of children as children 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 118 / Thursday, June 19, 2014 / Notices 35155 

with disabilities in accordance with a 

particular impairment described in 

section 602(3) of the IDEA; 

2. The placement in particular 

educational settings of children with 

disabilities; and 

3. The incidence, duration, and type 

of disciplinary actions, including 

suspensions and expulsions, taken with 

respect to children with disabilities. 

In cases where a determination of 

significant disproportionality is made in 

one or more of these areas based on the 

collection and examination of data, 

States must: (1) Provide for the review 

and, if appropriate, revision of policies, 

procedures, and practices used in 

identification, placement, or 

disciplinary actions to ensure 

compliance with the requirements of the 

IDEA; (2) require any LEAs identified as 

having significant disproportionality to 

reserve the maximum amount of funds 

under IDEA section 613(f) and 34 CFR 

300.226 to provide CEIS to children in 

the LEA, particularly children in groups 

that are significantly overidentified; and 

(3) require the LEA to publicly report on 

the revision of policies, procedures, and 

practices used in identification, 

placement, and disciplinary actions. 

Section 618(d)(2) of the IDEA and 34 

CFR 300.646(b); see also, Analysis of 

Comments and Changes, Assistance to 

States for the Education of Children 

with Disabilities and Preschool Grants 

for Children with Disabilities; Final 

Rule, August 14, 2006 (71 FR 46540, 

46738); and OSEP Memorandum 07–09, 

April 24, 2007, Disproportionality of 

Racial and Ethnic Groups in Special 

Education. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/

speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/osep07- 

09disproportionalityofracialande

thnicgroupsinspecialeducation.pdf. 

The IDEA and its implementing 

regulations allow LEAs that are not 

required to reserve funds for CEIS to 

voluntarily use up to 15 percent of their 

IDEA Part B funds to provide CEIS to 

children in kindergarten through grade 

12 (with a particular emphasis on 

children in kindergarten through grade 

three) who are not currently identified 

as needing special education or related 

services, but who need additional 

academic or behavioral support to 

succeed in a general education 

environment. Section 613(f)(1) of the 

IDEA and 34 CFR 300.226(a). 

Neither the IDEA nor the regulations 

define the term ‘‘significant 

disproportionality.’’ As stated in the 

preamble to the final IDEA Part B 

regulations published in the Federal 

Register on August 14, 2006, ‘‘[w]ith 

respect to the definition of significant 

disproportionality, each State has the 

discretion to define the term for the 

LEAs and for the State in general. 

Therefore, in identifying significant 

disproportionality, a State may 

determine statistically significant 

levels.’’ (Analysis of Comments and 

Changes, Assistance to States for the 

Education of Children with Disabilities 

and Preschool Grants for Children with 

Disabilities; Final Rule, August 14, 2006 

(71 FR 46540, 46738).) 

The Department has afforded States 

broad discretion in defining significant 

disproportionality and in establishing 

procedures for identifying significant 

disproportionality within their States. 

Consequently, there is wide variation in 

how significant disproportionality is 

defined and identified in LEAs across 

States. 

Data collected by the Department’s 

Office of Special Education Programs 

(OSEP) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) 

show significant racial and ethnic 

disparity in the identification of 

children for special education, 

including identification by disability 

category, educational placement, and 

disciplinary action. Based on these data, 

the Department has been concerned 

about the very small number of LEAs 

that have been identified by their States 

as having significant disproportionality, 

and the resulting limited funds that 

LEAs are required to use for CEIS to 

address that significant 

disproportionality. The Department is 

also concerned that the definitions and 

procedures for identifying LEAs with 

significant disproportionality that many 

States have established may set the bar 

so high that even LEAs with significant 

racial and ethnic disparities in the 

identification of children for special 

education are not identified as having 

significant disproportionality. 

In February 2013, the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) issued a 

report on CEIS, particularly as it relates 

to racial and ethnic overrepresentation 

in special education, which reinforced 

the Department’s concerns. The GAO 

report, titled ‘‘Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act: Standards 

Needed to Improve Identification of 

Racial and Ethnic Overrepresentation in 

Special Education (GAO–13–137), can 

be found at www.gao.gov/products/

GAO-13-137. In this report, the GAO 

examined the numbers and 

characteristics of LEAs that provide 

CEIS, how States determine which LEAs 

are required to provide CEIS, the types 

of CEIS provided, and oversight by the 

Department and States. Specifically, the 

GAO: (1) Examined data on CEIS for 

school years 2009–10 and 2010–11; (2) 

reviewed 16 States’ methods for 

identifying LEAs with significant 

disproportionality, including States that 

did and did not require LEAs identified 

with significant disproportionality to 

provide CEIS services; (3) visited State 

educational agencies (SEAs) and LEAs 

in four States; and (4) interviewed 

Federal, State, and local officials. GAO 

found that, ‘‘the discretion that States 

have in defining significant 

disproportionality has resulted in a 

wide range of definitions that provides 

no assurance that the problem is being 

appropriately identified across the 

nation.’’ According to the GAO report, 

‘‘[a]mong the almost 15,000 school 

districts nationwide that received IDEA 

funding in school year 2010–2011, 

states required 356 (2.4 percent) 

districts to use these funds for early 

intervening services due to significant 

disproportionality.’’ 

‘‘To better understand the extent of 

racial and ethnic overrepresentation in 

special education and promote 

consistency in how States determine the 

districts required to provide early 

intervening services,’’ the GAO 

recommended that the Department 

‘‘develop a standard approach for 

defining significant disproportionality 

to be used by all states. This approach 

should allow flexibility to account for 

state differences and specify when 

exceptions can be made.’’ 

Context for Responses and 

Information Requested: 

Given the discretion a State currently 

has to define the term ‘‘significant 

disproportionality’’ for the State and its 

LEAs, the Department requests public 

comment on how best to address 

significant disproportionality based on 

race and ethnicity in the identification 

of children for special education, 

including identification by disability 

category, educational placements, and 

disciplinary actions. In addition to this 

request for public comment, the 

Department will be collecting through 

EDFacts (the portal through which 

OSEP collects special education and 

other data from States) State definitions 

of significant disproportionality and 

information on the categories (as set 

forth in the IDEA) in which States have 

determined that a significant 

disproportionality based on race and 

ethnicity exists in the identification of 

children for special education, 

including identification by disability 

category, in placement of children with 

disabilities in particular educational 

settings, and in disciplinary action 

taken with respect to children with 

disabilities. 

The Assistant Secretary for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services 

invites the public, including States, 

LEAs, parents, advocacy groups, 

researchers, and professional 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
35156 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 118 / Thursday, June 19, 2014 / Notices 

organizations, to provide comment on, 

and offer proposals for: (1) Addressing 

significant disproportionality; (2) 

encouraging greater voluntary use of 

funds for CEIS in LEAs showing 

significant disparities (but no 

determination of significant 

disproportionality) by race and ethnicity 

in the rates of identification of children 

for special education, including 

identification by disability category, 

educational placements, and 

disciplinary actions; and (3) 

encouraging more effective, targeted use 

of funds for CEIS to address significant 

disproportionality in both districts 

required to use funds for CEIS (as a 

result of a determination of significant 

disproportionality) and districts 

choosing to use funds for CEIS. The 

Department will review the data 

collected under section 618 of the IDEA 

and by the Department’s Office for Civil 

Rights, together with the information in 

the GAO report and all of the input and 

information received in response to this 

RFI, to determine what, if any, actions 

the Department should take to address 

significant disproportionality. 

The Assistant Secretary requests 

comment on the following questions: 

1. Should the Department issue 

proposed regulations requiring States to 

use a standard approach to determine 

which LEAs have significant 

disproportionality? If so, how might a 

standard approach properly account for 

State differences (e.g., population size, 

population composition, and LEA size) ? 

If so, what should be included in such 

a standard approach? 

2. What actions, apart from requiring 

a standard approach, should the 

Department take to address the very 

small number of LEAs identified with 

significant disproportionality, despite 

data (including the data the Department 

collects under section 618 of the IDEA, 

data collected by the Department’s 

Office for Civil Rights, and the 

information in the GAO report) showing 

significant disparities, based on race 

and ethnicity, in the identification of 

children for special education, 

including by disability category, 

educational placements, and 

disciplinary actions? 

3. What actions, including researchor evidence-based actions, should the 

Department take to: (a) Encourage 

greater voluntary use of funds for CEIS 

in LEAs showing significant disparities 

(but no determination of significant 

disproportionality, pursuant to 34 CFR 

§ 300.646), by race and ethnicity, in the 

rates of identification of children for 

special education, including 

identification by disability category, 

educational placements, and 

disciplinary actions; and (b) assist LEAs 

in more effectively targeting their use of 

funds for CEIS to address significant 

disproportionality in both districts 

required to use funds for CEIS (as a 

result of a determination of significant 

disproportionality) and districts 

choosing to use funds for CEIS, in a 

manner that is both consistent with the 

requirements of the IDEA and which 

will help to address the causes and 

effects of significant disproportionality? 

You may provide comments in any 

convenient format (i.e., bullet points, 

charts, graphs, paragraphs, etc.) and 

may also provide relevant information 

that is not responsive to a particular 

question but may nevertheless be 

helpful. 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document in 

an accessible format (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, or compact disc) upon 

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. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1413(f)(1) 

and 1418(d). 

Dated: June 16, 2014. 

Michael K. Yudin, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14388 Filed 6–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Combined Notice of Filings #1 

Take notice that the Commission 

received the following electric corporate 

filings: 

Docket Numbers: EC14–101–000. 

Applicants: NRG Yield, Inc., NRG 

Yield Operating LLC, Alta Wind I, LLC, 

Alta Wind II, LLC, Alta Wind III, LLC, 

Alta Wind IV, LLC, Alta Wind V, LLC, 

Alta Wind X, LLC, Alta Wind XI, LLC. 

Description: Joint Application for 

Approval under Section 203 of the 

Federal Power Act and Request for 

Shortened Comment Period of NRG 

Yield, Inc., et. al. 

Filed Date: 6/10/14. 

Accession Number: 20140610–5245. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 7/1/14. 

Take notice that the Commission 

received the following electric rate 

filings: 

Docket Numbers: ER12–2178–009; 

ER10–2172–020; ER12–2311–008; 

ER10–2179–023; ER11–2016–015; 

ER10–2183–017; ER10–2184–020; 

ER10–1048–017; ER10–2192–020; 

ER11–2056–014; ER10–2178–020; 

ER14–1524–001; ER11–2014–017; 

ER11–2013–017; ER10–3308–019; 

ER10–1020–016; ER13–1536–003; 

ER10–1078–016; ER10–1080–016; 

ER11–2010–017; ER10–1081–016; 

ER10–2180–020; ER12–2201–008; 

ER11–2011–016; ER12–2528–008; 

ER11–2009–016; ER11–3989–013; 

ER10–2181–023; ER10–1143–016; 

ER10–2182–023; ER11–2383–004; 

ER12–1829–008; ER11–2007–015; 

ER12–1223–013; ER11–2005–017. 

Applicants: AV Solar Ranch 1, LLC, 

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, 

Beebe Renewable Energy, LLC, Calvert 

Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant LLC, Cassia 

Gulch Wind Park, LLC, CER Generation 

II, LLC, CER Generation, LLC, 

Commonwealth Edison Company, 

Constellation Energy Commodities 

Group Maine, LLC, Constellation Mystic 

Power, LLC, Constellation NewEnergy, 

Inc., Constellation Power Source 

Generation LLC, Cow Branch 

Windpower, LLC, CR Clearing, LLC, 

Criterion Power Partners, LLC, Exelon 

Framingham, LLC, Exelon Generation 

Company, LLC, Exelon New Boston, 

LLC, Exelon West Medway, LLC, Exelon 

Wind 4, LLC, Exelon Wyman, LLC, 

Handsome Lake Energy, LLC, Harvest II 

Wind Farm, LLC, Harvest WindFarm, 

LLC, High Mesa Energy, LLC, Michigan 

Wind 1, LLC, Michigan Wind 2, LLC, 

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC, 

PECO Energy Company, R.E. Ginna 

Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, Safe Harbor 

Water Power Corporation, Shooting Star 

Wind Project, LLC, Tuana Springs 

Energy, LLC, Wildcat Wind, LLC, Wind 

Capital Holdings, LLC. 

Description: Notice of Non-Material 

Change in Status of the Exelon MBR 

Entities. 

Filed Date: 6/10/14. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES