[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9939-9942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3889]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Overview 
Information; Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs--Community 
Rehabilitation Programs; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards 
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.264B.
    Dates: Applications Available: March 6, 2007.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 5, 2007.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 4, 2007.
    Eligible Applicants: States and public and nonprofit agencies and 
organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher 
education.
    Estimated Available Funds: $1,500,000.
    Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding $500,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The 
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $475,000-$500,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 3.

    Note: We are inviting applications for CFDA number 84.264B for 
Department of Education Regions II, IV, and X only.


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

    Project Period: Up to 12 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: This program is designed to support training 
centers that serve either a Federal region or another geographical area 
and provide for a broad integrated sequence of training activities that 
focus on meeting recurrent and common training needs of employed 
community rehabilitation program personnel throughout a multi-State 
geographical area.

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 709(a)(2) and 29 U.S.C. 772.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 84, 85, and 86. b) The regulations in 34 CFR parts 385 and 389.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except federally recognized Indian tribes.


    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of 
higher education only.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grant.
    Estimated Available Funds: $1,500,000.
    Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding $500,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The 
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register
    Estimated Range of Awards: $475,000-$500,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 3.

    Note: We are inviting applications for CFDA number 84.264B for 
Department of Education Regions II, IV, and X only.


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

    Project Period: Up to 12 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: States and public and nonprofit agencies 
and organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher 
education.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: The Secretary has determined that a 
grantee must provide a match of at least 10 percent of the total cost 
of the project (34 CFR 389.40).

    Note: Under 34 CFR 75.562(c), an indirect cost reimbursement on 
a training grant is limited to the recipient's actual indirect 
costs, as determined by its negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, 
or eight percent of a modified total direct cost base, whichever 
amount is less. Indirect costs in excess of the eight percent limit 
may not be charged directly, used to satisfy matching or cost-
sharing requirements, or charged to another Federal award.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Education Publications 
Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll 
free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 
1-877-576-7734.
    You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#54313024213627143d3a31207a31307a333b22"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d3b6b7a3a6b1a093babdb6a7fdb6b7fdb4bca5">[email protected]</span></a>.
    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.264B.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the Grants and Contracts 
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
room 5075, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2550.
    Telephone: (202) 245-7363. If you use a telecommunications device 
for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-
800-877-8339.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements 
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you 
must submit, are in the application package for this competition.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: March 6, 2007.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 5, 2007.
    Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted 
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For 
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your 
application electronically, or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify 
for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer 
to section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact 
the person listed under For Further Information Contact.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 4, 2007.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this competition.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under 
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify 
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the 
instructions in this section.

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    a. Electronic Submission of Applications. Applications for grants 
under the Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs--Community 
Rehabilitation Programs, CFDA Number 84.264B, must be submitted 
electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at http://www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy 
of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and 
submit your application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a 
grant application to us.
    We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format 
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of 
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no 
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written 
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these 
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that 
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in 
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the 
Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs-Community Rehabilitation 
Programs at http://www.Grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable 
application package for this program by the CFDA number. Do not include 
the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search for 84.264, 
not 84.264B).
    Please note the following:
    <bullet> When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site, as well as the hours of operation.
    <bullet> Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and 
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. 
Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your 
application if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system 
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline 
date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify 
you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and time 
stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date.
    <bullet> The amount of time it can take to upload an application 
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the 
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we 
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline 
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
    <bullet> You should review and follow the Education Submission 
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are 
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that 
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov 
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures 
pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
    <bullet> To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must 
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1) 
registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes 
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2) 
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization. 
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step 
Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf). You also must provide on your 
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please 
note that the registration process may take five or more business days 
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to 
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In 
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual 
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
    <bullet> You will not receive additional point value because you 
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your 
application in paper format.
    <bullet> You must submit all documents electronically, including 
all information you typically provide on the following forms: 
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the 
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have 
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
    <bullet> You must attach any narrative sections of your application 
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable 
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file 
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password-protected file, 
we will not review that material.
    <bullet> Your electronic application must comply with any page 
limit requirements described in this notice.
    <bullet> After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that 
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates 
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The 
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send 
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification 
indicates that the Department has received your application and has 
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified 
identifying number unique to your application).
    <bullet> We may request that you provide us original signatures on 
forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting 
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov 
Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support 
Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
    If you are prevented from electronically submitting your 
application on the application deadline date because of technical 
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension 
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to 
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand 
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing 
instructions as described elsewhere in this notice.
    If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed 
elsewhere in this notice under For Further Information Contact, and 
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with 
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will 
accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem 
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your 
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you

[[Page 9941]]

after a determination is made on whether your application will be 
accepted.

    Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply 
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the 
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed 
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before 
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem 
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.

    <bullet> Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You 
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, and 
may submit your application in paper format, if you are unable to 
submit an application through the Grants.gov system because--
    <bullet> You do not have access to the Internet; or
    <bullet> You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the Grants.gov system; and
    <bullet> No later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the 
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business 
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement 
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception 
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
    If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be 
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must 
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the 
application deadline date.
    Address and mail or fax your statement to: Christine Marschall, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5053, 
Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2800. FAX: (202) 245-6824.
    Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the 
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
    b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail. If you qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, you may mail 
(through the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier) your 
application to the Department. You must mail the original and two 
copies of your application, on or before the application deadline date, 
to the Department at the applicable following address:
    By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of 
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.264B), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260; or
    By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education, 
Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.264B),7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
    Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing 
consisting of one of the following:
    (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
    (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service.
    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
carrier.
    (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Education.
    If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do 
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
    (1) A private metered postmark.
    (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
    If your application is postmarked after the application deadline 
date, we will not consider your application.

    Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated 
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your 
local post office.

    c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery. If you 
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you 
(or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the 
Department by hand. You must deliver the original and two copies of 
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date, 
to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of 
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.264B), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza, 
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily 
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, 
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
    Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail 
or hand deliver your application to the Department--
    (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the 
Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number including suffix 
letter, if any of the competition under which you are submitting your 
application; and
    (2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a notification 
of receipt of your grant application. If you do not receive this 
notification within 15 business days from the application deadline 
date, you should call the U.S. Department of Education Application 
Control Center at (202) 245-6288.

V. Application Review Information

    Selection Criteria: In reviewing applications under this 
competition, the Secretary will use the selection criteria selected 
from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR. These are listed in the application 
package for this competition. The Secretary also will use the selection 
criterion in 34 CFR 389.30(a) to evaluate applications under this 
competition.

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award 
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report, including financial information, as directed 
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an 
annual performance report that provides the most current performance 
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 
34 CFR 75.118.
    4. Performance Measures: The Government Performance and Results Act 
of 1993 (GPRA) directs Federal departments and agencies to improve the 
effectiveness of their programs by engaging in strategic planning, 
setting outcome-related goals for programs, and measuring program 
results against those goals. The goal of the Rehabilitation Continuing 
Education Programs (RCEP)--Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education 
Programs (RRCEP)--Community Rehabilitation Programs is to upgrade the 
skills of personnel currently employed in private rehabilitation 
agencies and facilities that cooperate with State vocational

[[Page 9942]]

rehabilitation units in providing vocational rehabilitation and other 
rehabilitation services and personnel in centers for independent 
living. In order to measure the success of RRCEPs in meeting this goal, 
each RRCEP's cooperative agreement with the Rehabilitation Services 
Administration (RSA) requires the conduct of an evaluation of RRCEP 
training activities. Therefore, in annual performance reports RRCEPs 
are required to provide specific information on the number of training 
activities, the topics of each training program, the number of 
participants served, the target groups represented by participants, and 
summary data from participant evaluations. Performance measures 
established for the RRCEP are the percentage of training participants 
who report an increase in their knowledge, skills, and abilities and 
the percentage of training participants who report the training is 
relevant to their employment. These data allow RSA to measure results 
against the regional needs assessment conducted by the RRCEP and 
against the goal of upgrading the skills of personnel currently 
employed in CRPs that cooperate with State vocational rehabilitation 
units in providing vocational rehabilitation and other rehabilitation 
services and centers for independent living.

VII. Agency Contact

    For Further Information Contact: Christine Marschall, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 5053, Potomac 
Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2800. Telephone: (202) 245-7429 or 
by e-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#26654e544f55524f4843086b475455454e474a4a66434208414950"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5b18332932282f32353e75163a292838333a37371b3e3f753c342d">[email protected]</span></a>.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this 
section.

VIII. Other Information

    Electronic Access to This Document: You may 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) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/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.

    Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: March 1, 2007.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E7-3889 Filed 3-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P


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