Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules 15077 

fax to (202) 395–6974. You may also 

send a copy of these comments to the 

Department contact named in the 

ADDRESSES section of this preamble or 

submit electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov by selecting 

Docket ID number ED–2014–OPE–0037. 

Please be advised that the public 

comment period for submitting 

comments on the notice of proposed 

priorities (NPP) is the same for 

submitting comments on the 

information collection (IC); therefore, 

use the NPP Docket number as the 

identifier for both sets of comments. 

You may, however, submit the NPP 

comments and the IC comments 

separately in the regulations.gov site. 

We have prepared an ICR for this 

collection. In preparing your comments 

you may want to review the ICR, which 

is available at www.reginfo.gov. Click on 

Information Collection Review. This 

proposed collection is identified as 

proposed collection 1840–0808 ED– 

2014–OPE–0037. 

We consider your comments on this 

proposed collection of information in— 

• Deciding whether the proposed 

collection is necessary for the proper 

performance of our functions, including 

whether the information will have 

practical use; 

• Evaluating the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection, including the validity of our 

methodology and assumptions; 

• Enhancing the quality, usefulness, 

and clarity of the Information we 

collect; and 

• Minimizing the burden on those 

who must respond. 

This includes exploring the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques. 

OMB is required to make a decision 

concerning the collection of information 

contained in these proposed regulations 

between 30 and 60 days after 

publication of this document in the 

Federal Register. Therefore, to ensure 

that OMB gives your comments full 

consideration, it is important that OMB 

receives your comments by April 17, 

2014. This does not affect the deadline 

for your comments to us on the 

proposed regulations. 

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: March 13, 2014. 

Lynn B. Mahaffie, 

Senior Director, Policy Coordination, 

Development, and Accreditation Service, 

delegated the authority to perform the 

functions and duties of the Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education. 

[FR Doc. 2014–05937 Filed 3–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter VI 

[Docket No. ED–2014–OPE–0038; CFDA 

Number: 84.015A.] 

Proposed Priorities—National 

Resource Centers Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Proposed Priorities. 

SUMMARY: The Acting Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education 

proposes two priorities for the National 

Resource Centers (NRC) Program 

administered by the International and 

Foreign Language Education (IFLE) 

Office. The Acting Assistant Secretary 

may use these priorities for 

competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 

and later years. We take this action to 

focus Federal financial assistance on an 

identified national need. We intend the 

priority to address a gap in the types of 

institutions, faculty, and students that 

have historically benefitted from the 

instruction, training, and outreach 

available at national resource centers 

and to address a shortage in the number 

of teachers entering the teaching 

profession with international education 

and world language training 

certification and credentials. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before April 17, 2014. 

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 

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 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 the site?’’ 

• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, 

or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver 

your comments about these proposed 

regulations, address them to Patricia 

Barrett, U.S. Department of Education, 

400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142, 

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 

Washington, DC 20202–2700. 

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: 

Cheryl E. Gibbs. Telephone: (202) 502– 

7634 or by email: cheryl.gibbs@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 on these proposed 

priorities. To ensure that your 

comments have maximum effect in 

developing the final priorities, we urge 

you to identify clearly the specific 

priority that each comment addresses. 

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15078 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

We invite you to assist us in 

complying with the specific 

requirements of Executive Orders 12866 

and 13563 and their overall 

requirements of reducing regulatory 

burden that might result from these 

proposed priorities. 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 6083, 1990 K 

St. NW., 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 aid to 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 NRC 

Program provides grants to institutions 

of higher education or consortia of such 

institutions to establish, strengthen, and 

operate comprehensive and 

undergraduate foreign language and area 

or international studies centers that will 

be national resources for: (a) Teaching of 

any modern foreign language; (b) 

instruction in fields needed to provide 

full understanding of areas, regions, or 

countries in which the modern language 

is commonly used; (c) research and 

training in international studies and the 

international and foreign language 

aspects of professional and other fields 

of study; and (d) instruction and 

research on issues in world affairs that 

concern one or more countries. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1122. 

Applicable Program Regulations: 34 

CFR parts 655 and 656. 

Proposed Priorities: This notice 

contains two proposed priorities. 

Background: 

The NRC Program is authorized by 

section 602 of the Higher Education Act 

of 1965, as amended (HEA). Through 

this program, the Department makes 

awards to institutions of higher 

education, or consortia of institutions of 

higher education, to establish, 

strengthen, or operate nationally 

recognized foreign language and area or 

international studies centers or 

programs. Grant awards may be used to 

support undergraduate centers or 

comprehensive centers that provide 

training at undergraduate, graduate, and 

professional levels. 

The objective of the NRC Program is 

to increase the national capacity in 

world language instruction and 

learning, instruction and research on 

issues in world affairs, and instruction, 

outreach, and teacher training in fields 

needed to provide full understanding of 

areas, regions, or countries in which the 

world languages are used, among other 

allowable activities. 

We are proposing two priorities to 

address a gap in the types of 

institutions, faculty, and students that 

have historically benefitted from the 

instruction, training, and outreach 

available at national resource centers 

and to address a shortage in the number 

of teachers entering the teaching 

profession with international education 

and world language training 

certification and credentials. 

We first propose a priority for 

applications that propose collaborative 

activities with a Minority-Serving 

Institution (MSI) or a community 

college. Currently the National Resource 

Centers collaborate with MSIs and 

community colleges only ad hoc. This, 

however, limits the extent to which the 

instruction, training, and professional 

development resources are regularly 

available to and accessed by students 

and faculty at MSIs and community 

colleges. We believe that by requiring 

NRC institutions and MSIs and 

community colleges to jointly plan, 

conduct, and implement activities, the 

international programming, student 

instruction, career advising, and faculty 

development opportunities on all 

campuses will be strengthened and 

expanded. These collaborations also 

enhance institutional capacity to recruit 

students into international studies and 

foreign language training. 

Research data indicate that minority 

students are less likely to have access to, 

or consider academic programs that 

provide the requisite training for careers 

in international service, including study 

abroad and area studies. (Tillman, 

‘‘Diversity in Education Workshop 

Summary Report’’, September, 2010.) 

Among the barriers preventing these 

students from pursuing international 

studies are a lack of exposure to 

international opportunities, and lack of 

access to information, including 

information about international careers. 

(Belyavina and Bhandari, ‘‘Increasing 

Diversity in International Careers: 

Economic Challenges and Solutions’’, 

International Institute of Education, 

November 2011.) 

We believe that by specifying the 

types of institutional collaborations that 

the National Resource Centers must 

engage in, and the types of collaborative 

activities they must conduct, the 

activities are more likely both to have a 

meaningful and measurable effect on 

students and faculty at MSIs and 

community colleges and be 

institutionalized and sustained. We also 

believe that successful institutional 

collaborations of this nature will 

increase the access of traditionally 

underserved populations to 

opportunities for international and 

foreign language learning and the 

visibility of international and foreign 

language programs and activities on the 

campuses of MSIs and community 

colleges. For this priority, we propose a 

definition of ‘‘Minority-Serving 

Institution’’ that would include 

institutions eligible to receive assistance 

under §§ 316 through 320 of part A of 

Title III, under part B of Title III, or 

under Title V of the HEA. 

The Department would use this 

definition because both Title III and 

Title V programs target college student 

populations that are underrepresented 

in international education. The 

Department would like to increase the 

representation of these groups through 

collaborations between Title III/Title V 

institutions and Title VI institutions. 

Title III reflects our national interest 

to provide support to those institutions 

of higher education that serve lowincome and minority students so that 

equality of access and quality of 

postsecondary education opportunities 

may be enhanced for all students. Under 

the Title III, institutions may receive 

designation of eligibility depending on 

their submitted institutional evidence 

documenting their student demographic 

data. 

Title V targets Hispanic-Serving 

Institutions (HSIs) because of the high 

percentage of Hispanic Americans who 

are at risk of not enrolling in or 

graduating from institutions of higher 

education. The law was designed to 

reduce disparities between the 

enrollment of non-Hispanic white 

students and Hispanic students in 

postsecondary education, which 

continue to rise. 

Because the purpose of this priority to 

extend the reach of NRCs to institutions 

that have benefitted less from the 

instruction, training, and outreach the 

NRCs make available, we propose a 

definition of ‘‘community college’’ for 

use with this priority that is broader 

than the definition in the HEA. The 

definition of ‘‘junior or community 

college’’ in section 312(f) of the HEA (20 

U.S.C. 1058(f)) excludes institutions that 

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award bachelor’s and graduate degrees. 

For the purpose of this priority, we 

propose to include in the definition of 

‘‘community college’’ institutions that 

offer bachelor’s or graduate degrees if 

more than 50 percent of the degrees and 

certificates they award are degrees and 

certificates that are not bachelor’s or 

graduate degrees. We propose this 

definition to include institutions that 

serve significant numbers of students 

enrolled in programs traditionally 

offered by community colleges, such as 

associate degree and certificate 

programs. We propose a second priority 

for applicants that propose to 

collaborate with schools or colleges of 

education. This priority is designed to 

help address the shortage of qualified 

teachers who are trained, certified, and 

credentialed to teach world languages in 

kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) 

schools. The priority also is intended to 

contribute to an increase in the number 

of prospective teachers who have access 

to international courses, training, and 

cultural experiences that will help to 

enhance their instructional practice. A 

study commissioned by the National 

Research Council of the National 

Academies determined that the lack of 

international and global teacher 

preparation curricula and advanced 

language training programs represent 

major hurdles in addressing the current 

critical shortage of language teachers. 

The committee called for greater 

collaboration among schools of 

education and language, international, 

and area studies departments to provide 

better training for language teachers 

(International Education and Foreign 

Languages: Keys to Securing America’s 

Future, The National Academies Press, 

2007). 

One of the invitational priorities for 

the current FY 2010–2013 NRC grant 

cycle encourages the NRCs to 

collaborate with all professional schools 

on their campuses, including schools of 

business, law, public health, journalism, 

and education. We propose the second 

priority to focus specifically on 

collaborations with the college or school 

of education on the NRC campus. This 

targeted collaboration is designed to 

help provide future teachers with the 

training required to teach world 

languages and international studies 

courses. This cadre of teachers is vital 

to teaching students to live and work in 

a world with diverse peoples, languages, 

and cultures that are ever more 

interconnected. 

This priority both supports the 

teacher training purpose of the NRC 

Program and contributes to the vision 

for teaching and leading reflected in the 

Department’s Blueprint for Recognizing 

Educational Success, Professional 

Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching 

(RESPECT), which aims, among other 

things, to elevate and transform teaching 

and learning so that all students are 

prepared to meet the demands of the 

21st century. Research compiled during 

the preparation of the RESPECT 

blueprint concluded that students with 

effective teachers perform at higher 

levels, and have higher graduation rates, 

higher college-going rates, higher levels 

of civic participation, and higher 

lifetime earnings. The research also 

concluded that attracting a highperforming and diverse pool of talented 

individuals to become teachers is a 

critical priority (http://www2.ed.gov/

documents/respect/blueprint-forrespect.pdf). 

This priority would promote the 

increased integration of international, 

intercultural, and global perspectives in 

teacher education and would enhance 

the capabilities of teachers to provide 

instruction in foreign languages and 

international and area studies. 

The priorities are: Proposed Priority 1: 

Applications that propose significant 

and sustained collaborative activities 

with a Minority-Serving Institution 

(MSI) (as defined in this notice) or a 

community college (as defined in this 

notice). These activities must be 

designed to incorporate international, 

intercultural, or global dimensions into 

the curriculum of the MSI or 

community college, and to improve 

foreign language, area, and international 

studies or international business 

instruction on the MSI or community 

college campus. 

For the purpose of this priority: 

Community college means an 

institution that meets the definition in 

section 312(f) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 

1058(f)); or an institution of higher 

education (as defined in section 101 of 

the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1001)) that awards 

degrees and certificates, more than 50 

percent of which are not bachelor’s 

degrees (or an equivalent) or master’s, 

professional, or other advanced degrees. 

Minority-Serving Institution means an 

institution that is eligible to receive 

assistance under sections 316 through 

320 of part A of Title III, under part B 

of Title III, or under Title V of the HEA. 

Proposed Priority 2: Applications that 

propose collaborative activities with 

schools or colleges of education to 

support the integration of an 

international, intercultural, or global 

dimension and world languages into 

teacher education and to promote the 

preparation and credentialing of more 

foreign language teachers in less 

commonly taught languages. 

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)). 

Final Priorities: 

We will announce the final priorities 

in a notice in the Federal Register. We 

will determine the final priorities 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 one or more of these priorities 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 

proposed 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); 

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15080 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

(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 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 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 

administering the Department’s 

programs and activities. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

As part of its continuing effort to 

reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, the Department provides the 

general public and Federal agencies 

with an opportunity to comment on 

proposed and continuing collections of 

information in accordance with the PRA 

(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). The 

Department plans to revise the 

information collection for the NRC 

Program by including more detailed 

guidance to assist applicants in 

responding to the Impact and 

Evaluation selection criterion in 

§§ 656.21 and 656.22 of the NRC 

Program regulations and by requiring a 

new performance measure form (PMF). 

The PMF will require applicants to 

identify project goals and projectspecific measures for the NRC Program 

project they propose to conduct. 

Information will also be provided on 

how applicants, should they become 

grantees, will meet and report on the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act (GPRA) measures that have been 

developed for the NRC Program. 

The IFLE Office developed this PMF 

so that applicants may propose projects 

with high-quality implementation plans 

at the outset and will require them to 

lay a stronger foundation for reporting 

progress and performance results. 

Additionally, the form will provide the 

Department information that is more 

useful and valid in demonstrating to 

Congress and other stakeholders the 

impact of NRC projects. 

And finally, the PMF is designed to 

provide a standardized format that 

applicants can use to present 

performance information in their 

applications. The PMF requests the 

following: (a) Project goal statement; (b) 

Performance measure; (c) Project 

activity; (d) Data/Indices; (e) Frequency 

of collection; (f) Data source; and (g) 

Baseline and targets. 

We will also include in the 

information collection detailed 

guidance on how applicants can 

respond to the ‘‘Impact and Evaluation’’ 

criterion in a more comprehensive and 

compelling manner. 

In order to mitigate against a 

significant increase in respondent 

burden, applicants will be required to 

complete only items (a), (b), and (c) on 

the PMF when they submit their FY 

2014 grant applications. If the 

application is recommended for 

funding, we will require the submission 

of fully completed forms. 

We anticipate that the Impact and 

Evaluation narrative and the PMFs may 

result in some additional time 

requirements in the application 

preparation, but will reduce the total 

burden hours for performance reporting 

because the form is designed to facilitate 

data collection and reporting. We expect 

the new evaluation plan for this 

information collection will increase the 

applicant burden by an estimated 50 

hours per response for a total burden of 

450 hours per response. We believe that 

this additional time will improve the 

quality of the submitted applications 

and subsequently improve the 

application review, grant making, and 

performance reporting processes. When 

the awards are made, grantees will 

already be fully aware of the reporting 

requirements. 

If you want to comment on the 

proposed information collection 

requirements, please send your 

comments to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: 

Desk Officer for U.S. Department of 

Education. Send these comments by 

email to OIRA_DOCKET@omb.eop.gov 

or by fax to (202) 395–6974. You may 

also send a copy of these comments to 

the Department contact named in the 

ADDRESSES section of this preamble or 

submit electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov by selecting 

Docket ID ED–2014–OPE–0038. 

Please be advised that the public 

comment period for submitting 

comments on the notice of proposed 

priorities (NPP) is the same for 

submitting comments on the 

information collection (IC); therefore, 

use the NPP Docket number as the 

identifier for both sets of comments. 

You may, however, submit the NPP 

comments and the IC comments 

separately in the regulations.gov site. 

We have prepared an ICR for this 

collection. In preparing your comments 

you may want to review the ICR, which 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules 15081 

is available at www.reginfo.gov. Click on 

Information Collection Review. This 

proposed collection is identified as 

proposed collection 1840–0807 ED– 

2014–OPE–0038. 

We consider your comments on this 

proposed collection of information in— 

• Deciding whether the proposed 

collection is necessary for the proper 

performance of our functions, including 

whether the information will have 

practical use; 

• Evaluating the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection, including the validity of our 

methodology and assumptions; 

• Enhancing the quality, usefulness, 

and clarity of the Information we 

collect; and 

• Minimizing the burden on those 

who must respond. This includes 

exploring the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques. 

OMB is required to make a decision 

concerning the collection of information 

contained in these proposed regulations 

between 30 and 60 days after 

publication of this document in the 

Federal Register. Therefore, to ensure 

that OMB gives your comments full 

consideration, it is important that OMB 

receives your comments by April 17, 

2014. This does not affect the deadline 

for your comments to us on the 

proposed regulations. 

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: March 13, 2014. 

Lynn B. Mahaffie, 

Senior Director, Policy Coordination, 

Development, and Accreditation Service, 

delegated the authority to perform the 

functions and duties of the Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education. 

[FR Doc. 2014–05927 Filed 3–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter VI 

[Docket ID ED–2014–OPE–0035; CFDA 

Number: 84.015B.] 

Proposed Priority—Foreign Language 

and Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS) 

Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Proposed priority. 

SUMMARY: The Acting Assistant 

Secretary for Postsecondary Education 

proposes a priority for the FLAS 

Program administered by the 

International and Foreign Language 

Education (IFLE) Office. The Acting 

Assistant Secretary may use this priority 

for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 

and later years. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before April 17, 2014. 

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 

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 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 the site?’’ 

• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, 

or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver 

your comments about these proposed 

regulations, address them to Patricia 

Barrett, U.S. Department of Education, 

400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142, 

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 

Washington, DC 20202–2700. 

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: Kate 

Maloney. Telephone: (202) 502–7509 or 

by email: Kate.Maloney@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 

final priority, we urge you to identify 

clearly the part of the priority your 

comment addresses. 

We invite you to assist us in 

complying with the specific 

requirements of Executive Order 12866 

and 13563 and their overall requirement 

of reducing regulatory burden that 

might result from this proposed priority. 

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 comments about 

this notice in Room 6083, 1990 K St. 

NW., 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 aid to 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 FLAS Fellowships Program is to 

provide allocations of academic year 

and summer fellowships to institutions 

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