43560 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 25, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

radio channel 13 (165.65 Mhz) and 

channel 16 (156.8 Mhz). 

(d) Enforcement Period: This 

regulation will be enforced starting at 

6 a.m. on September 5, 2012 through 

September 9, 2012, with inclement 

weather dates of September 10, 2012 

through September 14, 2012. 

Dated: July 13, 2012. 

John K. Little, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port Hampton Roads. 

[FR Doc. 2012–18125 Filed 7–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter III 

American Indian Vocational 

Rehabilitation Services Program; 

Proposed Waivers and Extensions of 

the Project Periods 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Proposed waivers and 

extensions. 

CFDA Number: 84.250J. 

SUMMARY: For 60-month projects 

initially funded in fiscal year (FY) 2007 

under the American Indian Vocational 

Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) 

Program, the Department proposes to 

waive the regulations that generally 

limit project periods to 60 months and 

that restrict project period extensions 

involving the obligation of additional 

Federal funds. The Department also 

proposes to extend the project period 

until September 30, 2013, for the AIVRS 

grantees whose awards are scheduled to 

expire on September 30, 2012. The 

proposed waivers and extensions would 

enable the eight AIVRS grantees in the 

FY 2007 funding cohort to request and 

continue to receive Federal funding 

beyond the 60-month limitation 

contained in the Department’s 

regulations, so long as the grantees are 

meeting the AIVRS program and other 

applicable requirements. Further, if the 

proposed waivers and extensions are 

made final, the Department would not 

announce a new competition in FY 2012 

or make new awards in FY 2012. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before August 24, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit all comments on 

this notice to August Martin, United 

States Department of Education, 400 

Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5049, 

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 

Washington, DC 20202–7241. 

If you prefer to send your comments 

by email, use the following address: 

august.martin@ed.gov. You must 

include the term ‘‘Proposed Waivers 

and Extensions for AIVRS’’ in the 

subject line of your message. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

August Martin. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7410, or by email: 

august.martin@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. We are particularly interested in 

comments on the effect these proposed 

waivers and extensions may have on the 

AIVRS program and on potential 

applicants for grant awards under any 

new AIVRS notice inviting applications, 

should there be one. 

Eligible applicants for AIVRS are the 

governing bodies of Indian tribes (and 

consortia of those governing bodies) 

located on Federal and State 

reservations. 

During and after the comment period, 

you may inspect all public comments 

about these proposed waivers and 

extensions for AIVRS in room 5105, 

(PCP), 550 12th Street 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 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 of proposed 

waivers and extensions. If you want to 

schedule an appointment for this type of 

aid, please contact the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Background 

The eight AIVRS grantees, selected 

based on the 2007 AIVRS notice inviting 

applications (2007 NIA) published on 

March 14, 2007 (72 FR 11851), provide 

vocational rehabilitation services to 

American Indians with disabilities who 

reside on or near Federal or State 

reservations as authorized by section 

121 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 

amended (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 741). 

The project period for the eight 

AIVRS grantees is scheduled to end 

September 30, 2012. Section 121(b)(3) of 

the Act provides that the Department 

has the authority to make an AIVRS 

grant effective for more than 60 months, 

pursuant to prescribed regulations. For 

these projects, the Department proposes 

to waive the requirements of 34 CFR 

75.250 and 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2), which 

limit project periods to 60 months and 

restrict project period extensions that 

involve the obligation of additional 

Federal funds. The Department also 

proposes to extend the project period for 

the eight AIVRS grantees from October 

1, 2012, through September 30, 2013. 

The proposed waivers and extensions 

would enable the eight AIVRS grantees 

to request and continue to receive 

Federal funds beyond the 60-month 

limitation set by 34 CFR 75.250. 

The Department makes this proposal, 

consistent with the Department’s 

commitment to excellence and 

continuous improvement, because a 

question was raised by the U.S. 

Government Accountability Office 

(GAO) in a report released on May 9, 

2012, concerning the Department’s 

practice for determining eligibility 

under the AIVRS program. The report is 

titled Federal Funding for NonFederally Recognized Tribes, GAO–12– 

348, and can be found on the GAO Web 

site at www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12- 

348. 

In the report, the GAO made a finding 

in which it noted that the Department’s 

interpretation of reservation used in 

determining eligibility under the AIVRS 

program raised substantial questions for 

GAO about the eligibility of Staterecognized tribes that are not located on 

State reservations, but rather are located 

on a defined and contiguous area of 

land where there is a concentration of 

tribal members and in which the tribe 

is providing structured activities and 

services, such as the tribal service areas 

identified in a tribe’s grant application. 

The GAO recommended that the 

Secretary review the Department’s 

practices with respect to eligibility 

requirements and take appropriate 

action with respect to grants made to 

tribes that do not have Federal or State 

reservations. 

In order to comply with the GAO’s 

recommendation, we believe it is 

advisable to maintain funding to 

existing AIVRS projects during the time 

period the Department is implementing 

the GAO recommendation and not to 

hold a new AIVRS competition in FY 

2012. The Department has determined 

that it is not advisable to announce a 

new competition under which entities 

would be expected to have the burden 

of proceeding through the application 

process while the Department reviews 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 25, 2012 / Proposed Rules 43561 

the eligibility requirements for this 

program. 

Instead, we believe it is preferable in 

administering the AIVRS program for 

the Department to review requests for 

continuation awards from the eight 

grantees based on the 2007 NIA and, 

where appropriate, extend the currentlyfunded projects through September 30, 

2013. The maintenance of the status quo 

while we conduct this review is in the 

public interest. 

If these proposed waivers and 

extensions are made final for the eight 

AIVRS grantees selected based on the 

2007 NIA, we will base our decisions 

regarding annual continuation awards 

on the program narratives, budgets, 

budget narratives, and program 

performance reports submitted by these 

eight AIVRS grantees, and on the 

requirements in 34 CFR 75.253. Any 

activities to be carried out during the 

year of continuation awards would have 

to be consistent with, or be a logical 

extension of, the scope, goals, and 

objectives of each grantee’s application, 

as approved following the 2007 AIVRS 

competition. If we publish the proposed 

waivers and extensions as final, we 

would award continuation grants to 

each grantee that is making substantial 

progress performing its AIVRS grant 

activities. 

The proposed waivers of 34 CFR 

75.250 and 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2) and 

extensions of the project periods, would 

not exempt the eight AIVRS grantees 

from the appropriation account-closing 

provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1552(a), nor 

would they extend the availability of 

funds previously awarded to the eight 

AIVRS grantees past the five years 

provided for in 31 U.S.C. 1552(a). Under 

31 U.S.C. 1552(a), appropriations 

available for a limited period may be 

used for payment of valid obligations for 

only five years after the expiration of 

their period of availability for Federal 

obligation. After that time, the 

unexpended balance of those funds is 

canceled and returned to the U.S. 

Treasury Department and is unavailable 

for restoration for any purpose (31 

U.S.C. 1552(b)). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

The Department certifies that the 

proposed waivers and extensions would 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. 

The small entities that would be 

affected by these proposed waivers and 

extensions are the eight grantees 

selected based on the 2007 NIA 

currently receiving Federal funds and 

any other potential applicant for the 

estimated 8 or 9 awards for which there 

would have been a competition. 

The Department certifies that the 

proposed waivers and extensions would 

not have a significant economic impact 

on these entities because the proposed 

waivers and extensions impose minimal 

compliance costs to extend projects 

already in existence, and the activities 

required to support the additional year 

of funding would not impose additional 

regulatory burdens or require 

unnecessary Federal supervision. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

This notice of proposed waivers and 

extensions does not contain any 

information collection requirements. 

Intergovernmental Review: The 

AIVRS program is not subject to 

Executive Order 12372 and the 

regulations in 34 CFR part 79. 

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 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 this 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: July 19, 2012. 

Alexa Posny, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–18078 Filed 7–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 111 

Proposed Eligibility Criteria for Bound 

Printed Matter Parcels 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is 

considering the adoption of a new 

criterion for eligibility of Bound Printed 

Matter (BPM) parcels by adding a 

physical density threshold for 

individual mailpieces. 

DATES: Comments on this advance 

notice are due September 10, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written 

comments to the manager, Product 

Classification, U.S. Postal Service, 475 

L’Enfant Plaza SW., Room 4446, 

Washington, DC 20260–5015. You may 

inspect and photocopy all written 

comments at USPS® Headquarters 

Library, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW., 11th 

Floor North, Washington, DC, by 

appointment only between the hours of 

9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday. Call 1–202–268–2906 in 

advance for an appointment. Email 

comments, containing the name and 

address of the commenter, may be sent 

to: MailingStandards@usps.gov, with a 

subject line of ‘‘New Eligibility for BPM 

Parcels.’’ Faxed comments are not 

accepted. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kayla Dobbs at 202–268–6753, or Wm. 

Kevin Gunther at 202–268–7208. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BPM 

parcels is an economical ground-based 

product containing qualifying bound 

printed matter, weighing no more than 

15 pounds and requiring postage 

payment by permit imprint. BPM is 

primarily used by commercial shippers 

who do not require expedited delivery. 

This product is not available for 

purchase at Post OfficeTM retail units 

and is not typically used by nonbusiness mailers. 

Statutory requirements under title 39, 

U.S. Code, require that each class of 

mail or type of mail service bear the 

direct and indirect costs attributable to 

that class or service. In this regard, the 

Postal Service expenses related to the 

BPM parcel product continues to exceed 

the revenues generated by its sales. In 

fiscal year 2011, BPM parcels realized a 

98.8% cost coverage. 

Greater efficiency in the packaging of 

BPM parcels will provide for more 

expedient handling of BPM parcels and 

will contribute to the cost coverage of 

the BPM product. To that end, the 

Postal Service is considering the 

implementation of a new minimum 

mailpiece density requirement for BPM 

parcels, with an effective date targeted 

for July, 2013. 

Less densely prepared parcels also 

tend to result in a higher incidence of 

conveyance problems on automated 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS