27322 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 93 / Friday, May 14, 2010 / Notices 

If you use TDD, call the FRS, toll free, 

at 1–800–877–8339. 

VIII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document 

and a copy of the application package in 

an accessible 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, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll 

free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

Electronic Access to this Document: 

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) 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. 

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: May 11, 2010. 

Alexa Posny, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11607 Filed 5–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Capacity Building Program for 

Traditionally Underserved 

Populations—Technical Assistance for 

American Indian Vocational 

Rehabilitation Services Projects 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.406. 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Notice of final priority. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services announces a priority under the 

Capacity Building program for 

Traditionally Underserved Populations 

to fund a grant that will establish a 

training and technical assistance center 

to support the projects funded under the 

American Indian Vocational 

Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) 

program authorized under section 121 

of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). The Assistant Secretary 

may use this priority for competitions in 

fiscal year 2010 and later years. We take 

this action to improve the provision of 

vocational rehabilitation (VR) services 

to, and the employment outcomes of, 

American Indians with disabilities 

through the provision of training and 

technical assistance to projects funded 

under the AIVRS program. 

DATES: Effective Dates: This priority is 

effective June 14, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas Finch, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

Room 5147, Potomac Center Plaza 

(PCP), Washington, DC 20202–2800. 

Telephone: (202) 245–7343 or by e-mail: 

tom.finch@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), call the 

Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 

1–800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of Program: The Capacity 

Building Program for Traditionally 

Underserved Populations under section 

21(b)(2)(C) of the Act (29 U.S.C. 

718(b)(2)(C)) provides outreach and 

technical assistance to minority entities 

and American Indian tribes in order to 

enhance their capacity to carry out 

activities funded under the Act and to 

promote their participation in activities 

funded under the Act. 

Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 

718(b)(2)(C). 

We published a notice of proposed 

priority for this program in the Federal 

Register on November 12, 2009 (74 FR 

58260). That notice contained 

background information and our reasons 

for proposing the particular priority. 

Public Comment: In response to our 

invitation in the notice of proposed 

priority, six parties submitted comments 

on the proposed priority. 

Generally we do not address technical 

and other minor changes, or suggested 

changes the law does not authorize us 

to make under the applicable statutory 

authority. In addition we do not address 

general comments that raised concerns 

not directly related to the proposed 

priority. 

Analysis of Comments and Changes: 

An analysis of the comments received 

follows. 

Comment: Six commenters expressed 

concern regarding the adequacy of 

resources proposed to support the 

AIVRS technical assistance center (the 

AIVRS TA Center). Specifically, these 

commenters noted that the amount of 

funding proposed for the AIVRS TA 

Center is significantly less than the 

funding provided for the Regional 

Technical Assistance and Continuing 

Education (TACE) centers. They also 

questioned whether it was sufficient to 

fund a single center to serve 79 AIVRS 

grantees located in 25 States. In addition 

to concerns about the adequacy of 

funding, these commenters emphasized 

that the AIVRS TA Center will face 

geographic, cultural, linguistic, and 

resource challenges. 

Discussion: In the background 

discussion of the proposed AIVRS TA 

Center priority, the Department 

indicated that it plans to use American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 

funds in the amount of $1.4 million for 

one grantee over a five-year period, 

approximately $280,000 per year. We 

believe that this is a significant 

investment that will help AIVRS 

projects improve outcomes for 

American Indians with disabilities. 

We do not believe it is appropriate to 

compare the funding for the AIVRS TA 

Center with the funding provided to the 

TACE centers, because the scope of the 

services to be provided by the AIVRS 

TA Center is much narrower than the 

scope of services provided by the 10 

TACE centers. The AIVRS TA Center is 

designed to focus solely on AIVRS 

grantees’ specialized needs for 

assistance with program and financial 

management. Specifically, the AIVRS 

TA Center will provide training to 

AIVRS grantees on: (1) The principles, 

requirements, and practices that serve as 

the foundation of the VR process and 

service provision; (2) the application of 

Federal rules, regulations, and guidance 

applicable to the AIVRS program; and 

(3) appropriate financial management 

practices, including expending grant 

funds in a timely manner. In contrast, 

the purpose of the TACE centers is to 

provide a broad integrated sequence of 

training activities that focuses on 

meeting the recurring and common 

training needs of rehabilitation 

personnel in a Federal region or other 

large multi-State geographical area. 

For this reason, we believe it is not 

appropriate to compare the resources 

used to support the TACE centers with 

the resources the Department expects to 

use to support the AIVRS TA Center. 

Moreover, it is important to note that 

the work of the AIVRS TA Center will 

complement the services provided by 

the TACE centers, because AIVRS 

grantees are among the many State VR 

agency partners eligible to receive 

services from the TACE centers. 

Therefore, in addition to the specialized 

program and financial management 

assistance AIVRS grantees can receive 

through the AIVRS TA Center, they may 

be eligible to request technical 

assistance and continuing education 

services from the regional TACE centers. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 93 / Friday, May 14, 2010 / Notices 27323 

We also believe that the resources 

available to the AIVRS TA Center will 

be sufficient for it to provide its services 

to AIVRS grantees, despite the number 

of grantees and the geographic, cultural, 

and linguistic diversity of the projects 

funded under the AIVRS program. We 

anticipate that the AIVRS TA Center 

will provide training and technical 

assistance that is targeted to AIVRS 

grantees with a demonstrated need for 

training that focuses on the areas 

identified in the priority, rather than 

broadly disseminating training on 

generally applicable principles to all 

AIVRS grantees. Furthermore, the 

Department plans to use the cooperative 

agreement process to ensure that the 

AIVRS TA Center provides its training 

and technical assistance in a culturally 

appropriate manner to the AIVRS 

grantees its serves. 

Changes: None. 

Comment: Six commenters noted that 

training and technical assistance to be 

provided by the AIVRS TA Center must 

be delivered in a culturally appropriate 

manner to tribal VR directors and staff. 

Specifically, the commenters 

emphasized the need for the AIVRS TA 

Center to be under the control and 

direction of an organization that 

appreciates the complexity and 

diversity of Native American culture 

and that has a long-standing record of 

dealing with culturally diverse 

populations. 

Discussion: The Department 

recognizes the unique nature of the 

AIVRS programs. It is precisely for this 

reason that the Department is using the 

available ARRA funds to establish an 

AIVRS TA Center, which will focus 

solely on the technical assistance needs 

of AIVRS grantees. We agree that it is 

essential that the AIVRS TA Center 

deliver its training and technical 

assistance services in a culturally 

appropriate manner, and, therefore, we 

have added such a requirement to the 

priority. Moreover, the Department 

intends to award this grant as a 

cooperative agreement to ensure that 

there is substantial involvement, 

communication, and collaboration 

between the Department and the grantee 

in carrying out the activities of the 

center. Through this involvement, 

communication, and collaboration, we 

intend to ensure that the AIVRS TA 

Center fulfills the priority’s requirement 

of providing training and technical 

assistance to AIVRS personnel in a 

culturally appropriate manner. 

Changes: The Department has added 

language to the priority that requires the 

AIVRS TA Center, in coordination with 

the Department, to provide the listed 

training and technical assistance 

services in a culturally appropriate 

manner. 

Comment: Six commenters requested 

that the final priority allow the AIVRS 

TA Center to use its funds to support 

formal academic preparation (at the 

undergraduate and graduate levels) of 

existing personnel employed by AIVRS 

grantees. 

Discussion: The Department already 

sponsors both Long-Term and ShortTerm VR Training programs to prepare 

students and professional staff 

interested in careers in VR. Through 

these programs, AIVRS staff are eligible 

to apply for financial support available 

to individuals pursuing undergraduate 

or graduate degrees in a variety of VR 

specialties. As noted earlier in this 

notice, AIVRS staff may also receive 

training from the regional TACE centers, 

which are designed to serve State VR 

agencies and their partners by providing 

training activities that focus on meeting 

the recurrent and common training 

needs of employed rehabilitation 

personnel. 

Changes: None. 

Comment: Six commenters stated that 

there should be linkages between the 

existing TACE centers and the AIVRS 

TA Center in order to maximize 

available funding for technical 

assistance for AIVRS grantees and State 

VR agencies. 

Discussion: RSA has identified certain 

areas where AIVRS grantees require 

more intensive technical assistance and 

training than can be provided by the 

TACE centers. These areas include but 

are not limited to: understanding the 

principles, requirements, and practices 

that serve as the foundation of the VR 

process and services provision; 

understanding and applying Federal 

rules, regulations, and guidance 

applicable to the AIVRS program; and 

implementing appropriate financial 

management practices, including 

expending grant funds in a timely 

manner. While AIVRS grantees are 

included among the State VR agency 

partners eligible for the services 

provided by the TACE centers, the 

primary focus of the TACE centers is to 

improve the performance and 

compliance of State VR agencies. 

However, the TACE centers may be able 

to provide certain training and technical 

assistance to AIVRS grantees that would 

be beyond the narrow focus of the 

AIVRS TA Center, but within the scope 

of services the TACE centers provide. In 

order to ensure that the services of the 

AIVRS TA Center complement, and do 

not unnecessarily duplicate, the services 

potentially available to the AIVRS 

grantees from the TACE centers, the 

Department has added a requirement to 

the priority to address this concern. 

Changes: The Department has added, 

as one of the requirements of the AIVRS 

TA Center under the priority, that the 

AIVRS TA Center must collaborate with 

the regional TACE centers to ensure that 

the services provided by the AIVRS TA 

Center and the TACE centers 

complement, and do not unnecessarily 

duplicate, each other. 

Final Priority: 

The Assistant Secretary for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services 

establishes a priority to support a 

technical assistance center under 

section 21(b)(2)(C) of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973, as amended (the Act), to 

improve project management and the 

delivery of vocational rehabilitation 

(VR) services to American Indians with 

disabilities under the American Indian 

Vocational Rehabilitation Services 

(AIVRS) program (the AIVRS TA 

Center). The Department intends to 

award this grant as a cooperative 

agreement to ensure that there is 

substantial involvement (i.e., significant 

communication and collaboration) 

between the Rehabilitation Services 

Administration (RSA) and the grantee in 

carrying out the activities of the center. 

(34 CFR 75.200(b)(4)) 

In coordination with the Department, 

the AIVRS TA Center must, in a 

culturally appropriate manner— 

(1) Provide training and technical 

assistance to AIVRS grantees to improve 

their understanding of the principles, 

requirements, and practices that serve as 

the foundation of the VR process and 

VR service provision (e.g., the 

determination of eligibility, the 

development of individualized plans for 

employment, and the requirement to 

provide informed consumer choice); 

(2) Provide comprehensive training to 

AIVRS staff on the regulatory 

requirements and grants management 

practices that are necessary for the 

proper administration of AIVRS projects 

including, but not limited to, 

requirements found in 34 CFR parts 369 

and 371 and the Education Department 

General Administrative Regulations 

(EDGAR); 

(3) Provide comprehensive training on 

requirements and practices associated 

with fiscal management found in 

EDGAR, the cost principles of the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

Circular A–87, and general fiscal 

management practices; 

(4) Provide guidance on the need to 

utilize community resources and build 

relationships with State VR agencies in 

order to expand the range of the 

employment choices available for 

consumers and of the financial 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
27324 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 93 / Friday, May 14, 2010 / Notices 

resources projects can leverage in order 

to provide the services consumers need; 

(5) Provide training on how the 

AIVRS projects can improve inter- and 

intra-tribal communication regarding 

confidentiality and the development of 

cooperative agreements with State VR 

agencies and Federal entities (e.g., the 

Department of the Interior and the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs); 

(6) Provide technical assistance on 

methods associated with measuring 

project performance, including the 

development of goals, performance 

measures, and efficiency models, and on 

the reporting of performance data; 

(7) Identify other technical assistance 

and training needs of the AIVRS 

projects; 

(8) Provide technical assistance to 

AIVRS project directors that will allow 

them to develop the skills and capacity 

necessary to train AIVRS project staff 

themselves and build an infrastructure 

that sustains training and technical 

assistance for these projects; and 

(9) Collaborate with the regional 

TACE centers to ensure that the services 

provided by the AIVRS TA Center and 

the TACE centers complement, and do 

not unnecessarily duplicate, each other. 

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)). 

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 this priority, we invite applications 

through a notice in the Federal Register. 

Executive Order 12866: This notice 

has been reviewed in accordance with 

Executive Order 12866. Under the terms 

of the order, we have assessed the 

potential costs and benefits of this 

proposed regulatory action. 

The potential costs associated with 

this final regulatory action are those 

resulting from statutory requirements 

and those we have determined as 

necessary for administering this 

program effectively and efficiently. 

In assessing the potential costs and 

benefits—both quantitative and 

qualitative—of this final regulatory 

action, we have determined that the 

benefits of the final priority justify the 

costs. 

We have determined, also, that this 

final regulatory action does not unduly 

interfere with State, local, and tribal 

governments in the exercise of their 

governmental functions. 

We summarized the costs and benefits 

of this regulatory action in the notice of 

proposed priority. 

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 computer diskette) 

by contacting the Grants and Contracts 

Services Team, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll 

free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

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) 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. 

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: May 11, 2010. 

Alexa Posny, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11606 Filed 5–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

National Institute on Disability and 

Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)— 

Disability and Rehabilitation Research 

Projects and Centers Program— 

Disability Rehabilitation Research 

Project (DRRP)—International 

Exchange of Knowledge and Experts 

in Disability and Rehabilitation 

Research 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.133A–6. 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority for 

a DRRP. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services proposes a priority for the 

Disability and Rehabilitation Research 

Projects and Centers Program 

administered by NIDRR. Specifically, 

this notice proposes a priority for a 

DRRP. The Assistant Secretary may use 

this priority for a competition in fiscal 

year (FY) 2010 and later years. We take 

this action to focus research attention on 

areas of national need. We intend this 

priority to improve rehabilitation 

services and outcomes for individuals 

with disabilities. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before June 14, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about 

this notice to Marlene Spencer, U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Avenue, SW., Room 5133, Potomac 

Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202– 

2700. 

If you prefer to send your comments 

by e-mail, use the following address: 

marlene.spencer@ed.gov. You must 

include ‘‘Proposed Priority for a DRRP 

on International Exchange of Knowledge 

and Experts’’ in the subject line of your 

electronic message. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlene Spencer. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7532 or by e-mail: 

marlene.spencer@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), call the 

Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 

1–800–877–8339. 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES