20878 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 81 / Thursday, April 27, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Foreign Language Assistance Grants

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of final priority for fiscal

year (FY) 1995.

SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a

priority for FY 1995 under the Foreign

Language Assistance Grants program

authorized under part B of title VII of

the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act of 1965, as amended (the

Act). The Secretary establishes a

competitive priority to encourage

programs that provide instruction in

languages that are of major economic or

political importance to the United

States, but seldom taught in schools.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This priority takes effect

on May 30, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ursula Lord, U.S. Department of

Education, 600 Independence Ave.,

SW., Room 5090, Switzer Building,

Washington, D.C. 20202–6510.

Telephone: (202) 205–5709. Individuals

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8

p.m., Eastern time, Monday through

Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under

section 7203 of the Act, the Foreign

Language Assistance Grants program

provides grants to State educational

agencies or local educational agencies to

pay the Federal share of the cost of

innovative model programs providing

for the establishment, improvement, or

expansion of foreign language study for

elementary and secondary school

students.

The Senate Committee on

Appropriations noted that three-fourth’s

of the world’s population, including

some major United States trading

partners, speak Japanese, Chinese,

Russian, Arabic, or Korean. S. REP. No.

318, 103d Cong. 2d. Sess. 187 (1994). In

addition, the Committee pointed out

that these languages are seldom offered

in our schools and that truly effective

language training must begin in the

elementary grades. As a consequence,

the Committee directed the Department

of Education to give funding priority to

projects that begin teaching foreign

languages in the elementary grades,

with the primary focus on the less

commonly taught languages such as

Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, or

Korean.

The Secretary is implementing the

directive of the Committee by giving an

application that meets the competitive

priority an additional five points.

Note: This notice of final priority does not

solicit applications. A notice inviting

applications under this competition for FY

1995 is published in a separate notice in this

issue of the Federal Register.

Priority

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) the

Secretary gives preference to

applications that meet the following

competitive priority. The Secretary

awards 5 points to an application that

meets this competitive priority in a

particularly effective way. These points

would be in addition to any points the

application earns under the selection

criteria for the program:

Projects that propose to establish,

improve, or expand foreign language

learning in the elementary grades and

that focus on Japanese, Chinese,

Russian, Arabic, and Korean.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

In accordance with the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

553), it is the practice of the Department

of Education to offer interested parties

the opportunity to comment on

proposed priorities. However, in order

to make timely grant awards in FY 1995,

the Secretary, in accordance with

section 437(d)(1) of the General

Education Provisions Act, has decided

to issue this final priority, which will

apply only to the FY 1995 grant

competition.

Executive Order 12866

This notice of final priority has been

reviewed in accordance with Executive

Order 12866. Under the terms of the

order, the Secretary has assessed the

potential costs and benefits of this

regulatory action.

The potential costs associated with

the notice of final priority are those

resulting from statutory requirements

and those determined by the Secretary

as necessary for administering this

program effectively and efficiently.

In assessing the potential costs and

benefits—both quantitative and

qualitative—of this notice of final

priority, the Secretary has determined

that the benefits of the final priority

justify the costs.

The Secretary has also determined

that this regulatory action does not

unduly interfere with State, local, and

tribal governments in the exercise of

their governmental functions.

Intergovernmental Review

This program is subject to the

requirements of Executive Order 12372

and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.

The objective of the Executive order is

to foster an intergovernmental

partnership and a strengthened

federalism by relying on processes

developed by State and local

governments for coordination and

review of proposed Federal financial

assistance.

In accordance with the order, this

document is intended to provide early

notification of the Department’s specific

plans and actions for this program.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7425.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.293A Foreign Language

Assistance Grants.)

Dated: April 11, 1995.

Eugene E. Garcia,

Director, Office of Bilingual Education and

Minority Languages Affairs.

[FR Doc. 95–10321 Filed 4–26–95; 8:45 am]

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