32168 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 13, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.224C]

Office of Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services; National

Institute on Disability and

Rehabilitation Research; Notice

Inviting Applications for Fiscal Year

(FY) 2001 for New Awards for the

Alternative Financing Program and a

Pre-Application Meeting

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for

fiscal year (FY) 2001 for new awards for

the Alternative Financing Program and

a pre-application meeting.

SUMMARY: We invite applications for

new grant awards for FY 2001 for the

Alternative Financing Program

authorized under title III of the Assistive

Technology Act of 1998 (AT Act).

Purpose of the Program: The

Alternative Financing Program (AFP)

created a new Federal program to pay a

share of the cost of the establishment or

expansion, and administration of, an

alternative financing program for

assistive technology (AT). We take this

action in order to award one year grants

or cooperative agreements to States and

outlying areas to establish or maintain

alternative financing projects to increase

access AT for individuals with

disabilities. Currently, major service

programs such as Medicaid, special

education, vocational rehabilitation, and

to a limited extent, Medicare, provide

AT devices and services for eligible

individuals. In some instances,

individuals with disabilities purchase

AT with private funds however, many

individuals and their families do not

have the necessary resources to obtain

the AT they need. Loan programs offer

individuals with disabilities attractive

options that significantly enhance their

access to AT.

This competition focuses on projects

designed to meet a priority that we have

chosen from allowable activities

specified in the program statute (see 34

CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v)) and sections 301–

305 of the Assistive Technology Act of

1998 (29 U.S.C. 3051–3055).

National Education Goals

The eight National Education Goals

focus the Nation’s education reform

efforts and provide a framework for

improving teaching and learning.

This notice addresses the National

Education Goal that every adult

American will be literate and will

possess the knowledge and skills

necessary to compete in a global

economy and exercise the rights and

responsibilities of citizenship.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: August 14, 2001.

Application Available: June 15, 2001.

Project Period: 12 months.

Estimated Number of Awards: 20.

Award Amount: Program minimum:

none; Program maximum: none.

Note: The total amount available in FY

2001 for the AFP is $14.7 million. We are no

longer required to award a minimum of

$500,000 to States, outlying areas are no

longer restricted to a maximum of $105,000,

nor are we required to distribute any

remaining funds among those States based on

population and density. In order for NIDRR

to have increased flexibility and to insure a

greater number of funding options within the

total allocation for this program, NIDRR

encourages applicants to submit and clearly

identify in the application, multiple and

alternative budgets. Applicants should

include the required matching funds and the

necessary materials for each of the different

amounts proposed.

Matching Requirement: The Federal

share of the cost of the Alternative

Financing Program must not be more

than 75 percent. Therefore, applicants

must match at least 25 percent of the

total program cost. A State is no longer

required to receive a minimum award of

$500,000; an outlying area is no longer

restricted to a maximum award of

$105,000. The State or outlying area

must provide the non-Federal share of

the cost of the AFP in cash, from State,

local, or private sources.

Background

Technical Assistance: In FY 2000,

NIDRR funded a technical assistance

project to provide information and

technical assistance to States and

outlying areas including assistance in

preparing applications for grants under

this Act. Applicants are encouraged to

contact RESNA at 703–524–6686 ext.

301 or through e-mail;

nmeidenbauer@resna.org for assistance

with their applications.

Eligible Applicants: Parties eligible to

apply for the AFP are States and

outlying areas that receive or have

received grants under the AT State

Grant Program (section 101 of the AT

Act).

Applicable Regulations: The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR),

34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 81, 82, 85, and

86.

Pre-Application Meeting: Interested

parties are invited to participate in a

pre-application meeting to discuss the

funding priorities for the AFP and to

receive technical assistance through

individual consultation and information

about the funding priority. The preapplication meeting will be held on July

10, 2001. You may attend either in

person or by conference call at the

Department of Education, Office of

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services, Switzer Building, Room 3065,

330 C St. SW, Washington, DC between

10:00 a.m. and 12 noon. NIDRR staff

will also be available at this location

from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on that same

day to provide technical assistance

through individual consultation and

information about the funding priority.

For further information or to make

arrangements to attend contact Donna

Nangle, Switzer Building, room 3414,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20202. Telephone (202)

205–5880. If you use a

telecommunication device for the deaf

(TDD), you may call (202) 205–4475.

Assistance to Individuals With

Disabilities at the Public Meetings

The meeting site is accessible to

individuals with disabilities, and a sign

language interpreter will be available. If

you need an auxiliary aid or service

other than a sign language interpreter in

order to participate in the meeting (e.g.,

other interpreting service such as oral,

cued speech, or tactile interpreter;

assistive listening device; or materials in

alternate format), notify the contact

person listed in this notice at least two

weeks before the scheduled meeting

date. Although we will attempt to meet

a request we receive after this date, we

may not be able to make available the

requested auxiliary aid or service

because of insufficient time to arrange

it.

Priority

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and

sections 301–305 of title III of the AT

Act, we consider only applications that

meet the priority. We will establish the

AFP in order to provide assistance to

States and to outlying areas so that

individuals with disabilities of all ages

and their family members, guardians,

advocates, and authorized

representatives will have increased

access to funding for AT devices and

services through alternative financing

mechanisms (loans). Consistent with

sections 301–305 of the Act, the

requirements are as follows:

(a) Each grantee must enter into a

contract with a community-based

organization (including a group of such

organizations), such as Centers for

Independent Living, that has

individuals with disabilities involved in

organizational decision making at all

organizational levels, to administer the

alternative-financing program. The

contract must: (1) Include a provision

requiring that the program funds,

including the Federal and non-Federal

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 13, 2001 / Notices 32169

shares of the cost of the program, be

administered in a manner consistent

with the provisions of this title; (2)

include provisions for oversight and

evaluation to protect Federal financial

interests; and (3) require the

community-based organization to enter

into a contract with a commercial

lending institution or State or outlying

area financing agency.

(b) Each grantee and any communitybased organization that enters into a

contract with the State or outlying area,

must submit, 12 months after receipt of

the fiscal year 2001 award, each of the

following policies, procedures, data,

and information: (1) A procedure to

review and process in a timely manner

requests for financial assistance for

immediate and potential technology

needs, including consideration of

methods to reduce paperwork and

duplication of effort, particularly

relating to need, eligibility, and

determination of the specific AT device

or service to be financed through the

project; (2) a policy and procedure to

assure that access to the AFP shall be

given to consumers regardless of type of

disability, age, income level, location of

residence in the State or outlying area,

or type of AT device or AT service for

which financing is requested through

the program; and (3) a procedure to

assure consumer-controlled oversight of

the program.

(c) Each grantee must provide the

following information: (1) The ratio of

funds provided by the State for the AFP

to funds provided by the Federal

Government; (2) the type of alternative

financing mechanism used and the

community-based organization with

which the State or outlying area entered

into a contract; (3) the following

information concerning each disabled

individual served by the project: The

amount of assistance, type of AT device

or AT service financed through the

project, type of disability, age, gender,

race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status,

primary language, geographic location

within the State or outlying area,

employment status, whether the

consumer is part of an underrepresented

population or rural population, and

whether the consumer tried to secure

financial support from other sources

and, if so, a description of those sources.

(d) Each grantee must provide one or

a combination of the following: (1) A

low-interest loan fund; (2) an interest

buy-down program; (3) a revolving loan

fund; (4) a loan guarantee or insurance

program; (5) a program operated by a

partnership among private entities for

the purchase, lease, or other acquisition

of AT devices or AT services; or (6)

another mechanism that meets the

requirements of this program and is

described in an application, peer

reviewed and approved by the

Department.

(e) Each grantee must provide

matching funds so that the Federal share

of the cost of the AFP is not more than

75 percent. A State is no longer required

to receive a minimum award of

$500,000; an outlying area is no longer

restricted to a maximum award of

$105,000; the State or outlying area

match must be at least 25 percent of the

total program cost.

(f) Each applicant must provide the

following assurances in its application:

(1) The State or outlying area will

provide the non-Federal share of the

cost of the AFP in cash, from State,

local, or private sources; (2) the State or

outlying area will continue the AFP

after Federal funding has terminated on

a permanent basis; (3) the State or

outlying area will provide information

describing the manner in which, the

program will expand and emphasize

consumer choice and control; (4) the

State or outlying area will supplement

and not supplant other Federal, State,

and local public funds expended to

provide any currently operating AFP in

the State or outlying area. The State or

outlying area must use new State-level

or outlying area-level funds to match the

Federal share. The State or outlying area

may not use existing spending, such as

Title I AT Act funds, that are used to

support an existing AFP, to match the

Federal grant; (5) the State or outlying

area will place all funds that support the

AFP, including funds repaid during the

life of the program, in a permanent

separate account, apart from any other

fund; (6) the State’s or outlying area’s

community-based organization will

invest funds in low-risk securities in

which a regulated insurance company

may invest under the law of the State or

the outlying area if the organization

administering funds invests funds

within this account; (7) the State’s or

outlying area’s community-based

organization will administer the funds

with the same judgement and care that

a person of prudence, discretion, and

intelligence would exercise in the

management of the financial affairs of

such person; (8) funds comprised of the

principal and interest from the State or

outlying area account for this activity

will be available to support the AFP; (9)

any interest or investment income that

accrues on or derives from such funds

after such funds have been placed under

the control of the organization

administering the AFP, but before those

funds are distributed for purposes of

supporting the program, will be the

property of the organization

administering the program; and (10) the

State or outlying area will limit the

indirect costs of the total amount

available for the AFP to 10 percent,

including both the Federal and State or

outlying area funds.

In addition, the project must:

(a) Provide in accessible formats

materials that can be used by potential

loan applicants and lending institutions

to obtain, share and disseminate

information on loan availability,

eligibility requirements and procedures

and general loan related updates;

(b) Coordinate and share information,

resources and with the State and

outlying area AT Act projects; and

(c) Conduct and submit to NIDRR and

the AFTAP an annual evaluation of its

activities using the data collection

instrument developed by the Alternative

Financing Technical Assistance Project.

Selection criteria: In evaluating an

application for a new grant under this

competition, we use selection criteria

chosen from the selection criteria in 34

CFR 75.210. The maximum score for all

criteria is 100 points. The selection

criteria to be used for this competition

will be provided in the application

package for this competition.

Application Procedures

Note: Some of the procedures in these

instructions for transmitting applications

differ from those in the Education

Department General Administrative

Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 75.102). Under

the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

553) the Department generally offers

interested parties the opportunity to

comment on proposed regulations. However,

these amendments make procedural changes

only and do not establish new substantive

policy. Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A),

the Secretary has determined that proposed

rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission

of Applications

The U.S. Department of Education is

expanding its pilot project of electronic

submission of applications to include

certain formula grant programs, as well

as additional discretionary grant

competitions. The Alternative Financing

Program—CFDA 84.224C is one of the

programs included in the pilot project.

If you are an applicant under the

Alternative Financing Program, you may

submit your application to us in either

electronic or paper format.

The pilot project involves the use of

the Electronic Grant Application System

(e-APPLICATION, formerly e-GAPS)

portion of the Grant Administration and

Payment System (GAPS). We request

your participation in this pilot project.

We shall continue to evaluate its

32170 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 13, 2001 / Notices

success and solicit suggestions for

improvement.

If you participate in this eAPPLICATION pilot, please note the

following:

• Your participation is voluntary.

• You will not receive any additional

point value or penalty because you

submit a grant application in electronic

or paper format.

• You can submit all documents

electronically, including the

Application for Federal Assistance (ED

424), Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all

necessary assurances and certifications.

• Fax a signed copy of the

Application for Federal Assistance (ED

424) after following these steps:

1. Print ED 424 from the eAPPLICATION system.

2. Make sure that the institution’s

Authorizing Representative signs this

form.

3. Before faxing this form, submit

your electronic application via the eAPPLICATION system. You will receive

an automatic acknowledgement, which

will include a PR/Award number (an

identifying number unique to your

application).

4. Place the PR/Award number in the

upper right hand corner of ED 424.

5. Fax ED 424 to the Application

Control Center within three working

days of submitting your electronic

application. We will indicate a fax

number in e-APPLICATION at the time

of your submission.

• We may request that you give us

original signatures on all other forms at

a later date.

You may access the electronic grant

application for the Alternative

Financing Program at: http://egrants.ed.gov.

We have included additional

information about the e-APPLICATION

pilot project (see Parity Guidelines

between Paper and Electronic

Applications) in the application

package.

For Applications Contact: 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 via its

Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/

edpubs.html or its E-mail address

(edpubs@inet.ed.gov). If you request an

application from ED Pubs, be sure to

identify this competition as follows:

CFDA number 84.224C.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain a copy of the application package

in an alternative format by contacting

the Grants and Contracts Services Team,

U.S. Department of Education, 400

Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3317,

Switzer Building, Washington, DC

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 205–

8351. If you use a telecommunications

device for the deaf (TDD), you may call

the Federal Information Relay Services

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339. However,

the Department is not able to reproduce

in an alternative format the standard

forms included in the application

package.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donna Nangle, U.S. Department of

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.,

room 3414, Switzer Building,

Washington, D.C. 20202–2645.

Telephone: (202) 205–5880. Individuals

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD) may call the TDD

number at (202) 205–4475. Internet:

Donna.Nangle@ed.gov.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternative

format (e.g., Braille, large print, or

computer diskette) on request to the

contact person listed in the preceding

paragraph.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may review this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or Adobe

Portable Document Format (PDF) on the

Internet at the following site:

www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.

To use PDF you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at the previous 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, D.C., 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.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html.

Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 3051–3058.

Dated: June 7, 2001.

Francis V. Corrigan,

Deputy Director, National Institute on

Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

[FR Doc. 01–14809 Filed 6–12–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P