52084 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Notices 

(Authority: 35 U.S.C. 207, 37 CFR Part 404.) 

Dated: August 25, 2005. 

I.C. Le Moyne Jr., 

Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 

U.S. Navy, Alternate Federal Register Liaison 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 05–17409 Filed 8–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services; Overview 

Information; Technology and Media 

Services for Individuals With 

Disabilities—Steppingstones of 

Technology Innovation for Children 

With Disabilities; Notice Inviting 

Applications for New Awards for Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2006 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.327A. 

Note: This notice includes one priority 

with two phases, and funding information for 

each phase of the competition. 

Dates: Applications Available: 

September 1, 2005. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: See the chart in section II. 

Award Information section in this 

notice (Chart). 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: See Chart. 

Eligible Applicants: State educational 

agencies (SEAs); local educational 

agencies (LEAs); public charter schools 

that are LEAs under State law; 

institutions of higher education (IHEs); 

other public agencies; private nonprofit 

organizations; outlying areas; freely 

associated States; Indian tribes or tribal 

organizations; and for-profit 

organizations. 

Estimated Available Funds: The 

Administration has requested 

$31,992,000 for the Technology and 

Media Services for Individuals with 

Disabilities program for FY 2006, of 

which we intend to use an estimated 

$3,000,000 for the Steppingstones of 

Technology Innovation for Children 

with Disabilities competition. The 

actual level of funding, if any, depends 

on final congressional action. However, 

we are inviting applications to allow 

enough time to complete the grant 

process if Congress appropriates funds 

for this program. 

Funding information regarding each 

phase of the priority is listed in the 

Chart. 

Maximum Award: Phase 1: $200,000 

and Phase 2: $300,000. We will reject 

any application that proposes a budget 

exceeding the maximum award for a 

single budget period of 12 months. The 

Assistant Secretary for the Office of 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services may change the maximum 

amount through a notice published in 

the Federal Register. 

Estimated Range of Awards: See 

Chart. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards: 

See Chart. 

Estimated Number of Awards: See 

Chart. 

Project Period: See Chart. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The purpose of 

the program is to: (1) Improve results for 

children with disabilities by promoting 

the development, demonstration, and 

use of technology, (2) support 

educational media services activities 

designed to be of educational value in 

the classroom setting to children with 

disabilities, and (3) provide support for 

captioning and video description that is 

appropriate for use in the classroom 

setting. 

Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 

75.105(b)(2)(iv) and (v), this priority is 

from allowable activities specified in 

the statute, or otherwise authorized in 

the statute (see sections 674 and 681(d) 

of the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (IDEA)). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2006 this 

priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only 

applications that meet this priority. 

This priority is: 

Technology and Media Services for 

Individuals With Disabilities—

Steppingstones of Technology 

Innovation for Children With 

Disabilities 

Applicants must—

(a) Describe a technology-based 

approach for improving the results of 

early intervention, response-tointervention assessment techniques, or 

preschool, elementary, middle school, 

or high school education for children 

with disabilities. The technology-based 

approach must be an innovative 

combination of new technology and 

additional materials and methodologies 

that enable the technology to improve 

educational, assessment, or early 

intervention results for children with 

disabilities; 

(b) Present a justification, based on 

scientifically rigorous research or 

theory, that supports the potential 

effectiveness of the technology-based 

approach for improving the results of 

education, assessment, or early 

intervention for children with 

disabilities. Results studied under this 

priority must focus on child outcomes, 

rather than on parent or professional 

outcomes. Child outcomes can include 

improved academic or pre-academic 

skills, improved behavioral or social 

functioning, improved functional 

performance, etc., provided that valid 

and reliable measurement instruments 

are employed to assess the outcomes. 

Technology-based approaches intended 

for use by professionals or parents are 

not appropriate for funding under this 

priority unless child-level benefits are 

clearly demonstrated. Technology-based 

approaches for professional 

development will not be funded under 

this priority; 

(c) Provide a detailed plan for 

conducting work in one of the following 

two phases: 

(1) Phase 1—Development: Projects 

funded under Phase 1 must develop and 

refine a technology-based approach, and 

test its feasibility for use with children 

with disabilities. Activities under Phase 

I of the priority may include 

development, adaptation, and 

refinement of technology, materials, or 

methodologies. Activities under Phase 1 

of the priority must include formative 

evaluation of usability and feasibility. 

The primary product of a project funded 

under Phase 1 should be a promising 

technology-based approach that is 

suitable for field-based evaluation of 

effectiveness in improving results for 

children with disabilities. 

(2) Phase 2—Research on 

Effectiveness: Projects funded under 

Phase 2 must select a promising 

technology-based approach that has 

been developed and tested in a manner 

consistent with the criteria for activities 

funded under Phase 1, and subject the 

approach to rigorous field-based 

research to determine effectiveness in 

educational or early intervention 

settings. Approaches studied through 

projects funded under Phase 2 may have 

been developed with previous funding 

under Phase 1 of this priority or with 

funding from other sources. Phase 2 of 

this priority is primarily intended to 

produce sound research-based evidence 

that demonstrates the approach can 

improve educational or early 

intervention results for children with 

disabilities in a defined range of real 

world contexts. 

Projects funded under Phase 2 of this 

priority must conduct research that 

poses a causal question and must 

employ randomized assignment to 

treatment and comparison conditions, 

unless a strong justification is made for 

why a randomized trial is not possible. 

If a randomized trial is not possible, the 

applicant must employ alternatives that 

substantially minimize selection bias or 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Notices 52085 

allow it to be modeled. These 

alternatives include appropriately 

structured regression-discontinuity 

designs and natural experiments in 

which naturally occurring 

circumstances or institutions (perhaps 

unintentionally) divide people into 

treatment and comparison groups in a 

manner akin to purposeful random 

assignment. In their applications, 

applicants proposing to use an 

alternative system must (1) make a 

compelling case that randomization is 

not possible, and (2) describe in detail 

how the procedures will result in 

substantially minimizing the effects of 

selection bias on estimates of effect size. 

Choice of randomizing unit or units 

(e.g., students, classrooms, schools) 

must be grounded in a theoretical 

framework. Observational, survey, or 

qualitative methodologies may 

complement experimental 

methodologies to assist in the 

identification of factors that may 

explain the effectiveness or 

ineffectiveness of the approach. 

Applications must provide research 

designs that permit the identification 

and assessment of factors impacting the 

fidelity of implementation. Mediating 

and moderating variables that are both 

measured in the practice or model 

condition and are likely to affect 

outcomes in the comparison condition 

must be measured in the comparison 

condition (e.g., student time-on-task, 

teacher experience, and time in 

position). 

Projects funded under Phase 2 of this 

priority must conduct research that is of 

sufficient power to provide convincing 

evidence of the effectiveness or 

ineffectiveness of the technology-based 

approach under study, at least within a 

defined range of settings. Applicants 

must provide documentation that 

available sample sizes, methodologies, 

and treatment effects are likely to result 

in conclusive findings regarding the 

effectiveness of the technology-based 

approach; 

(d) Provide a plan for forming 

collaborative relationships with vendors 

and/or other dissemination or marketing 

resources to ensure that the technologybased approach is widely available if 

sufficient evidence of effectiveness has 

been obtained. Applicants should 

document the availability and/or 

participation of dissemination or 

marketing resources. Applicants are 

encouraged to plan these collaborative 

relationships early in their projects, 

even in Phase 1 (if applicable), but 

should refrain from widespread 

dissemination to practitioners until 

evidence of effectiveness has been 

obtained; 

(e) Budget for the project director to 

attend an annual two-day Project 

Directors’ meeting in Washington, DC, 

and another annual two-day trip to 

Washington, DC to collaborate with the 

Federal project officer and the other 

projects funded under this priority to 

share information, and discuss findings 

and methods of dissemination; and 

(f) If the project maintains a Web site, 

include relevant information and 

documents in a format that meets a 

government or industry-recognized 

standard for accessibility. If the project 

produces instructional materials for 

dissemination, it must produce them in 

accessible formats, including complying 

with the National Instructional 

Materials Accessibility Standard 

(NIMAS) for textual materials. 

Within this absolute priority, we 

intend to fund at least two projects led 

by a project director or principal 

investigator in the initial phase of his or 

her career. For purposes of this priority, 

the initial phase of an individual’s 

career is considered to be the first three 

years after the individual completes and 

graduates from a doctoral program (i.e., 

for FY 2006 awards, projects may 

support individuals who completed and 

graduated from a doctoral program no 

earlier than the 2003–2004 academic 

year). To qualify for this consideration, 

the applicant must explicitly state and 

document that the project director or 

principal investigator is in the initial 

phase of his or her career. At least 50 

percent of the initial career researcher’s 

time must be devoted to the project. 

Within this absolute priority, we also 

intend to fund at least two projects 

focusing on technology-based 

approaches for children with 

disabilities, ages birth to age 3, and to 

fund at least two projects focusing on 

technology-based approaches to 

response-to-intervention assessment 

techniques. 

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: 

Under the Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department 

generally offers interested parties the 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

priorities. However, section 681(d) of 

the IDEA makes the public comment 

requirements of the APA inapplicable to 

the priority in this notice. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1474 and 

1481. 

Applicable Regulations: The 

Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 

84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99. 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 

apply to all applicants except federally 

recognized Indian tribes. 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 

apply to IHEs only. 

II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Discretionary grants. 

Estimated Available Funds: The 

Administration has requested 

$31,992,000 for the Technology and 

Media Services for Individuals with 

Disabilities program for FY 2006, of 

which we intend to use an estimated 

$3,000,000 for the Steppingstones of 

Technology Innovation for Children 

with Disabilities competition. The 

actual level of funding, if any, depends 

on final congressional action. However, 

we are inviting applications to allow 

enough time to complete the grant 

process if Congress appropriates funds 

for this program. 

Maximum Award: Phase 1: $200,000 

and Phase 2: $300,000. We will reject 

any application that proposes a budget 

exceeding the maximum award for a 

single budget period of 12 months. The 

Assistant Secretary for the Office of 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services may change the maximum 

amount through a notice published in 

the Federal Register. 

STEPPINGSTONES OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES APPLICATION NOTICE FOR FISCAL

YEAR 2006 

CFDA number and name 

Deadline for 

transmittal of 

applications 

Deadline for 

intergovernmental review 

Estimated 

available funds 

Estimated 

range of 

awards 

Estimated average size of 

awards 

Estimated 

number of 

awards 

84.327A—Steppingstones of Technology 

Innovation for Children with Disabilities: 

Phase 1—Development ........................... 10/18/2005 12/17/2005 $1,200,000 $100,000–

$200,000 

$200,000 6 

52086 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Notices 

STEPPINGSTONES OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES APPLICATION NOTICE FOR FISCAL

YEAR 2006—Continued 

CFDA number and name 

Deadline for 

transmittal of 

applications 

Deadline for 

intergovernmental review 

Estimated 

available funds 

Estimated 

range of 

awards 

Estimated average size of 

awards 

Estimated 

number of 

awards 

Phase 2—Research on Effectiveness ..... 10/18/2005 12/17/2005 1,800,000 200,000–

300,000 

300,000 6 

Project Period: Projects funded under 

Phase 1 will be funded for up to 24 

months. Projects funded under Phase 2 

will be funded for up to 24 months 

unless a compelling rationale is 

provided for funding up to 36 months. 

Note: The Department of Education is not 

bound by any estimates in this notice. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs; LEAs; 

public charter schools that are LEAs 

under State law; IHEs; other public 

agencies; private nonprofit 

organizations; outlying areas; freely 

associated States; Indian tribes or tribal 

organizations; and for-profit 

organizations. 

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This 

competition does not involve cost 

sharing or matching. 

3. Other: General Requirements—(a) 

The projects funded under this 

competition must make positive efforts 

to employ and advance in employment 

qualified individuals with disabilities 

(see section 606 of the IDEA). 

(b) Applicants and grant recipients 

funded under this competition must 

involve individuals with disabilities or 

parents of individuals with disabilities 

ages birth through 26 in planning, 

implementing, and evaluating the 

projects (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of the 

IDEA). 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Address to Request Application 

Package: 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 at its 

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

edpubs.html or you may contact ED 

Pubs at 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 

84.327A. 

Individuals with disabilities may 

obtain a copy of the application package 

in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, 

large print, audiotape, or computer 

diskette) by contacting the Grants and 

Contracts Services Team listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in 

section VII of this notice. 

2. Content and Form of Application 

Submission: Requirements concerning 

the content of an application, together 

with the forms you must submit, are in 

the application package for this 

competition. 

Page Limit: The application narrative 

(Part III of the application) is where you, 

the applicant, address the selection 

criteria that reviewers use to evaluate 

your application. You must limit Part III 

to the equivalent of no more than 50 

pages, using the following standards: 

• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5′′ x 11′′, on one side 

only, with 1′′ margins at the top, bottom, 

and both sides. 

• Double space (no more than three 

lines per vertical inch) all text in the 

application narrative, including titles, 

headings, footnotes, quotations, 

references, and captions, as well as all 

text in charts, tables, figures, and 

graphs. 

• Use a font that is either 12 point or 

larger or no smaller than 10 pitch 

(characters per inch). 

The page limit does not apply to Part 

I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget 

section, including the narrative budget 

justification; Part IV, the assurances and 

certifications; the one-page abstract, the 

resumes, the bibliography, the 

references, or the letters of support. 

However, you must include all of the 

application narrative in Part III. 

We will reject your application if—

• You apply these standards and 

exceed the page limit; or 

• You apply other standards and 

exceed the equivalent of the page limit. 

3. Submission Dates and Times: 

Applications Available: September 1, 

2005. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: See Chart. 

Applications for grants under this 

competition may be submitted 

electronically using the Grants.gov 

Apply site (Grants.gov), or in paper 

format by mail or hand delivery. For 

information (including dates and times) 

about how to submit your application 

electronically, or by mail or hand 

delivery, please refer to section IV. 6. 

Other Submission Requirements in this 

notice. 

We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the deadline 

requirements. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: See Chart. 

4. Intergovernmental Review: This 

program is subject to Executive Order 

12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 

part 79. Information about 

Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs under Executive Order 12372 

is in the application package for this 

competition. 

5. Funding Restrictions: We reference 

regulations outlining funding 

restrictions in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

6. Other Submission Requirements: 

Applications for grants under this 

competition may be submitted 

electronically or in paper format by mail 

or hand delivery. 

a. Electronic Submission of 

Applications. 

We have been accepting applications 

electronically through the Department’s 

e-Application system since FY 2000. In 

order to expand on those efforts and 

comply with the President’s 

Management Agenda, we are continuing 

to participate as a partner in the new 

government wide Grants.gov Apply site 

in FY 2006. Steppingstones of 

Technology Innovation for Children 

with Disabilities-CFDA Number 

84.327A is one of the competitions 

included in this project. We request 

your participation in Grants.gov. 

If you choose to submit your 

application electronically, you must use 

the Grants.gov Apply site at http:// 

www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you 

will be able to download a copy of the 

application package, complete it offline, 

and then upload and submit your 

application. You may not e-mail an 

electronic copy of a grant application to 

us. 

You may access the electronic grant 

application for the Steppingstones of 

Technology Innovation for Children 

with Disabilities-CFDA Number 

84.327A competition at: http:// 

www.grants.gov. You must search for 

the downloadable application package 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Notices 52087 

for this program by the CFDA number. 

Do not include the CFDA number’s 

alpha suffix in your search. 

Please note the following: 

• Your participation in Grants.gov is 

voluntary. 

• When you enter the Grants.gov site, 

you will find information about 

submitting an application electronically 

through the site, as well as the hours of 

operation. 

• Applications received by Grants.gov 

are time and date stamped. Your 

application must be fully uploaded and 

submitted, and must be date/time 

stamped by the Grants.gov system no 

later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC 

time, on the application deadline date. 

Except as otherwise noted in this 

section, we will not consider your 

application if it is date/time stamped by 

the Grants.gov system later than 4:30 

p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date. When we 

retrieve your application from 

Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are 

rejecting your application because it 

was date/time stamped by the 

Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., 

Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date. 

• The amount of time it can take to 

upload an application will vary 

depending on a variety of factors 

including the size of the application and 

the speed of your Internet connection. 

Therefore, we strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the application 

process through Grants.gov. 

• You should review and follow the 

Education Submission Procedures for 

submitting an application through 

Grants.gov that are included in the 

application package for this competition 

to ensure that you submit your 

application in a timely manner to the 

Grants.gov system. You can also find the 

Education Submission Procedures 

pertaining to Grants.gov at http://eGrants.ed.gov/help/ 

GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf. 

• To submit your application via 

Grants.gov, you must complete the steps 

in the Grants.gov registration process 

(see http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted) 

and provide on your application the 

same D–U–N–S Number used with this 

registration. Please note that the 

registration process may take five or 

more business days to complete. 

• You will not receive additional 

point value because you submit your 

application in electronic format, nor 

will we penalize you if you submit your 

application in paper format. 

• You may submit all documents 

electronically, including all information 

typically included on the Application 

for Federal Education Assistance (ED 

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

necessary assurances and certifications. 

If you choose to submit your application 

electronically, you must attach any 

narrative sections of your application as 

files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich 

text) or .PDF (Portable Document) 

format. If you upload a file type other 

than the three file types specified above 

or submit a password protected file, we 

will not review that material. 

• Your electronic application must 

comply with any page limit 

requirements described in this notice. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application, you will receive an 

automatic acknowledgment from 

Grants.gov that contains a Grants.gov 

tracking number. The Department will 

retrieve your application from 

Grants.gov and send you a second 

confirmation by e-mail that will include 

a PR/Award number (an ED-specified 

identifying number unique to your 

application). 

• We may request that you provide us 

original signatures on forms at a later 

date. 

Application Deadline Date Extension in 

Case of System Unavailability 

If you are prevented from 

electronically submitting your 

application on the application deadline 

date because of technical problems with 

the Grants.gov system, we will grant you 

an extension until 4:30 p.m., 

Washington, DC time, the following 

business day to enable you to transmit 

your application electronically, or by 

hand delivery. You also may mail your 

application by following the mailing 

instructions as described elsewhere in 

this notice. If you submit an application 

after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the deadline date, please contact the 

person listed elsewhere in this notice 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT, and provide an explanation of 

the technical problem you experienced 

with Grants.gov, along with the 

Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number 

(if available). We will accept your 

application if we can confirm that a 

technical problem occurred with the 

Grants.gov system and that that problem 

affected your ability to submit your 

application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, 

DC time, on the application deadline 

date. The Department will contact you 

after a determination is made on 

whether your application will be 

accepted. 

Note: Extensions referred to in this section 

apply only to the unavailability of or 

technical problems with the Grants.gov 

system. We will not grant you an extension 

if you failed to fully register to submit your 

application to Grants.gov before the deadline 

date and time or if the technical problem you 

experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov 

system. 

b. Submission of Paper Applications 

by Mail. 

If you submit your application in 

paper format by mail (through the U.S. 

Postal Service or a commercial carrier), 

you must mail the original and two 

copies of your application, on or before 

the application deadline date, to the 

Department at the applicable following 

address: 

By mail through the U.S. Postal 

Service: U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.327A) 400 Maryland 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–

4260; or 

By mail through a commercial carrier: 

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center—Stop 4260, 

Attention: (CFDA Number 84.327A), 

7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 

20785–1506. 

Regardless of which address you use, 

you must show proof of mailing 

consisting of one of the following: 

(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service 

postmark, 

(2) A legible mail receipt with the 

date of mailing stamped by the U.S. 

Postal Service, 

(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or 

receipt from a commercial carrier, or 

(4) Any other proof of mailing 

acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S. 

Department of Education. 

If you mail your application through 

the U.S. Postal Service, we do not 

accept either of the following as proof 

of mailing: 

(1) A private metered postmark, or 

(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by 

the U.S. Postal Service. 

If your application is postmarked after 

the application deadline date, we will 

not consider your application. 

Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not 

uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before 

relying on this method, you should check 

with your local post office. 

c. Submission of Paper Applications 

by Hand Delivery. 

If you submit your application in 

paper format by hand delivery, you (or 

a courier service) must deliver the 

original and two copies of your 

application by hand, on or before the 

application deadline date, to the 

Department at the following address: 

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.327A), 550 12th 

Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 

Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

52088 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 169 / Thursday, September 1, 2005 / Notices 

The Application Control Center 

accepts hand deliveries daily between 8 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC 

time, except Saturdays, Sundays and 

Federal holidays. 

Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of 

Paper Applications: If you mail or hand 

deliver your application to the 

Department: 

(1) You must indicate on the envelope 

and—if not provided by the 

Department—in Item 4 of ED 424 the 

CFDA number—and suffix letter, if 

any—of the competition under which 

you are submitting your application. 

(2) The Application Control Center 

will mail a grant application receipt 

acknowledgment to you. If you do not 

receive the grant application receipt 

acknowledgment within 15 business 

days from the application deadline date, 

you should call the U.S. Department of 

Education Application Control Center at 

(202) 245–6288. 

V. Application Review Information 

Selection Criteria: The selection 

criteria for this competition are from 34 

CFR 75.210 and are listed in the 

application package. 

VI. Award Administration Information 

1. Award Notices: If your application 

is successful, we notify your U.S. 

Representative and U.S. Senators and 

send you a Grant Award Notification 

(GAN). We may also notify you 

informally. 

If your application is not evaluated or 

not selected for funding, we notify you. 

2. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements: We identify 

administrative and national policy 

requirements in the application package 

and reference these and other 

requirements in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

We reference the regulations outlining 

the terms and conditions of an award in 

the Applicable Regulations section of 

this notice and include these and other 

specific conditions in the GAN. The 

GAN also incorporates your approved 

application as part of your binding 

commitments under the grant. 

3. Reporting: At the end of your 

project period, you must submit a final 

performance report, including financial 

information, as directed by the 

Secretary. If you receive a multi-year 

award, you must submit an annual 

performance report that provides the 

most current performance and financial 

expenditure information as specified by 

the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118. 

4. Performance Measures: Under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act (GPRA), the Department is currently 

developing measures that will yield 

information on various aspects of the 

quality of the Technology and Media 

Services for Individuals with 

Disabilities program. These measures 

will focus on: The extent to which 

projects are of high quality and are 

relevant to the needs of children with 

disabilities. Data on these measures will 

be collected from the projects funded 

under this competition. 

Grantees also will be required to 

report information on their projects’

performance in annual reports to the 

Department (34 CFR 75.590). 

We will notify grantees of the 

performance measures once they are 

developed. 

VII. Agency Contact 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tom Hanley, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 4066, Potomac Center Plaza, 

Washington, DC 20202–2550. 

Telephone: (202) 245–7369. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD), you may call 

the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–

800–877–8339. 

Individuals with disabilities may 

obtain this document in an alternative 

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

audiotape, or computer diskette) on 

request by contacting the following 

office: The Grants and Contracts 

Services Team, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245–

7363. 

VIII. Other Information 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

You may 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. 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, 

DC, 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/ 

index.html. 

Dated: August 29, 2005. 

John H. Hager, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 05–17448 Filed 8–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Environmental Impact Statement: Site 

Selection for the Expansion of the 

Strategic Petroleum Reserve 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Conduct Public Scoping Meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 

(EPACT), enacted on August 8, 2005, 

directs the Secretary of Energy to 

acquire petroleum to fill the Strategic 

Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to its 

authorized 1 billion-barrel capacity as 

expeditiously as possible, and, no later 

than 1 year after enactment, to select 

sites necessary to expand the SPR from 

its current 727 million-barrel capacity to 

1 billion barrels. DOE has determined 

that the site selection and expansion 

required by EPACT constitute a major 

Federal action which may have a 

significant impact upon the 

environment within the meaning of the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA). For this reason, DOE intends to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to assess the proposed 

capacity expansion at three of the four 

existing SPR storage sites and the 

development of a new storage site in the 

Gulf Coast region. 

DOE will prepare the EIS in 

accordance with NEPA, the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA 

regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508) 

and the DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR 

Part 1021). 

DATES: DOE invites interested agencies, 

organizations, Native American tribes, 

and members of the public to submit 

comments or suggestions to assist in 

identifying significant environmental 

issues and in determining the 

appropriate scope of the EIS. The public 

scoping period starts with the 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register and will continue until October 

14, 2005. Written and oral comments 

will be given equal weight and DOE will 

consider all comments received or 

postmarked by October 14, 2005, in 

defining the scope of the Draft EIS. 

Written comments postmarked or sent 

after this date will be considered to the 

degree practicable. 

DOE invites oral comments and 

suggestions at public scoping meetings