62698 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 234 / Wednesday, December 6, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training

Administration

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Vocational and Adult

Education

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priority for

School-to-Work Urban/Rural

Opportunities Grants for Fiscal Year

(FY) 1995.

SUMMARY: The Secretaries of Education

and Labor (the Secretaries) propose a

priority for FY 1995 under the Urban/

Rural Opportunities Grants authorized

by Title III of the School-to-Work

Opportunities Act of 1994 (the Act). The

Secretaries intend to use this priority,

along with the selection criteria

published in the November 14, 1995,

issue of the Federal Register, to select

applications for funding under the FY

1995 Urban/Rural Opportunities Grants

competition. The Secretaries propose to

take this action to focus Federal

financial assistance on implementing

School-to-Work Opportunities

initiatives in urban or rural areas of high

poverty. This proposed priority

provides for a preference to be given to

applications from local partnerships

proposing to implement a School-toWork Opportunities initiative for youth

residing in or attending school in an

Empowerment Zone or Enterprise

Community (EZ/EC) designated under

section 1391 of the Internal Revenue

Code (IRC), as amended by Title XIII of

the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

of 1993.

Note: This notice is an invitation for

comment upon the proposed priority as

described; it is not a solicitation for

applications for Urban/Rural Opportunities

Grants.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before January 5, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to Karen Clark, National

School-to-Work Office, 400 Virginia

Avenue, SW, Room 210, Washington,

DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karen Clark, National School-to-Work

Office, Telephone: (202) 401–6222 (this

is not a toll-free number). 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:

Section A. Background

The Secretaries intend to award grants

to local partnerships to implement

School-to-Work Opportunities

initiatives serving youth residing or

attending school in urban or rural high

poverty areas, as discussed in the

solicitation for grant applications

published in the November 14, 1995,

issue of the Federal Register. As

discussed in the solicitation on pages

57276–57282, the Secretaries recognize

the particular challenges faced by local

partnerships serving youth in urban and

rural high poverty areas in preparing

them for first jobs in high-skill, highwage careers and in increasing their

opportunities for further education and

training. Similarly, the Empowerment

Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/

EC) initiative is aimed at rebuilding

communities in America’s povertystricken inner cities and rural

heartlands. Under the EZ/EC initiative,

the Federal Government has designated

certain geographic areas as EZs and as

ECs in accordance with Internal

Revenue Code (IRC) section 1391, as

amended by Title XIII of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub.

L. 103–66). The selected areas were

designated as EZs or ECs based on the

quality of their strategic plans

addressing how each zone or

community would link economic

development with education and

training, as well as how community

development, public safety, human

services, and environmental initiatives

together would support sustainable

communities.

The Secretaries view Urban/Rural

Opportunities Grants as well suited for

inclusion in a comprehensive approach

to economic and community

development that addresses the special

challenges facing youth in high poverty

areas in making the transition from

school to work or further education and

training. By improving the quality of

education and training provided to high

poverty area youth, School-to-Work

Opportunities initiatives enhance the

economic opportunities of such youth

and contribute to the improvement of

impoverished communities.

Communities designated as EZs or ECs

have already demonstrated a capacity

for the type of collaboration and

cooperative planning that is critical to

developing and implementing

successful School-to-Work

Opportunities initiatives.

Interested individuals may contact the

Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) at 1–800–998–9999

for additional information on the urban

EZ/EC initiative and the Department of

Agriculture (USDA) at 1–800–645–4712

for additional information on the rural

EZ/EC initiative. A listing of areas that

have been selected as EZs or ECs is

included in an appendix to this notice.

Section B. Priority

In addition to the priority in section

302(b)(3) of the School-to-Work

Opportunities Act, the Secretaries

propose to give competitive preference

to applications from partnerships that

propose to implement a School-to-Work

Opportunities initiative serving youth

who reside or attend school in an area

designated as an EZ or an EC. The

Secretaries would select an application

for an Urban/Rural Opportunities Grant

that meets this priority over an

application of comparable merit that

does not meet the priority.

Invitation to Comment

Interested persons are invited to

submit comments and recommendations

regarding this proposed competitive

preference. All comments submitted in

response to this notice will be available

for public inspection, during and after

the comment period, at the National

School-to-Work Office, 400 Virginia

Avenue, SW., Room 210, Washington,

DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday of

each week, except Federal holidays.

Intergovernmental Review

This program is subject to the

requirements of Executive Order 12372

as implemented in 34 CFR Part 79 and

29 CFR Part 17. 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 Departments’ specific

plans and actions for this program.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6101.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 278D: School-to-Work

Opportunities: Urban/Rural Opportunities

Grants)
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 234 / Wednesday, December 6, 1995 / Notices 62699

Dated: November 27, 1995.

Timothy M. Barnicle,

Assistant Secretary for Employment and

Training, Department of Labor.

Patricia McNeil,

Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult

Education, Department of Education.

Appendix—Empowerment Zones and

Enterprise Communities

Empowerment Zones (EZ)

Georgia: Atlanta

Illinois: Chicago

Kentucky: Kentucky Highlands*

Maryland: Baltimore

Michigan: Detroit

Mississippi: Mid Delta*

New York: Harlem, Bronx

Pennsylvania/New Jersey: Philadelphia,

Camden

Texas: Rio Grande Valley*

Supplemental Empowerment Zones

(SEZ)

California: Los Angeles

Ohio: Cleveland

Enterprise Communities (EC)

Alabama: Birmingham

Alabama: Chambers County*

Alabama: Greene, Sumter Counties*

Arizona: Phoenix

Arizona: Arizona Border*

Arkansas: East Central*

Arkansas: Mississippi County*

Arkansas: Pulaski County

California: Imperial County*

California: Los Angeles, Huntington

Park

California: San Diego

California: San Francisco, Bayview,

Hunter’s Point

California: Watsonville*

Colorado: Denver

Connecticut: Bridgeport

Connecticut: New Haven

Delaware: Wilmington

District of Columbia: Washington

Florida: Jackson County*

Florida: Tampa

Florida: Miami, Dade County

Georgia: Albany

Georgia: Central Savannah*

Georgia: Crisp, Dooley Counties*

Illinois: East St. Louis

Illinois: Springfield

Indiana: Indianapolis

Iowa: Des Moines

Kentucky: Louisville

Louisiana: Northeast Delta*

Louisiana: Macon Ridge*

Louisiana: New Orleans

Louisiana: Ouachita Parish

Massachusetts: Lowell

Massachusetts: Springfield

Michigan: Five Cap*

Michigan: Flint

Michigan: Muskegon

Minnesota: Minneapolis

Minnesota: St. Paul

Mississippi: Jackson

Mississippi: North Delta*

Missouri: East Prairie*

Missouri: St. Louis

Nebraska: Omaha

Nevada: Clarke County, Las Vegas

New Hampshire: Manchester

New Jersey: Newark

New Mexico: Albuquerque

New Mexico: Moro, Rico Arriba, Taos

Counties*

New York: Albany, Schenectady, Troy

New York: Buffalo

New York: Newburgh, Kingston

New York: Rochester

North Carolina: Charlotte

North Carolina: Halifax, Edgecombe,

Wilson Counties*

North Carolina: Robeson County*

Ohio: Akron

Ohio: Columbus

Ohio: Greater Portsmouth*

Oklahoma: Choctaw, McCurtain

Counties*

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City

Oregon: Josephine*

Oregon: Portland

Pennsylvania: Harrisburg

Pennsylvania: Lock Haven*

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh

Rhode Island: Providence

South Carolina: Charleston

South Carolina: Williamsburg County*

South Dakota: Beadle, Spink Counties*

Tennessee: Fayette, Haywood Counties*

Tennessee: Memphis

Tennessee: Nashville

Tennessee/Kentucky: Scott, McCreary

Counties*

Texas: Dallas

Texas: El Paso

Texas: San Antonio

Texas: Waco

Utah: Ogden

Vermont: Burlington

Virginia: Accomack*

Virginia: Norfolk

Washington: Lower Yakima*

Washington: Seattle

Washington: Tacoma

West Virginia: West Central*

West Virginia: Huntington

West Virginia: McDowell*

Wisconsin: Milwaukee

*denotes rural designee

Enhanced Enterprise Communities

(EEC)

California: Oakland

Massachusetts: Boston

Missouri/Kansas: Kansas City, Kansas

City

Texas: Houston

[FR Doc. 95–29698 Filed 12–5–95; 8:45 am]

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