Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 8, 1995 / Notices 12749

placed in local libraries in Connecticut,

Virginia, and Georgia. A limited number

of single copies are available at the

address at the end of this

announcement.

The Department of the Navy will hold

four public hearings to inform the

public of the DEIS findings and to

solicit comments. The first meeting will

be held on Monday, March 27, 1995

beginning at 1:00 PM in the Groton

Municipal Building, Groton,

Connecticut. The Groton Municipal

Building is located at 295 Meridian

Street. The second meeting will be held

on Tuesday, March 28, 1995 beginning

at 7 pm at the same location, the Groton

Municipal Building. These meetings

will be co-chaired by the New England

Division, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

The third meeting will be held on

Wednesday, March 29, 1995 beginning

at 7 pm at the Airport Hilton, Norfolk,

Virginia. The Hilton is located at 1500

North Military Highway and

Northhampton Avenue. The fourth

meeting will be held on Thursday,

March 30, 1995 beginning at 7 pm at

Crooked River Elementary School, St

Marys, Georgia. The school is located at

1820 Spur 40.

The public hearings will be

conducted by the Navy. Federal, state,

and local agencies and interested parties

are invited and urged to be present or

represented at the hearings. Oral

statements will be heard and transcribed

by a stenographer; however, to assure

the accuracy of the record, all

statements should be submitted in

writing. All statements, both oral and

written, will become part of the public

record on this action and will be given

equal consideration.

In the interest of available time, each

speaker will be asked to limit their oral

comments to five minutes. If longer

statements are to be presented, they

should be summarized at the public

hearing(s) and submitted in writing

either at the hearing(s) or mailed to the

address listed at the end of this notice.

Written comments on the DEIS should

be mailed to the address noted below

and must be postmarked not later than

April 10, 1995 to be part of the official

record.

Additional information may be

obtained by contacting Mr. Robert

Ostermueller (Code 202) Northern

Division, Naval Facilities Engineering

Command, 10 Industrial Highway, MSC

82, Lester, PA 19113, telephone 610–

595–0759.

Dated: March 3, 1995.

M.D. Schetzsle,

Lt, JAGC, USNR, Alternate Federal Register

Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 95–5646 Filed 3–7–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–M

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Urban Community Service Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of final priority.

SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a

competitive funding priority to focus

funds for new urban community service

projects on communities designated as

Empowerment Zones (EZs) or Enterprise

Communities (ECs) by the Department

of Housing and Urban Development

(HUD). Under the competitive funding

priority, the Secretary awards five (5)

additional points to an application that

meets the priority.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This priority takes effect

April 7, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sarah Babson, U. S. Department of

Education, 600 Independence Avenue,

SW (Portals C–80), Washington, DC

20202–5329. Telephone: (202) 260–

3472. Persons 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:

Background on the Empowerment Zone

and Enterprise Community Initiative

The Empowerment Zone and

Enterprise Community program is a

critical element of the Administration’s

community revitalization strategy. It

promotes comprehensive economic and

community development through

strategic planning. On December 21,

1994, the President announced the

designation of six urban Empowerment

Zones, two urban Supplemental EZs, 65

urban Enterprise Communities, and four

Enhanced urban ECs. These areas will

benefit from flexible social service block

grants and tax breaks in accordance

with Internal Revenue Code section

1392, as amended by Title XIII of the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

1993 (Pub. L. 103–66). Urban

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise

Communities were nominated by one or

more local governments and their States

and have been designated by HUD on

the basis of the quality of their strategic

plans. Interested individuals may

contact HUD at 1–800–998–9999 for

additional information on the

Empowerment Zone and Enterprise

Community program, including which

communities have been selected for

designation.

The Department of Education is

supporting the Empowerment Zone and

Enterprise Community initiative

through the Urban Community Service

Program by giving preference to

proposed projects which are located in

urban Empowerment Zones and

Enterprise Communities. A list of the

designated Empowerment Zones and

Enterprise Communities will be

included in the application package.

The program’s emphasis on coordinated

planning to meet pressing urban needs

makes it ideally suited to play a key role

in the Empowerment Zone and

Enterprise Community program.

Background on the Urban Community

Service Program

The Urban Community Service

Program is authorized under Title XI of

the Higher Education Act of 1965, as

amended. It uses the skills, experience

and resources of institutions of higher

education to help public and private

organizations devise and carry out

solutions to pressing and severe

problems in their urban communities.

The program makes discretionary grants

of up to five years in duration to support

collaborative projects that address

problems confronting urban

communities, ranging from work force

preparation, economic development,

urban poverty, crime, lack of health care

services and access, underperforming

school systems and students to urban

housing and infrastructure deficits.

Recipients may use program funds to

carry out a variety of activities, such as

planning, applied research, training,

resource exchanges or technology

transfers, delivery of services and other

activities that the urban institution and

its community partners agree have high

priority.

Only institutions of higher education

which have been designated as urban

grant institutions are eligible to apply

for funding. A designated urban grant

institution has demonstrated to the

Secretary that (a) it is a nonprofit

municipal university established by the

governing body of the city in which it

is located and operating as of July 23,

1992, or that (b) it is an institution of

higher education which meets all of the

following criteria (a consortium of

institutions is also eligible if at least one

of its members meets all of the criteria).

The institution—(1) is located in an

urban area; (2) draws a substantial

portion of its undergraduate student

body from the urban area in which it is
12750 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 8, 1995 / Notices

located or from contiguous areas; (3)

carries out programs to make

postsecondary educational

opportunities more accessible to

residents of the urban area or

contiguous areas; (4) has the present

capacity to provide resources pertinent

to the needs and priorities of the urban

area or contiguous areas; (5) offers a

range of professional, technical or

graduate programs sufficient to sustain

the capacity of the institution to provide

these resources; and (6) has

demonstrated and sustained a sense of

responsibility to the urban area and

adjoining areas and the people in those

areas.

On August 29, 1994 the Secretary

published a notice of proposed priority

for this program in the Federal Register

(59 FR 44580).

Note: This notice of final priority does not

solicit applications. A notice inviting

applications under the FY 1995 competition

will be published in the Federal Register at

a later date.

Analysis of Comments

Two parties submitted comments in

response to the Secretary’s invitation in

the notice of proposed priority. An

analysis of the comments follows:

Comment: One party commented that

designations will be limited due to

funding restraints and suggested

expanding the definition of designated

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise

Communities to include areas that

submitted Empowerment Zone and

Enterprise Community designation

requests.

Discussion: The Secretary believes

that the Urban Community Service

Program would be most effective in

communities that are actually

designated and have embarked on

implementing their strategic plans.

Change: None.

Comment: The second party suggested

giving a competitive preference to

proposals that show partnerships with

AmeriCorps.

Discussion: The program regulations

already give an absolute preference (34

CFR 636.23) to applications that

propose to conduct joint projects with

other Federal, State or local programs.

This would include partnerships with

AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a new

national initiative to foster communitybased service and includes a wide

variety of programs operated by

grantees, the National Civilian

Community Corps and Volunteers in

Service to America (VISTA).

Change: None.

Priority

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

Secretary gives preference to

applications that meet the following

priority:

Projects that use 75 percent or more

of the project budget to address pressing

and severe problems in an

Empowerment Zone or Enterprise

Community.

The proposed project must contribute

to the strategic plan of the

Empowerment Zone or Enterprise

Community and be made an integral

component of the Empowerment Zone

or Enterprise Community activities. The

Secretary awards five points to an

application that meets this priority.

These points will be added to any

points the application earns under the

selection criteria for the program.

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 procedures

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.

Applicable Program Regulations: 34

CFR Part 636.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1136–1136h.

Dated: March 2, 1995.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 95–5591 Filed 3–7–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Community Outreach

Pre-Application Conference and Notice

of Availability of Cooperative

Agreement Solicitation to Establish

and Support the International Center

for Applied Research (ICAR)

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE), Savannah River (SR) Office.

ACTION: Notice of pre-application

conference and availability of grant

solicitation.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE) at SR is announcing a PreApplication Conference for

organizations wishing to be considered

as the entity to establish and support the

ICAR. The conference is scheduled for

April 11, 1995 at the Savannah River

Site (SRS), Aiken, SC, commencing at

8:30 a.m. and completing by 5 p.m. In

addition to discussion regarding the

objectives of ICAR and the criteria

which will be used to select the ICAR

Manager, the conference will also offer

a tour of the Savannah River

Technology Center whereby participants

will have the opportunity to become

familiar with available technologies. A

solicitation for the ICAR Manager will

be made available on or about March 20,

1995; applications are expected to be

due May 11, 1995. Interested parties

should note that funds are not presently

available for this project.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ICAR is

intended to facilitate private and public

sector access to the technical and

scientific capabilities of the SRS. ICAR

will be responsible for organizational

support (including incubation,

maturation, and commercialization) for

various technologies, to be identified

through separate solicitations, that are

available at SRS for development of

commercial products and services. ICAR

is to be established at or adjacent to the

SRS and is to operate under a

cooperative agreement with the DOE.

The objectives of ICAR are:

(1) To stimulate economic

development in the regional area

through the application of science and

technology.

(2) To establish a technology

development and incubation center

utilizing SRS technologies and

processes.

(3) To promote as a minimum,

activities related to the following:

—The application in the United States

of hydrogen technology research

derived from tritium production;

—The development of beneficial uses of

nuclear materials;

—The research and development of

innovative methods for the treatment

and disposal of nuclear materials; and

—Bioremediation of environmental

hazards.

(4) To leverage applied research

activities (of the nature listed above) to

provide maximum dual-use benefit for

the Government.

The ICAR Manager must be a nonprofit entity or a consortium of nonprofits chartered to accomplish

economic development through applied

science and technology. The ICAR

Manager must have also demonstrated

experience in management of diverse

teams of organizations who have

technical experience in industrial