Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 3, 2009 / Notices 26661 

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 directed by 

the Secretary under 34 CFR 75.118. The 

Secretary may also require more 

frequent performance reports under 34 

CFR 75.720(c). For specific 

requirements on reporting, please go to 

http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/ 

appforms/appforms.html. 

4. Performance Measures: Under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department has 

established a set of performance 

measures, including long-term 

measures, that are designed to yield 

information on various aspects of the 

effectiveness and quality of the 

Technology and Media Services for 

Individuals with Disabilities program. 

These measures focus on the extent to 

which projects provide high–quality 

products and services, are relevant to 

improving outcomes for children with 

disabilities, and contribute to improving 

outcomes for children with disabilities. 

We will collect data on these measures 

from the project funded under this 

competition. 

The grantee will be required to report 

information on its project’s performance 

in annual reports to the Department (34 

CFR 75.590). 

VII. Agency Contact 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Slade, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 4175, Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 

Washington, DC 20202–2550. 

Telephone: (202) 245–7527. 

If you use a TDD, call the Federal 

Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800– 

877–8339. 

VIII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document 

and a copy of the application package in 

an accessible format (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, or computer diskette) 

by contacting the Grants and Contracts 

Services Team, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll 

free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

You can 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. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Andrew J. Pepin, Executive 

Administrator for the Office of Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services to 

perform the functions of the Assistant 

Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

Dated: May 28, 2009. 

Andrew J. Pepin, 

Executive Administrator for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. E9–12903 Filed 6–2–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services; Overview 

Information; Technology and Media 

Services for Individuals With 

Disabilities—National Instructional 

Materials Accessibility Standard 

(NIMAS); Notice Inviting Applications 

for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 

2009 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.327P. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: June 3, 2009. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: July 6, 2009. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: September 1, 2009. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The purposes of 

the Technology and Media Services for 

Individuals with Disabilities program 

are 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 of educational 

materials that are appropriate for use in 

the classroom setting. 

Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 

75.105(b)(2)(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), 20 U.S.C. 1474 

and 1481(d)). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2009 and 

any subsequent year in which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition, 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—NIMAS. 

Background: The National 

Instructional Materials Accessibility 

Standard (NIMAS) was established by 

the Secretary of Education, pursuant to 

sections 612(a)(23)(A) and 674(e)(4) of 

IDEA, for publishers to create electronic 

files that can be used by States and 

accessible media producers (AMPs) to 

produce accessible versions of print 

instructional materials. Publishers must 

apply NIMAS in the production of 

electronic file sets for all print 

instructional materials, as defined in 

section 674(e)(3)(C) of IDEA (20 U.S.C. 

1474(e)(3)(C)), published after July 19, 

2006. The purpose of this requirement 

is to ensure that publishers use a 

common standard to create electronic 

files that facilitate the production of 

accurate and reliable accessible versions 

of instructional materials. The goal is to 

help increase the quality, availability, 

and timely delivery of print 

instructional materials in accessible 

formats to children in elementary and 

secondary schools who are blind or who 

have print disabilities. 

The Department of Education 

(Department) funded the NIMAS 

Development Center in September 2004 

and charged it with providing 

recommendations to the Department on 

revisions and updates to the technical 

specifications of NIMAS. These updates 

were needed to ensure that NIMAS 

remained current with technological 

advances, was consistent with updates 

to the Digital Accessible Information 

System (DAISY) specification (DAISY is 

a worldwide standard for digital talking 

books), and addressed concerns that 

were identified during the 

implementation of NIMAS. The NIMAS 

Development Center also has developed 

technical clarification documents, 

conducted training and presentations, 

and contributed to the development of 

production and workflow models for 

publishers, distributors, AMPs, States, 

and local educational agencies (LEAs). 

Foremost among the NIMAS 


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Development Center’s activities to 

promote, develop, and use technology 

related to making NIMAS a more 

effective standard has been its use of a 

NIMAS advisory board to address the 

challenges of maintaining alignment 

with the Extensible Markup Language 

(XML) standard upon which NIMAS is 

based and supporting the development 

and use of Mathematical Markup 

Language (MathML). The following Web 

site provides more information on the 

work of the NIMAS Development 

Center: http://www.nimas.cast.org. 

The Department seeks to fund a center 

to continue some of the work of the 

NIMAS Development Center that was 

funded in 2004, including the provision 

of technical updates to NIMAS at least 

once during its five-year project period 

to ensure that state-of-the art technology 

is being used. 

Priority: The purpose of this priority 

is to fund a cooperative agreement to 

support the establishment and operation 

of a NIMAS center (Center) that will 

maintain and update the technical 

specifications of NIMAS to ensure that 

children with blindness and other print 

disabilities will have access to as broad 

a range of print instructional materials 

as possible through the use of electronic 

file formatting technology. 

To be considered for funding under 

this absolute priority, applicants must 

meet the application requirements 

contained in this priority. Any project 

funded under this absolute priority also 

must meet the programmatic and 

administrative requirements specified in 

the priority. 

Application Requirements. An 

applicant must include in its 

application— 

(a) A logic model that depicts, at a 

minimum, the goals, activities, outputs, 

and outcomes of the proposed project. A 

logic model communicates how a 

project will achieve its outcomes and 

provides a framework for both the 

formative and summative evaluations of 

the project; 

Note: The following Web site provides 

more information on logic models: http:// 

www.cdc.gov/eval/resources.htm. 

(b) A plan to implement the activities 

described in the Project Activities 

section of this priority; 

(c) A plan, linked to the proposed 

project’s logic model, for a formative 

evaluation of the proposed project’s 

activities. The plan must describe how 

the formative evaluation will use clear 

performance objectives to ensure 

continuous improvement in the 

operation of the proposed project, 

including objective measures of progress 

in implementing the project and 

ensuring the quality of products and 

services; 

(d) A budget for a summative 

evaluation to be conducted by an 

independent third party; 

(e) A budget for attendance at the 

following: 

(1) A one day kick-off meeting to be 

held in Washington, DC, within four 

weeks after receipt of the award, and an 

annual planning meeting held in 

Washington, DC, with the Office of 

Special Education Programs (OSEP) 

Project Officer during each subsequent 

year of the project period. 

(2) A three-day Project Directors’ 

Conference in Washington, DC, during 

each year of the project period. 

(3) A one-day trip annually to attend 

Department briefings, Departmentsponsored conferences, and other 

meetings, as requested by OSEP. 

Project Activities. To meet the 

requirements of this priority, the Center, 

at a minimum, must conduct the 

following activities: 

Technical Assistance and 

Dissemination Activities. 

(a) Facilitate and support the 

technical compatibility of the NIMAS 

file set with the National Instructional 

Materials Access Center’s (NIMAC) 

distribution system, including the 

technologies employed by publishers 

and other production facilities to create 

both high-quality NIMAS files as well as 

accessible commercial products. 

(b) Maintain a Web site that meets 

government or industry-recognized 

standards for accessibility and that links 

to the Web site operated by OSEP’s 

Technical Assistance Coordination 

Center (TACC) and the Web site for each 

OSEP-funded project that supports the 

implementation of NIMAS. 

(c) Prepare and disseminate to the 

Department (1) reports at least midway 

through the project period on issues 

identified regarding the implementation 

of NIMAS and (2) recommendations on 

revising the technical specifications of 

NIMAS no later than during the fourth 

year of the project period. In 

consultation with the OSEP Project 

Officer, make selected reports, 

documents, and other materials 

available to, at a minimum, publishers, 

software developers, and AMPs. 

Leadership and Coordination 

Activities. 

(a) Establish and maintain a Standards 

Board to recommend updates to the 

technical specifications of NIMAS, 

including the extent to which future 

versions of NIMAS should incorporate 

universal design features, and provide 

technical support to OSEP throughout 

the project period. At a minimum, the 

Standards Board must meet on an 

annual basis in Washington, DC, and 

may meet more frequently through 

alternate means such as 

teleconferencing. The Standards Board 

must include: Technology experts; 

software engineers; accessible 

instructional materials (AIM) producers; 

and representatives from the publishing 

industry, the DAISY consortium, the 

Access Board, NIMAC, and the National 

Center on AIM that OSEP intends to 

fund in FY 2009. The Center must 

submit the names of proposed members 

of the Standards Board to OSEP for 

approval within eight weeks of receipt 

of the award. 

(b) Communicate with, and solicit 

input from, a wide range of 

stakeholders, including currently 

funded OSEP programs (e.g., NIMAC, 

the American Printing House for the 

Blind, Bookshare.org for Education, and 

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic), and 

the National Center on AIM that OSEP 

intends to fund in FY 2009. 

(c) Participate in, organize, or 

facilitate, as directed by OSEP, 

communities of practice (see http:// 

www.tacommunities.org) that are 

aligned with the Center’s objectives as a 

way to support discussions and 

collaboration among key stakeholders 

such as technology experts; software 

engineers; AIM producers; and 

representatives from the publishing 

industry, the DAISY consortium, the 

Access Board, NIMAC, and the National 

Center on AIM that OSEP intends to 

fund in FY 2009. 

(d) Maintain ongoing communication 

with the OSEP Project Officer through 

monthly phone conversations and email communication. 

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 and requirements. Section 

681(d) of IDEA, however, 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 institutions of higher education 

(IHEs) only. 


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II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Cooperative 

Agreement. 

Estimated Available Funds: $400,000. 

Contingent upon the availability of 

funds and the quality of applications, 

we may make additional awards in FY 

2010 from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition. 

Maximum Awards: We will reject any 

application that proposes a budget 

exceeding $400,000 for a single budget 

period of 12 months. The Assistant 

Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services may change the 

maximum amount through a notice 

published in the Federal Register. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 1. 

Note: The Department is not bound by 

any estimates in this notice. 

Project Period: Up to 60 months. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants: State 

educational agencies (SEAs); LEAs, 

including public charter schools that are 

considered 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 require 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 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 

project (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of 

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), call, toll free: 1–877– 

576–7734. 

You can contact ED Pubs at its Web 

site, also: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ 

edpubs.html or at its e-mail address: 

edpubs@inet.ed.gov. 

If you request an application package 

from ED Pubs, be sure to identify this 

competition as follows: CFDA number 

84.327P. 

Individuals with disabilities can 

obtain a copy of the application package 

in an accessible format (e.g., braille, 

large print, audiotape, or computer 

diskette) by contacting the person or 

team listed under Accessible Format in 

section VIII 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 the 

application narrative 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, abstracts, 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; or the one-page abstract, 

the resumes, the bibliography, the 

references, or the letters of support. 

However, the page limit does apply to 

all of the application narrative section 

(Part III). 

We will reject your application if you 

exceed the page limit or if you apply 

other standards and exceed the 

equivalent of the page limit. 

3. Submission Dates and Times: 

Applications Available: June 3, 2009. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: July 6, 2009. 

Applications for grants under this 

competition may be submitted 

electronically using the Electronic Grant 

Application System (e-Application) 

accessible through the Department’s 

e-Grants site, or in paper format by mail 

or hand delivery. For information 

(including dates and times) about how 

to submit your application 

electronically, or in paper format by 

mail or hand delivery, please refer to 

section IV.6. Other Submission 

Requirements of this notice. 

We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the deadline 

requirements. 

Individuals with disabilities who 

need an accommodation or auxiliary aid 

in connection with the application 

process should contact the person listed 

under For Further Information Contact 

in section VII of this notice. If the 

Department provides an accommodation 

or auxiliary aid to an individual with a 

disability in connection with the 

application process, the individual’s 

application remains subject to all other 

requirements and limitations in this 

notice. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: September 1, 2009. 

4. Intergovernmental Review: This 

competition 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. 

If you choose to submit your 

application to us electronically, you 

must use e-Application, accessible 

through the Department’s e-Grants Web 

site at: http://e-grants.ed.gov. 

While completing your electronic 

application, you will be entering data 

online that will be saved into a 

database. You may not e-mail an 

electronic copy of a grant application to 

us. 

Please note the following: 

• Your participation in e-Application 

is voluntary. 

• You must complete the electronic 

submission of your grant application by 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. 

E-Application will not accept an 

application for this competition after 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. 

Therefore, we strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the application 

process. 

• The hours of operation of the 

e-Grants Web site are 6:00 a.m. Monday 

until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday; and 6:00 

a.m. Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, 

Washington, DC time. Please note that, 

because of maintenance, the system is 

unavailable between 8:00 p.m. on 

Sundays and 6:00 a.m. on Mondays, and 

between 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and 


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6:00 a.m. on Thursdays, Washington, 

DC time. Any modifications to these 

hours are posted on the e-Grants Web 

site. 

• 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 must submit all documents 

electronically, including all information 

you typically provide on the following 

forms: The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 

Education Supplemental Information for 

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

necessary assurances and certifications. 

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 in this paragraph 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. 

• Prior to submitting your electronic 

application, you may wish to print a 

copy of it for your records. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application, you will receive an 

automatic acknowledgment that will 

include a PR/Award number (an 

identifying number unique to your 

application). 

• Within three working days after 

submitting your electronic application, 

fax a signed copy of the SF 424 to the 

Application Control Center after 

following these steps: 

(1) Print SF 424 from e-Application. 

(2) The applicant’s Authorizing 

Representative must sign this form. 

(3) Place the PR/Award number in the 

upper right hand corner of the hardcopy signature page of the SF 424. 

(4) Fax the signed SF 424 to the 

Application Control Center at (202) 

245–6272. 

• We may request that you provide us 

original signatures on other 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 

e-Application is unavailable, we will 

grant you an extension of one business 

day to enable you to transmit your 

application electronically, by mail, or by 

hand delivery. We will grant this 

extension if— 

(1) You are a registered user of eApplication and you have initiated an 

electronic application for this 

competition; and 

(2) (a) E-Application is unavailable for 

60 minutes or more between the hours 

of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, 

DC time, on the application deadline 

date; or 

(b) E-Application is unavailable for 

any period of time between 3:30 p.m. 

and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, 

on the application deadline date. 

We must acknowledge and confirm 

these periods of unavailability before 

granting you an extension. To request 

this extension or to confirm our 

acknowledgment of any system 

unavailability, you may contact either 

(1) the person listed elsewhere in this 

notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) 

the e-Grants help desk at 1–888–336– 

8930. If e-Application is unavailable 

due to technical problems with the 

system and, therefore, the application 

deadline is extended, an e-mail will be 

sent to all registered users who have 

initiated an e-Application. 

Extensions referred to in this section 

apply only to the unavailability of eApplication. If e-Application is 

available, and, for any reason, you are 

unable to submit your application 

electronically or you do not receive an 

automatic acknowledgment of your 

submission, you may submit your 

application in paper format by mail or 

hand delivery in accordance with the 

instructions in this notice. 

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 following address: 

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.327P) LBJ Basement 

Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

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. 

(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. 

(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 84.327P) 550 12th 

Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 

Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

The Application Control Center 

accepts hand deliveries daily between 

8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 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 11 of the SF 424 

the CFDA number, including suffix 

letter, if any, of the competition under 

which you are submitting your 

application; and 

(2) The Application Control Center 

will mail to you a notification of receipt 

of your grant application. If you do not 

receive this grant notification 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 

1. Selection Criteria: The selection 

criteria for this competition are from 34 

CFR 75.210 and are listed in the 

application package. 

2. Review and Selection Process: In 

the past, the Department has had 

difficulty finding peer reviewers for 

certain competitions because so many 

individuals who are eligible to serve as 

peer reviewers have conflicts of interest. 

The Standing Panel requirements under 

IDEA also have placed additional 

constraints on the availability of 

reviewers. Therefore, the Department 

has determined that, for some 

discretionary grant competitions, 

applications may be separated into two 

or more groups and ranked and selected 

for funding within the specific groups. 


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This procedure will make it easier for 

the Department to find peer reviewers 

by ensuring that greater numbers of 

individuals who are eligible to serve as 

reviewers for any particular group of 

applicants will not have conflicts of 

interest. It also will increase the quality, 

independence, and fairness of the 

review process while permitting panel 

members to review applications under 

discretionary grant competitions for 

which they also have submitted 

applications. However, if the 

Department decides to select an equal 

number of applications in each group 

for funding, this may result in different 

cut-off points for fundable applications 

in each group. 

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 notify you informally, 

also. 

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 directed by 

the Secretary under 34 CFR 75.118. The 

Secretary may also require more 

frequent performance reports under 34 

CFR 75.720(c). For specific 

requirements on reporting, please go to 

http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/ 

appforms/appforms.html. 

4. Performance Measures: Under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department has 

established a set of performance 

measures, including long-term 

measures, that are designed to yield 

information on various aspects of the 

effectiveness and quality of the 

Technology and Media Services for 

Individuals with Disabilities program. 

These measures focus on the extent to 

which projects provide high-quality 

products and services, are relevant to 

improving outcomes for children with 

disabilities, and contribute to improving 

outcomes for children with disabilities. 

We will collect data on these measures 

from the project funded under this 

competition. 

The grantee will be required to report 

information on its project’s performance 

in annual reports to the Department (34 

CFR 75.590). 

VII. Agency Contact 

For Further Information Contact: 

Michael Slade, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 4175, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7527. 

If you use a TDD, call the Federal 

Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800– 

877–8339. 

VIII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document 

and a copy of the application package in 

an accessible format (e.g., Braille, large 

print, audiotape, or computer diskette) 

by contacting the Grants and Contracts 

Services Team, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll 

free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

You can 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. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Andrew J. Pepin, Executive 

Administrator for the Office of Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services to 

perform the functions of the Assistant 

Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

Dated: May 28, 2009. 

Andrew J. Pepin, 

Executive Administrator for Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. E9–12905 Filed 6–2–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

Proposed Guidance on Voluntary 

Voting System Guidelines 

AGENCY: United States Election 

Assistance Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed updates and 

revisions to the 2005 Voluntary Voting 

System Guidelines and request for 

public comment. 

SUMMARY: The Help America Vote Act of 

2002 (HAVA) (Pub. L. 107–252; 42 

U.S.C. 15301 et seq. (October 29, 2002)) 

established the U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC). Section 202 of 

HAVA directs the EAC to adopt 

voluntary voting system guidelines 

(VVSG) and to provide for the testing, 

certification, decertification, and 

recertification of voting system 

hardware and software. The VVSG 

provides specifications and standards 

against which voting systems can be 

tested to determine if they provide basic 

functionality, accessibility, and security 

capabilities. 

As required by Section 222(d) of 

HAVA the EAC is placing its proposed 

updates and revisions out for a 120-day 

public comment period. The EAC is 

asking for comments regarding all 

sections of the standards impacted by 

the update process. This updated and 

revised version of the VVSG will be 

known as Voluntary Voting System 

Guidelines v.1.1 (VVSG v.1.1). 

The EAC made the decision to update 

and revise the 2005 VVSG as a result of 

feedback received through its Voting 

System Testing and Certification 

Program. As the EAC has worked to test 

and certify voting systems it observed 

and received feedback from various 

sources that the standards being tested 

to were at times ambiguous and difficult 

to apply in testing. This ambiguity has 

led to challenges in making testing 

consist both within a test laboratory and 

across different laboratories. In addition, 

the EAC has received feedback from the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) that the creation of 

formalized test suites for the 2005 VVSG 

would be aided by a clarification of 

certain portions of document. This 

information, combined with the EAC’s 

issuance of seventeen interpretations of 

the VVSG to clarify various standards, 


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