13382 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Electronic Grant Initiatives

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Financial

Officer, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice announcing the

development and implementation of a

system to administer grants via the

Internet.

SUMMARY: The Chief Financial Officer

announces the U.S. Department of

Education Electronic Grant Initiatives

(e-Grants) and requests comments on

the effectiveness of this system. We

intend to use your comments to assist us

in improving our services and helping

potential applicants and grantees to

benefit from electronic commerce (ecommerce).

ADDRESSES: Address all comments and

suggestions regarding e-Grants to

Rebecca Harding-Spitzgo, U.S.

Department of Education, 400 Maryland

Avenue, SW., room 4E310, Washington,

DC 20202–4300. If you prefer to send

your comments through the Internet,

use the following address:

edcapsuser@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Blanca Rosa Rodriguez, Director, Grants

Policy and Oversight Staff, U.S.

Department of Education, 400 Maryland

Avenue, SW., room 3652, ROB–3,

Washington, DC 20202–4248.

Telephone: (202) 260–0172; fax: (202)

205–0667; or via Internet:

Blanca_Rodriguez@ed.gov or Rebecca

Harding-Spitzgo, Project Manager

(GAPS), U.S. Department of Education,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room

4E310, Washington, DC 20202–4300.

Telephone: (202) 205–0707; fax: (202)

205–0729; or via Internet: Rebecca—

Harding@ed.gov.

If you use a telecommunications

device for the deaf (TDD), you may call

the Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) 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 to either contact person listed

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

New Initiatives in Electronic GrantMaking at the U.S. Department of

Education

The Government Paperwork

Elimination Act (GPEA) of 1998, (Pub.

L. 105–277) and the Federal Financial

Assistance Management Improvement

Act of 1999, (Pub. L. 106–107)

encourage us to undertake initiatives to

improve our grant process. Enhancing

the ability of individuals and entities to

conduct business with us electronically

is a major part of our response to these

Acts. E-commerce—for example,

conducting transactions via Internet—is

playing a vital role in achieving our

mission. This notice presents an

overview of the Department’s present

and proposed activities.

We are taking steps to adopt the

Internet as our chief means of

conducting transactions in order to

improve services to our customers and

to simplify and expedite our business

processes.

We are also working with other

Federal departments and agencies to

develop the Federal Commons, which

will be a shared location on the Internet

for information about Federal financial

assistance. The goal of this initiative is

to create a single point of entry on the

Internet to make it easier for prospective

applicants to locate information about,

and apply for, grants under all Federal

programs. In the future, applicants who

access the Federal Commons can search

for available funding opportunities

throughout the Federal Government,

complete standard application forms,

and submit grant applications online.

You may obtain more information about

the Federal Commons at: http://

www.fedcommons.gov.

Accomplishments to Date

During fiscal year (FY) 2000, under

our Grant Administration and Payment

System (GAPS), we conducted a pilot

project using an Internet-based software

program for submitting applications.

The project involved eight grant

competitions. Applicants had the

opportunity to submit their grant

applications to us online through the eApplication Web site.

A survey after the pilot project

indicated that participants were positive

about their experiences using eApplication. In fact, 90 percent of the

participating applicants found our

system easy to use, and most said that

they would use the system in future

competitions. To help applicants get

used to applying for grants

electronically, we have established a

demonstration and training area on the

e-Grants Web site.

We have also developed e-Reports, a

new electronic enhancement to GAPS.

Using e-Reports grantees will be able to

submit their annual grant performance

reports to us via the Internet. The

system will also notify each grantee of

the deadline for its annual grant

performance report. Additional features

of the system will include applicant

registration, e-mail confirmations, and

printing capabilities.

In addition, we are developing eReader, another electronic enhancement

to GAPS, to support the review of grant

applications. With e-Reader, an ED

discretionary grant program can use the

Internet to transmit applications

electronically to reviewers at various

locations, enable reviewers to evaluate

and score applications on a Web-based

form; and collect the reviewers’ scores

and comments. One of the many

benefits of e-Reader is that it will give

program officials a cost-effective way to

facilitate and monitor the application

review process from their offices in the

Washington, DC area.

ED’s Plans for the Future

For FY 2001 we plan to—

• Provide applicants the option of

submitting their applications

electronically in up to 50 percent of our

new grant competitions, including

several formula programs;

• Increase the number of ED programs

using e-Reports, allowing grantees in

these programs to submit their annual

grant performance reports

electronically; and

• Complete the development of eReader and apply it in eight to ten grant

competitions that use the electronic

grant application review process.

Beyond FY 2001 we plan to expand

and promote the use of electronic

procedures for the submission and

review of applications and the filing of

reports under all of our grant programs.

Our goal over time is to encourage

applicants and grantees to make ecommerce their preferred method of

doing business. We will do this by

communication and outreach efforts to

the public.

We plan to do the following to make

applicants and grantees aware of our

Electronic Grant Initiatives and familiar

with our electronic business process:

• Continue to host public workshops

on our electronic grant initiatives at

various national conferences and

meetings of project directors;

• Make the system more convenient

for users by increasing the hours it is

available;

• Provide ongoing support to

applicants who need assistance using

the system;

• Inform the public about changes

and improvements to our Electronic

Grant Initiatives; and

• Work toward further integration of

our electronic applications system with

the Governmentwide system known as

the Federal Commons.

Information concerning the

availability of e-Application will be

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2001 / Notices 13383

contained in specific program

announcements and application

packages, grant forecasts, and specific

areas of our Web site. In addition,

program offices will make grantees

aware of electronic reporting options as

they become available.

Please be aware that electronic

application and reporting will be

voluntary. Paper-based application and

reporting options will still be available

to applicants and grantees who do not

have the capability to do business

electronically. We will give every

application, whether paper or

electronic, the same consideration in the

review process.

Invitation To Comment

We are determined to help make the

transition to e-commerce as smooth as

possible for our customers. As we

develop e-commerce capabilities, we

ask you for your support and welcome

your suggestions regarding our plans for

electronic grantmaking. We invite you,

as potential applicants and grantees, to

use the electronic methods described

and to provide feedback about your

experiences. We also invite you to

comment now on the plans outlined in

this notice. Please send your comments

to the address in the ADDRESSES section

of this notice.

To obtain additional information

about e-GRANTS or to participate in eGRANTS pilot projects, see the portal

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

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document, as well

as all other Department of Education

documents published in the Federal

Register, in text or Adobe Portable

Document Format (PDF) on the Internet

at either of the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use PDF you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at either of the previous sites. 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.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html.

Dated: February 27, 2001.

Mark Carney,

Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–5253 Filed 3–2–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P