[Federal Register: December 11, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 238)]
[Notices]
[Page 68438-68439]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11de98-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Department of Education.
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SUMMARY: The Leader, Information Management Group, Office of the Chief
Financial and Chief Information Officer invites comments on the
submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
January 11, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Danny Werfel, Desk
Officer, Department of Education, Office of Management and Budget, 725
17th Street, N.W., Room 10235, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20503 or should be electronically mailed to the
internet address Werfel__d@al.eop.gov.
The Department of Education wants very much to make the final
application packages for these programs available to the public as soon
as possible. Therefore, it would appreciate receiving directly from the
public a copy of any comments addressed to the Office of Management and
Budget. Any copy of these written comments should be addressed to
Patrick J. Sherrill, Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue,
S.W., Room 5624, Regional Office Building 3, Washington, D.C. 20202-
4651 and Louis J. Venuto, Higher Education Programs, Office of
Postsecondary Education, 1280 Maryland Ave. S.W., Cy-80, Portals
Building, Washington, D.C. 20202-5329. A copy of comments also may be
electronically mailed to the internet address Pat__Sherrill@ed.gov and
Louis__Venuto@ed.gov, or faxed to Patrick J. Sherrill at 202-708-9346
and Louis J. Venuto at 202-708-9046. In addition, the Department of
Education and the Office of Management and Budget will carefully review
all written comments received within 30 days of publication of this
notice. However, as a courtesy to those working to prepare the final
application packages for these programs, the Department respectfully
requests receipt of written comment as early as possible, preferably on
or before December 28, 1998.
Requests for copies of the proposed information collection requests
should be addressed to: Patrick J. Sherrill, Department of Education,
600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 5624, Regional Office Building 3,
Washington, D.C. 20202-4651, or should be electronically mailed to the
internet address, Pat__Sherrill@ed.gov or faxed to (202) 708-9346.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick J. Sherrill (202) 708-8196.
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.
[[Page 68439]]
The Department anticipates that application packages for the State
Grants Program, Partnership Grants for Teacher Education Program, and
the Teacher Recruitment Program will be available in late January of
1999. It is proposing that the Department receive all applications
under each of these programs by April 16, 1999, so that grant awards
may be made by mid to late July. However, because of the particular
complexity of the Partnership Grants for Teacher Education Program, the
Department is considering use of a pre-application procedure for this
program. Under this procedure, all applicants first would submit
synopses of their proposals. Reviewers would assess the quality of
these synopses, and invite applicants whose synopses are found to be of
highest quality to submit full applications. Grant awards issues under
the Partnership Grants for Teacher Education Program might not be
issued until early September, 1999. By law, the Department must award
these grants no later than September 30, 1999.
The Department is considering this option out of concern that
partnerships choosing to apply for grants under this program (1) may
need a significant period of time to plan their working relationships
and activities, and (2) should only need to spend the time and
resources preparing the full program application if their proposals are
deemed to be of sufficiently high quality. In addition, a pre-
application process might enable peer reviewers to better focus their
attention on those applications that most warrant it.
The Department specifically requests written comment from potential
applicants on (1) whether the Department should adopt this proposal for
a pre-application procedure even though doing so will delay grant
awards and (2), if so, how the Department should address key issues
such as: the information the pre-applications should contain; the
criteria reviewers should use to select those applicants who they would
recommend be invited to submit full applications, the length of the
pre-applications; and the length of time that applicants will need to
prepare pre-applications and, if requested to do so, the final program
applications. In considering these issues, the public may find it
useful to review the proposed selection criteria for the Partnership
Grants for Teacher Education Program that are contained in the
program's application package. In addition, the public should be aware
that if a pre-application procedure is used, the Department estimates
it may need over three and one half months to process, peer-review, and
select applicants for both phases of the application process.
Written comments on these and other matters should be sent as early
as possible to the addresses identified at the beginning of this
notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) provide interested Federal agencies and the public an
early opportunity to comment on information collection requests. OMB
may amend or waive the requirement for public consultation to the
extent that public participation in the approval process would defeat
the purpose of the information collection, violate State or Federal
law, or substantially interfere with any agency's ability to perform
its statutory obligations. The Leader, Information Management Group,
Office of the Chief Financial and Chief Information Officer, publishes
that notice containing proposed information collection requests prior
to submission of these requests to OMB. Each proposed information
collection, grouped by office, contains the following: (1) Type of
review requested, e.g., new, revision, extension, existing or
reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4)
Description of the need for, and proposed use of, the information; (5)
Respondents and frequency of collection; and (6) Reporting and/or
Recordkeeping burden. OMB invites public comment at the address
specified above. Copies of the requests are available from Louis Venuto
at the address specified above.
Dated: December 7, 1998.
Kent H. Hannaman,
Leader, Information Management Group, Office of the Chief Financial and
Chief Information Officer.
Office of Postsecondary Education
Type of Review: New.
Title: Applications under the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal Gov't, SEAs or LEAs.
Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Responses: 100
Burden Hours: 4,000
Abstract: This application package is essential for Governors,
State and Local agencies, and institutions of higher education to apply
for new awards under the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants fiscal year
1999 competition.
This information collection is being submitted under the
Streamlined Clearance Process for Discretionary Grant Information
Collections (1890-0001). Therefore, this 30-day public comment period
notice will be the only public comment notice published for this
information collection.
[FR Doc. 98-32940 Filed 12-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P