FR Doc 04-12171
[Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)]
[Notices]
[Page 30789-30792]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28my04-143]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Overview Information,
Emergency Response and Crisis Management Grant Program; Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.184E.
Dates: Applications Available: May 28, 2004.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 9, 2004. Deadline
for Intergovernmental Review: August 9, 2004.
Eligible Applicants: Local educational agencies (LEAs). Grantees
that received funding under this priority in FY 2003 are not eligible
applicants for FY 2004.
Estimated Available Funds: $27,000,000. Contingent upon the
availability of funds, the Secretary may make additional awards in FY
2005 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded applicants from this
competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$500,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $100,000 for small districts (1-
20 school facilities); $250,000 for medium-sized districts (21-75
school facilities); and
[[Page 30790]]
$500,000 for large districts (76 or more school facilities).
Estimated Number of Awards: 100.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 18 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The Emergency Response and Crisis Management
grant competition supports efforts by LEAs to improve and strengthen
their school emergency response and crisis management plans, including
training school personnel, students and parents in emergency response
procedures and coordinating with local law enforcement, public safety,
health, and mental health agencies.
Priority: This priority is from the notice of final priority for
this program, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register.
Absolute Priority: For FY 2004 this priority is an absolute
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only those applications
that meet this priority.
This priority supports LEA projects to improve and strengthen
emergency response and crisis management plans, at the district and
school-building level, while addressing the four phases of crisis
planning: Prevention/Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.
Plans must include training for school personnel, students, and parents
in emergency response procedures and must include coordination with
local law enforcement, public safety, health, and mental health
agencies.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81,
82, 84, 85, 97, 98, 99, and 299. (b) The notice of final priority and
other application requirements published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants to Local Educational Agencies
Estimated Available Funds: $27,000,000. Contingent upon the
availability of funds, the Secretary may make additional awards in FY
2005 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded applicants from this
competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$500,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $100,000 for small districts (1-
20 school facilities); $250,000 for medium-sized districts (21-75
school facilities); and $500,000 for large districts (76 or more school
facilities).
Estimated Number of Awards: 100.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 18 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: LEAs. Grantees that received funding under
this priority in FY 2003 are not eligible applicants in FY 2004.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other:
(a) Required Partners and Agreement.
In order to be considered for a grant award, an applicant must
include in its application an agreement that details the participation
of the LEA and the following five community-based partners from the
local area: Law enforcement, public safety, health, mental health, and
the head of the applicant's local government (for example the mayor,
city manager, or county executive). The agreement must detail the roles
and responsibilities that each of the required partners will have in
improving and strengthening the plan. The agreement must also reflect
each partner's commitment to sustainability and continuous improvement
of the plan. Finally, the agreement must include an authorized
signature representing the LEA and each community-based partner.
If one or more of the five partners listed is not present in the
applicant's community, or cannot feasibly participate, the agreement
must explain the absence of each missing partner. To be considered
eligible for funding, however, an application must include signed
agreements from at least the LEA and two of the required five partners,
and explanations for the absence of any of the remaining required
partners.
Applications that fail to include the required agreement, including
roles and responsibilities and commitment to sustainability and
continuous improvement (with signatures and explanations for missing
signatures as specified above), will not be read.
Although this program requires partnerships with other parties,
administrative direction and fiscal control for the project must remain
with the LEA.
(b) Coordination with Homeland Security.
All emergency response and crisis management plans must be
coordinated with the Homeland Security Plan of the State in which the
LEA is located. All States submitted such a plan to the Department of
Homeland Security on January 30, 2004. To ensure that emergency
services are coordinated within the State, the LEA must follow the
requirements of the State Homeland Security Plan for informing and
working with State personnel on emergency services and initiatives.
(c) Individuals with Disabilities.
The plan must also take into consideration the communication,
transportation, and medical needs of individuals with disabilities
within this community.
(d) Equitable Participation by Private School Children and
Teachers.
SEAs, LEAs or other entities are required to provide for the
equitable participation of private school children, their teachers, and
other educational personnel in private schools located in areas served
by the grant recipient. In order to ensure that grant program
activities address the needs of private school children, the SEA, LEA
or other entity must engage in timely and meaningful consultation with
private school officials during the design and development of the
program. This consultation must take place before any decision is made
that affects the opportunities of eligible private school children,
teachers, and other educational personnel to participate.
In order to ensure equitable participation of private school
children, teachers, and other educational personnel, an LEA must
consult with private school officials on issues such as: Hazards/
vulnerabilities unique to private schools in the LEA's service area;
and existing emergency management plans and crisis response resources
already available at private schools.
(e) Maintenance of Effort.
Section 9521 of the ESEA requires that LEAs may receive a grant
only if the State educational agency finds that the combined fiscal
effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the LEA and the
State with respect to the provision of free public education by the LEA
for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the
combined effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding
fiscal year.
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), you may call (toll free):
1-877-576-7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
or you may contact ED
[[Page 30791]]
Pubs at its e-mail address: edpubs@inet.ed.gov
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.184E.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed in this section.
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. You
may access the electronic version of the application at the following
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvpemergencyresponse/index.html.
3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: May 28,
2004.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 9, 2004. The dates
and times for the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand
(including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the
application package for this competition. The application package also
specifies the hours of operation of the e-Application Web site.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 9, 2004.
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: Instructions and requirements for
the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier
service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this
competition.
Application Procedures: 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 processes. Enhancing the
ability of individuals and entities to conduct business with us
electronically is a major part of our response to these Acts.
Therefore, 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.
Some of the procedures in these instructions for transmitting
applications differ from those in the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 75.102). Under the
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally
offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed
regulations. However, these amendments make procedural changes only and
do not establish new substantive policy. Therefore, under 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined that proposed rulemaking is not
required.
We are requiring that applications for grants under the Emergency
Response and Crisis Management competition--CFDA Number 84.184E be
submitted electronically using the Electronic Grant Application System
(e-Application) available through the Department's e-GRANTS system. The
e-GRANTS system is accessible through its portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov
.
If you are unable to submit an application through the e-GRANTS
system, you may submit a written request for a waiver of the electronic
submission requirement. In your request, you should explain the reason
or reasons that prevent you from using the Internet to submit your
application. Address your request to: Sara Strizzi, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E320, Washington, DC 20202.
Please submit your request no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
If, within two weeks of the application deadline date, you are
unable to submit an application electronically, you must submit a paper
application by the application deadline date in accordance with the
transmittal instructions in the application package. The paper
application must include a written request for a waiver documenting the
reasons that prevented you from using the Internet to submit your
application.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications: We are
continuing to expand our pilot project for electronic submission of
applications to include additional formula grant programs and
additional discretionary grant competitions. Emergency Response and
Crisis Management--CFDA Number 84.184E is one of the programs included
in the pilot project. If you are an applicant under the Emergency
Response and Crisis Management competition, you must submit your
application to us in electronic format or receive a waiver.
The pilot project involves the use of e-Application. If you use e-
Application, you will be entering data online while completing your
application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us. The data you enter online will be saved into a
database. We shall continue to evaluate the success of e-Application
and solicit suggestions for its improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
When you enter the e-Application system, you will find
information about its hours of operation. We strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application deadline date to initiate an e-
Application package.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize
you if you submit an application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically, including
the Application for Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), Budget
Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary
assurances and certifications.
Your e-Application must comply with any page limit
requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which 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 Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
1. Print ED 424 from e-Application.
2. The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
3. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
4. Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202)
260-1349.
We may request that you give us original signatures on
other forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System
Unavailability: If you are prevented from submitting your application
on the application deadline date because the e-Application system is
unavailable, we will grant you an extension of one business day in
order to transmit your application
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electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery. We will grant this
extension if--
1. You are a registered user of e-Application and you have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
2. (a) The e-Application system 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) The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time
during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 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 acknowledgement 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.
You may access the electronic grant application for Emergency
Response and Crisis Management at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are
in the application package.
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 also notify you informally.
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. In addition, periodic interim performance reports,
outlining progress on the grant, are also required.
4. Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the
following performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the
Emergency Response and Crisis Management Grant Program:
Demonstration of increased number of hazards addressed by
the improved school emergency response plan as compared to the baseline
plan;
Demonstration of improved response time and quality of
response to practice drills and simulated crises; and
A plan for and commitment to the sustainability and
continuous improvement of the school emergency response plan by the
district and community partners beyond the period of Federal financial
assistance.
These three measures constitute the Department's indicators of
success for this program. Consequently, applicants for a grant under
this program are advised to give careful consideration to these
outcomes in conceptualizing the design, implementation, and evaluation
of their proposed project. If funded, applicants will be asked to
collect and report data in their final performance report about
progress toward these goals.
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact: Sara Strizzi, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., room 3E320, Washington, DC 20202-
6450. Telephone: (202) 708-4850 or by email: sara.strizzi@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 the program contact person listed in this
section.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may 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
.
Dated: May 25, 2004.
Deborah A. Price,
Deputy Under Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
[FR Doc. 04-12171 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am]
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