[Federal Register: June 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 117)]
[Notices]
[Page 32877-32882]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18jn01-160]
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Part II
Department of Education
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Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Special
Education--Research and Innovation To Improve Services and Results for
Children With Disabilities Program; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Special
Education--Research and Innovation To Improve Services and Results for
Children With Disabilities Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
(FY) 2001.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides closing dates and other information
regarding the transmittal of applications for two FY 2001 competitions
under one program authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), as amended: Special Education-- Research and
Innovation to Improve Services and Results for Children with
Disabilities.
National Education Goals
The eight National Education Goals focus the Nation's education
reform efforts and provide a framework for improving teaching and
learning.
This priority addresses the National Education Goals that promote
new partnerships to strengthen schools and expand the Department's
capacities for helping communities to exchange ideas and obtain
information needed to achieve the goals.
This priority would address the National Education Goals by helping
to improve results for children with disabilities.
Waiver of Rulemaking
It is generally our practice to offer interested parties the
opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However, section
661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553)
inapplicable to the priorities in this notice.
General Requirements
(a) The projects funded under this notice must make positive
efforts to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in project activities (see section 606 of IDEA).
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects
(see section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA).
(c) The projects funded under these priorities must budget for a
two-day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year
of the project.
(d) In a single application, an applicant must address only one
absolute priority in this notice.
(e) Part III of each application submitted under a priority in this
notice, the application narrative, is where an applicant addresses the
selection criteria that are used by reviewers in evaluating the
application. You must limit Part III to the equivalent of no more than
the number of pages listed in the table at the end of this notice for
each applicable priority, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5" x 11" (on one side only) with one-inch
margins (top, bottom, and sides).
Double-space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, and captions, as well as all text in charts,
tables, figures, and graphs.
If using a proportional computer font, use no smaller than
a 12-point font, and an average character density no greater than 18
characters per inch. If using a nonproportional font or a typewriter,
do not use more than 12 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 or references, or the letters of support.
However, you must include all of the application narrative in Part III.
We will reject without consideration or evaluation any application
if--
You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
Research and Innovation To Improve Services and Results for
Children With Disabilities [CFDA 84.324]
Purpose of Program: To produce, and advance the use of, knowledge
to: (a) Improve services provided under IDEA, including the practices
of professionals and others involved in providing those services to
children with disabilities; and (b) improve educational and early
intervention results for infants, toddlers, and children with
disabilities.
Eligible Applicants: For absolute priority 1, eligible applicants
are: Institutions of higher education (IHEs), Local educational
agencies (LEAs), and private nonprofit organizations. For absolute
priority 2, eligible applicants are: IHEs and private nonprofit
organizations.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81,
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; (b) The selection criteria for the
priorities under this program are drawn from the EDGAR general
selection criteria menu. The specific selection criteria for each
priority are included in the funding application packet for the
applicable competition.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet
one of the following priorities:
Absolute Priority 1--Centers for Implementing K-3 Behavior and
Reading Intervention Models (CFDA 84.324X)
Background: Effective strategies that intervene early in a child's
development are well recognized in improving results for children with
disabilities. Unfortunately, approximately sixty percent of the
children currently being served under IDEA are typically identified too
late to receive full benefit from those interventions. This problem is
most prominent with two specific populations of children--those
identified for special education and related services under the
categories ``emotional disturbance'' (ED) and ``specific learning
disabilities'' (LD). These children are often not identified as being
eligible for special education and related services until after their
disabilities have reached severe proportions. These are children who,
very early in their education, experience marked difficulties learning
to read or exhibit behaviors that lead to discipline problems as they
get older.
There currently exists a substantial and compelling body of
research describing how to assess, identify, and help these children.
For instance, research indicates that both populations of children:
(a) Can be assessed and identified early with relative ease and
accuracy;
(b) Are at high risk for dropping out of school, becoming
discipline problems, and failing in school;
(c) Often fall behind because they do not receive appropriate
interventions earlier;
(d) Can make tremendous gains when provided with effective services
during early childhood; and
(e) May need individually tailored interventions because one
approach may not fit all children.
A key feature of promising schoolwide programs is their emphasis on
the inclusion of all students in the
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school. Effective support for reading and behavior begins by attending
to all students. Providing such support, in turn, requires
understanding the range of reading difficulties and behavioral problems
students present in schools and a knowledge of the research-based
strategies and practices for addressing those difficulties and
challenges. To meet these varied needs, interventions need to be
systemic and address a range of needs across three groups, representing
three levels of intervention intensity:
(a) Primary prevention involves universal instruction to avert the
onset of behavioral problems and reading deficits such as research-
based schoolwide reading and behavior programs.
(b) Secondary prevention refers to strategies and procedures that
address small groups of students who need additional support or
assistance to successfully acquire new skills in reading and behavior.
(c) Tertiary prevention involves more intense, specialized
interventions, such as one-on-one interventions, for individual
students who despite previous instruction and intervention efforts
experience chronic behavioral problems or marked difficulties in
learning to read.
Although previous research and model demonstration projects have
evaluated many aspects of the reading process and approaches to
behavior management, model demonstration projects have not been
implemented and sustained extensively in LEAs to systematically
evaluate--
(a) Professional development for regular and special education
teachers related to intervening early with children with marked
difficulties in reading and behavior;
(b) A continuum of varied interventions for children with reading
and behavior difficulties;
(c) Scaffolding or support in all curriculum areas for children in
K-3 with reading and behavior difficulties while providing specialized
or intensive interventions in reading or behavior;
(d) Continuous assessment to determine and predict progress;
(e) Systemic changes to ensure sustainability of the model;
(f) Simultaneous reading and behavior interventions that target the
interdependence of reading and behavior.
Priority
The purpose of this priority is to support six centers (two centers
for reading, two centers for behavior, and two centers for reading and
behavior) that will demonstrate school-based models of effective
programs and practices to serve children grades K-3 who are identified
as having marked difficulty learning to read or who exhibit serious
behaviors that lead to discipline problems as they get older. The goals
for these projects include:
(a) To implement systemic improvements in the provision of
effective reading (tertiary) and behavior interventions (primary,
secondary, and tertiary) in K-3, including systems for professional
development and technical assistance;
(b) To improve reading and behavior results for children in grades
K-3; and
(c) To implement effective models which are cost effective.
A coordination center will be funded separately to collect and
analyze data from the six reading and behavior centers funded under
this priority to determine the effectiveness across the three types of
models--reading only, behavior only, and reading and behavior, and the
cost effectiveness of the models. The reading and behavior centers and
the coordination center must work together to decide on common
measures. The reading and behavior centers must submit data to the
coordination center according to a schedule that will be established
during the first three months of the projects.
Projects funded under this priority must:
(a) Select schools for implementation in conjunction with the
coordination center and subject to OSEP approval after the awards have
been made.
(b) Implement reading or behavior model demonstrations in at least
seven elementary schools (K-5 or K-6) that are representative of
schools across the nation, including, but not limited to, schools
having multiple classes at each grade level K-3 and students with a
variety of cognitive and behavioral abilities.
(c) Provide comprehensive technical assistance to each of the
schools.
(d) Collect data requested by the coordination center, using the
methods and instruments that will be determined during the first three
months, for both reading and behavior as well as detailed budgets for
the cost of implementation of the model at each school.
(e) Cooperate with the coordination center and OSEP's evaluation
efforts throughout the project period to determine core measures and
instruments to use for assessment across projects, collect data on
project challenges and progress throughout the project, and comply with
the data collection procedures established with the coordination center
and approved by OSEP.
For the application process, applicants must demonstrate
organizational capacity in each of the areas below, and once awards are
made, applicants are expected to successfully implement the following
requirements within the targeted schools:
(a) Identifying students to participate who have a marked
difficulty learning to read or who exhibit behaviors that lead to
discipline problems later;
(b) Ensuring the provision of effective research-based instruction
as part of primary and secondary intervention strategies;
(c) For a schoolwide focus on behavior, projects must demonstrate
experience and success with developing the following components of
schoolwide models:
(i) A mission or purpose statement;
(ii) A list of positively stated behavioral expectations or rules;
(iii) Procedures for directly teaching these expectations to
students;
(iv) A continuum of strategies for encouraging these expectations;
(v) A continuum of strategies for discouraging rule violations; and
(vi) Procedures for record keeping and evaluation;
(d) All projects must demonstrate experience and success in
identifying schools with a commitment of the faculty to address
behavior or reading as a schoolwide priority;
(e) Establishing sustainable linkages, partnerships, and
collaboration between local educational agencies (LEAs) and research
and training programs at institutions of higher education (IHEs) or
nonprofit educational organizations in the design, implementation, and
evaluation of projects;
(f) Ensuring the designation of an implementation coordinator and
the establishment of a committee, including the principal in each
school, to support the project;
(g) Collaboration and linkages with Federally supported researchers
and technical assistance providers;
(h) Evaluations that address the following--
(1) Providing information about how children at highest risk are
identified;
(2) Monitoring each child's progress on a frequent basis, including
both formative and summative evaluations; and
(3) Establishing criteria for a successful program;
(i) For reading projects--
(1) Identifying and describing the social, environmental, and
cultural characteristics of each child; and
(2) Developing comprehensive case studies of each child to
determine
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factors associated with risk, how they perform in other areas, how they
performed in preschool, and characteristics related to reading (e.g.,
prereading development; language, speech and articulation; primary and
secondary language);
(j) For behavior projects--
(1) Describing the social, environmental and cultural
characteristics of participating groups of children or individual
children; and
(2) Developing comprehensive case studies of groups of children or
individual children to determine risk factors and possible causes, how
the children perform in other areas, how they performed in preschool,
and characteristics related to behavior;
(k) Establishing a school and family link related to reading or
behavior;
(l) Describing a process for evaluating the needs at the school
level (including school size and number of target students) and the
amount of money requested; and
(m) Describing how an effective model will be sustained when the
grant ends.
Projects funded under this priority must schedule three trips to
Washington, D.C. the first year and two trips to Washington, DC each
subsequent year: (1) One trip annually (as specified in the ``General
Requirements'' section of this notice); (2) one trip annually to
collaborate with the Federal project officer and the other projects
funded under this priority, to share information and discuss model
development, evaluation, and project implementation issues; and (3) one
trip by the end of the first month of the project for a planning
meeting with the coordination center and the other reading and behavior
centers.
In deciding whether to continue this project for the fourth and
fifth years, we will consider the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a), and
in addition--
(a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of experts
selected by the Secretary, which review will be conducted during the
last half of the project's second year in Washington, DC. Projects must
budget for the travel associated with this review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the
project; and
(c) The degree to which the project's design and methodology
demonstrate the potential for advancing significant new knowledge.
Competitive Preference
Within this absolute priority, we will give the following
competitive preference under section 606 of IDEA and 34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(i), to applications that are otherwise eligible for
funding under this priority:
Up to ten (10) points based on the effectiveness of the applicant's
strategies for employing and advancing in employment qualified
individuals with disabilities in project activities as required under
paragraph (a) of the ``General Requirements'' section of this notice.
In determining the effectiveness of those strategies, we may consider
the applicant's past success in pursuit of this goal.
Therefore, for purposes of this competitive preference, applicants
can be awarded up to a total of 10 points in addition to those awarded
under the published selection criteria for this priority. That is, an
applicant meeting this competitive preference could earn a maximum
total of 110 points.
Project Period: Under this priority, we will make two reading, two
behavior and two reading and behavior for six cooperative agreements
with project periods of up to 60 months.
Maximum Award: The maximum award amount is $900,000 for one
component or $1,250,000 for two components for any single budget period
of 12 months. Consistent with EDGAR 34 CFR 75.104(b), we will reject
any application that proposes a budget funding level for any year that
exceeds the stated maximum award amount for that year.
Page Limits: The maximum page limits for this focus are 70 double-
spaced pages for one component (reading or behavior) and 100 double-
spaced pages for two components (reading and behavior).
Note: Applications must meet the required page limit standards
that are described in the ``General Requirements'' section of this
notice.
Absolute Priority 2--Coordination Center for the K-3 Reading and
Behavior Intervention Models (84.324Y)
Background: A priority (CFDA 84.324X) for six centers (two centers
for reading, two centers for behavior, and two centers for reading and
behavior) is being announced concurrently with this priority for a
coordination center. The six centers will implement demonstrations of
school-based models of effective programs and practices to serve
children grades K-3 who are identified as having marked (i.e.,
tertiary) difficulty learning to read or who exhibit behaviors that may
lead to discipline problems as they get older.
Priority
The purpose of this priority is to fund one cooperative agreement
that will coordinate with the reading and behavior projects to conduct
an evaluation of the six reading and behavior centers, as implemented
by the entities receiving grants under the competition (CFDA 84.324X).
(a) The project must systematically evaluate:
(1) Professional development for regular and special education
teachers related to intervening early with children with marked
difficulties in reading and behavior;
(2) A continuum of varied interventions for children with reading
and behavior difficulties;
(3) Scaffolding or support in all curriculum areas for children in
K-3 with reading and behavior difficulties while providing specialized
or intensive interventions in reading or behavior;
(4) Continuous assessment to determine and predict progress;
(5) Sustainability of the model; and
(6) Simultaneous reading and behavior interventions that target the
interdependence of reading and behavior.
(b) The evaluation must provide information and recommendations
regarding the extent to which the reading and behavior centers are
meeting, and are likely to meet in the future, their fundamental goals
individually and across the three types of centers (i.e., reading,
reading and behavior, and behavior):
(1) To implement systemic improvements in the provision of
effective reading and behavior interventions in K-3, including systems
for professional development and technical assistance;
(2) To improve reading and behavior results for children in grades
K-3; and
(3) To implement effective models that are cost effective.
(c) At a minimum, this project must--
(1) Propose a design for the evaluation that includes:
(i) An initial set of evaluation questions based on the purposes of
the evaluation as stated previously;
(ii) A description of the overall approach or type of evaluation to
be conducted, ensuring that the design effectively controls for
competing explanations of treatment effects;
(iii) A description of how control groups, which are representative
of schools across the nation, having, for example, multiple classes at
each grade level K-3, and a variety of cognitive and behavioral
abilities, have been established in prior work and how they
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will be established for the evaluation of the reading and behavior
projects;
(iv) A matrix of potential sources of evaluation data for reading
and behavior projects receiving funds during the term of this
cooperative agreement, the methods of data collection, the suggested
instruments to be used, and other measurement issues related to each of
the evaluation questions. Qualitative or quantitative data collection
methods may be proposed, however, the methods chosen must allow data to
be collected with precision, maximize validity and reliability, and
include measures that are sufficiently robust to assess effects of
alternative interventions across all grants; and
(v) A plan that outlines the type of data to be gathered and the
specific analyses to be conducted, including appropriate statistical or
valuational criteria to be applied to these data. The plan should also
indicate how best to communicate the results of the analyses to OSEP
and other interested parties.
(2) Demonstrate knowledge of research-based practices and prior
experience with schoolwide reading and behavior programs;
(3) Propose a timeline for implementing the design over the 5 years
of the project period that allows for refining the evaluation design
with the reading and behavior centers in the first year, determining
testing instruments, and initiating human subjects clearance, as
needed;
(4) Submit a final design report at the end of 3 months from the
start date;
(5) Propose a communication plan with OSEP that describes:
(i) Methods for providing consistent and timely updates regarding
the progress of this project and for identifying any constraints or
barriers that arise in implementing the final evaluation design, budget
changes, preliminary findings, and reports. The communication plan
should include the annual Grant Performance Report for Continuation
Funding and trips to Washington, DC as described elsewhere in this
priority;
(ii) A series of interim reports containing study findings relative
to the research questions and consistent with the timeline for
implementing the design; and
(iii) A final technical report of the evaluation (due 60 months
following the start date of the project). A detailed outline of the
final report must be submitted for review by the project officer 57
months after the start date of the project. In addition, the project
officer shall have an opportunity to provide input on a draft version
of the final report 59 months after the start date. The report is due
60 months after the start date of the project and must contain, at
minimum, the following sections:
(A) Executive Summary;
(B) Background information on the reading and behavior programs;
(C) Description of the evaluation study;
(D) Results;
(E) Discussion of results; and
(F) Conclusions, recommendations, and options; and
(iv) Implement the evaluation consistent with the design, timeline,
and communication plan;
(6) Collaborate with the reading and behavior centers in the
selection of schools subject to OSEP approval;
(7) Disseminate the best practices to other schools and LEAs in
consultation with OSEP; and
(d) The project funded under this priority must schedule three
trips to Washington, DC the first year and two trips to Washington, DC
each subsequent year: (1) One trip, annually (as specified in the
``General Requirements'' section of this notice); (2) one trip,
annually to collaborate with the Federal project officer and the
projects funded under the Centers for Implementing K-3 Schoolwide
Behavior and Reading Intervention Models (84.324X), to share
information and discuss model development, evaluation, and project
implementation issues; and (3) one trip by the end of the first month
of the project for: (i) A planning meeting with the reading and
behavior centers, and (ii) a meeting with the OSEP project officer and
other OSEP staff to review and revise, if necessary, the proposed
evaluation design (including the evaluation questions and analysis
plan), the timeline and communication plan. The final versions of these
documents, including any changes resulting from this meeting, will be
incorporated into the requirements of the cooperative agreement.
In deciding whether to continue this project for the fourth and
fifth years, we will consider the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a), and
in addition--
(a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of experts
selected by the Secretary, which review will be conducted during the
last half of the project's second year in Washington, D.C. Projects
must budget for the travel associated with this review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the
project; and
(c) The degree to which the project's design and methodology
demonstrate the potential for advancing significant new knowledge.
Competitive Preference
Within this absolute priority, we will give the following
competitive preference under section 606 of IDEA and 34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(i), to applications that are otherwise eligible for
funding under this priority:
Up to ten (10) points based on the effectiveness of the applicant's
strategies for employing and advancing in employment qualified
individuals with disabilities in project activities as required under
paragraph (a) of the ``General Requirements'' section of this notice.
In determining the effectiveness of those strategies, we may consider
the applicant's past success in pursuit of this goal.
Therefore, for purposes of this competitive preference, applicants
can be awarded up to a total of 10 points in addition to those awarded
under the published selection criteria for this priority. That is, an
applicant meeting this competitive preference could earn a maximum
total of 110 points.
Project Period: Under this priority, we will make one award for a
cooperative agreement with a project period of 60 months subject to the
requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for continuation awards.
Maximum Award: The maximum award amount is $1,200,000 for any
single budget period of 12 months. Consistent with EDGAR 34 CFR
75.104(b), we will reject any application that proposes a budget
funding level for any year that exceeds the stated maximum award amount
for that year.
Page Limits: The maximum page limit for this priority is 100
double-spaced pages.
Note: Applications must meet the required page limit standards
that are described in the ``General Requirements'' section of this
notice.
For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs),
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, Maryland 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-
877-4ED-Pubs (1-877-433-7827). FAX: 301-470-1244. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call (toll free) 1-
877-576-7734.
You may also contact Ed Pubs via its Web site (http://www.ed.gov/
pubs/edpubs.html) or its E-mail address (edpubs@inet.ed.gov).
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
these competitions as follows: CFDA 84.324X and CFDA 84.324Y.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grants and Contracts Services Team,
[[Page 32882]]
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., room 3317,
Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 260-9182.
If you use a 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 contact persons listed in the preceding
paragraph.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting the Department as listed
above. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Application Notice For Fiscal Year 2001
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Application Deadline for Maximum
CFDA No. and name Application deadline intergovernmental award (per Project period Page Limit Estimated
available date review of year) 1 2 No. awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
84.324X Centers for Implementing K-3 06/22/01 08/03/01 10/02/01 .......... Up to 60 mos.................. .......... 6
Behavior and Reading Intervention
Models.
1 component............................ ........... ........... ................. $900,000 .............................. 70 ..........
2 components........................... ........... ........... ................. 1,250,000 .............................. 100 ..........
84.324Y Coordination Center for 06/22/01 08/03/01 10/02/01 1,200,000 Up to 60 mos.................. 100 1
Implementing K-3 Behavior and Reading
Intervention Models.
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1 Consistent with EDGAR 34 CFR 75.104(b), we will reject any application that proposes a project funding level for any year that exceeds the stated
maximum award amount for that year.
2 Applicants must limit the Application Narrative, Part III of the Application, to the page limits noted. Please refer to the ``Page Limit''
requirements included under each priority description and the page limit standards described in the ``General Requirements'' section. We will reject
and will not consider an application that does not adhere to this requirement.
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
portable document format (PDF) on the internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at the previous 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.access.gpo/
nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1472.
Dated: June 13, 2001.
Francis V. Corrigan,
Deputy Director, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research.
[FR Doc. 01-15349 Filed 6-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P