[Federal Register: January 15, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 10)]
[Notices]
[Page 2167-2169]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ja03-113]
Download: 
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.129B]
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling
Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY)
2003.
Purpose of Program: The Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program
provides financial assistance for--
(1) Projects that provide basic or advanced training leading to an
academic degree in areas of personnel shortages in rehabilitation as
identified by the Secretary;
(2) Projects that provide a specified series of courses or program
of study leading to award of a certificate in areas of personnel
shortages in rehabilitation as identified by the Secretary; and
(3) Projects that provide support for medical residents enrolled in
residency training programs in the specialty of physical medicine and
rehabilitation.
For FY 2003, the competition for new awards focuses on projects
designed to meet the priority we reference in the PRIORITY section of
this application notice.
Eligible Applicants: States and public or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher
education, are eligible for assistance under the Rehabilitation
Training program.
Applications Available: January 17, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 7, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 6, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $4,800,000.
The Administration has requested $4,800,000 for this program for FY
2003. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final
congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to allow
enough time to complete the grant process if Congress appropriates
funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $125,000 to $150,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $150,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $150,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice
published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 32.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Page Limit: Part III of the application, the application narrative,
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to
the equivalent of no more than 45 pages, using the following standards:
[sbull] A page is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1'' margins
at the top, bottom, and both sides.
[sbull] Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
[sbull] 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, or the letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
We will reject your application if--
[sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
[sbull] You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, and 86; and (b) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR
parts 385 and 386.
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 only.
Priority
This competition focuses on projects designed to meet the priority
in the notice of final priority for this program,
[[Page 2168]]
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
For FY 2003, this priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet the priority.
Application Procedures
Note: 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.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to
expand its pilot project for electronic submission of applications to
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary
grant competitions. The Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-
Term Training program--Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling, CFDA No.
84.129B, is one of the programs included in the pilot project. If you
are an applicant under the Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation
Long-Term Training program--Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling, you
may submit your application to us in either electronic or paper format.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-Application) portion of the Grant Administration
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
[sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
[sbull] You will not receive any 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. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of
operation.
[sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications.
[sbull] 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).
[sbull] Within 3 working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
(1) Print ED 424 from the e-Application system.
(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.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
[sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program--
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and you are prevented from
submitting your application on the closing date because the e-
Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of 1
business day in order to transmit your application electronically, by
mail, or by hand delivery.
For us to grant this extension--
(1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
(2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes
or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system must be 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 deadline
date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension.
To request this extension you must contact either (1) the person
listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
or (2) the e-Grants help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for the
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program--
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://e-grants.ed.gov.
We have included additional information about the e-Application
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs),
PO 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://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
.
Or you may contact ED 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 84.129B.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone:
(202) 205-8207. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Steburg, U.S. Department of
Education, RSA, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Suite 18T91, Atlanta, GA 30303.
Telephone: (404) 562-6336 or via Internet: Beverly.Steburg@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 under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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
[[Page 2169]]
Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=www.ed.gov/legislation/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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html
.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 772.
Dated: January 10, 2003.
Robert H. Pasternack,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 03-869 Filed 1-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U