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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 300 and 303
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, as Amended by the
Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of request for comments and recommendations on
regulatory issues under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education solicits comments and
recommendations from the public prior to developing and publishing
proposed regulations under 34 CFR parts 300 and 303 to implement
programs under the recently amended IDEA. The Secretary also announces
plans to hold informal public meetings to seek further input about
those regulations in light of the statutory amendments.
DATES: In order to be assured of consideration as we develop proposed
regulations, comments and recommendations should be received on or
before February 28, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments and recommendations to: Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Potomac Center Plaza, room 5126,
Washington, DC 20202-2641. If you prefer to send your comments through
the Internet, you may address them to us at the U.S. Government Web
site: http://www.regulations.gov.
Or you may send your Internet comments to us at the following
address: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``Comments on IDEA-2004'' in the subject
line of your electronic message. (Note that the term in the preceding
sentence means comments submitted in response to changes made to the
IDEA by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of
2004.)
Please submit your comments only one time, in order to ensure that
we do not receive duplicate copies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Troy R. Justesen. Telephone: (202)
245-7468.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative
[[Page 77969]]
format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 3, 2004, the President signed into law Pub. L. 108-446,
118 Stat. 2647, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement
Act of 2004, amending the IDEA. Copies of the new law may be obtained
at the following Web site: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html.
Enactment of the new law provides an opportunity to consider
improvements in the regulations implementing the IDEA in 34 CFR parts
300 and 303 that would strengthen the Federal effort to ensure the
provision of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with
disabilities and their families and ensure every child with a
disability has available a free appropriate public education that: (1)
Is of high quality, and (2) is designed to achieve the high standards
reflected in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Invitation To Comment
We invite you to submit comments and recommendations regarding
changes to 34 CFR parts 300 and 303 that you believe are needed,
particularly to clarify a provision in the new law or to facilitate its
implementation. We encourage you to make your comments as specific as
possible regarding the nature and scope of regulatory action necessary
to achieve the objective you are seeking. Also, if appropriate to your
comments, please identify the specific part and section (or subsection)
of the amended IDEA that is the subject of your recommendations, and
specify how a proposed change to a given provision in the regulations
will clarify or help to improve implementation of the new statutory
provision.
Please include the following with your comments and
recommendations: A description of the area of your involvement in
special education, regular education or early intervention, as well as
your role, if any, in that area (e.g., parent, teacher, student,
service provider, administrator, or researcher).
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice in room 5126, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th
Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
eastern time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Comments
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments and recommendations. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Announcement of Public Meetings
The following is a preliminary announcement of our plans to hold a
series of informal meetings during the first few months of calendar
year 2005, to seek comments and recommendations for developing
regulations, as needed, based on the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act of 2004. The meetings will be in the
following locations:
Atlanta, GA;
Newark, NJ;
Boston, MA;
Columbus, OH;
San Diego, CA;
Laramie, WY; and
Washington, DC.
We will notify you through notices published in the Federal
Register of the specific dates and locations of each of these meetings,
as well as other relevant information.
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 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.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1400 et. seq.; Pub. L. 108-446, 118
Stat. 2647.
Troy R. Justesen,
Acting Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 04-28503 Filed 12-28-04; 8:45 am]
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