FR Doc E6-19674 [Federal Register: November 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 224)] [Notices] [Page 67346-67348] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21no06-38] Download:----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [CFDA No. 84.330B] Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department of Education. ACTION: Notice announcing application deadline. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Under the AP Test Fee Program, we award grants to eligible State educational agencies (SEAs) in order to enable them to pay all or a portion of advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low- income students who: (1) Are enrolled in an advanced placement course; and (2) plan to take an advanced placement exam. The program is designed to increase the number of low-income students who take advanced placement tests and receive scores for which college academic credit is awarded. In this notice we establish the deadline for submission of the fiscal year (FY) 2007 AP Test Fee Program grant applications. Applications Available: November 21, 2006. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: January 5, 2007. Applications for grants under this program must be submitted electronically using the Grants.gov apply site (Grants.gov). For information (including dates and times) about how to submit your application electronically or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer to the section on Other Submission Requirements in this notice. We do not consider an application that does not comply with the deadline requirements. Deadline for intergovernmental review: March 6, 2007. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Who Is Eligible for an Award Under the AP Test Fee Program? Eligible applicants under the AP Test Fee Program are: SEAs in any State, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated states of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. Note: For purposes of this program, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is treated as an SEA. Note: Current grantees under this program that expect to have sufficient carryover funds to cover FY 2007 exam fees for eligible low-income students should not apply for a new award under this competition. Applicants requesting new awards for FY 2007 must submit an application to the Department of Education electronically by the deadline established in this notice. Funding and Award Information Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested $122,175,000 for the AP Test Fee and Advanced Placement Incentive (API) programs for FY 2007. Of the requested amount, approximately $12 million would be required to fully fund applications for the AP Test Fee program. The remaining funds would support API grants. 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: $15,000-$500,000. Estimated Average Size of Awards: $171,000. Estimated Number of Awards: 34. Project Period: 12 months. Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice. Statutory Funding Requirement: In accordance with section 1703 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), the Department gives priority to applications submitted under this competition over applications submitted under the API program competition (CFDA No. 84.330C). Award Basis: The Department intends to fund, at some level, all applications that meet the minimum Requirements for Approval of Application as described in the application package for this competition and that demonstrate need for new or additional funds for FY 2007. Also, in determining whether to approve an application for a new award (including the amount of the award) from an applicant with a current grant under the program, the Department will consider the amount of any carryover funds under the existing grant. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under this program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in this section. a. Electronic Submission of Applications Applications for grants under the Advanced Placement Test Fee Program--CFDA Number 84.330B must be submitted electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov appply site at: http://www.grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement. You may access the electronic grant application for the Advanced Placement Test Fee Program at: http://www.grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search for 84.330, not 84.330B). Please note the following: When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find information about submitting an application electronically through the site, as well as the hours of operation. Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and must be date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application if it is date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are rejecting your application because it was date/time stamped by the [[Page 67347]] Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. The amount of time it can take to upload an application will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov. You should review and follow the Education Submission Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are included in the application package for this program to ensure that you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf. To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must complete all of the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1) registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2) registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization. Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf ). You also must provide on your application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please note that the registration process may take five or more business days to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to allow you to successfully submit an application via Grants.gov. In addition, you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual basis. This may take three or more business days to complete. You will not receive additional point value because you submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your application in paper format. You must submit all documents electronically, including all information typically included on the following forms: Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non- Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance). You must attach any narrative sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file types specified above or submit a password protected file, we will not review that material. Your electronic application must comply with any page limit requirements described in this notice. After you electronically submit your application, you will receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The Department will then retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send to you by e-mail a second notification that indicates that the Department has received your application and has assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying number unique to your application). We may request that you provide us original signatures on forms at a later date. Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it. If you are prevented from electronically submitting your application on the application deadline date because of technical problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to enable you to transmit your application electronically, or by hand delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing instructions as described elsewhere in this notice. If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the deadline date, please contact the person listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, and provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted. Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the unavailability of or technical problems with the Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before the deadline date and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system. Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application through the Grants.gov system because-- You do not have access to the Internet; or You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to the Grants.gov system; and No later than two weeks before the application deadline date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date. Address and mail or fax your statement to: Ms. Lynyetta Johnson, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3C151, Washington, DC 20202-6200. FAX: (202) 205-4921. Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice. b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), your application to the Department. You must mail the original and two copies of your application, on or before the application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable following address: [[Page 67348]] By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260 or By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506 Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing consisting of one of the following: (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark, (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal Service, (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial carrier, or (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do not accept either of the following as proof of mailing: (1) A private metered postmark, or (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service. If your application is postmarked after the application deadline date, we will not consider your application. Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your local post office. c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery. If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260. The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays and Federal holidays. Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail or hand deliver your application to the Department: (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if any--of the competition under which you are submitting your application. (2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lynyetta Johnson, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6200. Telephone: (202) 260-1990 or via Internet: advancedplacementprogram@ed.gov. 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 notice in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as well as 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. 6531-6537. Dated: November 16, 2006. Henry L. Johnson, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. [FR Doc. E6-19674 Filed 11-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000-01-P