Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the Postsecondary Programs for Students With Intellectual Disabilities-National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center (PPSID-NTAD) Program, 64399-64400 [2024-17560]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 7, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64399-64400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17560]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 152 / Wednesday, August 7, 2024 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 64399]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2024-OPE-0098]

34 CFR Chapter III


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the 
Postsecondary Programs for Students With Intellectual Disabilities--
National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center (PPSID-NTAD) 
Program

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the 
Education Department General Administrative Regulations that generally 
prohibit project period extensions involving the obligation of 
additional Federal funds. The proposed waiver and extension would 
enable one project under ALN number 84.407C to receive funding for an 
additional period, not to exceed September 30, 2025.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 6, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail or commercial delivery. We will not accept comments 
submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment 
period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please 
submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket 
ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under ``FAQs.''
     Postal Mail or Commercial Delivery: The Department 
strongly encourages commenters to submit their comments electronically. 
However, if you mail or deliver your comments, address them to: 
Postsecondary Programs For Students With Intellectual Disabilities--
National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center Program, ALN 
number 84.407C, Attention: Shedita Alston, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 5C-131, Washington, DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shedita Alston, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 5C-131, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-7090. Email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this proposed waiver and extension.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094 and their 
overall requirement of reducing regulatory burden that might result 
from this proposed waiver and extension. Please let us know of any 
further ways we could reduce potential costs or increase potential 
benefits while preserving the effective and efficient administration of 
the program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed waiver and extension by accessing 
Regulations.gov. To inspect the public comments in person, please 
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who 
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the 
public rulemaking record for this proposed waiver and extension. If you 
want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Background
    On August 5, 2021, the Department of Education (Department) 
published in the Federal Register (86 FR 42801) a notice inviting 
applications for projects for fiscal year (FY) 2021 under the PPSID-
NTAD program, authorized under the Departments of Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2021, H.R. 7614, 116th Congress (2020), and the explanatory statement 
accompanying H.R. 7614. The PPSID-NTAD program provides for the 
establishment of a technical assistance center to translate and 
disseminate research and best practices for all institutions of higher 
education (IHEs), including those not participating in the Transition 
and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities 
(TPSID) program, for improving inclusive postsecondary education for 
students with intellectual disabilities (SWIDs). This center is 
designed to ensure that knowledge and products gained through research 
reaches more IHEs and students and improves postsecondary educational 
opportunities for SWIDs.
    In August 2021, the Department made one 36-month award under the 
PPSID-NTAD program as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Institution                             State
------------------------------------------------------------------------
University of Massachusetts at Boston.........  MA
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    The current project period for this grantee ends on September 30, 
2024.
    Waiver and Extension
    We are proposing to extend the project period for the PPSID-NTAD FY 
2021 grantee in order to align and coordinate the funding cycle of the 
PPSID-NTAD program with TPSID and the TPSID-Coordinating Center (TPSID-
CC) program grant authorized under title VII, part D, subpart 2 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1140f et 
seq.), and title VII, part D, subpart 4 of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1140q), 
respectively. Aligning the ends of the project periods across grants 
would allow the Department to better coordinate the TPSID program. 
While

[[Page 64400]]

the technical assistance center and the coordinating center have 
different audiences for the dissemination of their research, aligning 
the funding for the grantees who are doing this work will improve the 
efficiency and cost effectiveness of the technical assistance and 
dissemination efforts, and will help ensure that both the TPSID 
grantees and other institutions that benefit from the research receive 
aligned supports from the centers.
    For this reason, the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements 
in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), which allow the extension of a project 
period only if the extension does not involve the obligation of 
additional Federal funds. The waiver would allow the Department to 
issue a one-time FY 2024 continuation award to the current PPSID-NTAD 
program grantee estimated as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Institution                     State                Award
------------------------------------------------------------------------
University of Massachusetts at   MA                           $1,543,686
 Boston.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any activities carried out during the year of this continuation 
award must be consistent with the scope, goals, and objectives of the 
grantee's application as approved in the FY 2021 competition. If we 
announce the proposed waiver and extension as final, we will base our 
decisions regarding a continuation award on the extent to which the 
grantee meets the requirements set forth in 34 CFR 75.253.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of 
the project period would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. The only small entities that 
would be affected by the proposed waiver and extension of the project 
period is the current grantee and any other potential applicants.
    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension 
would not have a significant economic impact on these entities because 
the extension of an existing project period would impose minimal 
compliance costs to extend the existing project, and the activities 
required to support the additional year of funding would not impose 
additional regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal 
supervision.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    The proposed waiver and extension do not contain any information 
collection requirements.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
    Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other Department documents published in the 
Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access Department documents published in the Federal 
Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Program Authority:  20 U.S.C. 1140f-1140i.

Nasser Paydar,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-17560 Filed 8-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P