03-26700. Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs (RCEP)-Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Projects (RRCEP); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

Purpose of Program: To support training centers that serve either a Federal region or another geographical area and provide for a broad, integrated sequence of training activities that focus on meeting recurrent and common training needs of employed rehabilitation personnel throughout a multi-State geographical area.

Eligible Applicants: States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher education. Applications under this notice are invited for the provision of training for Department of Education Regions I and IV only.

Applications Available: October 31, 2003.

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: January 8, 2004.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: March 8, 2004.

Estimated Available Funds: $1,688,610.

Estimated Range of Awards: $325,000-$550,935.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $375,000.

Maximum Awards by Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Region: We will reject any application that proposes a budget exceeding the following stated maximum award amount for a single budget period of 12 months.

Maximum Level of Awards by RSA Region:

Region I—$405,965.

Region IV—$550,935.

Estimated Number of Awards: 3. We expect to make one award in Region I and two awards in Region IV.

Note:

The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 60 months.

Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) 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:

(1) A page is 8.5″ by 11″, on one side only, with 1″ margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.

(2) 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.

(3) 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—

• You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
• 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. (b) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR parts 385 and 389.

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.

Selection Criteria: In evaluating an application for a new grant under this competition, we use the selection criteria in 34 CFR 385.31 and 389.30. The selection criteria to be used for this competition will be provided in the application package for this competition.

Performance Measures: The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 directs Federal departments and agencies to improve the effectiveness of their programs by engaging in strategic planning, setting outcome-related goals for programs, and measuring program results against those goals. Program officials must develop performance measures for all their grant programs to assess their performance and effectiveness. The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has established objectives with specific performance indicators to assess the effectiveness of the Rehabilitation Training program. The objective for the RCEP—RRCEP is to maintain and upgrade the knowledge and skills of personnel currently employed in the public VR system. In order to measure this objective, grantees under the RCEP—RRCEP will include in their annual performance report to RSA their summary analysis of the evaluations submitted by training project participants. After RCEP—RRCEP training, participants evaluate each training session and indicate the applicability of the training to their current work.

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.

Governmentwide Grants.gov Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

We have been accepting applications electronically through the Department's e-Application system since FY 2000. In order to expand on those efforts and comply with the President's Management Agenda, we are participating as a partner in the new governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site in FY 2004. The Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs (RCEP)—Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Projects (RRCEP), CFDA number 84.264A-1, is one of the programs included in this project. If you are an applicant under RCEP—RRCEP, you may submit your application to us in either electronic or paper format.

The project involves the use of the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). If you use Grants.gov, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit the application via the Grants.gov site. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. We request your participation in Grants.gov.

If you participate in Grants.gov, please note the following:

• Your participation is voluntary.
• 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. We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the application process through Grants.gov.
• To use Grants.gov, you, as the applicant, must have a D-U-N-S Number and register in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). You should allow a minimum of five days to complete the CCR registration.
• You will not receive 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.
• You may submit all documents electronically, including all information typically included on the Application for Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information—Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and certifications.
• Your application must comply with any page limit requirements described in this notice.
• After you electronically submit your application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgement from Grants.gov that contains a Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation, which will include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying number) unique to your application.
• We may request that you give us original signatures on forms at a later date.
• If you experience technical difficulties on the application deadline date and are unable to meet the 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) deadline, print out your application and follow the instructions included in the application package for the transmittal of paper applications.

You may access the electronic grant application for RCEP—RRCEP at: http://www.grants.gov.

Note:

Please note that 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.

For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: [phone]. 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://www.ed.gov/​pubs/​edpubs.html.

Or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: [e-mail].

If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.264A-1.

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: [phone]. 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:

Christine Marschall, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3325, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2649. Telephone: [phone] or via Internet: [e-mail].

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 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 [phone].

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: 29 U.S.C. 772.

Dated: October 17, 2003.

Robert H. Pasternack,

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.