[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14250-14252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7577]
[[Page 14249]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part III
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Final
Funding Priority for Fiscal Years 1998-99 and Inviting Applications for
a New Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center; Notices
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 56 / Tuesday, March 24, 1998 /
Notices
[[Page 14250]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research;
Notice of a Final Funding Priority for Fiscal Years 1998-1999 for a
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
AGENCY: Department of Education.
SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a final funding priority for a
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) under the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) for fiscal
years 1998-1999. The Secretary takes this action to focus research
attention on an area of national need. This priority is intended to
improve rehabilitation services and outcomes for individuals with
disabilities.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This priority takes effect on April 23, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Nangle. Telephone: (202) 205-
5880. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the TDD number at (202) 205-2742. Internet:
Donna__Nangle@ed.gov
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice contains a final priority under
the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers program
for an RERC related to improved technology access for land mine
survivors.
The authority for RERCs is contained in section 204(b)(3) of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 762(b)(3)). Under
this program the Secretary makes awards to public and private agencies
and organizations, including institutions of higher education, Indian
tribes, and tribal organizations, to conduct research, demonstration,
and training activities regarding rehabilitation technology in order to
enhance opportunities for meeting the needs of, and addressing the
barriers confronted by, individuals with disabilities in all aspects of
their lives. An RERC must be operated by or in collaboration with an
institution of higher education or a nonprofit organization.
The authority for the Secretary to establish research priorities by
reserving funds to support particular research activities is contained
in sections 202(g) and 204 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended (29 U.S.C. 761a(g) and 762).
Note: This notice of a final priority does not solicit
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition
is published in this issue of the Federal Register.
Analysis of Comments and Changes
On January 27, 1998, the Secretary published a notice of a proposed
priority in the Federal Register (63 FR 4148-4150). The Department of
Education received 3 letters commenting on the notice of a proposed
priority by the deadline date. Technical and other minor changes--and
suggested changes the Secretary is not legally authorized to make under
statutory authority--are not addressed.
Comment: The fields of medicine, engineering, and prosthetics and
orthotics will play critical roles in the successful completion of this
project. These disciplines should be appropriately represented on the
RERC's staff and the principal investigator should be recruited from
one of these three disciplines.
Discussion: Individuals with backgrounds in these three disciplines
are expected to make significant contributions to the completion of the
project. Applicants have the discretion to propose key personnel, and
an applicant could propose to have a principal investigator with a
background in medicine, engineering, or prosthetics and orthotics. The
peer review process will evaluate the merits of the proposed personnel.
Changes: None.
Comment: Information is needed on the various types of injuries
that occur in land mine incidents. Land mine incidents almost always
result in the need for lower limb amputation. However, we have
insufficient information on the nature and number of incidents that
also result in concomitant visual and hearing deficits, or severe
facial scarring. In addition, the RERC should develop ``special
technical assistance'' to aid survivors with disabilities in addition
to lower limb amputation.
Discussion: The RERC is required to ``Identify the needs of land
mine survivors for other types of rehabilitation technologies which may
include but need not be limited to vision, hearing and speech aids, and
wheelchairs.'' In carrying out this activity, the RERC will address the
commenter's concern regarding technical assistance and generate
information on the rehabilitation needs of persons who experience
concomitant visual and hearing deficits or severe facial scarring that
occur in land mine incidents. The priority does not authorize the RERC
to conduct survey research on the number of such incidents because it
is outside the scope of the congressional mandate and the resources
allocated to this RERC.
Changes: None.
Comment: The RERC should be required to develop economically
effective systems for the delivery of prosthetic services for amputees
whose stump conditions require surgical or other therapeutic
intervention prior to prosthetic management.
Discussion: Issues related to person or device interfaces are
important in prosthetic research and development. An applicant could
propose to address surgical or other interventions preliminary to
prosthetic applications. The peer review process will evaluate the
merits of the proposal. However, addressing surgical or other
interventions preliminary to prosthetic applications is not required
because there is insufficient evidence about the unique aspects of this
problem related to land mine incidents to warrant requiring all
applicants to conduct this study.
Changes: None.
Description of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
Program
RERCs carry out research or demonstration activities by:
(a) Developing and disseminating innovative methods of applying
advanced technology, scientific achievement, and psychological and
social knowledge to (1) solve rehabilitation problems and remove
environmental barriers, and (2) study new or emerging technologies,
products, or environments;
(b) Demonstrating and disseminating (1) innovative models for the
delivery of cost-effective rehabilitation technology services to rural
and urban areas, and (2) other scientific research to assist in meeting
the employment and independent living needs of individuals with severe
disabilities; or
(c) Facilitating service delivery systems change through (1) the
development, evaluation, and dissemination of consumer-responsive and
individual and family centered innovative models for the delivery to
both rural and urban areas of innovative cost-effective rehabilitation
technology services, and (2) other scientific research to assist in
meeting the employment and independent living needs of individuals with
severe disabilities.
Each RERC must provide training opportunities to individuals,
including individuals with disabilities, to become researchers of
rehabilitation technology
[[Page 14251]]
and practitioners of rehabilitation technology in conjunction with
institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations.
Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute
preference to applications that meet the following priority. The
Secretary will fund under this competition only applications that meet
this absolute priority.
Priority: Improved Technology Access for Land Mine Survivors Background
In the House Report accompanying the appropriations for the
Department of Education, it is stated that:
The Committee has included up to $850,000 within the amounts
available to NIDRR to establish, through a competitive award, a
rehabilitation engineering research center dealing with the unique
needs of land mine survivors. The center is to operate in cooperation
with an institution of higher education involved in both rehabilitation
medicine and engineering research, training and service and is to focus
on the unique rehabilitation needs of the victims of land mine
injuries. Specifically, the center is to focus on the development of
inexpensive replacement limbs; the development and dissemination of
educational materials on prosthetics, and other appropriate prosthetic,
orthotic, or assistive technology devices; and the training of health
care providers in effective methods of assistance to this population.
In response to this directive, the Secretary is establishing the
following priority. Both the Congress and NIDRR are aware of the
historic significance of periods of international conflict in
stimulating the science of rehabilitation to develop solutions to the
impairments caused by sustained large-scale violence. Most recently,
survivors of land mine injuries in dozens of nations in Latin America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia are in need of innovative solutions to address
the loss of limbs and other conditions such as sensory impairments,
communication impairments, burns, and other conditions caused by anti-
personnel land mines.
Because most of those with unmet needs are located in countries
that are either not industrialized, lack infrastructures for
rehabilitative services, or lack economic resources, the approaches to
meeting these needs must be tailored to their particular circumstances.
Solutions, which will focus on, but not be limited to, limb
replacement, must be suitable for the available materials, resources,
and expertise in the relevant countries, and must also concentrate on
building capacity in those nations for design and fitting, manufacture,
distribution, maintenance, and provision of supports and services. This
RERC will have broad scope in the development of devices through
scientific methods, training of indigenous scientists, service
providers, and advocates, and transferring technology to the local
economies.
There are many national and international organizations that play a
role in addressing the problems of land mine survivors and the Center
should involve relevant organizations in appropriate roles in Center
operations. Included in this group are organizations of survivors
themselves; such consumer organizations are important targets of
education, information, and training, particularly in the areas of
self-help, maintenance of devices, and the need for accommodations,
supports, and follow up care. Because so many of the victims of land
mines are children, special attention must be directed toward the
special needs of children who are growing and developing, and for whom
most prostheses or orthoses therefore will have a limited period of
utility. The Center may opt to address these problems through
technological solutions where feasible, or through partnerships that
will provide ongoing care and support.
The work of this RERC will have implications for the United States
population as well. There is a continuing need for new and different
types of prostheses and orthoses in the United States and other
developed nations, with special need for prosthetic and orthotic
devices and other rehabilitation technology that is suitable for
different climates, low-cost, and appropriate in various cultures. New
conditions of health care delivery portend limited resources for
rehabilitation technologies and services and durable medical equipment;
thus there will be a greater emphasis on durability, endurance, cost
containment, and ease of maintenance. This Center's activities will
contribute to advancing science, broadening knowledge of materials and
methods, and increasing our understanding of and sensitivity to
cultural and economic concerns in provision of these rehabilitation
technologies.
Priority: The Secretary will establish an RERC to address the
unique rehabilitation needs of land mine survivors through developing
and testing appropriate innovative replacement limbs (particularly low-
cost limbs suitable for developing economies), and other prosthetic and
orthotic devices; training indigenous technicians, manufacturers, and
health care providers in the fabrication and fitting of appropriate
devices; and educating land mine survivors and their families. The RERC
shall:
(1) Develop a sound scientific process for evaluating the
suitability of existing devices, assessing user needs, developing new
and innovative designs, and testing inexpensive replacement limbs,
prototypes of prostheses, orthoses, and other appropriate
rehabilitation technology devices;
(2) Identify and evaluate existing technologies and systems used
for limb replacement and related rehabilitation technology in various
nations where there are extensive land mine injuries;
(3) Demonstrate the suitability of proposed devices in terms of
cost-effectiveness and appropriateness to the indigenous economies,
including available materials, work force capabilities, and
infrastructure capacity for timely production and delivery of devices;
(4) Identify the needs of land mine survivors for other types of
rehabilitation technologies which may include but need not be limited
to vision, hearing and speech aids, and wheelchairs;
(5) Develop and maintain a database to track and correlate consumer
needs and characteristics, device specification and performance, and
outcomes and conduct a definitive evaluation of the products and
procedures;
In carrying out the purposes of the priority, the RERC must:
Address the needs of land mine survivors of all ages, with
particular attention to systems for meeting the changing needs of
growing children;
Conduct, in the third year of the award, a state-of-the-
science conference and provide NIDRR with a report on this conference
by the end of the fourth year;
Conduct training of health care providers in affected
nations in effective methods of providing rehabilitative assistance to
this population; and
Collaborate with key international organizations and
government agencies in the affected nations, with consumer
organizations of land mine survivors, and with rehabilitation
researchers and service providers, and other Federal agencies including
the Department of Defense, the Agency for International Development,
the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Veterans'
Affairs.
Electronic Access to This Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
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Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the preceding sites. If
you have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR Part 350.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 760-762.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133E,
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers)
Dated: March 18, 1998.
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 98-7577 Filed 3-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
