Final Waivers and Extensions of the Project Periods for the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Training and Technical Assistance Center and the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Institute for the Preparation of Personnel in American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services
| Published date | 27 August 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 52921 |
| Record Number | 2020-19004 |
| Section | Rules and Regulations |
| Court | Education Department |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 167 (Thursday, August 27, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 167 (Thursday, August 27, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52921-52923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19004]
[[Page 52921]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter III
Final Waivers and Extensions of the Project Periods for the
American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Training and
Technical Assistance Center and the Vocational Rehabilitation Training
Institute for the Preparation of Personnel in American Indian
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
(OSERS), Department of Education.
ACTION: Final waivers and extensions of project periods.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) waives the
requirements in the Education Department General Administrative
Regulations that generally prohibit project periods exceeding five
years and project period extensions involving the obligation of
additional Federal funds. The waivers and extensions enable the current
grantees under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers
84.250Z and 84.315C to receive funding for an additional budget period,
not to exceed September 30, 2021.
DATES: The waivers and extensions of the project periods are effective
August 27, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Elliott, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 5091, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-1800. Telephone: 202-245-7335. 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:
Background
The purpose of the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation
Services Training and Technical Assistance Center (Center) is to
provide training and technical assistance (TA) to governing bodies of
Indian Tribes, or consortia of those governing bodies, that have
received an American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS)
grant under section 121(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended (Rehabilitation Act), to improve the delivery of vocational
rehabilitation (VR) services to American Indians with disabilities.
The purpose of the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Institute for
the Preparation of Personnel in American Indian Vocational
Rehabilitation Services (Institute) is to prepare AIVRS project
personnel in VR, specifically the development of a structured program
of training for AIVRS personnel with limited knowledge or experience in
the VR field to improve the delivery of VR services to American Indians
with disabilities.
Taken together, the Center and the Institute comprise the total
resources for the provision of training and TA to the AIVRS projects.
In practice, the foundational academic training provided by the
Institute compliments and provides a knowledge base for the more
focused training and TA provided by the Center. For this reason, the
Department has decided to combine the waivers and extensions for both
programs into this single document.
In fiscal year (FY) 2015, the Department published in the Federal
Register notices inviting applications (NIAs) announcing the grant
competition for the Center under CFDA 84.250Z and the Institute under
CFDA 84.315C. The Department funded one cooperative agreement for each
program for a 60-month period that will expire September 30, 2020.
In early spring 2020, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to
be felt in the United States. American Indian reservations experienced
and continue to experience a high rate of COVID-19 infections and have
limited medical resources to treat those infected. Many of the AIVRS
grantees across the country took actions to limit the spread of COVID-
19 by requiring their nonessential personnel to work from home. AIVRS
projects were confronted with the need to continue to provide VR
services in a virtual environment and to continue to work with AIVRS
project participants, service providers, educational and training
resources, and employers in the new virtual environment.
While there are some technology challenges on and near the
reservations, the Center and the Institute responded to the challenge
of assisting AIVRS projects in several ways. The Center surveyed AIVRS
project needs and responded by providing to AIVRS project staff
training in use of virtual platforms (including use of social media)
for communication with VR participants, external service providers, and
training institutions, and for internal AIVRS project purposes. The
Center partnered with the Institute and the Workforce Innovation
Technical Assistance Center to continue to develop training and TA
content for virtual delivery. An important area of training and TA
content was how to work virtually with AIVRS participants to proceed
through the VR process in a virtual environment. The Center's technical
staff maintained ``office hours'' to provide one-on-one technical
support to AIVRS projects trying to deliver VR services to applicants
and eligible AIVRS project participants. The Institute conducted three
virtual ``coffee breaks'' so far during COVID-19. The purpose of the
coffee breaks is for AIVRS participants to learn more about a topic
area or issue identified by AIVRS project staff that is relevant to
providing VR services to American Indians with disabilities. Most
recently, the Center provided training and TA to the AIVRS projects on
safe ways to reopen, including the use of social distancing and
continued use of virtual communication methods. Both the Institute and
the Center have maintained or adapted their methods of training and TA
provision to continue to provide virtual services to AIVRS project
staff in all content areas. Recent increases in COVID-19 activity
suggest that protective and safety measures will be required for some
time and that maintenance of some of the new virtual ways of doing
business will likely continue to be necessary.
Upon award of a new grant, typically there is a period in which
grantees are hiring new staff and developing their own resources and
content capacities, which may take several months. Due to the impact of
COVID-19 and the immediate needs of the beneficiaries of the Center and
the Institute, the Department has decided to extend the existing Center
and Institute programs. These existing grantees are providing direct
training and TA related to operating in the current environment and,
therefore, the Department has decided not to hold a new competition
that could create a temporary reduction in the availability of the
training and TA support at a time when such assistance is most needed.
The Department is waiving the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which
prohibit project periods exceeding five years, as well as waiving 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 and extending the project
periods of the grants. The waivers and extensions will enable the
Department to provide additional funds to the Center under CFDA 84.250Z
and to the Institute under CFDA 84.315C for an additional budget
period, not to exceed September 30, 2021.
[[Page 52922]]
This action allows the Center and the Institute to request FY 2020
continuation funding. The funds for the Center will come from funds
allotted under section 121(c)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act. Funds for
the Institute will be provided from the funds allotted under section 21
of the Rehabilitation Act as in previous years. Decisions regarding
continuation awards will be based on the program narratives, budgets,
budget narratives, and program performance reports submitted by the
grantees. Any activities to be carried out during the year of
continuation awards would have to be consistent with, or be a logical
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of each grantee's
application as approved following the FY 2015 CFDA 84.250Z and CFDA
84.315C competitions. The FY 2015 NIAs will continue to govern the
projects during the extension year. The current Center and Institute
grantees may request continuation awards in FY 2020 for budget periods
through FY 2021.
Final Waivers and Extensions
For these reasons, the Department does not believe that it is in
the public interest to hold a new competition for the Center, CFDA
84.250Z, or the Institute, CFDA 84.315C, in FY 2020. Extending the
project period of the Center and the Institute, currently in their
fifth year, will allow for more efficient use of the funding and avoid
any interruption in services that might result from holding a new
competition. The Department intends to hold a competition for a new
Center under CFDA 84.250Z and a new project under 84.315C in FY 2021.
The Department waives the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which
prohibit project periods exceeding five years, as well as 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. This waiver allows the
Department to issue a one-time continuation award in FY 2020 to the
Center and the Institute, currently funded under CFDA 84.250Z and CFDA
84.315C, estimated as follows:
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Grantee name Amount
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University of Northern Arizona (Center, $774,000 (section 121(c)(2)
Project Number: 250Z150002). funds).
Northwest Indian College (Institute, $166,000 (section 21
Project Number: H315C150002). funds).
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Waiver of Notice and Comment Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date
Under the Administrative Procedure Act
Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to
comment on proposed regulations. However, the APA provides that an
agency is not required to conduct notice and comment rulemaking when
the agency, for good cause, finds that notice and public comment
thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public
interest (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B)).
Generally, the ``good cause'' exception to notice and comment
rulemaking under the APA (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B)) is to be ``narrowly
construed and only reluctantly countenanced.'' Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Co. v. FERC, 969 F.2d 1141, 1144 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (quoting New Jersey
v. EPA, 626 F.2d 1038, 1045 (D.C. Cir. 1980)). The exception excuses
notice and comment in emergency situations, Am. Fed'n of Gov't
Employees v. Block, 655 F.2d 1153, 1156 (D.C. Cir. 1981), or where
delay could result in serious harm. See Hawaii Helicopter Operators
Ass'n v. FAA, 51 F.3d 212, 214 (9th Cir. 1995).
The COVID-19 pandemic struck during the second half of FY 2020 and,
as explained above, created a situation where the Tribes were dealing
with overwhelmingly challenging circumstances. The Department
determined that, with Tribal resources and attention devoted to
addressing concerns created by the pandemic, the Tribes were in need of
the training and TA resources available from the Center and the
Institute, without interruption, in order for the Tribal AIVRS projects
to continue to deliver services to Tribal members with disabilities.
For this reason, it is necessary for the Department to extend the
grants awarded under CFDA 84.250Z and CFDA 84.315C for an additional
year. There is insufficient time left in FY 2020 to adopt these waivers
and extensions of the project periods through notice and comment
rulemaking and to make the continuation awards to the two expiring
grants. The failure to extend the existing grants for an additional
year would result in an interruption of essential services to the AIVRS
projects and the American Indians with disabilities who rely upon them.
In addition, the Department is unique among Federal agencies in that it
must go through notice and comment rulemaking under the APA to make its
grants. The exception in the APA exempting grants from notice and
comment generally does not apply to the Department. 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2);
20 U.S.C. 1232(d). In short, in the unusual circumstances here, notice
and comment rulemaking is both impracticable and not in the public
interest.
The APA also requires that a substantive rule must be published at
least 30 days before its effective date, except as otherwise provided
for good cause (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)). It is crucial that the funded
grantees under CFDA 84.250Z and CFDA 84.315C continue to provide
services through all of FY 2021. A delayed effective date would be
contrary to public interest by prolonging uncertainty about the
continuation of training and TA to AIVRS projects that provide VR
services to American Indians with disabilities living on or near a
reservation. Therefore, the Department waives the delayed effective
date provision for good cause.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to this rulemaking,
because there is good cause to waive notice and comment rulemaking
under 5 U.S.C. 553.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
These waivers and extensions of the project periods do not contain
any information collection requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
These programs are not subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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
[[Page 52923]]
documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text
or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the Department 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.
Mark Schultz,
Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Delegated the
authority to perform the functions and duties of the Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 2020-19004 Filed 8-25-20; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
