82 FR 17986 - Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 71 (April 14, 2017)

For the Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program (NHCTEP), the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2) that generally prohibit project period extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds and extend the project periods for the current seven NHCTEP grantees for an additional 12 months under the existing program authority. This proposed waiver and extension would allow the seven current NHCTEP grantees to seek fiscal year (FY) 2017 continuation awards for project periods through FY 2018 under the existing program authority.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 71 (Friday, April 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17986-17987]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07608]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.259A]


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the 
Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program

AGENCY: Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.

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SUMMARY: For the Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program 
(NHCTEP), the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 
75.261(a) and (c)(2) that generally prohibit project period extensions 
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds and extend the 
project periods for the current seven NHCTEP grantees for an additional 
12 months under the existing program authority. This proposed waiver 
and extension would allow the seven current NHCTEP grantees to seek 
fiscal year (FY) 2017 continuation awards for project periods through 
FY 2018 under the existing program authority.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 15, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments regarding this proposed extension and 
waiver to Linda Mayo, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue 
SW., Room 11075, Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC 20202-7241. 
If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following 
address: [email protected]. You must include the term ``Proposed Waiver 
and Extension for NHCTEP'' in the subject line of your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Mayo by telephone at (202) 245-
7792 or by email at: [email protected]. If you use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf or a text telephone, call the Federal Relay 
Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this proposed waiver and extension of the project period. During and 
after the comment period, you may inspect all public comments about 
this proposed waiver and extension in Room 11075, PCP, 550 12th Street 
SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., 
Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week, except Federal 
holidays.
    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 notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    NHCTEP, authorized by section 116 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 
Technical Education Act of 2006 (Act), supports grants to community-
based organizations primarily serving and representing Native 
Hawaiians.\1\ Under this program, grantees carry out projects that 
provide organized educational activities offering a sequence of courses 
that--
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    \1\ For purposes of NHCTEP, ``community-based organization'' 
means a public or private organization that provides career and 
technical education, or related services, to individuals in the 
Native Hawaiian community.
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    (a) Provides individuals with coherent and rigorous content aligned 
with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge 
and skills needed to prepare for further education and careers in 
current or emerging professions;
    (b) Provides technical skill proficiency, an industry-recognized 
credential, a certificate, or an associate degree; and
    (c) May include prerequisite courses (other than remedial courses) 
that meet the definitional requirements of section 3(5)(A) of the Act 
(20 U.S.C. 2302(5)(A)).
    These organized educational activities may also include competency-
based applied learning that contributes to the academic knowledge, 
higher-order reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, 
general employability skills, technical and occupation-specific skills, 
and knowledge of all aspects of an industry, including 
entrepreneurship, of an individual.
    On June 14, 2013, we published in the Federal Register (78 FR 
35877), a notice inviting applications for NHCTEP grants (2013 NIA). 
The project periods for the NHCTEP projects funded under the 2013 NIA 
were scheduled to end in 2015.
    On February 10, 2015, we published in the Federal Register (80 FR 
7397) a proposed waiver and extension of the project period for the 
NHCTEP. In that notice, we stated that we did not believe it would be 
in the public interest to hold a new NHCTEP competition in FY 2015, due 
to the potential for changes in the authorizing legislation for NHCTEP 
beyond 2015, resulting in projects that might then operate for just one 
year. Following that notice and consideration of the comments received 
in response to it, on July 7, 2015 we published in the Federal Register 
(80 FR 38672), a notice of final waiver and extension of the project 
period for the NHCTEP, waiving the requirements of 34 CFR 75.261(a) and 
(c)(2) that generally prohibit project period extensions involving the 
obligation of additional Federal funds. Therefore, the current seven 
NHCTEP grantees were permitted to request an

[[Page 17987]]

extension of the project period for up to an additional 24 months.
    In this notice, we are proposing to waive the requirements in 34 
CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2) in order to allow the Department to consider 
requests to extend the project period for an additional 12 months. 
Given that these funds expire by September 30, 2017, there would be 
limited time to conduct a NHCTEP competition and provide the new 
administration sufficient time to determine its Career and Technical 
Education priorities. Therefore, the Department believes it is in the 
best interest of the public to extend the grants for an additional 
twelve months.
    If this proposed waiver becomes final through a notice of final 
waiver and extension of the project period published in the Federal 
Register: (1) The requirements applicable to continuation awards for 
current NHCTEP grantees set forth in the 2013 NIA and the requirements 
in 34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any continuation awards sought by 
current NHCTEP grantees; and (2) we will make decisions regarding the 
continuation awards based on grantee program narratives, budgets and 
budget narratives, and program performance reports and the requirements 
in 34 CFR 75.253; and (3) we will not announce a new competition or 
make new awards in FY 2017.
    The proposed waiver and project period extension would not exempt 
the current NHCTEP grantees from the appropriation account closing 
provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1552(a), nor would they extend the availability 
of funds previously awarded to current NHCTEP grantees. As a result of 
31 U.S.C. 1552(a), appropriations available for a limited period may be 
used for payment of valid obligations for only five years after the 
expiration of their period of availability for Federal obligation. 
After that time, the unexpended balance of those funds is canceled and 
returned to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is unavailable for 
restoration for any purpose (31 U.S.C. 1552(b)).

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension and 
the activities required to support additional months of funding would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.
    The small entities that would be affected by this proposed waiver 
and extension are the seven currently funded NHCTEP grantees 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 imposes 
minimal compliance costs, and the activities required to support the 
additional years of funding would not impose additional regulatory 
burdens or require unnecessary Federal supervision.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This notice of proposed waiver and extension does not contain any 
information collection requirements.

Intergovernmental Review

    The NHCTEP is 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. Free 
internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.thefederalregister.org/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well 
as all other documents of this Department 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 this 
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.

    Dated: April 11, 2017.
Kim R. Ford,
Delegated the Duties of the Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, 
and Adult Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-07608 Filed 4-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P