Notice of Funding Availability for the Community Development Work Study Program Fiscal Year 2000

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69622-69626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32112]



[[Page 69621]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part III





Department of Housing and Urban Development





_______________________________________________________________________



Community Development Work Study Program, Funding Availability; Fiscal 
Year 2000; Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 238 / Monday, December 13, 1999 / 
Notices

[[Page 69622]]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4539-N-01]


Notice of Funding Availability for the Community Development Work 
Study Program Fiscal Year 2000

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

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SUMMARY: This NOFA announces the availability of approximately $3.0 
million for the Community Development Work Study Program (CDWSP).
    Purpose of the Program: To provide assistance to economically 
disadvantaged and minority graduate students who participate in 
community development work study programs and are enrolled full-time in 
a graduate community building academic degree program.
    Available Funds: Approximately $3 million from FY 2000 
appropriations (plus any additional funds recaptured from prior 
appropriations).
    Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education, area-wide 
planning organizations (APOs), and States.
    Application Deadline: February 25, 2000.
    Matching Requirements: None.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    The information collection requirements contained in this NOFA have 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB 
Control Number 2528-0175. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information 
unless the collection displays a valid control number.

I. Application Due Date, Application Kits, and Technical 
Assistance.

    Application Due Date: Your completed application must be received 
at the address listed below on February 25, 2000, based on the 
following submission requirements.
    Application Procedures: Mailed Applications. Your application will 
be considered as filed on time if it is postmarked on or before 12:00 
midnight on the application due date and received at the designated 
address below on or within ten (10) days of the application due date.
    Applications Sent by Overnight/Express Mail Delivery. If your 
application is sent by overnight or express mail, it will be considered 
as filed on time if it is received on or before the application due 
date, or if you submit documentary evidence that the application was 
placed in transit with the overnight delivery service by no later than 
the specified application due date.
    Hand Carried Applications. If you hand carry your application on or 
before the application due date, it must be brought to the specified 
location and room number between the hours of 8:45 am and 5:15 pm, 
Eastern Standard Time. If you hand carry your application on the 
application due date, it will be accepted in the South Lobby of the HUD 
Headquarters Building at the above address from 5:15 pm to the 12:00 
midnight, Eastern Standard Time.
    Address for Submitting Applications: Your completed applications 
(one original and two copies) must be submitted to: Processing and 
Control Branch, Office of Community Planning and Development, U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, 
Room 7251, Washington, DC 20410. When submitting your application, you 
should include your name, mailing address (including zip code) and 
telephone number (including area code).
    For Application Kits, Further Information, and Technical 
Assistance:
    For Application Kits: You may obtain an application kit by calling 
HUD USER at 1-800-245-2691. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, 
you may call the following TTY number: 1-800-483-2209. You may also 
access the application kit on the Internet from HUD's web site at 
www.hud.gov. When requesting an application, you should refer to CDWSP 
and include your name, mailing address (including zip code) and 
telephone number (including area code).
    For Further Information and Technical Assistance: Jane Karadbil, 
Office of University Partnerships at (202) 708-1537, ext. 5918. 
Hearing- or speech-impaired individuals may call HUD's TTY number (202) 
708-0770, or the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. 
Other than the ``800'' number, these numbers are not toll-free. Ms. 
Karadbil can also be reached via the Internet at: 
Jane__R.__Karadbil@hud.gov.

II. Amount Allocated

    Up to $3 million, plus any additional funds recaptured from prior 
appropriations.

III. Program Description; Eligible Applicants; Eligible Activities 
and Costs

(A) Program Description

    CDWSP funds two-year grants to institutions of higher education, 
area-wide planning organizations, and States to provide assistance to 
economically disadvantaged and minority graduate students who 
participate in a community development work study program and are 
enrolled full-time in a graduate community building academic degree 
program. Grants will cover the academic period August 2000 through 
August 2002.

(B) Eligible Applicants

    You must demonstrate that you are eligible to apply for the 
program. You are an eligible applicant if (a) you are an institution of 
higher education offering graduate degrees in a community development 
academic program, (b) an Area-wide Planning Organization (APO) applying 
on behalf of two or more eligible institutions of higher education 
located in the same SMSA or non-SMSA as the APO (as a result of a final 
rule for the program published at 24 CFR 570.415, institutions of 
higher education are permitted to choose whether to apply independently 
or through an APO); or (c) a State applying on behalf of two or more 
eligible institutions of higher education located in the State. If a 
State is approved for funding, institutions of higher education located 
in the State are not eligible recipients.

(C) Eligible Activities and Costs

    You may request no more than $15,000 per year per student, for a 
total of two years. The total is broken down as follows: an 
administrative allowance of $1,000 per student per year; a work stipend 
of no more than $9,000 per student per year; and tuition, fees, and 
additional support of no more than $5,000 per student per year.

IV. Program Requirements

(A) Statutory Requirements

    You must comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements 
applicable to this program. CDWSP regulations can be found at 24 CFR 
part 570.415. Copies of the regulations are available on request from 
HUD User.

(B) Eligibility of the Degree Program

    An eligible community building academic degree program includes but 
is not limited to graduate degree programs in community and economic 
development, community planning, community management, public 
administration, public policy, urban economics, urban management, and

[[Page 69623]]

urban planning. The term excludes social and humanistic fields such as 
law, economics (except for urban economics), education, sociology, 
social work, business administration, and history. The term also 
excludes joint degree programs except where both joint degree fields 
have the purpose and focus of educating students in community building.
    You are encouraged to contact Jane Karadbil at the above listed 
telephone number if you have any questions about eligibility of a 
proposed degree program.

(C) Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing

    You are not required to respond to HUD's affirmative fair housing 
marketing requirements.

V. Application Selection Process

(A) Two Types of Reviews

    Two types of reviews will be conducted--a threshold review to 
determine applicant eligibility and a rating based on the selection 
criteria for all applications that pass the threshold review.

(B) Threshold Criteria for Funding Consideration

(1) General Threshold Requirements
    You must meet the following threshold requirement before an 
application can be evaluated, rated, and ranked:
    (a) Eligibility. You must be eligible to apply for the program.
    (b) Compliance with nondiscrimination requirements. You must comply 
with all Fair Housing and civil rights laws, statutes, regulations, and 
executive orders as enumerated in 24 CFR 5.105(a). If you: (i) have 
been charged with a systemic violation of the Fair Housing Act by the 
Secretary alleging ongoing discrimination; (ii) are a defendant in a 
Fair Housing lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleging an 
ongoing pattern or practice of discrimination; or (iii) have received a 
letter of noncompliance findings under Title VI of the Civil Rights 
Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or section 109 of the 
Housing and Community Development Act, you are not eligible to apply 
for funding under this NOFA until you have resolved such charge, 
lawsuit, or letter of findings to the satisfaction of the Department.
    (c) Number of students to be assisted. You may request funding for 
as many as five students, and in no case, for no less than three 
students, since work plan and other facets of the evaluation are 
assessed in the context of the number of students for whom funding is 
requested. If your application requests fewer than three or more than 
five students per institution, it will be disqualified.
    (d) Eligibility of the applicant and its proposed academic degree 
program. You must demonstrate that you are eligible to participate in 
the program, by demonstrating that you are either an institution of 
higher education that offers graduate degrees in at least one eligible 
community building academic program or you are an APO or State 
submitting an application on behalf of such institutions. Your 
application must also demonstrate that each institution participating 
in your program has the faculty to carry out its activities under your 
program. Each work placement agency must be involved in community 
building and must be an agency of a State or unit of local government, 
an area-wide planning organization, an Indian tribe, or a private 
nonprofit organization.
    (e) Graduation rates. You must maintain at least a 50 percent rate 
of graduation of students from the FY 1997 funding round, which covered 
school years September 1997 to September 1999, in order to be eligible 
to participate in the current round of CDWSP funding. If you were 
funded under the FY 1997 CDWSP funding round and did not maintain such 
a rate, you will be excluded from participating in the FY 2000 funding 
round.

(C) Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications

    To review and rate applications, the Department may establish 
panels including persons not currently employed by HUD to obtain 
certain expertise and outside points of view, including views from 
other Federal agencies. You will be evaluated competitively and ranked 
against all other applicants that have applied for the same funding 
program.

(D) General Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rank Applications

    The factors for rating and ranking your application, and maximum 
points for each factor, are provided below. The maximum number of 
points for each program is 100. The rating of your organization and 
staff, unless otherwise specified, will include any sub-contractors, 
consultants, sub-recipients, and members of consortia that are firmly 
committed to your project, to the extent of their participation.
(1) Quality of the Academic Program
    (30 points if you have never received a CDWSP grant) (25 points if 
you have previously received a CDWSP grant).
    HUD will evaluate the quality of the academic program you offer (or 
in the case of an application from an APO or State, those offered by 
the institutions included in your application) including, without 
limitation, the:
    (i) Quality of your course offerings in terms of their depth, 
sophistication, quality, and emphasis on applied coursework;
    (ii) Appropriateness of your course offerings for preparing 
students for careers in community building; and
    (iii) Qualifications of your faculty and percentage of their time 
devoted to teaching and research in community building.
(2) Quality of the Work Placement Assignments (15 Points)
    HUD will evaluate the extent to which participating students will 
receive a sufficient number and variety of work placement assignments, 
the assignments will provide practical and useful experience to 
students participating in your program, and the assignments will 
further the participating students' preparation for professional 
careers in community building. In applying this factor, HUD will 
consider the quality in terms of relevance to community building and 
variety of work placement agencies and the quality and variety of 
projects/experiences at each agency and overall. You must have a plan 
for rotating students among work placement agencies. Students engaging 
in community building projects through an institution of higher 
education may do so only through a community outreach center, which 
will in that instance be considered a work placement agency even if the 
community building projects are undertaken with or through a separate 
organization or entity. Accordingly, students engaging in community 
building through an institution of higher education's outreach center 
should do so during only part of their academic program and should 
rotate to other work placement agency responsibilities identified in 
the CDWSP regulations.
(3) Effectiveness of Program Administration (18 Points)
    HUD will evaluate the degree to which you will be able to 
coordinate and administer your program. HUD will allocate the maximum 
points available under this criterion equally among the following three 
considerations, except that the maximum points available under this 
criterion will be allocated equally only between (i) and (ii), where 
you have not previously administered a CDWSP-funded program.
    (i) The strength and clarity of your plan for placing CDWSP 
students on rotating work placement assignments

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and for monitoring CDWSP students' progress both academically and in 
their work placement assignments;
    (ii) The degree to which the individual who will coordinate and 
administer your program has clear responsibility, ample available time, 
and sufficient authority to do so;
    (iii) The effectiveness of your prior coordination and 
administration of a CDWSP-funded program, where applicable (including 
the timeliness and completeness of your compliance with CDWSP reporting 
requirements). In addressing the timeliness of reports, you should 
review your prior CDWSP grant agreements and reports and compare when 
reports were due with when the reports actually were submitted. You 
should also describe your timeliness in drawing down grant funds.
(4) Demonstrated Commitment of the Applicant to Meeting the Needs of 
Economically Disadvantaged and Minority Students (10 Points)
    HUD will evaluate your commitment to meeting the needs of 
economically disadvantaged and minority students as demonstrated by 
your policies and plans, and past efforts and successes in, recruiting, 
enrolling and financially assisting economically disadvantaged and 
minority students, including the provision of reasonable accommodations 
for students with disabilities. If you are an APO or State, HUD will 
consider the demonstrated commitment of each institution of higher 
education on whose behalf you are applying; HUD will also consider your 
demonstrated commitment to recruit and hire economically disadvantaged 
and minority students.
(5) Rates of Graduation (7 Points)
    HUD will evaluate the rates of students previously enrolled in a 
community building academic degree program, specifically (where 
applicable) graduation rates from any previously funded CDWSP academic 
programs or similar programs. This factor measures the rate of 
graduation for all applicable years and awards points based on the 
extent to which the applicant exceeds a 50% graduation rate each 
applicable year.
(6) Extent of Financial Commitment (10 Points)
    HUD will evaluate your commitment and ability to assure that CDWSP 
students will receive sufficient financial assistance above and beyond 
the CDWSP funding to complete their academic program in a timely manner 
and without working in excess of 20 hours a week during the school 
year. When addressing this issue, you should, among other responsive 
information, delineate the full costs budgeted annually for a student, 
explain the basis for your budget and explain how the financial 
assistance package you will offer to each CDWSP student will meet that 
budget. You should have an adequate means of addressing reasonable 
variations in budget needs among students and for addressing emergency 
financial needs of students.
(7) Likelihood of Fostering Students' Permanent Employment in Community 
Building (10 Points if You Have Never Received a CDWSP Grant) (15 
Points if You Have Previously Received a CDWSP Grant)
    HUD will evaluate the extent to which your proposed program will 
lead participating students directly and immediately to permanent 
employment in community building, as indicated by:
    (i) Your past success in placing your graduates (particularly 
CDWSP-funded and similar program graduates, where applicable) in 
permanent employment in community building; and
    (ii) The amount of faculty/staff time and resources you devote to 
assisting students (particularly students in CDWSP-funded and similar 
programs, where applicable) in finding permanent employment in 
community building.

VI. Application Submission Requirements

(A) Content of Application

    Your application should include an original and two copies of the 
items listed below. In order to be able to recycle paper, you should 
not submit applications in bound form; binder clips or loose leaf 
binders are acceptable. Also, please do not use colored paper.
    (1) Transmittal Letter, which must be signed by your Chief 
Executive Officer, or his or her designee. If a designee signs, your 
application must contain a copy of the official delegation of signatory 
authority. The letter must contain an assurance that you were not 
awarded a CDWSP grant in Fiscal Year 1997 (which was to cover the 
school years August 1997 to August 1999) or were awarded a Fiscal Year 
1997 grant and had a 50 percent or higher rate of graduation of CDWSP 
students funded through the grant.
    (2) Designation of your degree program(s) under which students will 
be educated.
    (3) Executive Summary.
    (4) Narrative statement addressing the Factors for Award in Section 
V. No attachments are permitted.
    (5) Management/Work Plan.
    (6) Recipient/Student Binding Agreement. HUD does not provide a 
model or sample format for this document.
    (7) Recipient/Work Placement Agreement. HUD does not provide a 
model or sample format for this document.
    (8) Budget. Using the forms provided for the August 2000 through 
August 2002 funding period.
    (9) Application for Federal Assistance(HUD-424).
    (10) Standard Form for Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (SF-
424B).
    (11) Drug-Free Workplace Certification (HUD-50070).
    (12) Certification of Payments to Influence Transactions (Form HUD-
50071).
    (13) Applicant/Recipient Disclosure Update Report (HUD-2880).
    (14) Assurance regarding the applicant's financial management 
systems.

(B) Final selection

    If your application passes the threshold requirements, it will be 
rated and then ranked based on its total score on the selection 
factors. Your application will be considered for selection based on its 
rank order. HUD may make awards out of rank order to achieve geographic 
diversity, and may provide assistance to support a number of students 
that is less than the number requested under your application or a 
lower funding level per student, in order to provide assistance to as 
many highly ranked applications as possible.
    If there is a tie in the point scores of two applications, the rank 
order will be determined by the scores on the selection factor entitled 
``Quality of the Academic Program.'' The application with the most 
points on this factor will be given the higher rank. If there is still 
a tie, the rank order will be determined by the applicants' scores on 
the selection factor entitled ``Effectiveness of program 
administration.'' The application with the most points for this 
selection factor will be given the higher rank.
    If there are insufficient funds to fund an application, even if the 
request is reduced to the minimum number of students which could be 
funded (i.e., three students per institution of higher education), HUD 
may select the next ranked application which would not exceed the 
funding left available and still fund the minimum number of students 
allowed.
    HUD reserves the right to make selections out of rank order to 
provide for geographic distribution of funded CDWSPs. If HUD decides to 
use this

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option, it will do so only if two adjacent HUD regions do not yield at 
least one fundable CDWSP on the basis of rank order. If this occurs, 
HUD will fund the highest ranking applicant within the two regions.
    HUD reserves the right to reduce your amount of funding in order to 
fund as many highly ranked applications as possible. Additionally, if 
funds remain after funding the highest ranked application, HUD may fund 
part of the next highest ranking application (as long as it would 
provide assistance to the minimum number of students required to be 
served) in a given program area. If you turn down the award offer, HUD 
will make the same determination for the next highest-ranking 
application. If funds remain after all selections have been made, the 
remaining will be carried over to the next funding cycle's competition.

(C) Negotiations

    After selections have been made, HUD may require winners to 
participate in negotiations to determine the Grant Budget. In cases 
where HUD cannot successfully conclude negotiations, or you fail to 
provide HUD with requested information, an award will not be made. In 
such instances, HUD may elect to offer an award to the next highest 
ranking applicant, and proceed with negotiations with the next highest 
applicant.

VII. Corrections to Deficient Applications

    After the application due date, HUD may not, consistent with 24 CFR 
part 4, subpart B, consider unsolicited information from you. HUD may 
contact you, however, to clarify an item in the application or to 
correct technical deficiencies. You should note, however, that HUD may 
not seek a clarification of items or responses that improve the 
substantive quality of your response to any eligibility or selection 
criterion. Examples of curable (correctable) technical deficiencies 
include failure to submit the proper certifications or failure to 
submit your application containing an original signature by an 
authorized official. In each case, HUD will notify you in writing by 
describing the clarification or technical deficiency. HUD will notify 
you by facsimile or by return receipt requested. You must submit 
clarifications or corrections of technical deficiencies in accordance 
with the information provided by HUD within 14 calendar days of the 
date of receipt of the HUD notification. If you do not correct the 
deficiency within this time period, your application will be rejected 
as incomplete.

VIII. Environmental Requirements

    This NOFA does not direct, provide for assistance or loan and 
mortgage insurance for, or otherwise govern or regulate real property 
acquisition, disposition, leasing, rehabilitation, alteration, 
demolition, or new construction, or establish, revise, or provide for 
standards for construction or construction materials, manufactured 
housing, or occupancy. Accordingly, under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1), this NOFA 
is categorically excluded from environmental review under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321) and no 
Finding of No Significant Impact is needed. In addition, the provision 
of assistance under this NOFA is categorically excluded from 
environmental review under Sec. 50.19(b)(3) and (b)(9).

IX. Other Matters

(A) Federalism, Executive Order 13132

    This notice does not have federalism implications and does not 
impose substantial direct compliance costs on State and local 
governments or preempt State law within the meaning of Executive Order 
13132 (entitled ``Federalism'').

(B) Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities

    Applicants for funding under this NOFA (except Indian Housing 
Authorities established by tribal governments exercising their 
sovereign powers with respect to expenditures specifically permitted by 
Federal law) are subject to the provision of section 319 of the 
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 
Fiscal Year 1991, 31 U.S.C. 1352 (the Byrd Amendment) and to the 
provisions of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-65 
(December 19, 1995).
    The Byrd Amendment, which is implemented in regulations at 24 CFR 
part 87, prohibits applicants for Federal contracts and grants from 
using appropriated funds to attempt to influence Federal Executive or 
legislative officers or employees in connection with obtaining such 
assistance, or with its extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or 
modification. The Byrd Amendment applies to the funds that are the 
subject of this NOFA. Therefore, applicants must file a certification 
stating that they have not made and will not make any prohibited 
payments and, if any payments or agreement to make payments of 
nonappropriated funds for these purposes have been made, a form SF-LLL 
disclosing such payments must be submitted. The certification and the 
SF-LLL are included in the application kit.
    The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-65 (December 19, 
1995), which repealed section 112 of the HUD Reform Act and resulted in 
elimination of the regulations at 24 CFR part 86, requires all persons 
and entities who lobby covered Executive or Legislative Branch 
officials to register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives and file reports concerning their lobbying 
activities.

(C) Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act; Documentation and Public Access 
Requirements

    Section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
Reform Act of 1989 (HUD Reform Act) and the final rule codified at 24 
CFR part 4, subpart A, published on April 1, 1996 (61 FR 1448), contain 
a number of provisions that are designed to ensure greater 
accountability and integrity in the provision of certain types of 
assistance administered by HUD. On January 14, 1992, HUD published, at 
57 FR 1942, a notice that also provides information on the 
implementation of section 102. The documentation, public access, and 
disclosure requirements of section 102 are applicable to assistance 
awarded under this NOFA as follows:

(1) Documentation and Public Access Requirements

    HUD will ensure that documentation and other information regarding 
each application submitted pursuant to this NOFA are sufficient to 
indicate the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied. This 
material, including any letters of support, will be made available for 
public inspection for a five-year period beginning not less than 30 
days after the award of the assistance. Material will be made available 
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and 
HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 15. In addition, HUD will 
include the recipients of assistance pursuant to this NOFA in its 
Federal Register notice of all recipients of HUD assistance awarded on 
a competitive basis.
(2) Disclosures
    HUD will make available to the public for five years all applicant 
disclosure reports (HUD Form 2880) submitted in connection with this 
NOFA. Update reports (also Form 2880) will be made available along with 
the applicant disclosure reports, but in no case for a period less than 
three years. All

[[Page 69626]]

reports--both applicant disclosures and updates--will be made available 
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and 
HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 15.

(D) Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act

    HUD's regulations implementing section 103 of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3537a), 
codified in 24 CFR part 4, apply to this funding competition. The 
regulations continue to apply until the announcement of the selection 
of successful applicants. HUD employees involved in the review of 
applications and in the making of funding decisions are limited by 
regulations from providing advance information to any person (other 
than an authorized employee of HUD) concerning funding decisions, or 
from otherwise giving any applicant an unfair competitive advantage. 
Persons who apply for assistance in this competition should confine 
their inquiries to the subject areas permitted under 24 CFR part 4.
    Applicants or employees who have ethics-related questions, such as 
whether particular subject matter can be discussed with persons outside 
the Department, should contact HUD's Ethics Law Division (202) 708-3815 
(voice), (202) 708-1112 (TTY). (These are not toll-free numbers.) For 
HUD employees who have specific program questions, the employee should 
contact the appropriate Field Office Counsel or Headquarters Counsel 
for the program to which the question pertains.

(E) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance number is: 14.234.

X. Authority

    Section 107(c) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) authorizes CDWSP. 
Regulations for the program appear at 24 CFR 570.415.

    Dated: December 7, 1999.
Lawrence L. Thompson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 99-32112 Filed 12-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-29-P