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Publication
Date: August 18, 2006
FRPart:
Page Numbers: 47785
- 47787
Summary: Notice Announcing
Availability of Funds and Application Deadline for Hurricane Education
Recovery Awards Under Title II of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery, 2006.
Posted on 08-18-2006
[Federal Register:
August 18, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 160)]
[Notices]
[Page 47785-47787]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18au06-61]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.938H]
Notice Announcing Availability of Funds and Application Deadline
for Hurricane Education Recovery Awards Under Title II of the Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror
and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-234)
AGENCY: Office of
Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
SUMMARY: Under the
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for
Defense, the Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 we will
award funds to institutions of higher education, as defined in section
102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), that are
located in an area in which a major disaster was declared in accordance
with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act related to hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in
calendar year 2005, and that were forced to close, relocate, or
significantly curtail their activities as a result of damage directly
caused by the hurricanes. These Hurricane Education Recovery Awards can
be used only to defray expenses, including expenses that would have
been covered by revenue lost as a direct result of a hurricane,
expenses already incurred, and construction expenses directly related
to damage resulting from the hurricanes.
Pre-Application Deadline: September 1, 2006.
Application Deadline: September 19, 2006.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
(Pub. L. 109-234) provided $50 million for Hurricane Education Recovery
Awards to assist institutions of higher education, as defined in
section 102 of the HEA that are located in an area in which a major
disaster was declared in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act related to
hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in calendar year 2005, and that were
forced to close, relocate, or significantly curtail their activities as
a result of damage directly caused by the hurricanes. This area
includes the States of Louisiana and Mississippi and certain counties
in the States of Alabama, Florida, and Texas. A list of these counties
is available at: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/hu_recovery.shtm.
These awards can only be used to defray expenses incurred by these institutions,
including, but not limited to, expenses
that would have been covered by revenue lost as a direct result of a
hurricane, reimbursement for expenses already incurred, and
construction expenses, directly related to damage resulting from the
hurricanes.
The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the
Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 authorizes the
Department to make these funds available based on criteria established
by the Secretary. The Secretary establishes and will consider the
following criteria in allocating these funds: expenses that would have
been covered by revenues lost by the institution as a direct result of
the hurricanes; expenses incurred by the institution in remedying the
effects of the hurricanes; the costs of construction associated with
physical damage caused by the hurricanes; any amount of any insurance
settlement or other reimbursement received including from a Federal or
other relief agency; and the number of Pell Grant recipients enrolled
at the institution at any time during the 2005-06 award year.
Institutions must include information responsive to each of these
criteria in their applications.
Available Funds for Hurricane Education Recovery Awards:
$50,000,000.
[[Page 47786]]
Period of Fund
Availability:
Institutions receiving Hurricane Education Recovery Awards must obligate
the funds received by September
30, 2008. Funds being used for construction must be expended by
September 30, 2010.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking:
Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), and section
437 of the General Education
Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232), the Department generally offers
interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed program
requirements. However, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act
for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
(Pub. L. 109-234) specifically exempts criteria established by the
Secretary for the award of funds under this program from the rulemaking
requirements of the APA and GEPA.
Pre-Application Requirements:
Institutions intending to submit an application for a Hurricane Education
Recovery Award must first
complete and submit a pre-application data information form from which
institutional allotments will be calculated. Data forms and
instructions can be downloaded from http://www.ed.gov/OPE
(click on the Hurricane Education Recovery Awards link). Complete the
form and fax it to David Johnson, Program Officer, Office of Postsecondary
Education,
at 202-502-7877 by the date established under Pre-Application Deadline.
Within one week of the Pre-Application Deadline, the Department will
calculate the applicant institution's allotment and e-mail the amount
back to the contact person identified on the form. Institutions will
then have until September 12, 2006 to submit their application and
budget through the e-Application system.
Electronic Submission of Applications: Applications for Hurricane
Education Recovery Awards--CFDA Number 84.938H must be submitted
electronically using e-Application available through the Department's
e-Grants system, accessible through the e-Grants portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov
.We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
While completing your electronic application, you will be entering
data online that will be saved into a database. You may not e-mail an
electronic copy of a grant application to us.
Please note the following:
- You must complete
the electronic submission of your grant
application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application
deadline date. The e-Application system will not accept an application
for this program after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you
do
not wait until the application deadline date to begin the application
process.
- The regular hours
of operation of the e-Grants Web site
are 6 a.m. Monday until 7 p.m. Wednesday; and 6 a.m. Thursday until
midnight Saturday, Washington, DC time. Please note that the system
is
unavailable on Sundays, and between 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and 6 a.m.
on
Thursdays, Washington, DC time, for maintenance. Any modifications to
these hours are posted on the e-Grants Web site.
- You will not receive
additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
- You must submit
all documents electronically, including
the Application title page (ED 424), Budget Information (ED 524), and
all necessary assurances and certifications. You must attach any
narrative sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document),
.RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload
a
file type other than the three file types specified above or submit
a
password protected file, we will not review that material.
- Your electronic
application must comply with any page
limit requirements described in this notice.
- Prior to submitting
your electronic application, you may
wish to print a copy of it for your records.
- After you electronically
submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgment that will include a PR/Award number
(an identifying number unique to your application).
- Within three working
days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the application Title Page (Form No.
ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following these steps:
(1) Print the application Program Title Page (ED 424) from e-
Application.
(2) The applicant's Authorizing Representative must sign this form
(ED 424).
(3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner (Item
1) of the hard-copy signature page of the ED 424.
(4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at
(202) 245-6272.
-
We may request
that you provide us original signatures on
other forms at a later date.
Application Deadline
Date Extension in Case of e-Application System
Unavailability: If you are prevented from electronically submitting
your application on the application deadline date because the e-
Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of
one business day to enable you to transmit your application
electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery. We will grant this
extension if--
(1) You are a registered user of e-Application and you have
initiated an electronic application for this competition; and
(2)(a) The e-Application system is unavailable for 60 minutes or
more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability
before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to
confirm our acknowledgment of any system unavailability, you may
contact either
(1) the person listed elsewhere in this notice under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT (see section VII. Agency Contact)or
(2)
the e-Grants help desk at 1-888-336-8930. If the system is down and
therefore the application deadline is extended, an e-mail will be sent
to all registered users who have initiated an e-Application. Extensions
referred to in this section apply only to the unavailability of the
Department's e-Application system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the e-Application system because--
- You do not have
access to the Internet; or
[[Page 47787]]
- You do not have
the capacity to upload large documents to
the Department's e-Application system; and
-
No later than
two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. If you
mail your written statement to the Department, it must be postmarked
no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or
fax your statement to: David Johnson, Hurricane
Education Recovery Awards, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street,
NW., Room 6155, Washington, DC 20006-8544. FAX: (202) 502-7877.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.938H), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260. or
By mail through a commercial carrier:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.938H), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark,
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service,
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The
U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission
of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original
and two copies of your application, by hand, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.938H), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications:
If you mail or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by
the Department--on the Hurricane Education Recovery Awards Title
Page the CFDA number and suffix letter (84.938H of the competition
under which you are submitting your application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as 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 (202) 512-1530.
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:
Division B, Title IV of Pub. L. 109-148;
Title II of Pub. L. 109-234.
Dated: August 15,
2006.
James F. Manning,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. E6-13641 Filed 8-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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