2014-058551840-0796

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules
for your comments to us on the
proposed regulations.
Intergovernmental Review: This
program is subject to Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
part 79. One of the objectives of the
Executive order is to foster an
intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism. The Executive
order relies on processes developed by
State and local governments for
coordination and review of proposed
Federal financial assistance.
This document provides early
notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
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 program 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.gpo.gov/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 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.

ACTION:

Dated: March 13, 2014.
Lynn B. Mahaffie,
Senior Director, Policy Coordination,
Development, and Accreditation Service,
delegated the authority to perform the
functions and duties of the Assistant
Secretary for Postsecondary Education.

Privacy Note: The Department’s policy is
to make all comments received from
members of the public available for public
viewing in their entirety on the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.
Therefore, commenters should be careful to
include in their comments only information
that they wish to make publicly available.

[FR Doc. 2014–05941 Filed 3–17–14; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter VI
[Docket ID ED–2014–OPE–0036; CFDA
Number: 84.016A.]

Proposed Priority—Undergraduate
International Studies and Foreign
Language (UISFL) Program
Office of Postsecondary
Education, Department of Education.

AGENCY:

17:26 Mar 17, 2014

The Acting Assistant
Secretary for Postsecondary Education
proposes a priority for the UISFL
Program administered by the
International and Foreign Language
Education (IFLE) Office. The Acting
Assistant Secretary may use this priority
for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014
and later years. We take this action to
focus Federal financial assistance on an
identified national need. We intend the
priority to address a gap in the types of
institutions, faculty and students that
have historically benefited from
international education opportunities.
DATES: We must receive your comments
on or before April 17, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery,
or hand delivery. We will not accept
comments submitted by fax or by email
or those submitted after the comment
period. To ensure that we do not receive
duplicate copies, please submit your
comments only once. In addition, please
include the Docket ID at the top of your
comments.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov to submit your
comments electronically. Information
on using Regulations.gov, including
instructions for accessing agency
documents, submitting comments, and
viewing the docket, is available on the
site under ‘‘Are you new to the site?’’
• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery,
or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver
your comments about these proposed
regulations, address them to Patricia
Barrett, U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 5142,
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP),
Washington, DC 20202–2700.
SUMMARY:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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Tanyelle Richardson Telephone: (202)
502–7626 or by email:
Tanyelle.Richardson@ed.gov.
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:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you
to submit comments regarding this
priority. To ensure that your comments
have maximum effect in developing the

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final priority, we urge you to identify
clearly the specific proposed priority or
definition that each comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in
complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Orders 12866
and 13563 and their overall requirement
of reducing regulatory burden that
might result from this proposed priority.
Please let us know of any further ways
we could reduce potential costs or
increase potential benefits while
preserving the effective and efficient
administration of the program.
During and after the comment period,
you may inspect all comments about the
proposed priority in Room 6099, 1990 K
St. NW., Washington, DC between the
hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 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
accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: The purpose of
the Undergraduate International Studies
and Foreign Language (UISFL) Program
is to provide grants for planning,
developing, and carrying out programs
to strengthen and improve
undergraduate instruction in
international studies and foreign
languages.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1124.

Applicable Program Regulations: 34
CFR parts 655 and 658.
Proposed Priority: This notice
contains one proposed priority.
Background:
Through the UISFL Program, the
Department makes awards to
institutions of higher education,
consortia of institutions of higher
education, partnerships between
nonprofit educational organizations and
institutions of higher education, or
public and private nonprofit agencies
and organizations, including
professional and scholarly associations,
to plan, develop, and carry out programs
to strengthen and improve
undergraduate instruction in
international studies and foreign
languages.
The objective of the UISFL Program is
to develop and improve undergraduate
curricula, programs, courses, and

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules

materials in international studies and
foreign languages.
The Department proposes a priority
for UISFL applications from MinorityServing Institutions (MSIs)(as defined in
this notice) or community colleges (as
defined in this notice), whether
individually or as part of a consortium.
If the MSI or community college is the
lead applicant for a consortium, the
application will receive a greater
number of points under this priority
than it would if the MSI or community
college is a partner in a consortia
application and not the lead applicant.
This priority aims to increase the
number of MSIs and community
colleges that become grantees under this
program, in order to increase their
students’ access to academic
coursework and instructional activities
and training that would better prepare
them for the 21st century global
economy, careers in international
service, and for lifelong engagement
with the diverse communities in which
they will live, whether at home or
abroad. It also aims to increase the
access of students attending MSIs and
community colleges to academic
coursework, instructional activities and
training related to foreign language and
international studies, ultimately
increasing access to careers in
international fields for these students.
The Department’s ‘‘International
Strategy’’ expresses the importance of
strengthening ‘‘the global competencies
of all U.S. students, including those
from traditionally disadvantaged
groups.’’ Community colleges and MSIs
are heavily populated by students from
traditionally disadvantaged groups.
Currently, opportunities for
international studies, foreign language
learning, study abroad and other
international studies and activities tend
to be more limited at two-year
institutions than at four-year
institutions. In addition, community
colleges and MSIs account for a small
percentage of all grant recipients in
programs funded under title VI of the
Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (HEA). Targeting outreach to
these institutions will expand the reach
of the UISFL program to traditionally
disadvantaged groups.
For this priority, we propose a
definition of ‘‘Minority-Serving
Institution’’ that includes institutions
eligible to receive assistance under
sections 316 through 320 of part A of
title III, under part B of title III, or under
title V of the HEA.
The Department proposes to use this
definition because both title III and title
V programs target college student

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populations that are underrepresented
in international education.
Title III of the HEA reflects our
national interest in supporting those
institutions of higher education that
serve low-income and minority students
so that access to, and quality of,
postsecondary education opportunities
may be enhanced for all students. Under
title III of the HEA, institutions may
receive a designation of eligibility
depending on their submitted
institutional evidence documenting
their students’ income and demographic
data.
Title V of the HEA targets HispanicServing Institutions because of the large
percentage of Hispanic Americans who
are at high risk of not enrolling or not
graduating from institutions of higher
education. The law was designed to
reduce the disparity between the
enrollment of non-Hispanic white
students and Hispanic students in
postsecondary education, which
continues to rise.
We also propose a definition of
‘‘community college’’ that is broader
than the definition in the HEA. The
proposed definition of ‘‘community
college’’ in this notice includes some
institutions that award bachelor’s and
graduate degrees. The definition of
‘‘junior or community college’’ in
section 312(f) of the HEA (20 U.S.C.
1058(f)) excludes such institutions. The
Department proposes this definition so
that institutions that offer bachelor’s or
graduate degrees are eligible to apply for
funding under this program, but only if
more than 50 percent of the degrees they
award are degrees and certificates that
are not bachelor’s or graduate degrees.
The Department proposes this definition
in order to include institutions that
serve significant numbers of students
enrolled in programs traditionally
offered by community colleges, such as
associate degree and certificate
programs.
Proposed Priority: Applications from
Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) (as
defined in this notice) or community
colleges (as defined in this notice),
whether as individual applicants or as
part of a consortium.
An application from a consortium that
has an MSI or community college as the
lead applicant will receive more points
under this priority than applications
where the MSI or community college is
a partner in the consortium but not the
lead applicant.
A consortium must undertake
activities designed to incorporate
foreign languages into the curriculum of
the MSI or community college and to
improve foreign language and
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on the MSI or community college
campus.
For the purpose of this priority:
Community college means an
institution that meets the definition in
section 312(f) of the HEA (20 U.S.C.
1058(f)); or, an institution of higher
education (as defined in section 101 of
the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1001)) that awards
degrees and certificates, more than 50
percent of which are not bachelor’s
degrees (or an equivalent), or master’s,
professional, or other advanced degrees.
Minority-Serving Institution (MSI)
means an institution that is eligible to
receive assistance under sections 316
through 320 of part A of title III, under
part B of title III, or under title V of the
HEA.
Types of Priorities:
When inviting applications for a
competition using one or more
priorities, we designate the type of each
priority as absolute, competitive
preference, or invitational through a
notice in the Federal Register. The
effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute
priority, we consider only applications
that meet the priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive preference priority:
Under a competitive preference priority,
we give competitive preference to an
application by (1) Awarding additional
points, depending on the extent to
which the application meets the priority
(34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) Selecting
an application that meets the priority
over an application of comparable merit
that does not meet the priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational priority: Under an
invitational priority, we are particularly
interested in applications that meet the
priority. However, we do not give an
application that meets the priority a
preference over other applications (34
CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Final Priority:
We will announce the final priority in
a notice in the Federal Register. We will
determine the final priority after
considering responses to this notice and
other information available to the
Department. This notice does not
preclude us from proposing additional
priorities, requirements, definitions, or
selection criteria, subject to meeting
applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit
applications. In any year in which we choose
to use the priority we invite applications
through a notice in the Federal Register.

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Proposed Rules
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

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Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the
Secretary must determine whether this
regulatory action is ‘‘significant’’ and,
therefore, subject to the requirements of
the Executive order and subject to
review by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive
Order 12866 defines a ‘‘significant
regulatory action’’ as an action likely to
result in a rule that may—
(1) Have an annual effect on the
economy of $100 million or more, or
adversely affect a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the
environment, public health or safety, or
State, local, or tribal governments or
communities in a material way (also
referred to as an ‘‘economically
significant’’ rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or
otherwise interfere with an action taken
or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary
impacts of entitlement grants, user fees,
or loan programs or the rights and
obligations of recipients thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues
arising out of legal mandates, the
President’s priorities, or the principles
stated in the Executive order.
This proposed regulatory action is not
a significant regulatory action subject to
review by OMB under section 3(f) of
Executive Order 12866.
We have also reviewed this regulatory
action under Executive Order 13563,
which supplements and explicitly
reaffirms the principles, structures, and
definitions governing regulatory review
established in Executive Order 12866.
To the extent permitted by law,
Executive Order 13563 requires that an
agency—
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only
upon a reasoned determination that
their benefits justify their costs
(recognizing that some benefits and
costs are difficult to quantify);
(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the
least burden on society, consistent with
obtaining regulatory objectives and
taking into account—among other things
and to the extent practicable—the costs
of cumulative regulations;
(3) In choosing among alternative
regulatory approaches, select those
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety,
and other advantages; distributive
impacts; and equity);
(4) To the extent feasible, specify
performance objectives, rather than the
behavior or manner of compliance a
regulated entity must adopt; and

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(5) Identify and assess available
alternatives to direct regulation,
including economic incentives—such as
user fees or marketable permits—to
encourage the desired behavior, or
provide information that enables the
public to make choices.
Executive Order 13563 also requires
an agency ‘‘to use the best available
techniques to quantify anticipated
present and future benefits and costs as
accurately as possible.’’ The Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of
OMB has emphasized that these
techniques may include ‘‘identifying
changing future compliance costs that
might result from technological
innovation or anticipated behavioral
changes.’’
We are issuing the proposed priority
only upon a reasoned determination
that its benefits would justify its costs.
In choosing among alternative
regulatory approaches, we selected
those approaches that would maximize
net benefits. Based on the analysis that
follows, the Department believes that
this regulatory action is consistent with
the principles in Executive Order 13563.
We also have determined that this
regulatory action would not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal
governments in the exercise of their
governmental functions.
In accordance with both Executive
orders, the Department has assessed the
potential costs and benefits, both
quantitative and qualitative, of this
regulatory action. The potential costs
are those resulting from statutory
requirements and those we have
determined as necessary for
administering the Department’s
programs and activities.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
As part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, the Department provides the
general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on
proposed and continuing collections of
information in accordance with the PRA
(44 U.S.C. 3506 (c)(2)(A)).
The Department plans to revise the
information collection for the UISFL
Program by including more detailed
guidance to assist applicants in
responding to the Plan of Evaluation
selection criterion found in sections
655.31 and 669.21; and, by requiring
one new performance measure form
(PMF). The PMF will require applicants
to identify project goals and projectspecific measures for the UISFL project
they propose to conduct. Information
will also be provided on how
applicants, should they become
grantees, will meet and report on the

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Government Performance and Results
Act (GPRA) measures that have been
developed for the UISFL Program. The
IFLE Office developed this PMF so that
applicants may propose projects with
high-quality implementation plans at
the outset and that will require them to
lay a stronger foundation for reporting
progress and performance results.
Additionally, the form will give the
Department the capacity to collect and
analyze information that is more useful
and valid in demonstrating to Congress
and other stakeholders the impact of
these programs on the entities they
serve. This form may result in some
additional time requirements in the
application preparation, but will reduce
the total burden hours for future grantee
reporting as the templates are designed
for easy data collection and reporting.
This form also facilitates the process of
developing a sound evaluation plan
during the application phase of the
process.
The Plan of Evaluation criterion in the
UISFL Program regulations evaluates
‘‘the quality of the evaluation plan for
the project,’’ and provides that ‘‘the
methods of evaluation are appropriate
for the project and, to the extent
possible, are objective and produce data
that are quantifiable’’ among other
factors. The detailed guidance that the
Department will include in the
information collection (application)
advises applicants on how to respond to
this criterion in a more comprehensive
and compelling manner.
In order to standardize the kind of
performance data to be requested from
applicants, the Department developed a
project-specific PMF and a GPRA PMF.
These forms contain the same elements:
(a) Project goal statement; (b)
Performance measure; (c) Project
activity; (d) Data/Indicators; (e)
Frequency of collection; (f) Data source;
and (g) Baseline and targets, but the
purposes for the forms differ.
Applicants will submit a projectspecific form for each project-specific
goal that the institutions have deemed
as important to the proposed UISFL
project. For that reason, the total
number of project-specific PMFs in each
application will vary. Applicants will
also be provided with a sample GPRA
PMF for reference purposes.
The Department expects the new
evaluation plan for this information
collection will increase the applicant
burden by an estimated 10 hours per
response for a total burden of 110 hours.
The Department believes that this
additional time will improve the quality
of the submitted applications, and
subsequently improve the application
review, grant making, and performance

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reporting processes. When awards are
made, grantees will already be fully
aware of reporting requirements.
If you want to comment on the
proposed information collection
requirements, please send your
comments to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention:
Desk Officer for U.S. Department of
Education. Send these comments by
email to OIRA_DOCKET@omb.gov or by
fax to (202) 395–6974. You may also
send a copy of these comments to the
Department contact named in the
ADDRESSES section of this preamble or
submit electronically through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://
www.regulations.gov by selecting
Docket ID number ED–2014–OPE–0036.
Please be advised that the public
comment period for submitting
comments on the notice of proposed
priorities (NPP) is the same for
submitting comments on the
information collection (IC); therefore,
use the NPP Docket number as the
identifier for both sets of comments.
You may, however, submit the NPP
comments and the IC comments
separately in the regulations.gov site.
We have prepared an ICR for this
collection. In preparing your comments
you may want to review the ICR, which
is available at www.reginfo.gov. Click on
Information Collection Review. This
proposed collection is identified as
proposed collection 1840–0796 ED–
2014–OPE–0036.
We consider your comments on this
proposed collection of information in—
• Deciding whether the proposed
collection is necessary for the proper
performance of our functions, including
whether the information will have
practical use;
• Evaluating the accuracy of our
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection, including the validity of our
methodology and assumptions;
• Enhancing the quality, usefulness,
and clarity of the Information we
collect; and
• Minimizing the burden on those
who must respond. This includes
exploring the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques.
OMB is required to make a decision
concerning the collection of information
contained in these proposed regulations
between 30 and 60 days after
publication of this document in the
Federal Register. Therefore, to ensure
that OMB gives your comments full
consideration, it is important that OMB
receives your comments by April 17,
2014. This does not affect the deadline

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for your comments to us on the
proposed regulations.
Intergovernmental Review: This
program is subject to Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
Part 79. One of the objectives of the
Executive order is to foster an
intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism. The Executive
order relies on processes developed by
State and local governments for
coordination and review of proposed
Federal financial assistance.
This document provides early
notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
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 program 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.gpo.gov/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 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.
Dated: March 12, 2014.
Lynn B. Mahaffie,
Senior Director, Policy Coordination,
Development, and Accreditation Service,
delegated the authority to perform the
functions and duties of the Assistant
Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 35
[EPA–R09–0AR–2014–0120; FRL–9908–06–
Region 9]

Clean Air Act Grant: South Coast Air
Quality Management District;
Opportunity for Public Hearing
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed Action; determination
with request for comments and notice of
opportunity for public hearing.
AGENCY:

The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has made a proposed
determination that the reduction in
expenditures of non-Federal funds for
the South Coast Air Quality
Management District (SCAQMD) in
support of its continuing air program
under section 105 of the Clean Air Act
(CAA), for the calendar year 2013 is a
result of non-selective reductions in
expenditures. This determination, when
final, will permit the SCAQMD to
receive grant funding for FY2014 from
the EPA under section 105 of the Clean
Air Act.
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a
public hearing must be received by EPA
at the address stated below by April 17,
2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments,
identified by docket ID No. EPA–R09–
OAR–2014–0120, by one of the
following methods:
1. Federal Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions.
2. Email to: lance.gary@epa.gov or
3. Mail to: Gary Lance (Air-8), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105–3901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary
Lance, EPA Region IX, Grants & Program
Integration Office, Air Division, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
94105; phone: (415) 972–3992, fax: (415)
947–3579 or email address at
lance.gary@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) provides
grant support for the continuing air
programs of eligible state, local, and
tribal agencies. In accordance with CAA
section 105(a)(1)(A) and 40 CFR
35.145(a), the Regional Administrator
may provide air pollution control
agencies up to three-fifths of the
approved costs of implementing
programs for the prevention and control
of air pollution. Section 105 contains
two cost-sharing provisions which
SUMMARY:

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