Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) reopens the comment

period for receiving advice and recommendations from the public on

whether to develop new regulations implementing the Early Intervention

Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities under Part C of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

DATES: The comment period will be open until 30 days following the

future publication of the final regulations implementing part B of IDEA

(34 CFR part 300), and containing conforming changes to Part C of IDEA

(34 CFR part 303). A separate document announcing the specific closing

date will be published after publication of those final regulations.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Thomas Irvin, Office of

Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of

Education, Room 3090, Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C St., SW.,

Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: JoLeta Reynolds or Thomas Irvin.

Telephone: (202) 205-5507. Individuals who use a telecommunications

device for the deaf (TDD) may call (202) 205-5465 or the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m.

and 8:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice in

an alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer

diskette) on request to Katie Mincey, Director of the Alternate Formats

Center. Telephone: (202) 205-8113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On April 14, 1998, the Secretary published in the Federal Register

(63 FR 18290) final regulations governing Part H of IDEA, the Early

Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (34 CFR

part 303). Those final regulations made technical changes to part 303

to incorporate the statutory amendments to Part H that were added by

the IDEA Amendments of 1997. The regulations became effective on July

1, 1998, and at that time, the Part H program was renamed ``Part C.''

In the same (April 14) issue of the Federal Register (63 FR 18297),

the Secretary also published a notice soliciting advice and

recommendations from the public--including persons with disabilities

and their representatives, parents, members of interagency coordinating

councils, service providers, program administrators, and Federal and

State administrators--as to whether to develop new regulations

implementing Part C. That comment period ended on July 31, 1998.

Invitation to Comment

The Secretary is reopening the comment period for the Part 303

regulations to further elicit the views of interested parties on

whether additional revisions to those regulations are needed to

implement the requirements of Part C of IDEA. In addition to

considering further regulatory changes based on the IDEA Amendments of

1997, the Secretary also invites comments on whether to revise the

regulations in areas unaffected by the statutory amendments.

If the Department regulates, it will do so consistent with its

Principles for Regulating, under which the Department considers whether

regulations are needed to promote quality and equality in educational

opportunity, whether a demonstrated problem requires the issuance of

regulations, whether regulations are needed to resolve ambiguity, and

whether a uniform approach to a situation is appropriate. In developing

regulations, the Department's policy is to provide flexibility and

minimize burden to the extent consistent with ensuring the

implementation of the Early Intervention Program for Infants and

Toddlers with Disabilities, Part C of IDEA. The Department is

particularly interested in public input on any areas in which the

statutory changes in Part C of IDEA may need clarification.

The Secretary requests that each commenter identify her or his role

in early intervention, special education, or regular education, if any,

and the perspective from which she or he views the early intervention

system--either as a representative of persons with disabilities or of

an association, agency, type of service provider (public or private),

or as an individual person with a disability, parent, or private

citizen. The Secretary urges commenters to be specific regarding their

comments, including identifying clearly the section or sections of the

regulations (or of Part C of IDEA, if appropriate) that each comment

addresses.

All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available

for public inspection during and after the comment period in Room 3090,

Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C St., SW., Washington, DC, between the

hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday of each week

except Federal holidays.

Electronic Access to This Document:

Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or

portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the

following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you

have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing

Office at (202) 512-1530 or, toll free at 1-888-293-6498.

Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511

or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option

G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.

Note: The official version of a document is the document

published in the Federal Register.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.027, Assistance to

States for Education of Children with Disabilities)

Dated: August 10, 1998.

Judith E. Heumann,

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

[FR Doc. 98-21890 Filed 8-13-98; 8:45 am]

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