Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period With Funding for Native American Career and Technical Education Program (NACTEP)

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Published

May 7, 2026

Issuing agencies

Education Department

Abstract

The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the Education Department General Administrative Regulations that generally prohibit the project period exceeding five years and project period extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The proposed waiver and extension would enable 36 Native American Career and Technical Education (NACTEP) projects under Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.101A, currently in their fifth year, to receive funding for an additional budget period, not beyond September 30, 2027.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 88 (Thursday, May 7, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24763-24765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09111]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 75

[ED-2026-OCTAE-1585]

Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period With Funding
for Native American Career and Technical Education Program (NACTEP)

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

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of project period with funding.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the
Education Department General Administrative Regulations that generally
prohibit the project period exceeding five years and project period
extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The
proposed waiver and extension would enable 36 Native American Career
and Technical Education (NACTEP) projects under Assistance Listing
Number (ALN) 84.101A, currently in their fifth year, to receive funding
for an additional budget period, not beyond September 30, 2027.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 8, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. However, if you require an accommodation
or cannot otherwise submit your comments via <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>,
please contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. The Department will not accept comments 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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to submit
your comments electronically. Information on using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under
``FAQ.''
Privacy Note: OCTAE's policy is generally to make comments received
from members of the public available for public viewing in their
entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Therefore, commenters should be careful to include in their comments
only information that they wish to make publicly available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Flynn, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone:
(202) 245-7405. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f7b693969ad9b19b8e9999daa396959b989191b79293d9909881"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8f9dcd9d596fed4c1d6d695ecd9dad4d7dedef8dddc96dfd7ce">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this proposed waiver and extension notice. To ensure that your comments
have maximum effect in developing the notice of final waiver and
extension, we urge you to identify clearly the specific grantee or
grantees (listed in the table

[[Page 24764]]

under the Background section) that each comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14192 and their
overall requirement of reducing regulatory burden that might result
from the proposed waiver and extension. 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 public
comments about the proposed waiver and extension by accessing:
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>.
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 the proposed waiver and extension. 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.

Background

Section 116 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education
Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 115-224)(Perkins V or the Act), authorizes the
Secretary to make grants to or enter into contracts with Indian Tribes
and Tribal organizations to carry out career and technical education
programs that benefit Native Americans.
In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the Department published in the Federal
Register notices inviting application (NIA) announcing a grant
competition for the NACTEP program under ALN 84.101A (85 FR 76548)
published November 30, 2020, and corrected December 11, 2020, for up to
five years. Thirty-nine NACTEP grants were awarded from that
competition and thirty-six36 NACTEP grants are currently operating
career and technical education programs for Native American students as
authorized by section 116 of Perkins V (20. U.S.C. 2326).
The Department proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250,
which prohibit project periods exceeding 60 months (five years).
Additionally, the Department proposes to waive the requirements in 34
CFR 75.261 (a) and (c)(2), which allow the extension of a project
period only if the extension does not involve the obligation of
additional Federal funds. The waiver and extension would enable the
Department to provide additional funds, not to exceed their Year 5
planned award amount for projects currently funded under ALN 84.101A
for an additional budget period, not beyond September 20, 2027. This
proposed waiver and extension would maximize continuity of services to
those served by the NACTEP program and support grantees by providing an
efficient process by which they can continue to operate their current,
approved projects for another budget period with additional funding.
This action would allow the 36 current NACTEP grantees to submit a
request for continuation funding in FY 2026, provided grantees have
certified that they have the capacity to continue activities. In making
a continuation award under 34 CFR 75.253, the Secretary considers,
among other things: whether a grantee has made substantial progress in
achieving the goals and objectives of the project; whether the grantee
has expended funds in a manner that is consistent with its approved
application and budget; if the Secretary has established performance
measurement requirements, whether the grantee has made substantial
progress in achieving the performance targets in the grantee's approval
application; and whether the continuation of the project is in the best
interest of the Federal Government.
In making a continuation award, the Secretary also considers
whether the grantee is operating in compliance with the assurance in
its approved application, including those applicable to Federal civil
rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities
receive Federal financial assistance from the Department (34 CFR 100.4,
104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
Waivers and Extensions:
The Department believes that it is in the public interest to extend
the NACTEP program in lieu of running a new competition in FY 2026.
Extending the project end dates of the 36 NACTEP grants for one year
will allow for efficient continuity of Career and Technical Education
services for Native Americans. The Department intends to hold a new
competition FY 2027.
For these reasons, the Department proposes to waive the
requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which prohibit project periods exceeding
five years, as well as the requirements in 34 CFR 75.261 (a) and
(c)(2), which allow the extension of a project period only if the
extension does not involve the obligation of additional Federal funds.
This waiver will allow the Department to consider FY 2026 continuation
awards for the 36 NACTEP projects (ALN 84.101A) based on their Year 5
planned amount. It is estimated that each grantee's continuation award
would amount to the following, pending review and discussion of
carryover:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2021 84.101A award No. Grantee Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
V101A210002.................... The Coeur d'Alene $551,000
Tribe.
V101A210003.................... Hoopa Valley Tribal 551,000
Council.
V101A210004.................... College of Menominee 532,302
Nation.
V101A210006.................... Citizen Potawatomi 459,011
Nation.
V101A210007.................... Pascua Yaqui Tribe.... 458,000
V101A210009.................... Angoon Community 551,000
Association.
V101A210010.................... Sinte Gleska 464,366
University.
V101A210011.................... Stone Child College 493,274
Corporation.
V101A210012.................... Blackfeet Community 540,238
College.
V101A210013.................... Salish Kootenai 484,263
College, Inc.
V101A210015.................... Little Wound School 129,909
Board, Inc.
V101A210016.................... The Cherokee Boys 479,025
Club, Inc.
V101A210018.................... The Alamo Navajo 508,435
School Board, Inc.
V101A210019.................... Muckleshoot Indian 401,853
Tribe.
V101A210020.................... Aaniiih Nakoda College 466,787
V101A210021.................... Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish 568,736
College.
V101A210022.................... Sitting Bull College.. 478,519
V101A210023.................... Turtle Mountain 548,272
Community College.
V101A210025.................... Choctaw Nation of 462,145
Oklahoma.

[[Page 24765]]

V101A210026.................... Oglala Lakota College. 551,000
V101A210028.................... Haliwa Saponi Tribal 95,483
School.
V101A210029.................... Cankdeska Cikana 631,057
Community College.
V101A210030.................... Pawnee Nation College. 514,601
V101A210031.................... Mississippi Band of 526,369
Choctaw Indians.
V101A210032.................... South Puget 458,000
Intertribal Planning
Agency.
V101A210033.................... Chief Leschi Schools.. 30,000
V101A210035.................... Kawerak, Inc.......... 546,690
V101A210037.................... Winnebago Tribe of 542,748
Nebraska.
V101A210041.................... Nez Perce Tribe....... 99,713
V101A210042.................... Cook Inlet Tribal 551,000
Council, Inc.
V101A210043.................... Sisseton Wahpeton 479,275
College.
V101A210046.................... Little Traverse Bay 517,524
Bands of Odawa
Indians.
V101A210049.................... Virginia Tribal 699,465
Education Consortium,
Inc.
V101A210053.................... The Institute for 453,305
Indian Development,
Inc.
V101A210055.................... Blue Lake Rancheria, 115,043
California.
V101A210057.................... Northwest Indian 318,000
College.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any activities to be carried out during the year or years of these
continuation awards would have to be consistent with, or be a logical
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of each grantee's
application, as approved in the 2021 NACTEP competition. The FY 2021
NACTEP NIA would continue to govern each grantee's project during the
extension.

Intergovernmental Review

The NACTEP is not subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of
the project period would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. The only entities that would be
affected by the proposed waiver and extension are the current AL
84.101A grantees, and any potential new applicants who might have
applied in the FY 2026 grant competition.
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 period imposes minimal compliance
costs, and the activities required to support the additional year 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 of the project period
does not contain any information collection requirements.
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file,
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible
format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. 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 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
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>.

Nicholas Moore,
Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for the
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education.
[FR Doc. 2026-09111 Filed 5-6-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P

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