Amendments to Definitions and Related Provisions Under the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION <CFR>34 CFR Part 395</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket ID ED-2024-OSERS-0088]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1820-AB83</RIN> <SUBJECT>Amendments to Definitions and Related Provisions Under the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Department of Education (Department) proposes to amend certain definitions and add a new definition in the Randolph-Sheppard Act (R-S Act) regulations to clarify statutory requirements and make other conforming changes necessary for Federal agencies, States, and non-governmental stakeholders to better implement the R-S Act, thereby allowing the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facilities Program (RSVFP) to evolve with technology and ever-changing customer demand. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before March 11, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> However, if you require an accommodation or cannot otherwise submit your comments via <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> please contact the program contact person listed under <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> . The Department will not accept comments submitted by fax or by email, or comments submitted after the comment period closes. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. Additionally, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments. <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal:</E> Go to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> to submit your comments electronically. Information on using <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> , including instructions for finding a rule on the site and submitting comments, is available on the site under “FAQ”. <E T="03">Privacy Note:</E> The Department's policy is generally to make all comments received from members of the public available for public viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> Therefore, commenters should include in their comments only information about themselves that they wish to make publicly available. Commenters should not include in their comments any information that identifies other individuals or that permits readers to identify other individuals. If, for example, your comment describes an experience of someone other than yourself, please do not identify that individual or include information that would allow readers to identify that individual. The Department reserves the right to redact at any time any information in comments that identifies other individuals, includes information that would allow readers to identify other individuals, or includes threats of harm to another person. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Corinne Weidenthal, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 4A212, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 245-6529. Email: <E T="03">Corinne.Weidenthal@ed.gov.</E> If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1. A brief summary of the proposed rule is available at <E T="03">http://www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2024-OSERS-0088.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. The R-S Act and the Need for Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. States Participating in the RSVFP; Developments in the Vending Landscape</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Role of the Department</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Overview of Proposed Changes</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Significant Proposed Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Articles</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Vending Facility</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Vending Machine</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Location and Operation of Vending Facilities for Blind Vendors on Federal Property</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Severability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Regulatory Impact Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Need for Regulatory Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. RSVFP Funding Sources</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">VR Program Funds</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">State Appropriations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">RSVFP Set-Aside Funds</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Fiscal Impact of RSVFP Expenditures on the VR Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Discussion of Costs and Benefits </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Overview</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Non-Monetized Benefits of the Proposed Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Definition of “Articles”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Definition of “Vending Facility”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Definition of “Vending Machine”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Priority on Certain Federal Property</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Non-Monetized Costs of the Proposed Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Implementation of Proposed Definitions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Definition of “Articles”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Definition of “Vending Facility”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Definition of “Vending Machine”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Priority on Certain Federal Property</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. Technical Changes</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Monetized Costs of the Proposed Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Administrative Costs</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Executive Summary</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Purpose of This Regulatory Action</HD> The purpose of this regulatory action is to clarify and modernize the R-S Act regulations to ensure that the RSVFP can evolve with technology and ever-changing customer demand. To achieve the employment goals of the R-S Act by keeping current with vending technology and business practices and opportunities for individuals who are blind under the RSVFP, the Department proposes to add and amend certain definitions in the R-S Act regulations that would: • Define “articles,” thereby ensuring clarity and consistency for the scope of items that may be sold at vending facilities and by vending machines. • Modify the definition of “vending facility” to describe the scope of business models allowed. • Modify the definition of “vending machine” to dispense only “articles,” not services in exchange for cash or electronic payments. The Department also proposes to make the following other changes: • Amend the regulation pertaining to the location and operation of vending facilities for licensed blind vendors on Federal property to better implement the statute with respect to certain Federal properties. • Add a regulatory provision pertaining to severability for part 395. For a more detailed discussion of the purpose of this regulatory action, see the “ <E T="03">Background</E> ” and “ <E T="03">Significant Proposed Regulations</E> ” sections further below in this document. The R-S Act authorizes the Secretary of Education to promulgate regulations implementing the blind vendors' priority to operate vending facilities on Federal property and ensure that, wherever feasible, one or more vending facilities are established on all Federal property to the extent that any such facility or facilities would not adversely affect the interests of the United States. (20 U.S.C. 107(b).) The R-S Act further directs the Secretary to establish requirements for the uniform application of the R-S Act by each State agency designated by the Secretary to license blind vendors, the State licensing agency (SLA), <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> including policies on the selection and establishment for new vending facilities, the operation of cafeterias, and distribution of vending machine income to blind vendors, as well as any other rules and regulations necessary or desirable in carrying out the provisions of the R-S Act. (20 U.S.C. 107(b), 107a(a)(1) and (6), and 107d-3(e) and (g).) <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  An SLA, as defined in 34 CFR 395.1(v), is the State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency providing VR services to individuals who are blind in the State under the VR services portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan (see 34 CFR 395.2 and 395.5) and that has been designated by the Secretary of Education to issue licenses to individuals who are blind under the RSVFP. Therefore, there is a close administrative nexus between the State VR agency and the SLA. While the SLA and VR agency are the same entity organizationally, administratively the VR program and RSVFP operate separately and distinctly. These different administrative functions are operationalized at the State level through policy and fiscal decision-making responsibilities. In this NPRM, the Department refers to “SLA” when addressing requirements associated with the RSVFP; however, we use “VR agency” when addressing requirements, particularly those related to the use of VR funds under the VR program for the benefit of the RSVFP. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Summary of the Major Proposed Provisions of This Regulatory Action</HD> The proposed regulations would: • Define “articles” for the RSVFP as items of tangible personal property that can be felt or touched by an individual and can be physically relocated, thereby clarifying the wide scope of articles that may be sold through RSVFP vending facilities, including vending machines. • Amend the existing definition of “vending facility” to state that vending facilities may be operated by blind licensees pursuant to a permit or contract, thereby removing any confusion about whether this definition applies to key requirements governing the operation of ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 184k characters. 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