This paper highlights specific issues surrounding implementation of Titles I and II of Public Law 99-457, and illuminates how federal rules and regulations and the states' positions on the law should reflect the needs of rural and remote communities. The issues include: legislative planning and appropriations to meet the needs of rural handicapped youth, representation of both rural and urban communities on state interagency coordinating councils, parent involvement in the development of state plans and on the interagency coordinating councils, focus on family service models rather than downward extensions of elementary school models, consideration of a number of service delivery models to meet the needs of widely diverse areas, an efficient service transition process, and consideration of the training needs of personnel serving preschoolers with handicaps. (JDD)