Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Division of Energy Assistance/OCS/ACF
Model Plan Application for LIHEAP Funding for Fiscal Year 1999 - Tribal Applications due September 1
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THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-IM-98-19,
DATED 5/7/98
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) GRANTEES
AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
SUBJECT: Model Plan Application for LIHEAP Funding for Fiscal Year 1999 -
Tribal Applications due September 1
RELATED
REFERENCES: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, as amended (Title XXVI
of Public Law 97-35, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1981, as amended).
BACKGROUND: Section 2605(c)(3)of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1981, as amended, provides that not later than April 1
of each fiscal year the Secretary shall make available a model
LIHEAP plan which may be used, at the option of each grantee,
to prepare the application required under sections 2605(a)(1)
and (c)(1).
PURPOSE: To provide LIHEAP grantees with a copy of the model plan
format and to remind tribal grantees that tribal applications
are due September 1.
CONTENT: Attached for your use is the model plan format for use by States,
territories, and Indian tribes/tribal organizations
in developing your FY 1999 plans. You are not required to use
the model plan format. You may submit your application in any
format you wish, as long as it includes all of the information
required under the LIHEAP statute and implementing regulations.
For those grantees who choose not to use the model plan, we
have included a list of reminders that may be helpful in
submitting a complete application.
In FY 1998, we adopted a new application process under which a
detailed application is due from each grantee every three years.
In the alternate years, an abbreviated application may be submitted,
consisting of: (1) the statutorily required assurances signed
by the governor/chief executive officer or his/her designee; (2)
a description of any changes from the last detailed application;
and (3) a report on applicant and recipient households for the
previous year. In addition, an opportunity for public participation
must be offered, and the carryover/reallotment report for the
previous fiscal year must be submitted (due August 1).
Attached to this information memorandum are both a "Detailed
Model Plan" and an "Abbreviated Model Plan". The
detailed model plan is the same as last year's model plan. The
abbreviated model plan is for the optional use of grantees that
are not scheduled to file a detailed application for FY 1999.
Grantees must submit a "detailed application" every
3 years, or sooner if they are making major changes to their LIHEAP
programs. Since most grantees do not substantially change their
programs in a typical 2-to 3-year period, this frequency will
assure that we have a full description of basic plan elements.
At least every 3 years, a full description of how grantees will
carry out all of the assurances specified in the statute and the
other program-specific information required in Section 2605(c)
of the statute must be submitted.
One-third of current grantees must submit detailed applications
for FY 1999 while the remaining two-thirds will have the option
of filing an abbreviated application for FY 1999. Grantees that
submit an abbreviated application for FY 1999 will be required
to submit a detailed application for FY 2000 or FY 2001. Attached
is a schedule specifying which grantees are required to file detailed
applications in FY 1999 and FY 2000 (See Attachment 2.) Except
as noted in attachment 2, tribes and tribal organizations must
file a detailed application in the same year as the States in
which they are located.
Assurances:
In applying for LIHEAP funds for FY 1999, please remember that
the statute requires States and territories receiving more than
$200,000 to describe in their plans how they will carry out assurance
15 (section 2605(b)(15) of the LIHEAP statute).
In addition, please note assurance 16, which sets a 5 percent
limit on the amount of LIHEAP funds that can be used for certain
activities designed to reduce the need for home energy and, thereby,
the need for energy assistance.
The assurances printed at the beginning of the model plan reflect
the 1994 amendments to the LIHEAP statute. Grantees that choose
not to use the model plan still may wish to use these pages.
Leveraging Activities:
We wish to remind you that the model plan includes a place to
report leveraging activities to take place during the federal
fiscal year that will be coordinated with LIHEAP. You should
include the information in your plan that will be necessary for
activities to count for leveraging funds awarded the next year.
Under the Final Rule on implementing the leveraging program that
was issued on May 1, 1995 (60 FR 21322), additional information
must be included in the plan for those leveraging activities claimed
under criterion 96.87(d)(2)(iii), that is, those resources that
are appropriated or mandated by the State for distribution under
the plan, and are coordinated/integrated with the grantees' LIHEAP
program, but are not a part of LIHEAP.
The plan must describe not only the resources/benefits to be counted
under criterion 96.87(d)(2)(iii), but the plan must also
identify and describe their sources and the way in which they
are integrated/coordinated with the grantees' LIHEAP program.
See especially the middle column of page 21339 of the May 1,
1995 Federal Register (60 FR 21339) for further discussion of
these requirements.
If your leveraging activities to be claimed under criterion 96.87(d)(2)(iii)
were fully described in your most recent detailed plan, you do
not need to describe them again in an abbreviated plan unless
they have changed. If any of the required information on the
resources/benefits have changed, please be sure to submit new
descriptions with your abbreviated plan.
Households Applying for and Receiving Assistance:
Beginning with FY 1996, the statute requires that complete LIHEAP
applications MUST include a report for the previous year
on households applying for and assisted by LIHEAP before grant
awards are made.
Prior to the enactment of the Human Services Amendments of 1994,
section 2610(a)(4) and (5) of the LIHEAP statute required the
Secretary to collect data on the number and income levels of
households assisted and the number of assisted households with
at least one or more individuals who are 60 years or older or
disabled. The Secretary required grantees to report such data
for the previous fiscal year by October 31st, as specified in
45 C.F.R. 96.82. Section 308 of the Human Services Amendments
of 1994, Public Law 103-252, amended section 2605(c)(1)(D) of
the statute to require grantees, as part of their annual LIHEAP
grant application, to report the above data and the following
additional household data:
o number of assisted households with at least one young child and
o number and income levels of households applying for LIHEAP
assistance.
States, the District of Columbia and territories with regular
allotments of $200,000 or more (i.e., Puerto Rico) will need to
collect this data on their FY 1998 applicant and recipient households
in order to submit the data as part of their FY 1999 grant applications.
Tribal grantees and territories with regular allotments of less
than $200,000 are required to submit only information on the number
of households served in each of its program components (i.e.,
heating, cooling, crisis, and weatherization).
Carryover and Reallotment Report:
The required report on the amount of funds each grantee will carry
over from FY 1998 to FY 1999 -- or will have available for reallotment--is
still due August 1. Prompt submission of this report allows
grantees and HHS to identify potential underobligation of funds
in time to make adjustments before the end of the fiscal year.
However, please remember that the statute now states that no grantee
will receive its FY 1999 grant until it has submitted its carryover
and reallotment report for its FY 1998 funds. In some cases,
we had to delay FY 1998 grant awards to grantees with otherwise
complete applications because they had not submitted their carryover
and reallotment report.
Other Certifications:
Please remember that all States, whether or not they use the model
plan and whether or not they file a detailed application, must
file the lobbying certification and, if applicable, Form LLL,
which discloses lobbying payments. Tribes and tribal organizations
are not required to file the lobbying certification. The debarment
and suspension certification must be filed by all grantees, as
must the drug-free workplace certification, unless a State has
submitted a statewide assurance to the Department of Health
and Human Services. Grantees that do not use the model plan
should remove these certification forms from the back of the
attached model plan and include them with their applications.
Timely Application Submittal:
We wish to remind grantees that they must submit an application
each fiscal year in order to receive LIHEAP funds. Indian tribes
and tribal organizations must submit their applications by
September 1, unless the State(s) in which the tribe or
organization is located agrees to a later submission date.
States and territories may submit their applications at any
time during the fiscal year. However, we encourage you to
apply before the start of the Federal fiscal year so that
processing and issuance of grant awards can be completed as
soon as funds are available.
Early receipt and processing of your application also will facilitate
your ability to meet the statutory requirement to obligate at
least 90 percent of your funds in the fiscal year in which they
are appropriated. [NOTE: An NPRM published in the Federal Register
on November 16, 1993 (58 FR 60498 et seq.) proposed requiring
that applications from State and territorial grantees will be
due on September 1 for the following year. A final rule currently
is in the clearance process, but will not be in effect for FY
1999 plans.]
We wish to remind grantees which have specific opening dates established
for their LIHEAP programs that they should allow four to six weeks
for Division of Energy Assistance review of their applications
and issuance of grant awards. A longer time may be required if
we have to request additional information because an application
is not complete.
The Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-453,
as amended by Public Law 102-589), is in effect. This statute,
which covers States and territories but not tribes, imposes a
requirement for timely transfers of funds between Federal agencies
and States. The Department of the Treasury has issued a Final
Rule (57 FR 60676-606894, published December 21, 1992) implementing
the statute, which affects the LIHEAP program. It is important
that we receive your application several weeks before you
intend to draw funds from the Payment Management System so that
we may comply with the intent of this Act and its implementing regulations.
As noted above, all necessary information must be included in
the application before it can be accepted as complete and we can
issue a grant. When we have to ask for additional information,
it means that you may not receive the grant award on the schedule
you had planned. We have noticed that applications often fail
to include the kinds of additional information that we had to
request the previous year in order to make the application
complete. Because each year's application must be complete,
we often must request --and the grantee must furnish -- the
same kind of information that was requested the previous year
before a grant can be awarded. Accordingly, we suggest that
you include in your detailed application answers to the
questions or the information we requested in previous years.
Another reason the approval process often takes longer than
necessary is the submission of delegations of the governor's
or tribal chairperson's authority that do not specify authority
to sign the LIHEAP assurances.
LIHEAP regulations at 45 CFR 96.10(b) require that the 16
assurances (15 for tribes and some territories) in the LIHEAP
statute must be signed by the grantee's chief executive officer
or "by an individual authorized to make such certifications
on behalf of the chief executive officer." A delegation
of authority to administer the LIHEAP program, or one that
delegates authority to sign assurances but does not specify
the LIHEAP program is not sufficient.
This model plan is available on Wordperfect 5.1 and Microsoft
Word 6.0 disks, upon request. It can also be downloaded from
the ACF website (http://www.acf.gov/programs/liheap.) We are
also developing an electronic version of the model plan, using
JetForm software. This may be available in the next few months.
ATTACHMENTS: (1) LIHEAP Application Reminders
(2) LIHEAP Application Review Process
(3) LIHEAP Detailed Model Plan for FY 1999
Word Perfect 5.1 (46k) Word 6.0 (66k)
(4) LIHEAP Abbreviated Model Plan for FY 1999
Word Perfect 5.1 (66k) Word 6.0 (13k)
(Web Site Note-The certification forms are not included with the files.
If you need the forms, contact us by e-mail. Please include your
postal mailing address.)
INQUIRIES TO Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Telephone: (202) 401-9351
_____________/s______________
Janet M. Fox
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
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