Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Division of Energy Assistance/OCS/ACF

Final Rule Amending the Regulations for the LIHEAP GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

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THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES IN LIHEAP ACTION TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-AT-2000-2, DATED 11/18/99


TO:              LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
                 GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

SUBJECT:         Final Rule Amending the Regulations for the LIHEAP
                 Program, With an Opportunity for Comment

RELATED
REFERENCES:      Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI of the
                 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law
                 97-35, as amended; HHS Block Grant Regulations (45 CFR
                 Part 96); and Final Rule amending the HHS Block Grant
                 Regulations, as published in the Federal Register on
                 October 15, 1999 (64 FR 55843-55858).

PURPOSE:         To advise grantees that a final rule amending the
                 regulations applicable to the Low Income Home Energy
                 Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was issued on October 15,
                 1999.  It includes an opportunity to comment on Section
                 96.82 of the regulations, relating to the required report
                 on households applying for and receiving LIHEAP assistance
                 during the prior fiscal year.

BACKGROUND:      Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 96 (45
                 CFR Part 96) contain the regulations that are applicable
                 to several of the block grant programs in the Department
                 of Health and Human Services, including the Low Income
                 Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).  Subparts A - F
                 of Part 96 apply to all the HHS block grants, including
                 LIHEAP.  In addition, Subpart H applies specifically to
                 LIHEAP.  LIHEAP Information Memorandum 99-19, dated August
                 27, 1999, forwarded a compilation of the block grant
                 regulations that included all amendments as of October 1,
                 1996.

CONTENT:         On October 15, 1999, a Final Rule was published in the
                 Federal Register (64 FR pages 55843-55858) that further
                 amends Part 96 of Title 45 of the code of Federal
                 Regulations, the regulations applicable to LIHEAP and
                 other HHS block grant programs.  Some of these changes
                 affect all the HHS block grants that are subject to Part
                 96, while others affect only LIHEAP.  Because Section
                 96.82 of the Final Rule was never included in a Notice of
                 Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), this Final Rule contains an
                 opportunity to comment on that   LIHEAP-related provision.

                 The Final Rule contains provisions that were included in
                 NPRMs dated July 17, 1992 (57 FR 31685) and November 16,
                 1993 (58 FR 60498).  Following is a brief summary of the
                 provisions of the Final Rule as they apply to LIHEAP.

                 Effective Dates
                 In general, this Final Rule is effective November 15,
                 1999, which is 30 days after its publication. However,
                 Sections 96.10(c), 96.10(d) and 96.49, which relate to due
                 dates for submission and completion of annual applications
                 for funds, are effective March 1, 2000, for FY 2001
                 applications. In addition, although Section 96.30 goes
                 into effect on November 15, 1999, the requirement for a
                 new annual financial report on the obligation of LIHEAP
                 funds will be due for the first time for FY 2000 funds,
                 and thus will not be due until December 31, 2000.

                 Section 96.1 - Scope of the Regulations
                 The Final Rule updates the regulations to reflect current
                 names and statutory references for the block grants
                 subject to the regulations, including clarifying that they
                 are applicable to the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise
                 Communities programs enacted in 1993 as part of the Social
                 Services Block Grant statute.  This section does not
                 affect the LIHEAP program.

                 Section 96.2 - Definitions
                 The definition of "State" is revised to delete reference
                 to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), in
                 order to reflect the fact that Palau, the last remaining
                 portion of TTPI, has signed a compact of Free Association
                 with the United States and is now the Republic of Palau.
                 LIHEAP grant awards for Palau were phased out over three
                 years beginning in FY 1996.  Beginning in FY 1999, the
                 Republic of Palau no longer receives LIHEAP grant awards.
                 LIHEAP funds that would otherwise have gone to Palau/TTPI
                 are being distributed among the other insular areas.  The
                 Republic of Palau, along with other original members of
                 TTPI, will continue to receive some funds under block
                 grants administered by agencies of the Public Health
                 Service.

                 Section 96.10 - State and Territory Application  Deadlines
                 Beginning with applications for FY 2001, all States and
                 territories will be required to submit their LIHEAP
                 applications by September 1 preceding the beginning of the
                 fiscal year.  This is the current due date for tribal
                 applications.  All applications from States and
                 territories must be complete by December 15 of the fiscal
                 year, the same date included in Section 96.49 of the Final
                 Rule for completion of tribal applications.  For example,
                 for FY 2001, States and territories must submit their
                 applications to HHS by September 1, 2000, and must submit
                 all required information to make their applications
                 complete by December 15, 2000.  FY 2001 begins on October
                 1, 2000 and ends on September 30, 2001.

                 Section 96.15 - Waivers
                 This section clarifies that applications for waivers of
                 LIHEAP program requirements should be sent to the Director
                 of the Office of Community Services.  Under LIHEAP,
                 grantees may only request waivers of (1) the requirements
                 for geographic accessibility and time deadlines for crisis
                 assistance in cases of certain declared disasters, and (2)
                 an increase in the allowable expenditures for
                 weatherization and other energy-related home repairs.

                 Section 96.30 - Financial Reporting
                 This section imposes a new requirement that LIHEAP
                 grantees must submit within 90 days of the end of the
                 fiscal year a report on the dollar amount of the funds
                 obligated by the grantee and the date of the last
                 obligation of funds for the fiscal year. The form to be
                 used is OMB Standard Form 269A, Financial Status Report
                 (short form).  This report will be due beginning with FY
                 2000, that is by December 31, 2000, for FY 2000
                 obligations.  Similar reports will be required for the
                 other block grants.

                 Section 96.41 - Direct Funding of Tribal Grantees
                 This section clarifies that under very limited
                 circumstances, HHS may use its discretionary authority to
                 determine that the members of an Indian tribe eligible for
                 direct funding would be better served by the State in
                 which the tribe is located, rather than by the tribe.
                 This has happened only once in the history of LIHEAP.

                 Section 96.42 - Use of Tribal Grant Awards
                 This provision clarifies that Indian tribes/tribal
                 organizations receiving direct funding from HHS are not
                 required to serve non-Indian households in their service
                 area, unless an agreement with the State in which they are
                 located specifies that they will do so.

                 Section 96.49 - Tribal Application Deadline
                 This provision requires that tribes/tribal organizations
                 applying for direct funding from HHS must submit all
                 information required to complete their application by
                 December 15 of the fiscal year for which funds are
                 requested, unless the State in which the tribe is located
                 agrees to a later date.  This is the same date set in
                 Section 96.10 of the Final Rule for completion of State
                 applications.  If the application is not complete by
                 December 15 and the State does not agree to a later date,
                 the funds set aside for the tribe will revert to the
                 State, and the State will be responsible for serving that
                 tribe's members.  This provision will become effective
                 with FY 20001 applications.

                 Section 96.53 - Length of Withholding
                 This provision clarifies that HHS may withhold funds until
                 the Secretary finds that the reason for withholding has
                 been removed, which is consistent with current practice.
                 Funds have only been withheld from a grantee once in the
                 history of LIHEAP.

                 Section 96.81 - Carryover and Reallotment Report
                 This provision (1) deletes obsolete references to the
                 authority to transfer LIHEAP funds to other HHS block
                 grants, and (2) incorporates statutory changes made in
                 1994 that require that the carryover and reallotment
                 report for the previous fiscal year be submitted before
                 block grant awards can be made for the current fiscal
                 year.  It also incorporates language reflecting
                 Departmental policy not to reallot excess carryover funds
                 if less than $25,000 is available, nor to make grant
                 awards of less than $25.

                 Section 96.82 - Report on Households Assisted
                 This provision reflects 1994 amendments to the LIHEAP
                 statute relating to a required report on households
                 applying for and receiving LIHEAP assistance.  States and
                 territories which receive annual allotments of at least
                 $200,000 must submit a report containing all the
                 information required by the statute, i.e., by program
                 component, the number and income levels of households
                 applying for and receiving LIHEAP assistance, and the
                 number of recipient households with at least one member
                 who is elderly, disabled or a young child. Those
                 territories with annual allotments of less than $200,000
                 and tribal grantees must submit a report only on the
                 number of households receiving assistance, by program
                 component.  These reports must be submitted for the
                 previous fiscal year before grant awards may be made for
                 the current fiscal year.

                 Although the household reporting requirements have been
                 approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the
                 Paperwork Reduction Act, they were never published as part
                 of an NPRM.  Accordingly, Section 98.82 is being issued as
                 an interim final rule, with an opportunity to comment.  We
                 will consider any comments on this section submitted to us
                 by December 14, 1999, in determining whether to revise
                 this interim final rule.

                 Section 96.84 - End of Transfer Authority
                 This provision amends the block grant regulations to make
                 them consistent with 1990 amendments to the LIHEAP statute
                 that prohibit the transfer of LIHEAP funds to other HHS
                 block grant programs, beginning in FY 1994.

                 Section 96.85 - Income Eligibility Standards
                 This provision allows grantees to adopt new State median
                 income estimates as income eligibility criteria anytime
                 between the date of their publication in the Federal
                 Register and the beginning of the next Federal or State
                 fiscal year.  This is the same criteria as currently
                 exists in the regulations for adoption of the poverty
                 income guidelines.

ATTACHMENTS:     Final Rule amending Part 96 of Title 45 of the Code of
                 Federal Regulations (45 CFR Part 96), as published in the
                 Federal Register on October 15, 1999
                 (64 FR 55843-55858).

INQUIRIES TO:    Janet M. Fox, Director
                 Division of Energy Assistance
                 Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
                 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
                 Washington, D.C.  20447
                 Telephone:  (202) 401-9351
                 Fax:  (202) 401-5718
                 E-mail:  jmfox@acf.dhhs.gov




                                       _____________/s_____________
                                       Janet M. Fox
                                       Director
                                       Division of Energy Assistance
                                       Office of Community Services

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