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

FY97 LIHEAP Allotments & Advance FY98 Funds

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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-97-4,
DATED 10/31/96

COPIES OF ATTACHMENTS MAY BE OBTAINED THROUGH CALLING THE LIHEAP CLEARINGHOUSE
AT (800) 445-5581.


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

SUBJECT:          LIHEAP Allotments for FY 1997 and for Advance FY 1998
                  Appropriations

RELATED           Public Law 104-208, the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations
REFERENCES:       Act, 1997; Public Law 104-134, "Making Appropriations For
                  Fiscal Year 1996 To Make A Further Downpayment Toward A
                  Balanced Budget, And For Other Purposes"; and the Low-Income
                  Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget
                  Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35), as amended.

PURPOSE:          To advise grantees of allocations for FY 1997 regular LIHEAP
                  block grant funding of $1,000,000,000 and for advance FY
                  1998 funding of $1,000,000,000.

CONTENT:          The Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public
                  Law 104-208) was signed by the President on September 30,
                  1996. That law appropriates FY 1997 funding for the
                  Department of Health and Human Services and several other
                  agencies.  In addition to appropriating funds for LIHEAP for
                  FY 1997, it appropriates advance funding for LIHEAP for FY
                  1998.

                  Listed below is a detailed description of the FY 1997 and
                  the advance FY 1998 appropriations.  Charts showing
                  allotments for each State, territory and tribal grantee for
                  FY 1997 are attached, along with a chart showing estimated
                  gross allotments for States and territories for FY 1998.
                  Also attached are copies of the relevant statute and
                  committee reports.  The funds were allocated using a formula
                  developed when the program was originally established and
                  which by statute is to be used in any year when the
                  appropriation is less than $1.975 billion.

                               FY 1997 LIHEAP Funding

                  The FY 1997 HHS appropriations law (Public Law 104-208,)
                  signed by the President on September 30, 1996, appropriated
                  regular block grant funds of $1,000,000,000 for FY 1997,
                  which began on October 1, 1996 and ends on September 30,
                  1997.  At least 90% of a grantee's allotment for FY 1997
                  must be obligated for use by September 30, 1997.  No more
                  than 10% may be carried over to the next funding period, and
                  those carryover funds must be obligated no later than
                  September 30, 1998.

                  Of the amount appropriated for FY 1997, $25,000,000 is
                  earmarked for leveraging incentive program grant awards,
                  including funds for the Residential Energy Assistance
                  Challenge Option Program (REACH).  Under the LIHEAP statute,
                  grantees desiring leveraging incentive funds or REACH funds
                  must submit a separate application to HHS each year.
                  Guidance will be issued at a later time on the due date for
                  these applications.

                  In addition, we set aside out of the FY 1997 funds the full
                  $250,000 allowed for training and technical assistance
                  projects.  If we later determine that less money is needed
                  for this purpose, we will redistribute the unused funds to
                  the grantees.

                  Public Law 104-134, the HHS FY 1996 appropriations law,
                  provided an advance appropriation for FY 1997 of
                  $300,000,000 for energy emergency contingency purposes, to
                  be made available only if the President submits a formal
                  budget request to the Congress that designates the entire
                  amount of the request as an emergency requirement under the
                  Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
                  Under the terms of the contingency fund provision, the
                  President could request all, part or none of the
                  $300,000,000 for FY 1997, could distribute any amount so
                  requested to all LIHEAP grantees or to just a portion of
                  them, and could use the normal distribution formula or a
                  different formula.

                  Public Law 104-134 also provided that any of the
                  $300,000,000 in emergency contingency funds appropriated for
                  FY 1996 that remained unobligated as of the end of FY 1996
                  (September 30, 1996) shall remain available for obligation
                  in FY 1997.  Of the $300,000,000 made available for
                  contingencies in FY 1996, $180,000,000 was released to all
                  grantees on the basis of the regular distribution formula on
                  April 11, 1996.  (See LIHEAP IM-96-12, dated June 13, 1996,
                  for more information on this release of contingency funds.)
                  This left $120,000,000 of the FY 1996 emergency contingency
                  funds unobligated and thus available for obligation in FY
                  1997, provided that the President determines that they are
                  necessary for energy emergencies.  Accordingly, a total of
                  $420 million in energy emergency contingency funds is
                  available in FY 1997.  We will advise you if the President
                  decides to release any of these funds.

                  Attachment (1) shows the calculation of regular block grant
                  allotments for FY 1997, with each State's formula share in
                  the column marked "FY 1984 Percents."  Using these 1984
                  percents, we calculated each State's Gross Allotment, which
                  appears in the next column.  Grants to Indian tribes and
                  tribal organizations are deducted from their State's share
                  and were determined either by calculating each tribe's
                  number of eligible households as a percentage of the number
                  of eligible households in the State(s) in which it is
                  located, or by awarding a higher amount agreed to in a
                  State-Tribe agreement.  The Indian set-asides are shown in
                  the following column.  The final column shows each State's
                  Net Allotments, after deducting the Indian set-asides.
                  First quarter grant awards are being made as soon as
                  grantees submit completed applications.

                  Attachment (2) shows a breakout of the FY 1997 allocations
                  for individual Indian tribes and tribal organizations that
                  are directly funded by HHS.  These amounts, in some cases,
                  may increase if States and tribes enter into or modify
                  agreements to provide additional funding.

                               Advance FY 1998 Funding

                  Public Law 104-208 provides advance FY 1998 funding of
                  $1,000,000,000 to operate LIHEAP during the federal fiscal
                  year of October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998.  Of this
                  amount, $25,000,000 is earmarked for the leveraging
                  incentive program, including the Residential Energy
                  Assistance Challenge program (REACH).

                  We are setting aside at this time out of the advance FY 1998
                  funds the full $250,000 allowed for training and technical
                  assistance projects.  If we later determine that less money
                  is needed for this purpose, we will redistribute the unused
                  funds to the grantees.

                  Public Law 104-208 did not include any advance
                  appropriations for FY 1998 for energy emergency contingency
                  funds.

                  Attachment (3) shows the calculation of State and
                  territorial gross allotments for the advance FY 1998 funds.
                  Each State's formula share in the column marked "FY 1984
                  Percents" was used to calculate the State's Gross Allotment.
                  We do not yet know which Indian tribes or tribal
                  organizations will apply for direct funding for FY 1998, or
                  what the funding levels will be for the tribes/tribal
                  organizations that do apply, so we have not calculated the
                  Indian set-asides or the Net Allotments for the States.

                  We would like to emphasize that the amounts for FY 1998
                  could change at some point in the future before the funds
                  are actually made available to grantees.  At this time, the
                  figures in the attached tables are our best estimate under
                  current law of the gross allotments that will actually be
                  available to States and territories for FY 1998.  States
                  with Indian tribes/tribal organizations that receive direct
                  LIHEAP grants from HHS will have their gross allotments
                  reduced by the amount set aside for the tribes.

ATTACHMENTS:      (1)  LIHEAP Allocations (Gross and Net Allotments) for All
                  States and Territories for FY 1997 Funds at the Funding
                  Level of $1,000,000,000, including $25 million earmarked for
                  leveraging incentive grants and REACH

                  (2)  LIHEAP Allocations for Indian tribes and tribal
                  organizations receiving direct funding from HHS for FY 1997
                  Funds at the Funding Level of $1,000,000,000, including $25
                  million earmarked for leveraging incentive grants and REACH

                  (3)  LIHEAP Allocations (Gross Allotments) for All States
                  and Territories for FY 1998 Funds at the Funding Level of
                  $1,000,000,000, including $25 million earmarked for
                  leveraging incentive grants and REACH

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





                                                         /s
                                          Janet M. Fox
                                          Director
                                          Division of Energy Assistance
                                          Office Of Community Services

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