Optional Use of DOE Weatherization Rules for LIHEAP Funds Spent on Weatherization Activities
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-IM-99-11,
DATED 6/15/99
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
SUBJECT: Optional Use of DOE Weatherization Rules for
LIHEAP Funds Spent on Weatherization Activities
RELATED
REFERENCES: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title
XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1981, Public Law 97-35, as amended; LIHEAP
Information Memorandum 94-18, dated 7/13/94; Part
A of the Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings
Act of 1976 (title IV of the Energy Conservation
and Production Act of 1976, Public Law 94-385, as
amended); Department of Energy weatherization
regulations at 10 CFR Part 440.
PURPOSE: To advise LIHEAP grantees that they may use
some, all or none of the statutory and regulatory
provisions that apply to the Department of
Energy's Low Income Weatherization Assistance
Program when spending LIHEAP funds on
weatherization activities, provided the grantee
administers both programs.
BACKGROUND: The Human Services Amendments of 1994 (Public
Law 103-252) reauthorized the Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through fiscal
year 1999. (The Coats Human Services
Reauthorization Act of 1998, Public Law 105-285,
has subsequently reauthorized the program through
FY 2004.) Public Law 103-252 made a number of
changes to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Act, including a change that allows the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) to permit
LIHEAP grantees to follow Department of Energy
(DOE) rules applicable to the DOE Low Income
Weatherization Assistance Program (LIWAP) when
spending LIHEAP funds for weatherization
activities. Section 2605(c)(1)(D) of the LIHEAP
statute, as amended by Public Law 103-252, says
that grantees' LIHEAP applications/plans must
describe "any rules promulgated by the Department
of Energy for administration of its Low Income
Weatherization Assistance Program which the State,
to the extent permitted by the Secretary [of HHS]
to increase consistency between federally assisted
programs, will follow regarding the use of funds
provided under this title by the State for such
weatherization and energy-related home repairs and
improvements."
LIHEAP Information Memorandum 94-18, dated
7/13/94, described the changes made by
Public Law 103-252 and said HHS would specify by
regulation the extent to which DOE rules may be
used for LIHEAP funds spent for weatherization
activities. We have not issued such regulations,
but are now taking this opportunity to specify the
extent to which DOE/LIWAP rules may be used for
LIHEAP weatherization activities.
CONTENT: At their option, LIHEAP grantees that administer
both a LIHEAP weatherization component and
the DOE Low Income Weatherization Assistance
Program (LIWAP) in a fiscal year may choose to use
in their LIHEAP weatherization component during
that fiscal year some, all or none of the current
DOE LIWAP rules found in the DOE LIWAP statute,
regulations, and official program notices.
This means that grantees that provide both LIHEAP
weatherization and DOE LIWAP weatherization
may administer their LIHEAP weatherization:
o entirely under the LIHEAP statute and LIHEAP
regulations;
o partly under the LIHEAP statute and LIHEAP
regulations, and partly under the DOE/LIWAP
statute and LIWAP regulations; or
o entirely under the DOE/LIWAP statute and
LIWAP regulations.
LIHEAP grantees that administer both a LIHEAP
weatherization component and the DOE/LIWAP
program and that adopt some or all of DOE's
weatherization rules may use those rules for
their LIHEAP weatherization components only.
All other LIHEAP components must be administered
entirely under the LIHEAP statute and regulations.
Most Indian tribes and tribal organizations that
receive direct funding from HHS under LIHEAP
are not direct grantees under the DOE/LIWAP program.
Accordingly, they may not use the DOE/LIWAP rules
for the expenditure of LIHEAP funds for
weatherization activities.
DECIDING WHICH, IF ANY, DOE LIWAP RULES TO ADOPT
In most cases, LIHEAP and LIWAP weatherization
rules are compatible.
In some cases, DOE weatherization rules allow
more flexibility than LIHEAP rules do.
For example, at 10 CFR 440.22(b), DOE's LIWAP
regulations allow LIWAP grantees to weatherize a
building containing rental dwelling units if at
least 66 percent of the dwelling units in the
building (50 percent for 2- and 4-unit buildings)
are eligible units and certain other conditions
are met. This DOE rule, for example, allows a
grantee to replace the central furnace of a multi-
unit building if these conditions are met, even if
some of the building's units are occupied by
households not eligible for LIWAP assistance.
However, section 2605(b)(2) of the LIHEAP statute
limits LIHEAP eligibility to households that have
incomes at or below the greater of 150 percent of
the poverty level or 60 percent of state median
income or that receive certain need-tested federal
assistance, and the LIHEAP statute and regulations
do not provide for exceptions. Accordingly, under
LIHEAP rules, all residents of a multi-unit
building must be eligible households in order to
use LIHEAP funds to replace the building's central
furnace. Adopting the DOE/LIWAP rules in this
case would provide more flexibility in the use of
LIHEAP weatherization funds.
In other cases, LIHEAP rules allow more flexibility.
For example, the LIHEAP statute and regulations do
not set a maximum average amount that grantees may
spend per household or home/unit for LIHEAP weatherization.
Section 2605(b)(1)(C) of the LIHEAP statute authorizes
grantees to "provide low-cost residential
weatherization and other cost-effective energy-
related home repair," and section 2605(k) allows
grantees to use LIHEAP funds "for low-cost
residential weatherization or other energy-related
home repair for low-income households." However,
HHS has not defined "low-cost"; under the block
grant regulations, LIHEAP grantees define this
term for their own LIHEAP weatherization
components. On the other hand, at 10 CFR
440.18(b), DOE's LIWAP regulations set a maximum
LIWAP state-wide average cost per dwelling unit
weatherized; for program year 1999, the maximum
average cost "for labor, weatherization materials,
and related matters" generally is $2,032 per
dwelling unit weatherized. In addition, 10 CFR
440.18(a) requires that at least 40% of the LIWAP
funds be spent for weatherization materials,
unless DOE approves a State's application to waive
the 40% requirement. Grantees that want to carry
out more comprehensive weatherization activities
such as furnace replacement therefore might prefer
LIHEAP rules in these cases.
So, LIHEAP grantees that want the most flexibility,
and want to use in their LIHEAP weatherization
programs the LIHEAP rules they prefer and the DOE
LIWAP rules they prefer, may choose to adopt only
a limited number of LIWAP rules. LIHEAP grantees
that want the most consistency between their LIHEAP
weatherization and their DOE weatherization may
choose to administer their LIHEAP weatherization
entirely under DOE LIWAP rules. And LIHEAP grantees
that want consistency among their LIHEAP components
may choose to administer their LIHEAP weatherization
entirely under LIHEAP rules.
There is only one instance where DOE rules permit
DOE grantees to adopt LIHEAP rules for their
DOE LIWAP programs where the LIHEAP and LIWAP
rules might be inconsistent: 10 CFR 440.3
allows LIWAP grantees to use LIHEAP eligibility
criteria for their LIWAP programs under certain
conditions.
REQUIREMENTS FOR LIHEAP APPLICATIONS/PLANS
In accordance with section 2605(c)(1)(D) of the
LIHEAP statute, as amended in 1994, LIHEAP
grantees that carry out weatherization and other
energy-related home repairs and improvements
with LIHEAP funds must:
o describe in their LIHEAP plans the LIHEAP
weatherization they will provide; and
o if they choose to administer their LIHEAP
weatherization partly or entirely under
DOE LIWAP rules, describe in their LIHEAP
plans the DOE LIWAP rules they are adopting
for their LIHEAP weatherization.
Pages 12 and 18 of the current LIHEAP model plan
provide space for these descriptions. (See LIHEAP
Information Memorandum 99-9, dated April 9, 1999,
for a copy of the current model plan.) LIHEAP grantees
should make appropriate amendments to their LIHEAP
plans for a fiscal year before the end of the fiscal year.
Section 2605(d) of the LIHEAP statute requires
grantees to spend their LIHEAP funds in accordance
with their LIHEAP plans or with revisions to the
plans.
ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT POINTS
In accordance with section 2605(k) of the LIHEAP
statute, the maximum amount of LIHEAP funds that
a LIHEAP grantee may use for weatherization in a
fiscal year continues to be not more than 15 percent
of the funds allotted or available to the grantee
for the fiscal year, or not more than 25 percent
of the LIHEAP funds allotted or available to the
grantee for the fiscal year if the grantee receives
a waiver from HHS.
LIHEAP funds used for weatherization--including
funds used for planning,administration, reporting,
and auditing of LIHEAP weatherization--remain LIHEAP
funds, regardless of whether the grantee chooses to
spend them under DOE/LIWAP rules. The funds must
be audited as part of the LIHEAP program. They
cannot be transferred to the DOE weatherization
program. They may not be used under the DOE/LIWAP
statute and rules unless they have been obligated for
weatherization purposes by the grantee, that is,
they must be legally committed for weatherization
purposes to an entity other than an entity of the
State government.
INQUIRIES TO: Janet M. Fox, Director
Telephone: (202) 401-9351
or
Ann Bowker, Program Analyst
Telephone: (202) 401-5308
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Fax: (202) 401-5718
_______________/s____________
Janet M. Fox
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
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