Submission of leveraging reports on FY 2007 leveraging activities, in order to qualify for FY 2008
leveraging incentive fund grant awards, and amendment of FY 2007 LIHEAP plan as necessary to add information on leveraging
carried out in FY 2007
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP ACTION TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-
AT-2007-8, DATED 7/30/07
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
SUBJECT: Submission of leveraging reports on FY 2007
leveraging activities, in order to qualify for FY
2008 leveraging incentive fund grant awards, and
amendment of FY 2007 LIHEAP plans as necessary to
add information on leveraging carried out in FY
2007
RELATED Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, title XXVI
REFERENCES: of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981,
Public Law 97-35, as amended; final rule published
in the Federal Register on May 1, 1995 (60 FR
21322 et seq.) (See LIHEAP-IM-95-20); 45 CFR 96.87
in the Department of Health and Human Services
block grant regulations (see LIHEAP-IM-99-19).
DUE DATES: (1) September 30, 2007, for amendments to FY 2007
LIHEAP plans to add information on leveraging
activities carried out during FY 2007; and
(2) November 30, 2007, for applications for FY
2008 leveraging incentive fund grant awards based
on FY 2007 leveraging activities.
PURPOSE: (1) To remind LIHEAP grantees that they must
submit LIHEAP plan amendments adding and/or
revising descriptions of certain leveraging
activities that took place in fiscal year (FY)
2007 to the Office of Community Services (OCS) by
September 30, 2007, in order to have them qualify
for FY 2008 leveraging incentive funds.
(2) To remind LIHEAP grantees that they must
submit reports covering leveraging activities that
took place in FY 2007 to OCS by November 30, 2007,
in order to qualify for FY 2008 leveraging
incentive fund awards. The required Leveraging
Report forms and the instructions for their
completion are attached.
BACKGROUND: The LIHEAP leveraging incentive program rewards
LIHEAP state, tribal, and territorial grantees
that have acquired nonfederal home energy
resources for low income households, expanding the
effect of their federal LIHEAP funding.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
issued final implementing regulations for the
LIHEAP leveraging incentive program on May 1, 1995
(60 FR 21322 et seq.). These leveraging
regulations are included in the HHS block grant
regulations at 45 CFR 96.87. They are based
closely on the leveraging requirements in section
2607A of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Act.
Under the leveraging incentive program, leveraging
incentive awards in a fiscal year (the award
period) are based on countable leveraged
resources/ benefits that were provided to low
income households during the previous fiscal year
(the base period). For example, FY 2008
leveraging incentive awards will be allocated to
grantees based on countable leveraged resources
that were provided to low income households in FY
2007.
Grantees desiring leveraging incentive funds must
submit an application—the LIHEAP Leveraging
Report—that describes and quantifies the
leveraging activities they carried out during the
base period. HHS then determines whether the
reported activities meet the requirements of the
LIHEAP statute and regulations, and therefore are
countable under the program. Leveraging incentive
funds are allocated using a formula that takes
into account the value of each applicant's
countable leveraged resources compared to its
regular LIHEAP allotment and to the total amount
leveraged by all applicants.
CONTENT: Applications for FY 2008 Leveraging Incentive
Awards
Grantees that wish to apply for LIHEAP
leveraging incentive funds to be awarded in FY
2008 must submit a LIHEAP Leveraging Report on
their FY 2007 leveraging activities to OCS by
November 30, 2007. The reports must be postmarked
or hand-delivered to OCS by this date, or they
will not be accepted. The reports should cover
only countable leveraged resources/benefits that
were provided to low income households in FY 2007.
FY 2007 leveraging activities must be carried out
under 45 CFR 96.87, consistent with the final rule
published May 1, 1995.
The amount of LIHEAP funds that will be available
for leveraging awards in FY 2008 is uncertain.
The amount that will be available will be
indicated in the FY 2008 LIHEAP appropriation. We
may set aside funds for the Residential Energy
Assistance Challenge Program (REACH) out of the
funds earmarked for leveraging.
Leveraging Report Forms
The LIHEAP Leveraging Report consists of two
parts. Part 1, the Resource/Benefit Description
Pages, is a two-page form that is to be completed
for each separate leveraged resource that a
grantee proposes to count for this base period.
It requests information that will enable HHS to
determine whether each resource meets the
requirements of the LIHEAP statute and the May
1995 final rule and is therefore countable. Part
2 of the Leveraging Report, the Summary Page, is
to show the grand totals for all of the grantee's
proposed leveraged resources; it also is to
include a certifying signature by the grantee's
chief executive officer or designee. (If a
designee signs, the grantee should be sure that
OCS has a copy of the delegation of authority.)
Grantees may use their own versions of Part 1 if
they use the same format and wording as the pre-
printed form. They must use HHS's version of Part
2. The forms are available on our LIHEAP web site
at
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/liheap/grantee_forms/funding_applications/levform.doc
Grantees also may wish to use the Sample
Leveraging Summary Worksheet, to record the
financial information from item 1 of the
Resource/Benefit Description Pages for each
resource and to calculate the grand totals to be
entered on the Summary Page. Completing this
worksheet would help ensure that no amounts are
omitted or double-counted and that the
calculations are correct.
Applicants for leveraging incentive funds should
carefully read and follow the Instructions for
Completing LIHEAP Leveraging Report Forms. They
also should consult section 96.87 of the May 1995
final rule (45 CFR 96.87 in the HHS block grant
regulations) and the part of the final rule's
preamble that deals with the leveraging incentive
program.
Grantees should ensure that their Leveraging
Reports are complete and accurate before they
submit them, in order to speed up the review and
award process for everyone. Grantees should be
sure that all submitted resources/benefits meet
the requirements of the LIHEAP statute and
regulations and were provided to low income
households between October 1, 2006 and September
30, 2007. Grantees should re-check their
mathematical calculations, and enter the numbers
in items 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E of the Resource/
Benefit Description Pages, and the numbers on the
Summary Page, as whole numbers rounded to the
nearest whole dollar, or rounded to the nearest
multiple of 10 or 100.
In some of the Leveraging Reports for prior fiscal
years, states' local administering agencies
completed the Resource/Benefit Description Pages
for activities taking place in their areas. The
quality of the reporting varied significantly
among the local agencies. If a state uses this
process, it should review the forms before
submitting them to OCS and ensure that all items
are complete and accurate, that the activities
took place during the proper base period and meet
the requirements of the statute and regulations,
and that the state (not the local agency) is shown
as the LIHEAP grantee. The resources should be
numbered sequentially for the state as a whole,
rather than starting over with #1 for each local
agency.
Leveraging Requirements
In order to count under the leveraging incentive
program, a resource/benefit must meet all of the
requirements of 45 CFR 96.87(d)(1) and at least
one of the three criteria/requirements of 45 CFR
96.87(d)(2), consistent with the May 1995 final
rule.
To meet criterion (i) of section 96.87(d)(2), the
grantee's LIHEAP program, at the central and/or
local agency level, must have a substantive role
in developing and/or acquiring the resource/
benefits from energy vendor(s) through
negotiation, regulation, and/or competitive bid.
Only resources obtained from energy vendors (for
example, utility companies and delivered fuel
vendors) may be counted under criterion (i).
Resources counted under criterion (i) do not need
to be described/covered in grantees' LIHEAP plans.
To meet criterion (ii) of section 96.87(d)(2), the
grantee must appropriate or mandate the resources/
benefits for distribution to low income households
through (within or as a part of) its LIHEAP
program, in accordance with the LIHEAP statute and
regulations and the grantee's LIHEAP plan and
program policies that were in effect during this
base period. The benefit from the resource is a
part of a household's LIHEAP benefit, not an
additional benefit that is not part of the LIHEAP
program. The plan must include the type of
assistance/benefits that are provided by the
resource, although the leveraged resources/
benefits do not necessarily have to be mentioned
by name in the plan. Under this criterion, for
example, a grantee could not count assistance with
cooling costs or purchase of fans if the plan did
not include these activities for the regular
LIHEAP program. (Leveraged benefits that
supplement LIHEAP benefits that were inadequate,
but that are distributed outside the LIHEAP
program, would not count under criterion (ii).
Grantees should look to criterion (iii) for such
resources.)
To meet criterion (iii) of section 96.87(d)(2),
the grantee must appropriate or mandate the
resource/benefits for distribution to low income
households as described in its LIHEAP plan, as a
supplement and/or alternative to its LIHEAP
program, integrated and coordinated with its
LIHEAP program, but outside (not through, within,
or as a part of) its LIHEAP program. Under this
criterion, the resource must meet at least 1 of 8
listed conditions (conditions (A) - (H)) to
demonstrate that it is integrated and coordinated
with the grantee's LIHEAP program. (A single
leveraged resource/benefit cannot be counted under
both criterion (ii) and criterion (iii), because a
single resource/benefit cannot be provided both
through (criterion (ii)) and outside (criterion
(iii)) the grantee's LIHEAP program.) For
resources/benefits to be countable under criterion
(iii), the grantee's FY 2007 LIHEAP plan must
identify and describe the resources/benefits,
their sources(s), and their integration/
coordination with the LIHEAP program.
Submission of Leveraging Reports
Grantees that wish to apply for FY 2008 leveraging
incentive fund awards must submit Leveraging
Reports on their FY 2007 leveraging by November 30,
2007. These Leveraging Reports must be postmarked
or hand-delivered to OCS by this date.
Grantees should submit the original of the
completed LIHEAP Leveraging Report to OCS. We do
not need additional copies. Grantees should be
sure to keep copies for their own files. The
completed forms should be sent to:
Nick St. Angelo, Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
HHS may require additional documentation and/or
clarification as it determines necessary to verify
information in a grantee's Leveraging Report, to
determine whether a leveraged resource is
countable, and/or to determine the net valuation
of a resource. If this is the case, an OCS staff
member will contact the grantee during the review
of the leveraging reports to request the necessary
information.
Amendments to FY 2007 Plans
Grantees must submit any FY 2007 LIHEAP plan
amendments adding or revising descriptions of FY
2007 leveraging activities by September 30, 2007.
These amendments must be postmarked or hand-
delivered to OCS by this date.
For leveraged resources/benefits that are provided
to low income households as part of the grantee's
LIHEAP program and that are to be counted under
criterion (ii) of 45 CFR 96.87(d)(2): the
grantee's LIHEAP plan must include the type of
assistance/benefits that are provided by the
resource.
For leveraged resources/benefits that are provided
to low income households as a supplement and/or
alternative to the grantee's LIHEAP program,
outside the LIHEAP program but integrated and
coordinated with it, and that are to be counted
under criterion (iii) of 45 CFR 96.87(d)(2): the
grantee's LIHEAP plan must identify and describe
each resource, its source, and how it is
integrated and coordinated with the grantee's
LIHEAP program. Grantees should be sure that each
resource meets the integration/coordination
requirements of at least one of conditions (A) -
(H) in section 96.87(d)(2)(iii).
INQUIRIES TO: Nick St. Angelo, Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Telephone: (202) 401-5306
Fax: (202) 401-5661
E-mail: nstangelo@acf.hhs.gov
(See address above.)
ATTACHMENTS: LIHEAP Leveraging Report Form, Parts 1 and 2 and
Sample Leveraging Summary Worksheet (Form No. ACF-
119, OMB Clearance No. 0970-0121, expiration date
12/31/2009); and
Instructions for Completing LIHEAP Leveraging Report Forms.
_______________/s____________
Nick St. Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
