LIHEAP Allotments from the FY 2007 Energy Emergency Contingency Fund-FIRST AND SECOND DISTRIBUTIONS
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL
NO. LIHEAP-IM-2008-1, DATED 11/13/07
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
SUBJECT: LIHEAP Allotments from the FY 2007 Energy Emergency
Contingency Fund-FIRST AND SECOND DISTRIBUTIONS
RELATED The Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution,
REFERENCES: 2007 (Public Law (P.L.) 110-5); the Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006 (P.L.
109-149); the Department of Defense Appropriations
Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-148) ; 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 provide grantees with information on two
distributions of Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) emergency contingency funds on
August 29, 2007 and September 26, 2007. These funds
were made available to States, Territories and
Indian tribes/tribal organizations to help them meet
additional needs resulting from the high
temperatures this past summer and from the expected
high home-heating fuel prices this upcoming winter.
BACKGROUND: The Human Services Amendments of 1994 (P.L. 103-252)
amended Section 2602(e) of the LIHEAP statute to
provide for a permanent authorization of an
emergency contingency fund. Under this provision, up
to $600,000,000 may be made available each fiscal
year, in addition to other funds that may be
appropriated, "to meet the additional home energy
assistance needs of one or more States [grantees]
arising from a natural disaster or other emergency."
Funds appropriated under this section are considered
to be emergency requirements under the terms of
Section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and are to be
made available only after the President submits a
formal budget request to the Congress for all or a
part of the funds appropriated under this section,
provided that the request designates the amount
requested as such an emergency requirement.
Section 2604(e) of the LIHEAP statute; as amended in
1994 by P.L. 103-252 and in 1998 by the Community
Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and
Educational Services Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-285);
provides that the Secretary of Health and Human
Services may allot funds made available under
Section 2602(e) to one or more States [grantees].
In determining whether to make such an allotment to
a grantee, the Secretary shall take into account the
extent to which the grantee was affected by the
emergency or disaster, the availability to the
grantee of other resources under LIHEAP or any other
program, and such other factors that are deemed
relevant.
P.L. 110-5 was signed by the President on February
15, 2007 and included an appropriation of $181.17
million for FY 2007 LIHEAP emergency contingency
purposes. P.L. 110-5 further provided that such
funds would be available through September 30, 2007.
In addition to the $181.17 million appropriated for
FY 2007, $20.35 million in no-year emergency
contingency funds appropriated in FY 2005 remained
available in FY 2007.
Please refer to LIHEAP-IM-2007-07, dated August 9,
2007, for more information on FY 2007 LIHEAP
appropriations; including details about the
Continuing Resolution and the text of P.L. 110-5.
CONTENT: Criteria for the August 29, 2007 Release
On August 29, 2007, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services released $50 million to 12 States and
Tribal grantees within those States because of the
unusually high temperatures that they had
experienced in August.
The method for allocating these funds provided that
a State would have to meet both of the following
criteria in order to be eligible to receive these
funds:
1. The State's aggregate total of population-
weighted Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) for the
period starting August 05, 2007 and ending
August 25, 2007 had to equal or exceed 341; and
2. The State's aggregate total of population-
weighted CDD deviations from its 30-year norm
for the period starting August 05, 2007 and
ending August 25, 2007 had to equal or exceed 61.
Funds were allocated to each eligible State based on
its share of low-income households with respect to
the total number of low-income households in all
eligible States. You can view the State and Indian
tribe/tribal organization allocations from this
release in (Attachment 1).
Criteria for the September 26, 2007 Release
On September 26, 2007, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services released $131.17 million to all,
States, Indian tribes/tribal organizations, and
Territories. These funds were released because of
expected increases in home energy costs during the
upcoming winter. Of the $131.17 million, $106.17
million of these funds were allocated to all States,
Indian tribes/tribal organizations and Territories,
with an additional allocation of $25 million
targeted to seven (7) States (and the direct-funded
Indian tribes/tribal organizations within those
States).
The method for allocating the $106.17 million
provided that these funds be provided to all States
based on their old-formula block grant allotment
ratios.
The method for allocating the $25 million provided
that a State meet both of the following criteria in
order to be eligible to receive these funds:
1. The State's population-weighted average
temperature from October 1, 2006 through March
31, 2007 had to be less than 47 degrees
Fahrenheit; and
2. The State's relative percentage of low-income
households that use fuel oil for heat had to
equal or exceed 30 percent.
Funds were allocated to each eligible State based on
the share of its ("old-formula") block grant
allotment ratio, weighted by its relative percentage
of low-income households that use fuel oil for heat,
with respect to the sum of such weighted block grant
ratios of all eligible States.
You can view the allocations from the $131.17
million release in (Attachment 2).
The direct-funded Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, which are located in the 12 States
that were eligible to receive funds from the August
29, 2007 release, received a share of the $50
million. All Indian tribes and tribal organizations
received a share of the funds from the September 26,
2007 release of $131.17 million. The Tribal
contingency awards were based on the same share of
their State's contingency allocations as the tribe
or tribal organization received of their State's
regular LIHEAP block grant allocation. Allocations
for the States, Territories and Indian tribes/tribal
organizations are shown in the attachments.
Provisions Related to Both Contingency Distributions
The LIHEAP emergency contingency funds released in
FY 2007 have no special restrictions on their use.
Grantees may use these funds for any purpose
authorized under LIHEAP; including heating
assistance, crisis assistance, weatherization and
administrative costs, subject to normal LIHEAP
restrictions. Because we released these funds close
to the end of FY 2007, we waived the 90 percent rule
on the obligation of these funds in FY 2007, but all
of the funds must be obligated no later than
September 30, 2008 (i.e., before the end of FY
2008). The total $181.17 million contingency funds
are not subject to the 10 percent carryover limit
for regular block grant funds and may not be added
to the base on which the carryover limit for regular
funds is calculated. Please do not include these
funds on your FY 2007 or FY 2008 carryover and
reallotment reports.
The $20.35 million in no-year funds from the FY 2005
appropriation were not released in FY 2007.
Therefore, these funds may be released in FY 2008
and beyond, in the event of a heating or cooling
emergency. The $20.35 million remains available
until expended.
You can view the total State, Territory and Indian
tribe/tribal organization allotments for both
releases in (Attachment 3).
ATTACHMENTS: (1)Distribution of $50 million in FY 2007
LIHEAP energy emergency contingency fund
allocations to States, and the formula for
allocating these funds
(2)Distribution of $131.17 million in FY 2007
LIHEAP contingency funds to States,
Territories, and Indian tribes/tribal
organizations; and the formula for allocating
these funds
(3)Total distribution of $181.17 million from the
two contingency distributions to States,
Territories and Indian tribes/tribal
organizations
_______________/s______________
Nick St. Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
