Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Quarterly Performance and Management
Reports
New
collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)
No
Emergency
02/16/2022
02/14/2022
Requested
Previously Approved
6 Months From Approved
206
0
7,416
0
0
0
As part of the response to the
COVID-19 public health emergency, Congress authorized two separate
supplemental appropriations for LIHEAP. The Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136)
appropriated $900 million and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act
(Public Law 117-2) appropriated an additional $4.5 billion. On May
8, 2020, the Office of Community Services (OCS) awarded 100% of the
LIHEAP CARES Act funding, or $900 million, to grant recipients. All
50 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S territories, and more
than 140 Native American tribes and tribal organizations received a
supplemental award. States and the District of Columbia received
$884,987,516, Territories received $4,526,642, and Tribes received
10,485,842. Per the CARES Act legislation, funds needed to be
obligated by September 30, 2021. LIHEAP issued guidance that grant
recipients have at least 90 days following the end of FY21 to draw
down previously obligated LIHEAP CARES Act funds from the federal
Payment Management System (PMS). In the summer of 2021, OCS noticed
that grant recipients were slowly obligating and making drawdowns
of the CARES Act funds in PMS. The initial unobligated balances
among States, Tribes, and Territories were $241,685,025,
$5,424,862, and $4,020,237, respectively. OCS responded with an
intensive technical assistance and training (T/TA) strategy to help
grant recipients reduce the amount of unobligated LIHEAP CARES Act
funds at risk of being returned to the Treasury. As a result of
these efforts, the total unobligated balance was reduced to
$8,832,566 based on grantee reporting (this represents
approximately 1.00% unobligated). While the intensive T/TA strategy
was able to significantly reduce the amount of unobligated CARES
Act funds returned to the Treasury, some funding remained
unobligated and therefore did not reach low-income households that
could have benefited from additional assistance. On May 4th, 2021,
OCS released 100% of the LIHEAP ARP funding, or $4.5 billion, to
grant recipients. Given that the ARP appropriation is significantly
larger than the CARES appropriation, consistent and proactive
spenddown monitoring will be critical to ensuring unobligated funds
are minimized to the greatest extent possible. The ARP Act
stipulates that supplemental funding must be obligated by September
30, 2022. In addition to the supplemental ARP funds, OCS also
released the normal LIHEAP Block Grant funding for FY22, nearly
$3.37 billion, on October 29, 2021. OCS seeks to implement a
quarterly report to help monitor grant recipient progress on
spending ARP and regular appropriation funds to ensure they are
used efficiently and effectively to maximize assistance to
low-income households. Moreover, recent analysis from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that energy costs
are projected to increase significantly this winter due to
forecasts of a colder winter and higher energy prices.
Specifically, EIA estimates that nearly half of all U.S. households
that primarily rely on natural gas to heat their homes, will spend
approximately 30% more for heating this winter than they spent last
year on average. Therefore, it is imperative that available LIHEAP
funds are fully utilized to meet household’s growing energy needs
this winter. Quarterly data reports will help OCS track the reach
of LIHEAP to ensure that available resources are being used most
effectively in response to projected increased energy burdens
during the ongoing public health emergency. OCS is seeking
emergency clearance to implement quarterly reports. We will submit
an extension request within six months of emergency approval to
continue with quarterly reports, as the information collected is
incredibly helpful in our administration and oversight of
LIHEAP.
The Office of Community
Services (OCS) is seeking emergency clearance for the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Quarterly Performance and
Management Reports in accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(subsection j).
Below please find the justification as it pertains to each
criterion in subjection j: (i) public harm is reasonably likely to
result if normal clearance procedures are followed (ii) an
unanticipated event has occurred (iii) the use of normal clearance
procedures is reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the
collection of information or is reasonably likely to cause a
statutory or court ordered deadline to be missed. Please see the
summary section of Supporting Statement A for specific details
about each of these points.
This is a new information
collection request. As explained above, the significant investment
from ARP and the projected increase in winter heating costs
necessitates that OCS closely monitor grant recipient activity to
ensure funds are leveraged in an efficient and timely manner to
ensure that the increased needs of households are met this
winter.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form 1 Quarterly Performance and Management Report
COMM_OMB LIHEAP Q Report Justification_02072022.docx
Quarterly Performance and Management Report