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
table that charts list comparision
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 householdâs 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