The Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) block grant (42 U.S.C. 8621) was established under
Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public
Law 97-35. The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for
Children and Families (ACF) administers LIHEAP at the Federal
level. The LIHEAP statute requires the program to collect data on
recipient and eligible households, to report to Congress on program
impacts annually, to develop performance goals, to ensure that
benefits are targeted to those households with the greatest home
energy need, and to assure that timely resources are available to
households experiencing home energy crises. OCS uses of a number of
existing data sources to develop information on households that are
income-eligible for LIHEAP. These include the following: • The
Department of Energy’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)
(OMB Control Number 1905-0092), which provides the most accurate
information available about the demographic, economic, and
energy-usage characteristics of U.S. households; and • State
administrative data, which provide the most accurate information
about LIHEAP recipient households and which flow into the LIHEAP
Household Report (OMB Control No. 0970-0060). Neither the RECS nor
the State administrative data alone provides information about the
demographic, economic, and energy-usage characteristics of LIHEAP
recipient households. (RECS’ LIHEAP recipiency information is too
unreliable for this purpose.) The only data that provides such
information is that from the RECS respondents which the State
administrative data demonstrates received LIHEAP benefits. OCS
seeks to collect State administrative data to identify the
households in the RECS that are known to have received LIHEAP
benefits. It plans to use the data so collected to generate a
dataset that shows, of LIHEAP recipient households: (1) the
demographic, economic, and energy-usage characteristics presented
by the RECS; and (2) information, from the State administrative
data, on program participation, program benefits, poverty status,
vulnerability status, and (at the States’ options)
ownership/rentership, type of fuel use, and heat-in-rent. OCS plans
to use the resultant dataset in various analyses that characterize
LIHEAP recipient households and that compare recipients to
income-eligible non-recipients. Such datasets will allow OCS to
study the impact of LIHEAP on income eligible and recipient
households in accordance with section 2610(b)(2) of the LIHEAP
statute. Such studies will enter into the following publications
and analyses: • The Department's annual LIHEAP Report to Congress
and LIHEAP Home Energy Notebook; and • Estimates about fuel usage,
expenditures, energy burden, and LIHEAP targeting among LIHEAP
recipient households.
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.