NonSub Change - NCE FY24 Quarterly Reports

To: Kelsi Feltz

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Mary Watts

Office of Community Services

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: September 8, 2023

Subject: Non-Substantive Change Request – Office of Community Services Data Collection for the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) Performance Measures (0970-0578)

This memo requests approval of non-substantive changes to the approved information collection, Office of Community Services Data Collection for the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) Performance Measures (0970-0578).

Background

On October 22, 2022, the Office of Community Services (OCS) published Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) 2022-01, to notify LIHWAP recipients of the requirement to submit quarterly and annual reports to OCS, per LIHWAP Terms and Conditions. Subsequently OCS released an Action Transmittal on January 5, 2022 for the first LIHWAP Quarterly Report Submission, and OCS has continued to release action transmittals for each quarterly report due date through the current project period ending in December 31, 2023.

OCS has utilized the LIHWAP reporting process to provide critical information for the LIHWAP emergency effort. Reports submitted by grant recipients have helped to ensure that LIHWAP, an emergency and temporary program, has been implemented effectively and efficiently; provided reliable and complete fiscal and household data for OCS analysis and reporting to Congress and the public; and responded to questions from the Congress, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), White House and other interested parties in a timely and accurate manner.

With support from the data provided in the reports, OCS identified that many grant recipients needed additional time to accomplish the goals for LIHWAP. Therefore, OCS instituted an optional No Cost Extension (NCE) for grant recipients to extend the obligation deadline by six months through March 31, 2024. A total of 89 grant recipients requested and have received programmatic approval for the NCE.

Overview of Requested Changes

OCS requests to adjust the LIHWAP Quarterly Report form to collect two additional quarterly reports to account for the six-month extension through March 31, 2024.

The additional two quarters will have the following project periods and due dates:

• FY2024 Quarter 1: October 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023 (Report due on January 31, 2024)

• FY2024 Quarter 2: January 1, 2024 – March 31, 2024 (Report due on April 29, 2024)

The proposed FY2024 Quarterly Report includes all sections in the approved FY23 Quarterly Report and the following two questions from the approved FY22 Quarterly Report:

1. Of the water vendors in your state, territory or tribe, how many vendors have you entered into an agreement with?

2. Are you still accepting applications for LIHWAP? The recipient should report if they or any of their subrecipients are still accepting LIHWAP applications.

These two questions will help OCS monitor the activity and any changes that might be made by grant recipients during the six month extension.

Lastly, for those grant recipients that use the NCE, OCS would like to extend the LIHWAP Annual Report due date, as noted in the Annual Report Instructions. The extended due date for the annual report is July 31, 2024; 30 days after the liquidation deadline of June 30, 2024. The Annual Report instructions have been released various times to grant recipients including in the Action Transmittal on December 15, 2021.

Burden has been updated to reflect that additional reporting periods. Extending the reporting timeline does not require an overall extension in expiration date for this approval, as the current expiration date is April 30, 2025.

Time Sensitivities

The NCE period begins at the start of FY2024, October 1, 2023. OCS would like to notify the 89 grant recipients that chose to utilize the NCE, prior to the start of the fiscal year.