II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2628 

To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to provide 

procedures for the release of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program contingency funds. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2006 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act 

of 1981 to provide procedures for the release of LowIncome Home Energy Assistance Program contingency 

funds. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LIHEAP Emergency 

5 Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 

2 Program (referred to in this Act as ‘‘LIHEAP’’) 

3 provides vital assistance to the millions of Americans 

4 struggling to pay their energy bills. 

5 (2) The LIHEAP contingency fund was created 

6 ‘‘to meet the additional home energy assistance 

7 needs of one or more States arising from a natural 

8 disaster or other emergency’’. 

9 (3) While a total of approximately 

10 $3,800,000,000 in LIHEAP contingency funds has 

11 been distributed since 1990—in all cases, to help 

12 meet the needs of low-income families across the 

13 United States—widely varying eligibility rules have 

14 led to instances in which very real energy emer15 gencies have been overlooked. 

16 (4) The millions of Americans served by 

17 LIHEAP, and States struggling to meet demand for 

18 the assistance LIHEAP provides, would greatly ben19 efit from the addition of transparency to the process 

20 by which LIHEAP contingency funds are distrib21 uted. 

22 SEC. 3. LIHEAP CONTINGENCY FUND REFORM. 

23 Section 2604(e) of the Low-Income Home Energy 

24 Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8623(e)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding’’ and in2 serting ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding’’; 

3 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘or any 

4 other program’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub7 section, the Governor of a State may apply to the Sec8 retary for certification of an emergency in that State and 

9 an allotment of amounts appropriated pursuant to section 

10 2602(e). 

11 ‘‘(3) The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec12 retary of Energy and with the appropriate State officials, 

13 shall by rule adopt procedures for the equitable consider14 ation of applications submitted under paragraph (2). Such 

15 procedures shall require— 

16 ‘‘(A) the consideration of each of the conditions 

17 in the definition of ‘emergency’ in section 2603; 

18 ‘‘(B) the consideration of the differences be19 tween geographic regions including differences in 

20 sources of energy supply for low-income households, 

21 relative price trends for sources of home energy sup22 ply, and differences in relevant weather-related fac23 tors including drought; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the Secretary to grant such applications 

25 within 30 days after submission unless the Secretary 


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1 certifies in writing that none of the conditions in the 

2 definition of ‘emergency’ in section 2603 has been 

3 demonstrated.’’. 

Æ 


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