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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95218-95219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28152]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Low Income Home Energy 
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Performance Data Form (Office of Management 
and Budget #0970-0449)

AGENCY: Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and 
Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of 
Community Services (OCS) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) is requesting an extension without change to the current 
version of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) 
Performance Measures (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0449) 
for use through June 30,2025, and for approval of a revised version to 
use beginning July 1, 2025.

DATES: Comments due January 31, 2025. In compliance with the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting 
public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection 
described above.

ADDRESSES: You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of 
information and submit comments by emailing [email protected]. 
Identify all requests by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Description: OCS administers LIHEAP at the 
Federal level. The LIHEAP Performance Data Form (LPDF) is an annual 
report in response to section 2610(b) of the Low-Income Home Energy 
Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8629(b)(2))(LIHEAP statute), which 
requires the Secretary of HHS to submit, no later than June 30 of each 
Federal fiscal year, a report to Congress on LIHEAP for the prior 
Federal fiscal year. The completeness, accuracy, consistency, and 
timeliness of responses to data collections are needed for HHS to do 
the following:
     Provide reliable and complete fiscal and household data to 
Congress in the Department's LIHEAP Report to Congress for the Federal 
fiscal year; and
     Respond to questions from the Congress, Department, OMB, 
White House, and other interested parties in a timely manner; and
     Report LIHEAP performance results as part of the 
Administration's annual Congressional Justification.
    In response to the 2010 Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
report, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program--Greater Fraud 
Prevention Controls are Needed (GAO-10-621), and in consideration of 
the recommendations issued by the LIHEAP Performance Measures 
Implementation Work Group, OCS required the collection and reporting of 
these performance measures by State LIHEAP grant recipients, including 
the District of Columbia. The original LPDF was approved by OMB in 
November 2014 and has been in use since. The LPDF provides for the 
collection of data on State grant recipients' sources and uses of 
LIHEAP funds, including average benefit amounts, as well as data for 
the following performance measures:
    1. The benefit targeting index for high burden households receiving 
LIHEAP fuel assistance;
    2. The burden reduction targeting index for high burden households 
receiving LIHEAP fuel assistance;
    3. The number of households where LIHEAP prevented a potential home 
energy crisis; and
    4. The number of households where LIHEAP benefits restored home 
energy.
    All State LIHEAP grant recipients, including the District of 
Columbia, are required to complete the LPDF on an annual basis through 
ACF's web-based data collection and reporting system, the Online Data 
Collection, which is available at the GrantSolutions homepage (https://home.grantsolutions.gov/home). The reporting requirements will be 
described through the LIHEAP Forms and Funding Applications page 
(https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/form/liheap-forms-and-funding-applications) of ACF's website.
    This request will (1) continue approval to collect information 
using the currently approved version of the LPDF through June 30, 2025; 
and (2) incorporate changes to the LPDF designed to collect performance 
data on the impacts of supplemental Federal LIHEAP funds and to improve 
form fields and language. The changes proposed would go into effect in 
July 2025 and consist of (1) changing the name of Module 1 of the form 
from ``Grantee Survey'' to ``Grant Recipient Survey''; (2) adding an 
item for reporting carryover of Residential Energy Assistance Challenge 
(REACH) funds to the following FY; (3) adding an item for reporting 
non-administrative information technology enhancements; (4) removing 
maximum income cutoffs from funding uses; (5) replacement of sources 
and uses of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES 
Act) funds and American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds with the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds; and (6) minor 
wording and structural changes.

Module 1 Grant Recipient Survey

    Module 1 of the LPDF will continue to require the following data 
from each State for the Federal fiscal year:
     Grant recipient information.
     Sources and uses of LIHEAP funds, by funding type.

[[Page 95219]]

     Average LIHEAP household benefits, by funding type.

Modules 2, 2A, and 2B Required LIHEAP Performance Measures

    Modules 2, 2A, and 2B of the LPDF will continue to require the 
following data from each State for the Federal fiscal year:
     Grant recipient information;
     Energy burden targeting;
     Restoration of home energy service; and
     Prevention of loss of home energy.
    Modules 2, 2A, and 2B require reporting on households that received 
benefits from, respectively, non-supplemental funds, CARES Act funds, 
and ARPA funds.

Module 3 LIHEAP Performance Measures (Optional Reporting)

    Module 3 of the LIHEAP LPDF will continue to voluntarily collect 
the following additional information from each interested grant 
recipient for the Federal fiscal year:
     Average annual energy usage;
     Unduplicated number of households using supplemental 
heating fuel and air conditioning;
     Unduplicated number of households that had restoration of 
home energy service, and
     Unduplicated number of households that had prevention of 
loss of home energy.
    LIHEAP grant recipients will be able to compare their own results 
to the results for other States, as well as to regional and national 
results, through the Data Warehouse of the LIHEAP Performance 
Management website as they manage their programs.

Respondents

    State governments, including the District of Columbia; the largest 
five electricity and natural gas vendors by State; the largest ten fuel 
oil and propane vendors by State; and State sub-grant recipients.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                   Annual number  Average burden
          LIHEAP performance data form             Total number    of responses      hours per     Annual burden
                                                  of respondents  per respondent     response          hours
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State Grant Recipients--Module I................              51               1              30           1,530
State Grant Recipients--Modules II and III......              51               1           158.6         8,088.6
Sub-Grant Recipients (in States with sub-grant               100               1             6.3             630
 recipient managed systems)--Modules II and III.
Energy Vendors (largest 5 electric, 5 natural              1,530               1             8.5          13,005
 gas, 10 fuel oil, and 10 propane vendors per
 State-average)--Modules II and III.............
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 23,253.6.

Comments

    The Department specifically requests comments on (a) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.
    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 8629(b); 42 U.S.C. 8624(b); 42 U.S.C. 8623(c).

Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-28152 Filed 11-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-80-P
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