I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2109
To amend title 42, United States Code, and title 15, United States Code,
to establish provisions to assist low income families and seniors in the
event of severe heat emergencies.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 25, 1995
Mr. GUTIERREZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Economic and
Educational Opportunities, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title 42, United States Code, and title 15, United
States Code, to establish provisions to assist low income
families and seniors in the event of severe heat emer-
gencies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) an individual’s ability to survive periods of
severe heat is based, in part on income, age, and
health risks;
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(2) such a connection is well established and is
proven by recent tragic deaths in and around the
City of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois; and
(3) reports published by the Centers for Disease
Control indicate that the absence of air conditioning
is a major factor contributing to illness and death
during periods of extreme heat, especially among the
elderly.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION AND NOTIFICATION OF A HEAT
EMERGENCY.
Title 15, United States Code, is amended by adding
the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 330. (a) The Director of the National Weather
Service shall notify the Secretary of Health and Human
Services whenever any State, county, municipality, or
other jurisdiction is subject to a heat emergency which
threatens the health of its residents.
‘‘(b) Such notification shall be delivered to the Sec-
retary within one hour of the declaration being deter-
mined.’’.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF A POOL OF EMERGENCY
FUNDS; EMERGENCY EXPANSION OF ENERGY
ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ‘‘EMERGENCY COOLING
FUND’’.—
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(1) Section 8621 of title 42, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
‘‘(e) There is authorized a pool of monies that shall
be added to the appropriations, referred to in this section;
such funds shall be designated for the expressed purpose
of providing assistance to low income recipients and sen-
iors for the duration of a declared heat emergency.’’.
(2) Prior to authorization of the Fund referred
to in (a) of this section, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall research and report to Con-
gress on the amount of funds needed to fully com-
pensate public utilities for the delivery of energy nec-
essary to sufficiently cool the residencies of a
LIHEAP recipient in a manner that will alleviate
the likelihood of heat-related illness and prevent the
worsening of preexisting acute conditions.
(3) The Secretary shall take into account the
following when determining the amount of money
necessary to fund the ‘‘Emergency Cooling Fund’’—
(A) the number of current LIHEAP recipi-
ents;
(B) the amount of energy needed to cool
the homes of LIHEAP recipients; and
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(C) the number of days in the previous cal-
endar year in which the National Weather Serv-
ice declared a heat emergency in areas served
by LIHEAP.
(4) The pool of monies established by Congress
shall be no smaller than an amount equal to three
times the amount referred to in the Secretary’s re-
port as being necessary to operate such a fund.
(b) ELIGIBILITY OF SENIORS FOR HEAT RELATED
ASSISTANCE.—Section 8642(b)(2) of title 42, United
States Code, is amended by adding the following: ‘‘or (C)
households with senior residents who, because of age and/
or medical condition, may be susceptible to heat related
illness.’’.
SEC. 4. USE OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE FUNDS DURING HEAT
EMERGENCY.
(a) Immediately upon receiving a notification of a
heat emergency declaration referred to in section 2 of this
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
direct the Governor of each State in which the emergency
was declared that a portion funds referred to in section
8622 of title 42, United States Code, commonly known
as ‘‘LIHEAP’’, as augmented by the funds referred to in
section 3 of this Act, shall be designated by the State for
the express use of providing energy to cool the residencies
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of current LIHEAP recipients, augmented by section 3
of this Act, during heat emergencies.
(b) The Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall, within five days of the passage of this Act, inform
the Governors of the States that compliance with this Act
is mandated.
(c) Within ten days of the passage of this Act, the
Governors of each State shall submit to the Secretary noti-
fication that provisions have been made, in conjunction
with public utilities responsible for the delivery of elec-
tricity in the State, to provide for compensation to eligible
LIHEAP recipients under this Act and such provisions
shall—
(1) provide for compensation to all LIHEAP re-
cipients to cover the full and total amount necessary
to operate not less than one appliance to cool the re-
cipient’s residence; and
(2) such compensation shall be in effect during
the period in which a heat emergency is in effect in
the state, and for the twenty-four hour period imme-
diately following and immediately proceeding the
declaration of the heat emergency.
(d) No funds referred to in this Act shall be available
to any State not submitting such notification to the Sec-
retary within the allotted time.