monitoring and investigations by authorized law 
enforcement agencies; and 
‘‘(F) include such standards, as deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary, to protect 
applicant and recipient households from fraud 
and abuse and promote effective and efficient 
administration of Energy Refund Program. 
‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency of each 
participating State shall assume responsibility for 
the certification of applicant households and for the 
issuance of refunds and the control and account-
ability thereof. 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Subject to such 
standards as determined appropriate by the Sec-
retary, the Secretary shall reimburse each State 
agency for 100 percent of administrative costs. 
‘‘(3) PROCEDURES.—Under standards estab-
lished by the Secretary, the State agency shall estab-
lish procedures governing the administration of the 
Energy Refund Program that the State agency de-
termines best serve households in the State, includ-
ing households with special needs, such as house-
holds with elderly or disabled members, households 
in rural areas, homeless individuals, and households 
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residing on reservations as defined in the Indian 
Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the Indian Financing 
Act of 1974. In carrying out this paragraph, a State 
agency— 
‘‘(A) shall provide timely, accurate, and 
fair service to applicants for, and participants 
in, the Energy Refund Program; 
‘‘(B) shall permit an applicant household 
to apply to participate in the program at the 
time that the household first contacts the State 
agency, and shall consider an application that 
contains the name, address, and signature of 
the applicant to be sufficient to constitute an 
application for participation; 
‘‘(C) shall screen any applicant household 
for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram, the State’s medical assistance program 
under section XIX of this Act, the Children’s 
Health Insurance Program under section XXI 
of this Act, and a State program that provides 
basic assistance under a State program funded 
under title IV of this Act or with qualified 
State expenditures as defined in section 
409(a)(7) of this Act for eligibility for the En-
ergy Refund Program and, if eligible, shall en-
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roll such applicant household in the Energy Re-
fund Program; 
‘‘(D) shall complete certification of and 
provide a refund to any eligible household not 
later than 30 days following its filing of an ap-
plication; 
‘‘(E) shall use appropriate bilingual per-
sonnel and materials in the administration of 
the program in those portions of the State in 
which a substantial number of members of low- 
income households speak a language other than 
English; and 
‘‘(F) shall utilize State agency personnel 
who are employed in accordance with the cur-
rent standards for a Merit System of Personnel 
Administration or any standards later pre-
scribed by the Office of Personnel Management 
pursuant to section 208 of the Intergovern-
mental Personnel Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4728) 
modifying or superseding such standards relat-
ing to the establishment and maintenance of 
personnel standards on a merit basis to make 
all tentative and final determinations of eligi-
bility and ineligibility. 
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‘‘(4) STREAMLINED ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN 
BENEFICIARIES OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, the 
Commissioner of Social Security, the Railroad 
Retirement Board, or the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall develop procedures to directly pro-
vide energy refunds to individuals that are 
beneficiaries under the benefit programs admin-
istered by such entities and are eligible to re-
ceive such refunds under the Energy Refund 
Program, if the Secretary determines, in con-
sultation with the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, that— 
‘‘(i) one or more of such entities are 
able to determine the gross income of such 
beneficiaries for purposes of determining 
eligibility for the energy refund; 
‘‘(ii) such entities are able to coordi-
nate to ensure that such beneficiaries do 
not receive multiple energy refunds; and 
‘‘(iii) Federal provision of energy re-
funds would be more efficient and result in 
receipt of energy refunds by a greater 
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number of eligible beneficiaries than deliv-
ery of such refunds by the States. 
‘‘(B) RECEIPT OF REFUNDS.—Any low-in-
come beneficiary who receives an energy refund 
pursuant to the procedures developed under this 
paragraph shall not be eligible for an energy re-
fund otherwise provided by a State agency 
under this section. 
‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 
(B), the Secretary shall issue such regulations 
consistent with this section as the Secretary 
deems necessary or appropriate for the effective 
and efficient administration of the Energy Re-
fund Program, and shall promulgate all such 
regulations in accordance with the procedures 
set forth in section 553 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(B) Without regard to section 553 of title 
5 of such Code, the Secretary may by rule pro-
mulgate as final, to be effective until not later 
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
the Tax Pollution, Not Profits Act, any proce-
dures that are substantially the same as the 
procedures governing the Supplemental Nutri-
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tion Assistance Program in section 273.2, 
273.12, or 273.15 of title 7, Code of Federal 
Regulations. 
‘‘(C) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and 
(3) of subsection (i), the Secretary shall pro-
mulgate regulations requiring streamlined eligi-
bility determinations for some or all households 
which include individuals receiving medical as-
sistance under a State plan approved under 
title XIX or XXI of this Act or individuals re-
ceiving premium credits for the purchase of 
qualified health insurance coverage pursuant to 
section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986. The regulations shall institute procedures 
whereby the gross income and family size infor-
mation used for determining eligibility under 
such provisions serve as the basis for deter-
mining eligibility for the Energy Refund Pro-
gram. 
‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision 
of this section, the Secretary may authorize 
States to provide benefits under this section on 
a quarterly basis if the Secretary determines 
that the amount of the benefits that would be 
provided on a monthly basis to households is in-
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sufficient to be efficiently paid on a monthly 
basis in light of the administrative expenses of 
the Energy Refund Program. 
‘‘(6) CONTROLLING LAW.—For purposes of any 
administrative or judicial action or proceeding initi-
ated by a household to a provision arising under this 
section, including any procedures established by a 
State agency under paragraph (3) or any regulations 
issued by the Secretary under paragraph (4), such 
action or proceeding shall be subject to the following 
conditions: 
‘‘(A) LIMITATION
ON
RECOVERY
FOR 
WRONGFUL OR ERRONEOUS WITHHOLDING OF 
REFUNDS.—Any energy refunds that are deter-
mined to have been wrongfully or erroneously 
withheld from a household shall be restored for 
a period of not greater than 1 year prior to the 
date that the underlying action or proceeding 
was filed, or in the case of an action seeking re-
view of a final State agency determination, not 
more than 1 year prior to the date of the filing 
of a request with the State for the restoration 
of such allotments or, in either case, not more 
than 1 year prior to the date the State agency 
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is notified or otherwise discovers the possible 
loss to a household. 
‘‘(B) RECORDS.—Any records maintained 
by a State agency under this section for the 
purpose of certification of applicant households, 
the issuance of energy refunds, or compliance 
with any requirements established by the Sec-
retary shall be made available to a household to 
the extent necessary to carry out such action or 
proceeding and consistent with the privacy 
standards 
established 
under 
subsection 
(e)(2)(A). 
‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—For purposes of any 
such administrative or judicial action, all par-
ties shall be required to comply with any sub-
stantive and procedural regulations established 
by the Secretary for the operation of the En-
ergy Refund Program unless such regulations 
are not in accordance with law. 
‘‘(g) TREATMENT.—The value of the refund provided 
under this section shall not be considered income or re-
sources for any purpose under any Federal, State, or local 
laws, including, but not limited to, laws relating to an in-
come tax, or public assistance programs (including, but 
not limited to, health care, cash aid, child care, nutrition 
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programs, and housing assistance) and no participating 
State or political subdivision thereof shall decrease any as-
sistance otherwise provided an individual or individuals be-
cause of the receipt of a refund under this section. 
‘‘(h) PROGRAM INTEGRITY.—For purposes of ensur-
ing program integrity and complying with the require-
ments of the Improper Payment Information Act of 2002, 
the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent possible, rely 
on and coordinate with the quality control sample and re-
view procedures of paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of 
section 16(c) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 2025(c)). 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC
BENEFIT
TRANSFER
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘electronic benefit transfer system’ 
means a system by which household benefits or re-
funds defined under subsection (e) are issued from 
and stored in a central databank via electronic ben-
efit transfer cards. 
‘‘(2) GROSS INCOME.—The term ‘gross income’ 
means the gross income of a household that is deter-
mined in accordance with standards and procedures 
established under section 5 of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) and its imple-
menting regulations. 
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‘‘(3) HOUSEHOLD.— 
‘‘(A) The term ‘household’ means— 
‘‘(i) in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
subsection (c)(1) of this section, except as 
provided in subparagraph (C) of this para-
graph, an individual or a group of individ-
uals who are a household under section 
3(n) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(n)); 
‘‘(ii) in subsection (c)(1)(C) of this 
section, a single individual or married cou-
ple that receives benefits under section 
1860D–14 of this Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 
114) and is not an institutionalized indi-
vidual or couple (as defined in section 
1902(q)(1)(B)); and 
‘‘(iii) in subsection (c)(1)(D) of this 
section, a single individual or married cou-
ple that receives benefits under the supple-
mental security income program under title 
XVI of this Act (42 U.S.C. 1381–1383f) 
and is not an institutionalized individual or 
couple. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish rules 
for providing the energy refund in an equitable 
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and administratively simple manner to house-
holds where the group of individuals who live 
together includes members not all of whom are 
described in a single clause of subparagraph 
(A), or includes additional members not de-
scribed in any such clause. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall establish rules re-
garding the eligibility and delivery of the energy 
refund to groups of individuals described in sec-
tion 3(n)(4) or (5) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(n)). 
‘‘(4) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 673(2) of 
the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 
9902(2)), including any revision required by that 
section. 
‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 50 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States 
Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands. 
‘‘(6) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘State agency’ 
means an agency of State government, including the 
local offices thereof, that has responsibility for ad-
ministration of the 1 or more federally aided public 
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