the Secretary of the Treasury, the energy refund 
shall be provided in monthly installments via— 
(A) direct deposit into the eligible house-
hold’s designated bank account; 
(B) the State’s electronic benefit transfer 
system; or 
(C) another Federal or State mechanism, 
if such a mechanism is approved by the Sec-
retary of the Treasury. 
(2) STANDARDS.—The standards described 
under paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) protect the privacy of energy refund 
applicants and recipients; 
(B) provide energy refund recipients with 
choices, as appropriate, for delivery and receipt 
of refunds; 
(C) ensure ease of use and access to re-
funds, including a prohibition on any fees 
charged for withdrawals or other related serv-
ices; 
(D) protect, in a cost-effective manner, 
against improper access to energy refunds; 
(E) ensure interoperability of the Energy 
Refund Program between States and permit 
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monitoring and investigations by authorized law 
enforcement agencies; and 
(F) include such standards, as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
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 of the Treasury, the Secretary shall reimburse 
each State agency for 100 percent of administrative 
costs. 
(3) PROCEDURES.—Under standards estab-
lished by the Secretary of the Treasury, the State 
agency shall establish procedures governing the ad-
ministration of the Energy Refund Program that the 
State agency determines best serve households in the 
State, including households with special needs, such 
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as households with elderly or disabled members, 
households in rural areas, homeless individuals, and 
households residing on reservations (as defined in 
section 4 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 
(25 U.S.C. 1903) and section 3 of the Indian Fi-
nancing Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C. 1452)). In carrying 
out this paragraph, a State agency shall— 
(A) provide timely, accurate, and fair serv-
ice to applicants for, and participants in, the 
Energy Refund Program; 
(B) permit an applicant household to apply 
to participate in the program at the time that 
the household first contacts the State agency 
and consider an application that contains the 
name, address, and signature of the applicant 
to be sufficient to constitute an application for 
participation; 
(C) screen any applicant household for the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program, the 
State’s medical assistance program under sec-
tion XIX of the Social Security Act, the Chil-
dren’s Health Insurance Program under section 
XXI of such Act, and a State program that 
provides basic assistance under a State pro-
gram funded under title IV of such Act or with 
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qualified State expenditures as defined in sec-
tion 409(a)(7) of such Act for eligibility for the 
Energy Refund Program and, if eligible, enroll 
such applicant household in the Energy Refund 
Program; 
(D) complete certification of and provide a 
refund to any eligible household not later than 
30 days following its filing of an application; 
(E) use appropriate bilingual personnel 
and materials in the administration of the pro-
gram in those portions of the State in which a 
substantial number of members of low-income 
households speak a language other than En-
glish; and 
(F) utilize State agency personnel who are 
employed in accordance with the current stand-
ards for a merit system of personnel adminis-
tration or any standards later prescribed by the 
Office of Personnel Management pursuant to 
section 208 of the Intergovernmental Personnel 
Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4728) modifying or su-
perseding such standards relating to the estab-
lishment and maintenance of personnel stand-
ards on a merit basis to make all tentative and 
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final determinations of eligibility and ineligi-
bility. 
(4) STREAMLINED
ELIGIBILITY
FOR
CERTAIN 
BENEFICIARIES OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury, the Commissioner of Social Security, 
the Railroad Retirement Board, or the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs, as appropriate, shall 
develop procedures to directly provide energy 
refunds to individuals that are beneficiaries 
under the benefit programs administered by 
such entities and are eligible to receive such re-
funds under the Energy Refund Program, if the 
Secretary of the Treasury 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 
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