Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 13 - AGENCY OF HUMAN SERVICES › Sub-Agency 170 - DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (DCF) › Chapter 290 - FUEL (2900) › Section 13 170 290 - FUEL (2900)

Current through June, 2024
Section 2900 Fuel Program
11/01/09
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI of the
				  Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, authorized grants to states to help
				  eligible households with home heating expenses. This act was reauthorized, with
				  amendment, by Title VI of the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1984, by
				  Title V of the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1986, by Title VII of the
				  Augustus F. Hawkins Human Services Act of 1990 and by Title III of the Human
				  Services Amendments of 1994 (
				  Public Law
				  103-252 ).
33 V.S.A. Chapter 26, "Home Heating Fuel Assistance,"
				  establishes a home heating fuel assistance program for low-income households
				  that has both a seasonal component and a crisis component, to be administered
				  by the Office of Home Heating Fuel Assistance.
33 V.S.A. Chapter 26, also creates a home heating fuel
				  assistance fund to be composed of the receipts from any taxes dedicated to the
				  fund and such other funds as may be appropriated to it by the General Assembly,
				  including funds from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
				  (LIHEAP).
Annually in the LIHEAP block grant plan, an amount of funds
				  will be identified as being set aside for the crisis component from the home
				  heating fuel assistance fund.
Sections 2900 - 2913 of the department's Policy Manual
				  provide rules for the seasonal component of the home heating fuel assistance
				  program. Rules for the crisis component are found in sections 2950 -
				  2958.
The seasonal component of the Vermont home heating fuel
				  assistance program, hereinafter referred to as the Fuel Program, provides home
				  heating fuel assistance to households responsible for making payments for their
				  heat directly to a fuel supplier certified by the Fuel Program. The Fuel
				  Program also provides assistance to households whose living unit rent, fees, or
				  charges include the cost of the living unit's primary heating source, and to
				  households who rent one or more rooms as separate living quarters in someone
				  else's living unit.
Section
				2901 Additional Funds
In the event that the department receives LIHEAP contingency
				  funds or funds from another source between September 1 and March 31 of any
				  state fiscal year, these funds will be allocated as follows:
a. an amount not to exceed 10 percent
				necessary for program administration, including administration of crisis
				assistance;
b. an amount not to
				exceed 12 percent for crisis assistance benefits; and
c. the remainder for seasonal assistance
				benefits.
The additional funds allocated to seasonal assistance will be
				  issued to households that make payments for their home heat directly to a fuel
				  supplier (WAM 2906 a.) and to households that make undesignated payments for
				  their home heat in the form of rent (WAM 2906 b.). Calculation of seasonal
				  benefit amounts will be made according to the provisions of WAM 2906, Benefit
				  Levels, and the benefits will be distributed to certified fuel suppliers or to
				  eligible households according to the provisions of WAM 2907, Benefit
				  Issuance.
Any allocation or distribution of additional funds that is
				  not consistent with the provisions described herein shall be made in accordance
				  with emergency rules adopted for this purpose. Before adopting any emergency
				  rule relating to additional funds, the department will consult with the Home
				  Energy Assistance Task Force and all community organizations under contract to
				  the department to operate the crisis assistance component of the
				  program.