The DOE Weatherization Assistance Program enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their households more energy efficient. DOE program guidelines specify that a variety of energy efficiency measures are eligible for support under the program. The measures include insulation, space-heating equipment, energy-efficient windows, water heaters, and efficient air conditioners. The program was created under Title IV of the Energy Conservation and Production Act of 1976 ( P.L. 94-385 ). The statute specifies that the program's primary purpose is to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings owned or occupied by low-income persons, reduce their total residential energy expenditures, and improve their health and safety, especially low-income persons who are particularly vulnerable such as the elderly, the handicapped, and children. The 1973 oil crisis caused rapid increases in energy prices, which caused major economic dislocations for the nation. As one result, the program was designed to save imported oil and cut heating bills for low-income households. This included senior citizens living on fixed incomes and Social Security, who were especially hard hit by rising energy bills. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) operates a Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which was designed to help pay energy bills for low-income households. Since the inception of LIHEAP in 1981, up to 15% of funds could be used for weatherization. In 1990, the statute was amended to allow states to use up to 25% of funds for weatherization, without requiring a waiver from HHS. At first, weatherization providers emphasized low-cost measures, such as covering windows with plastic sheets and caulking and weatherstripping windows and doors. Many of these activities involved emergency and temporary measures. With the accumulation of experience over time, the emphasis shifted to more permanent and more cost-effective measures. The range of qualified measures expanded to include storm windows and doors, attic insulation, space heating and water heating systems, furnace and boiler replacements, and cooling efficiency measures. The cooling efficiency measures include activities such as air conditioner replacements, ventilation equipment, and screening and shading devices. DOE recounts that the use of home energy audits was key to adapting portfolio of measures: In the 1990s, the trend toward more cost-effective measures continued with the development and widespread adoption of advanced home energy audits. This proved to be a key advance for weatherization service providers since it required every home to be comprehensively analyzed before work began in order to select the most cost-effective measures and the best approach. This custom analysis of every home has become the hallmark of weatherization and ensures each client receives the most cost-effective treatment. DOE's Weatherization Program is one of the largest energy efficiency programs in the nation. It is implemented in all 50 states, in the District of Columbia, in the U.S. trust territories, and by Native American Tribes. Vulnerable groups are targeted, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children. A high priority is given to households with an elderly or disabled member. In FY2000, 49% of the weatherized households were occupied by an elderly resident or by a person with a disability. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act, P.L. 111-5 ; §407a) revised the program guidelines to raise the low-income eligibility ceiling from 150% to 200% of the poverty level. Low-income households have lower total energy use and smaller bills than the non-low-income population. However, those bills represent a higher proportion of total income. For 2009, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) estimated the average energy cost burden at about 10% of income for low-income households compared to about 3.3% for non-low-income households. DOE elaborates further: Low-income households have lower average residential energy usage and lower residential energy bills than the non-low-income population, but this difference is not in proportion to household income. The average income of low-income households as provided in the 2005 RECS and adjusted for inflation was estimated at $18,624 compared to $71,144 for non-low-income households. In 2009 the group energy burden of low-income households, defined as average residential energy expense divided by average income, was estimated to be 10 percent of income for low-income households compared to 3.3 percent for non-low-income households.... Households that actually received energy payment assistance, estimated at just over 5 million in 2005, had an even higher energy burden of 11.5 percent of income. DOE employs a formula to allocate funding to the states and territories. Each state and territory, in turn, decides how to allocate its share of the funding to local governments and jurisdictions. Funds made available to the states are allocated to local governments and nonprofit agencies for purchasing and installing energy efficiency materials, such as insulation, and for making energy-related repairs. The law directs DOE to reserve funds for national training and technical assistance (T&TA) activities that benefit all states and Native American Tribes. DOE allocates funding for T&TA activities at both the state and local levels. The total funding for national, state, and local T&TA was originally limited to 10% of an annual congressional appropriation. The Recovery Act allowed the T&TA share to increase temporarily to 20%. The remaining funds comprise the total allocation to state programs. The program allocation consists of two parts: the base allocation and the formula allocation. The base allocation for each state is fixed, but the amount differs for each state. The fixed base was computed so that a revised formula would not cause large swings from previous allocations, which could disrupt a state's program operations. Appendix A provides a history of total annual funding. In FY2010, a new program account for "Innovations in Weatherization" was funded. The new activity was designed to demonstrate new ways to increase the number of low-income homes weatherized and lower the federal cost per home for residential retrofits, while also establishing a stable funding base. Partnerships with traditional weatherization providers such as non-profits, unions, and contractors is the focus. The partners are expected to leverage financial resources, with a goal of $3 of non-federal contributions for each $1 that DOE provides. The distribution of total formula allocations across the states is based on three factors: the relative size of the low-income population, climatic conditions, and residential energy expenditures. The low-income population factor is the share of the nation's low-income households in each state expressed as a percentage of all U.S. low-income households. The climatic conditions factor is obtained from the heating and cooling degrees for each state, treating the energy needed for heating and cooling proportionately. The residential energy expenditure factor is an approximation of the financial cost burden that energy use places on low-income households. In the event of funding cuts below a minimum threshold level, DOE program rules specify how cuts would be carried out. The rule provides funding according to four priority levels. In descending order, the priorities are: national training and technical assistance (TTA) activities, TTA for state and local levels, base allocation to states, and—if the funds remaining after TTA exceed a threshold of $209.7 million—then a formula is used to spread the remainder among the states. Table 1 illustrates these priorities. In the other case—if the funds remaining after the total TTA allocation are less than $209.7 million—then there is no formula allocation and the base allocation is reduced proportionally. Funding continuity has been elusive for this program. Over its history, WAP program funding has followed an up-and-down pattern, framed by occasional funding spikes and proposals to eliminate program funding and operations. The chart in Figure B -1 of Appendix B, and the data in Table A -1 of Appendix A, show the variation in the program's historical funding trend, calibrated in constant 2010 dollars. Table A -1 shows that the accumulated congressional appropriations for the 32-year period from FY1977 through FY2008 reached a sum of nearly $8.7 billion. For FY2009, the Recovery Act made a special one-time appropriation of $5.0 billion, which added about 57% to the sum of all previous appropriations through the end of FY2008. Figure B -1 shows the alternating pattern of support, characterized by occasional agreements—and periods of marked differences—between administration and congressional funding viewpoints. A few observations on this history: Funding Range. Except for the FY2009 Recovery Act, single-year program funding has ranged between a high of about $500 million in FY1979 to a low of about $150 million in FY1996 (constant FY2010 dollars); Funding Trend. Except for the FY2009 Recovery Act appropriation, program funding has been on a long-term downtrend since FY1979 (constant FY2010 dollars); Past Requests for Termination. In 8 out of 34 years (from FY1978 through FY2011), the administration requested zero funding (program termination): FY1982, FY1983, FY1984, FY1987-FY1990, and FY2009; Administration-Congress Agreements. In 7 years of the 35-year funding history from FY1977 through FY2011, Congress approved nearly the same funding (less than 6% difference) level as the administration requested: FY1979, FY1980, FY1981, FY1985, FY2001, FY2006, and FY2010; Request-Appropriation Percent Differences. Including the 8 years of zero funding requests, in 20 out of 35 years, the final congressional appropriation differed (plus or minus) from the administration request by more than 20%; Request-Appropriation Differences Larger than $50 Million.