[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2109 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 
Committee 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 within 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 emergencies.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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;
            (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 Secretary within 
one hour of the declaration being determined.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF A POOL OF EMERGENCY FUNDS; EMERGENCY EXPANSION 
              OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY.

    (a) Establishment of an ``Emergency Cooling Fund''.--
            (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 seniors 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 Congress on the amount of funds 
        needed to fully compensate public utilities for the delivery of 
        energy necessary 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 recipients;
                    (B) the amount of energy needed to cool the homes 
                of LIHEAP recipients; and
                    (C) the number of days in the previous calendar 
                year in which the National Weather Service 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 report 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 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 notification that provisions 
have been made, in conjunction with public utilities responsible for 
the delivery of electricity 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 recipients to 
        cover the full and total amount necessary to operate not less 
        than one appliance to cool the recipient'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 immediately 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 Secretary within the 
allotted time.
    (e) Enhancement of Federal Oversight of Compliance by the States.--
Section 8624(b) of title 42, United States Code, is amended by striking 
the following language: ``The Secretary may not prescribe the manner in 
which the States will comply with the provisions of the subsection.''

SEC. 5. EXPEDITED DISTRIBUTION OF AIR CONDITIONING UNITS AND OTHER 
              EQUIPMENT.

    (a) The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall 
receive notification of any declaration of a heat emergency as 
referenced in section 2 of this Act.
    (b) Such notification shall cause the Administrator to initiate 
procedures to locate any equipment, fixtures, and appliances--
including, but not limited to, air conditioners and fans--that are 
currently available through the Federal Supply Service or any other 
entity overseeing surplus Federal property.
    (c) The Administrator shall initiate expedited procedures to 
distribute such property to representatives of States and 
municipalities affected by the heat emergency, and to social service 
agencies and individuals located in those areas.
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