[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 189 (Friday, September 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59438-59439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21296]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[CFDA Number: 93.568]


Proposed Reallotment of Fiscal Year 2021 Funds for the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program

AGENCY: Office of Community Services (OCS), Administration for Children 
and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

[[Page 59439]]


ACTION: Notice of public comment.

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SUMMARY: The ACF, OCS, Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) announces a 
preliminary determination that funds from the federal fiscal year (FFY) 
2021 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are available 
for reallotment to states, territories, tribes, and tribal 
organizations that received FFY 2022 direct LIHEAP grants. The purpose 
of this award is to redistribute FFY 2021 annual LIHEAP funds that 
grant recipients were unable to obligate or carry over to FFY 2022. No 
sub-recipients of these grant recipients or other entities may apply 
for these funds.

DATES: Comments are due by: October 31, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to: Peter Edelman, Program 
Analyst, Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and 
Families, 330 C Street SW, 5th Floor; Mail Room 5425; Washington, DC 
20201 or via email: [email protected]. Comments may also be 
faxed to (202) 401-5661.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Akm Rahman, Program Operations Branch 
Chief, Division of Energy Assistance, Office of Community Services, 330 
C Street SW, 5th Floor; Mail Room 5425; Washington, DC 20201. 
Telephone: (202) 401-5306; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After receiving Carryover and Reallotment 
Reports from FFY 2021 LIHEAP recipients and reconciling the unobligated 
funds on those reports with the respective Federal Financial Reports, 
ACF has determined that $711,932 in FFY 2021 LIHEAP funds were 
available for reallotment for FFY 2022. This determination is based on 
the reports of 20 recipients, minor corrections to certain amounts 
available for carryover, and the amounts of funds that these recipients 
had in their Payment Management System (PMS) accounts. LIHEAP grant 
recipients submitted the FFY 2021 Carryover and Reallotment Reports to 
OCS, as required by regulations applicable to LIHEAP at 45 CFR 
96.81(b).
    The LIHEAP statute allows grant recipients who have funds 
unobligated at the end of the federal fiscal year for which they are 
awarded to request that they be allowed to carry over up to 10 percent 
of their full-year allotments to the next federal fiscal year, (42 
U.S.C. 8626(b)(2)). Funds in excess of this amount must be returned to 
HHS and are subject to reallotment under 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(1).
    FFY 2021 funds appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021 (Pub. L. 117-2) were not subject to 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(2)(B), which 
caps carryover at 10 percent. Therefore, these funds were not included 
in the reallotment calculation.
    In accordance with 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(3), ACF notified each of the 
20 grant recipients that reported $711,932 of unobligated funds above 
their carryover caps. In these notices, ACF told each about the amount 
it returned for de-obligation and the amount that will be redistributed 
to FFY 2022 grant recipients as part of the reallotment. It also gave 
each recipient 30 calendar days to provide comments directly to ACF.
    If funds are reallotted, then they will be allocated in accordance 
with 42 U.S.C. 8623 and must be treated by LIHEAP grant recipients that 
receive them as an amount appropriated for FFY 2022. As FFY 2022 funds, 
they will be subject to all requirements of the LIHEAP statute, 
including 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(2), which requires that a recipient 
obligate at least 90 percent of its total block grant allocation for a 
fiscal year by the end of the fiscal year for which the funds are 
appropriated, that is, by September 30, 2022.
    All LIHEAP grant recipients that receive a portion of these funds 
will be notified of the final reallotment amount redistributed to them 
for obligation in FFY 2022. This decision will also be published in the 
Federal Register and in a Dear Colleague Letter that is posted to ACF's 
website at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/resource/dear-colleagues.
    The FFY 2021 LIHEAP funds that ACF preliminarily expects to become 
available for reallotment determination come from the following grant 
recipients in the following amounts:

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Amount
   Name of grant recipient that  reported funds to be      available for
                returned for  reallotment                   reallotment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bishop Paiute Tribe.....................................         $17,531
Colorado River Indian Tribes............................          16,914
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians...............           7,302
Hopland Band of Pomo Indians............................           1,755
Jicarilla Apache Nation.................................          16,873
Kalispel Tribe of Indians...............................           7,921
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.....................         106,187
Makah Tribe.............................................          36,164
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe................................          37,669
Nooksack Indian Tribe...................................          38,535
Oglala Sioux Tribe......................................         268,413
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.............................          61,183
Pit River Tribe.........................................           9,255
Quileute Tribe..........................................           1,673
Round Valley Indian Tribes..............................             558
Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma..........................          44,538
Samish Indian Nation....................................             331
Shawnee Tribe...........................................           3,600
Spokane Tribe of Indians................................          19,951
The Delaware Tribe of Indians...........................          15,579
                                                         ---------------
Total...................................................         711,932
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If funds are reallotted, then grant recipients may use them for any 
purpose authorized under LIHEAP and must add these funds to their total 
LIHEAP funds payable for FFY 2022 for purposes of calculating statutory 
caps on administrative costs, carryover, Assurance 16 activities, and 
weatherization assistance.
    Additionally, all recipients of these funds must (1) ensure that 
they are included in the amounts on Lines 1.1 of their FFY 2022 
Carryover and Reallotment Reports; (2) reconcile these funds, to the 
extent that they received them, on a separate Federal Financial Form 
(SF-425); and (3) record, on their FFY 2022 Household Reports, 
households that receive benefits at least partly from these funds. 
State recipients must also ensure that these funds are included in the 
Grantee Survey sections of their FFY 2022 LIHEAP Performance Data 
Forms.
    Statutory Authority: 42 U.S.C. 8626(b).

Karen D. Shields,
Senior Grants Policy Specialist, Office of Grants Policy, Office of 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-21296 Filed 9-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-80-P