[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66005-66007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20788]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[CFDA Number: 93.568]


Proposed Reallotment of Fiscal Year 2022 Funds for the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program

AGENCY: Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and 
Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice of public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of 
Community Service (OCS), Division of Energy Assistance announces a 
preliminary determination that funds from the Federal fiscal year (FFY) 
2022 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are available 
for reallotment to States, Territories, Tribes, and Tribal 
organizations that received FFY 2023 direct LIHEAP grants. The purpose 
of this award is to redistribute FFY 2022 annual LIHEAP funds that 
grant recipients were unable to obligate or carry over to FFY 2023. No 
sub-recipients of these grant recipients or other entities may apply 
for these funds.

DATES: Comments are due by: October 26, 2023.

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 Federal Financial Reports 
(FFRs) and Carryover and Reallotment Reports (CRRs) from FFY 2022 
LIHEAP recipients, ACF has determined that $21,985,238 in FFY 2022 
LIHEAP funds were available for reallotment for FFY 2023. This 
determination was based on the reports of 73 recipients, the total 
obligations of 3 recipients, and minor corrections to certain amounts 
available for carryover. LIHEAP recipients submitted the FFY 2022 CRRs 
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 FFY 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 FFY (42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(2)). Funds in excess of 
this amount must be returned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services and are subject to reallotment under 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(1).
    FFY 2022 funds appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2022 (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 
76 recipients that reported or, in the absence of reporting, had 
potentially $21,985,238 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 2023 
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 2023. As FFY 2023 funds, 
they will be subject to all requirements of the LIHEAP statute, 
including 42 U.S.C. 8626(b)(2), which requires that a grantee 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, 2023.
    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 2023. This decision will also be published in the 
Federal Register and in a Dear Colleague Letter that is posted to

[[Page 66006]]

ACF's website under LIHEAP Dear Colleague Letters.
    The FFY 2022 LIHEAP funds that ACF preliminarily expects to become 
available for reallotment determination come from the following grant 
recipients in the following amounts:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Preliminary
                                                              amount
  Name of grant recipient that has funds to be returned    available for
                     for reallotment                        reallotment
                                                                \1\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.................................................      $2,378,088
Alaska..................................................       2,431,911
American Samoa..........................................           2,828
Delaware................................................         199,360
Idaho...................................................       6,505,338
Michigan................................................       2,087,677
Wyoming.................................................          81,133
Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...........          20,409
Berry Creek Rancheria...................................             747
Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians.........................           1,759
Bishop Paiute Tribe.....................................          13,779
Blackfeet Tribe.........................................         264,815
Catawba Indian Nation...................................          10,164
Cherokee Nation.........................................         134,641
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.............................          18,097
Cocopah Indian Tribe....................................          11,011
Colorado River Indian Tribes............................           6,166
Comanche Nation.........................................          26,315
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.................         212,244
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation......         551,163
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon.........          79,365
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation..          12,018
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of               28,859
 Oregon.................................................
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.....................          11,141
Delaware Nation.........................................             275
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians........................           6,466
Eastern Shoshone Tribe..................................          45,858
Fort Belknap Indian Community...........................         109,264
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes..................          66,553
Gila River Indian Community.............................          17,267
Hoh Tribe...............................................           4,404
Hoopa Valley Tribe......................................          45,051
Indian Township Tribal Government.......................         309,325
Inter-Tribal Council of MI, Inc.........................           1,363
Jicarilla Apache Nation.................................          15,384
Kalispel Tribe of Indians...............................             657
Kaw Nation..............................................           3,441
Kialegee Tribal Town....................................              50
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma..............................          25,505
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.................................          64,055
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.....................         159,939
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe...............................           1,928
Makah Tribe.............................................           1,890
Modoc Nation............................................           2,078
Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians............................          49,621
Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey............          56,056
Narragansett Indian Tribe...............................           2,927
Navajo Nation...........................................       1,153,394
Nooksack Indian Tribe...................................          18,243
Northern Arapaho Tribe..................................          12,853
Northern Cheyenne Tribe.................................          12,378
Oglala Sioux Tribe......................................         867,529
Osage Nation............................................          22,894
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians.........................           3,960
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma................................           4,457
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma...............................           5,866
Penobscot Indian Nation.................................           6,885
Poarch Band of Creek Indians............................          81,075
Pueblo of Jemez.........................................           7,428
Pueblo of Zuni..........................................          28,762
Quapaw Nation...........................................          13,244
Quileute Tribe..........................................           5,009
Quinault Indian Nation..................................           3,026
Round Valley Indian Tribes..............................          28,912
Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma..........................           2,123
Seldovia Village Tribe..................................          11,278
Seneca--Cayuga Nation...................................           8,961

[[Page 66007]]

 
Seneca Nation of Indians................................          20,244
South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency.................             739
Spirit Lake Nation......................................         287,077
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe...............................         396,242
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town................................           9,446
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians................       2,376,042
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians...............         272,128
Ute Indian Tribe........................................           1,672
Yankton Sioux Tribe.....................................         244,986
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................      21,985,238
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Preliminary funds for reallotment consist of the funds in excess of
  LIHEAP's 10 percent carryover cap that (1) 73 recipients indicated on
  the FFRs or reported on the CRRs as unobligated; or (2) amounted to
  100 percent of regular funds or IIJA funds for the 3 recipients that
  failed to submit the associated FFRs and their CRRs.

    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 2023 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 2023 CRRs; 
(2) reconcile these funds, to the extent that they received them, on a 
separate FFR; and (3) record, on their FFY 2023 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 2023 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. 2023-20788 Filed 9-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-80-P