Proposed Information Collection Activity; Annual Report on Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0060)

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Published

July 1, 2022

Issuing agencies

Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration

Abstract

OCS, Division of Energy Assistance, is requesting a substantial change of the Household Report (OMB #0970-0060, expiration May 31, 2025). Grant recipients complete the Household Report on an annual basis, completing either the Long Form or the Short Form version of the report. Submission of the completed report is one requirement for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant recipients applying for federal LIHEAP block grant funds. OCS proposes substantive changes, including the addition of reporting requirements for assisted applicants and household member demographic characteristics on the Household Report Long Form and Short Form, and the removal of reporting requirements collecting counts of applicant households by assistance type and poverty interval on the Household Report Long Form.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 126 (Friday, July 1, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 126 (Friday, July 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39523-39524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14057]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Annual Report on
Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP) (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0060)

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

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OCS, Division of Energy Assistance, is requesting a
substantial change of the Household Report (OMB #0970-0060, expiration
May 31, 2025). Grant recipients complete the Household Report on an
annual basis, completing either the Long Form or the Short Form version
of the report. Submission of the completed report is one requirement
for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant recipients
applying for federal LIHEAP block grant funds. OCS proposes substantive
changes, including the addition of reporting requirements for assisted
applicants and household member demographic characteristics on the
Household Report Long Form and Short Form, and the removal of reporting
requirements collecting counts of applicant households by assistance
type and poverty interval on the Household Report Long Form.

DATES: Comments are due within 60 days of publication. In compliance
with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is
soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information
collection described above.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be
obtained and comments may be forwarded by emailing
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#244d4a424b474b48484147504d4b4a644547420a4c4c570a434b52"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bed7d0d8d1ddd1d2d2dbddcad7d1d0fedfddd890d6d6cd90d9d1c8">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Identify all requests by the title of the
information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Description: States, the District of
Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are required to complete
the Household Report-Long Form on an annual basis. The Long Form
collects the following information:
<bullet> Assisted households, by type of LIHEAP assistance and
funding source;
<bullet> Assisted households receiving bill payment assistance, by
funding source;
<bullet> Assisted households receiving any type of LIHEAP
assistance, by funding source;
<bullet> Assisted households by poverty interval, by type of LIHEAP
assistance and funding source;
<bullet> Assisted households, by type of LIHEAP assistance and
funding source, having at least one vulnerable member who is at least
60 years or older, disabled, or 5 years old or younger;
<bullet> Assisted households receiving any type of LIHEAP
assistance or funding source, having at least one member 60 years or
older, disabled, or 5 years old or younger.
Tribal grant recipients and other U.S. territory grant recipients
are required to complete the Household Report-Short Form on an annual
basis. The Short Form collects data only on the number of households,
by funding source, receiving heating, cooling, energy crisis, and/or
weatherization benefits.
The information reported in the Household Report Long Form and
Short Form is being collected for the Department's annual LIHEAP Report
to Congress. The data also provides information about the need for
LIHEAP funds. Finally, the data are used in the calculation of LIHEAP
performance measures under the Government Performance and Results Act
of 1993. The data elements will allow the accuracy of measuring LIHEAP
targeting performance and LIHEAP cost efficiency.
ACF is proposing changes to the Household Report Long Form and
Short Form beginning with FY 2023 reporting. These changes include
additional reporting requirements for assisted household and household
member demographic characteristics, and the removal of reporting
requirements collecting counts of applicant households by assistance
type and poverty interval on the Household Report Long Form. The
additional reporting requirements include the following:
1. Number of Households by Owner/Renter Status (own, rent with
utilities billed separately, rent with utilities in rental fee, other).
[This is optional for FY 2023 reporting and required beginning with FY
2024 reporting].
2. Number of Assisted Applicants by Ethnicity. Grant recipients
will report on assisted applicants by ethnicity according to standard
census categories. [This is required beginning with FY 2023 reporting].
3. Number of Assisted Applicants by Race. Grant recipients will
report on assisted applicants by race according to standard census
categories. [This is required beginning with FY 2023 reporting].
4. Number of Assisted Applicants by Gender. Grant recipients will
report on assisted applicants by gender. [This is required beginning
with FY 2023 reporting].
5. Number of Assisted Household Members by Ethnicity. Grant
recipients will report on assisted household members by ethnicity
according to standard census categories. [This is optional for FY 2023
reporting and required beginning with FY 2024 reporting].
6. Number of Assisted Household Members by Race. Grant recipients
will report on assisted household members by race according to standard
census categories. [This is optional for FY 2023 reporting and required
beginning with FY 2024 reporting].
7. Number of Assisted Household Members by Gender. Grant recipients
will report on assisted household members by gender. [This is optional
for FY 2023 reporting and required beginning with FY 2024 reporting].
The proposed additions will provide OCS with critical data that is
needed to evaluate if LIHEAP is equitably serving communities across
the country. The collection of demographic data including owner/renter
status, race, ethnicity, and gender will allow OCS to conduct analysis
disaggregated by these variables to assess whether LIHEAP resources are
equitably distributed. Therefore, this data collection aligns with the
goals of Executive Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government). Additionally,
collecting demographic data in LIHEAP will bring the program into
alignment with other programs across OCS including the Community
Services Block Grant, which currently collects demographic data on
beneficiaries, and the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program
(LIHWAP), which will collect demographic data on beneficiaries in FY
2023.

[[Page 39524]]

To minimize reporting burden to the greatest extent possible, and
in recognition of the significant overlap in LIHEAP and LIHWAP grant
recipients, OCS is proposing to use the same demographic measures
included in the LIHWAP Annual Report in the LIHEAP Household Report.
OCS has also removed the reporting requirements for applicant
households by assistance type and poverty interval on the Household
Report Long Form to offset some of the additional reporting burden
entailed by the demographic data collection.
Respondents: State governments, tribal governments, U.S.
territories, and the District of Columbia.

Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number Average burden
Instrument Total number of responses hours per Annual burden
of respondents per respondent response hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assisted Household Report-Long Form............. 56 1 67 3,752
Assisted Household Report-Short Form............ 151 1 10 1,510
Household Application........................... 6,160,000 1 1 6,160,000
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6,165,262.
Please note that the above estimate accounts for the burden this
data collection entails on LIHEAP applicants. In previous years, OCS
has not included an estimate of the burden on households. While OCS
does not mandate that LIHEAP grant recipients use a standard household
application, we know that grant recipients collect many of the required
Household Report data elements through their household application. The
annual burden for the household application indicated above accounts
for the time it will take LIHEAP applicants to provide the data
required by the current Household Report as well as the proposed
demographic data elements. To calculate this burden, we used an
estimate for the annual number of LIHEAP household applicants
multiplied by an average of an hour to provide the data required by the
Household Report.
Comments: The Department specifically requests comments on (a)
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted
within 60 days of this publication.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 8629 and 45 CFR 96.92.

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-14057 Filed 6-30-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-80-P

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