Notice2022-25336
Submission for OMB Review; Annual Report on Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (OMB #0970-0060)
Primary source
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Published
November 22, 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 Office of Management and Budget (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 the 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71332-71333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25336]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Submission for OMB Review; Annual Report on Households Assisted
by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (OMB #0970-0060)
AGENCY: Office of Community Services (OCS), Administration for Children
and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (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 Office of Management and
Budget (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 the 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 due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a
decision about the collection of information between 30 and 60 days
after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore,
a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it
within 30 days of publication.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. One can find this
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day
Review-Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. You
can also obtain copies of the proposed collection of information by
emailing <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4920272f262a2625252c2a3d20262709282a2f6721213a672e263f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="274e49414844484b4b4244534e484967464441094f4f5409404851">[email protected]</span></a>. Identify all emailed 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, 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
[[Page 71333]]
[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 the LIHEAP resources
are equity 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 Low Income Household Water Assistance Program
(LIHWAP), which will collect demographic data on beneficiaries in FY
2023.
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
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Total number
Total number of responses Average Annual burden
Instrument of per burden hours hours
respondents respondent per response
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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.
Authority: U.S.C. 8629 and 45 CFR.
Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-25336 Filed 11-21-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-80-P
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