42 U.S.C. § 8623 : US Code - Section 8623: State allotments

Search 42 U.S.C. § 8623 : US Code - Section 8623: State allotments

(a) Amount; distribution, computation, etc.
(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary
shall, from that percentage of the amount appropriated under
section 8621(b) of this title for each fiscal year which is
remaining after reserving any amount permitted to be reserved under
section 8628a of this title and after the amount of allotments for
such fiscal year under subsection (b)(1) of this section is
determined by the Secretary, allot to each State an amount equal to
such remaining percentage multiplied by the State's allotment
percentage.
(B) From the sums appropriated therefor after reserving any
amount permitted to be reserved under section 8628a of this title,
if for any period a State has a plan which is described in section
8624(c)(1) of this title, the Secretary shall pay to such State an
amount equal to 100 percent of the expenditures of such State made
during such period in carrying out such plan, including
administrative costs (subject to the provisions of section
8624(b)(9)(B) of this title), with respect to households described
in section 8624(b)(2) of this title.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), for fiscal year 1985 and
thereafter, a State's allotment percentage is the percentage which
expenditures for home energy by low-income households in that State
bears to such expenditures in all States, except that States which
thereby receive the greatest proportional increase in allotments by
reason of the application of this paragraph from the amount they
received pursuant to Public Law 98-139 shall have their allotments
reduced to the extent necessary to ensure that -
(A)(i) no State for fiscal year 1985 shall receive less than
the amount of funds the State received in fiscal year 1984; and
(ii) no State for fiscal year 1986 and thereafter shall receive
less than the amount of funds the State would have received in
fiscal year 1984 if the appropriations for this subchapter for
fiscal year 1984 had been $1,975,000,000, and
(B) any State whose allotment percentage out of funds available
to States from a total appropriation of $2,250,000,000 would be
less than 1 percent, shall not, in any year when total
appropriations equal or exceed $2,250,000,000, have its allotment
percentage reduced from the percentage it would receive from a
total appropriation of $2,140,000,000.
(3) If the sums appropriated for any fiscal year for making
grants under this subchapter are not sufficient to pay in full the
total amount allocated to a State under paragraph (1) for such
fiscal year, the amount which all States will receive under this
subchapter for such fiscal year shall be ratably reduced.
(4) For the purpose of this section, the Secretary shall
determine the expenditure for home energy by low-income households
on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data available to the
Secretary.
(b) Allotments to insular areas
(1) The Secretary shall apportion not less than one-tenth of 1
percent, and not more than one-half of 1 percent, of the amounts
appropriated for each fiscal year to carry out this subchapter on
the basis of need among the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam,
American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Secretary shall
determine the total amount to be apportioned under this paragraph
for any fiscal year (which shall not exceed one-half of 1 percent)
after evaluating the extent to which each jurisdiction specified in
the preceding sentence requires assistance under this paragraph for
the fiscal year involved.
(2) Each jurisdiction to which paragraph (1) applies may receive
grants under this subchapter upon an application submitted to the
Secretary containing provisions which describe the programs for
which assistance is sought under this subchapter, and which are
consistent with the requirements of section 8624 of this title.
(c) Energy crisis intervention
Of the funds available to each State under subsection (a) of this
section, a reasonable amount based on data from prior years shall
be reserved until March 15 of each program year by each State for
energy crisis intervention. The program for which funds are
reserved by this subsection shall be administered by public or
nonprofit entities which have experience in administering energy
crisis programs under the Low-Income Energy Assistance Act of 1980,
or under this subchapter,(!1) experience in assisting low-income
individuals in the area to be served, the capacity to undertake a
timely and effective energy crisis intervention program, and the
ability to carry out the program in local communities. The program
for which funds are reserved under this subsection shall -
(1) not later than 48 hours after a household applies for
energy crisis benefits, provide some form of assistance that will
resolve the energy crisis if such household is eligible to
receive such benefits;
(2) not later than 18 hours after a household applies for
crisis benefits, provide some form of assistance that will
resolve the energy crisis if such household is eligible to
receive such benefits and is in a life-threatening situation; and
(3) require each entity that administers such program -
(A) to accept applications for energy crisis benefits at
sites that are geographically accessible to all households in
the area to be served by such entity; and
(B) to provide to low-income individuals who are physically
infirm the means -
(i) to submit applications for energy crisis benefits
without leaving their residences; or
(ii) to travel to the sites at which such applications are
accepted by such entity.
The preceding sentence shall not apply to a program in a
geographical area affected by a natural disaster in the United
States designated by the Secretary, or by a major disaster or
emergency designated by the President under the Disaster Relief Act
of 1974 (!1) [42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.], for so long as such
designation remains in effect, if the Secretary determines that
such disaster or such emergency makes compliance with such sentence
impracticable.
(d) Allotments to Indian tribes
(1) If, with respect to any State, the Secretary -
(A) receives a request from the governing organization of an
Indian tribe within the State that assistance under this
subchapter be made directly to such organization; and
(B) determines that the members of such tribe would be better
served by means of grants made directly to provide benefits under
this subchapter;
the Secretary shall reserve from amounts which would otherwise be
payable to such State from amounts allotted to it under this
subchapter for the fiscal year involved the amount determined under
paragraph (2).
(2) The amount determined under this paragraph for a fiscal year
is the amount which bears the same ratio to the amount which would
(but for this subsection) be allotted to such State under this
subchapter for such fiscal year (other than by reason of section
8626(b)(2) of this title) as the number of Indian households
described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 8624(b)(2) of
this title and residing within the State on the reservation of the
tribes or on trust lands adjacent to such reservation bears to the
number of all households described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
section 8624(b)(2) of this title in such State, or such greater
amount as the Indian tribe and the State may agree upon. In cases
where a tribe has no reservation, the Secretary, in consultation
with the tribe and the State, shall define the number of Indian
households for the determination under this paragraph.
(3) The sums reserved by the Secretary on the basis of a
determination under this subsection shall be granted to -
(A) the tribal organization serving the individuals for whom
such a determination has been made; or
(B) in any case where there is no tribal organization serving
an individual for whom such a determination has been made, such
other entity as the Secretary determines has the capacity to
provide assistance pursuant to this subchapter.
(4) In order for a tribal organization or other entity to be
eligible for an amount under this subsection for a fiscal year, it
shall submit to the Secretary a plan (in lieu of being under the
State's plan) for such fiscal year which meets such criteria as the
Secretary may by regulations prescribe.
(e) Allotment of emergency funds
Notwithstanding subsections (a) through (d) of this section, the
Secretary may allot amounts appropriated pursuant to section
8621(e) of this title to one or more than one State. In determining
whether to make such an allotment to a State, the Secretary shall
take into account the extent to which the State was affected by the
natural disaster or other emergency involved, the availability to
the State of other resources under the program carried out under
this subchapter or any other program, and such other factors as the
Secretary may find to be relevant. Not later than 30 days after
making the determination, but prior to releasing an allotted amount
to a State, the Secretary shall notify Congress of the allotments
made pursuant to this subsection.