83 FR 4060 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 19 (January 29, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4060-4061]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01545]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Continued Use of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program (LIHEAP) Performance Data Form (LPDF).
    OMB No.: 0970-0449.
    Description: In response to the 2010 Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) report, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program--Greater 
Fraud Prevention Controls are Needed (GAO-10-621), and in consideration 
of the recommendations issued by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program (LIHEAP) Performance Measures Implementation Work Group, the 
Office of Community Services (OCS) required the collection and 
reporting of the new performance measures by state LIHEAP grantees and 
the District of Columbia. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approved the LIHEAP Performance Data Form (LPDF) in November 2014 (OMB 
Clearance No. 0970-0449) which expired on October 31, 2017. The LPDF 
provides for the collection of the following LIHEAP performance 
measures which are considered to be developmental as part of the 
Form.):
    1. The benefit targeting index for high burden households receiving 
LIHEAP fuel assistance;
    2. The burden reduction targeting index for high burden households 
receiving LIHEAP fuel assistance;
    3. The number of instances where LIHEAP prevented a potential home 
energy crisis; and
    4. The number of instances where LIHEAP benefits restored home 
energy.
    All State LIHEAP grantees and the District of Columbia are required 
to complete the LPDF data through the Administration for Children and 
Families' web-based, data collection and reporting system, the Online 
Data Collection (OLDC) which is available at https://home.grantsolutions.gov/home. The reporting requirements will be 
described through OLDC.
    The previously OMB-approved LIHEAP Grantee Survey on sources and 
uses of LIHEAP funds was added in 2014 to the LPDF in addition to the 
LIHEAP performance data. No substantive changes are being proposed for 
this data collection activity. A sample of the draft form is available 
for viewing here: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/resource/funding-applications.

Module 1. LIHEAP Grantee Survey (Required Reporting)

    Module 1 of the LPDF will continue to require the following data 
from each state for the federal fiscal year:
     Grantee information,
     sources and uses of LIHEAP funds,
     average LIHEAP household benefits, and
     maximum income cutoffs for 4-person households for each 
type of LIHEAP assistance provided by each grantee for the fiscal year.

Module 2. LIHEAP Performance Measures (Required Reporting)

    Module 2 of the LPDF will continue to require the following data 
from each state for the federal fiscal year:
     Grantee information,
     energy burden targeting,
     restoration of home energy service, and
     prevention of loss of home energy.

Module 3. LIHEAP Performance Measures (Optional Reporting)

    Module 3 of the LPDF will continue to voluntarily collect the 
following additional information from each interested grantee for the 
federal fiscal year:
     Average annual energy usage,
     Unduplicated number of households using supplemental 
heating fuel and air conditioning,
     Unduplicated number of households that had restoration of 
home energy service, and
     Unduplicated number of households that had prevention of 
loss of home energy.
    Based on the data collected in the LPDF:
     ACF will provide reliable and complete LIHEAP fiscal and 
household data to Congress in the Department's annual LIHEAP Report to 
Congress.
     ACF will calculate LHEAP performance measures and report 
the results through the annual budget development process and in 
LIHEAP's annual Congressional Justification (CJ) under the Government 
Performance and Results Act of 1993.
     ACF and grantees will be informed about the impact LIHEAP 
has with respect to LIHEAP households' home energy burden (the 
proportion of their income spent towards their home heating and cooling 
bills), including information on the difference between the average 
recipient and high burden recipients, restoring home energy service, 
and preventing loss of home energy service.
     ACF will be able to respond to questions on sources and 
uses of LIHEAP funds from the Congress, Department, OMB, White House, 
and other interested parties in a timely manner.
     LIHEAP grantees will be able to compare their own results 
to the results for other states, as well as to regional and national 
results, through the Data Warehouse of the LIHEAP Performance 
Management website as they manager their programs.
    ACF published a Federal Register notice on October 11, 2017 
soliciting 60 days of public comment on the renewal of the LIHEAP 
Performance Data Form without any changes and the continuation of 
requiring State grantees and the District of Columbia to collection the 
data collection annually. No comments were received during this 
timeframe.
    Respondents: 50 State LIHEAP Grantees plus the District of Columbia 
LIHEAP Grantee are the direct respondents.
    The table below shows the estimated annual reporting burden for the 
LPDF. These estimates are based on a small number of interviews with 
grantees.

[[Page 4061]]



                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Number of      Average burden
         Instrument               Number of  respondents       responses per       hours per       Total burden
                                                                respondent         response            hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Module 1: Grantee Survey
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grantees....................  51............................               1  30................           1,530
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Module 2: Performance Measures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grantees....................  51............................               1  150...............           7,650
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Grantees (in states with  100...........................               1  8.................             800
 sub-grantee managed
 systems).
Large Energy Vendors          1,530 (estimate)..............               1  8.................          12,240
 (largest 5 electric, 5 gas,
 10 fuel oil, and 10 propane
 vendors per state--average).
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Annual Burden       1,732.........................               1  Varies............          22,220
     Hours.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, 
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20201. Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests 
should be identified by the title of the information collection. Email 
address: [email protected].
    OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning 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. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office 
of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Email: 
[email protected], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration 
for Children and Families.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-01545 Filed 1-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-01-P