§ 6865 — Limitations On Financial Assistance

(1) Not more than an amount equal to 15 percent of any grant made by the Secretary under this part may be used for administrative purposes in carrying out duties under this part, except that not more than one-half of such amount may be used by any State for such purposes, and a State may provide in the plan adopted pursuant to subsection (b) for recipients of grants of less than $350,000 to use up to an additional 5 percent of such grant for administration if the State has determined that such recipient requires such additional amount to implement effectively the administrative requirements established by the Secretary pursuant to this part. (2) The Secretary shall establish energy audit procedures and techniques which (i) meet standards established by the Secretary after consultation with the State Energy Advisory Board established under section 6325(g) of this title, (ii) establish priorities for selection of weatherization measures based on their cost and contribution to energy efficiency, (iii) measure the energy requirement of individual dwellings and the rate of return of the total conservation investment in a dwelling, and (iv) account for interaction among energy efficiency measures. (b) The Secretary shall insure that financial assistance provided under this part will— (1) be allocated within the State or area in accordance with a published State or area plan, which is adopted by such State after notice and a public hearing, describing the proposed funding distributions and recipients; (2) be allocated, pursuant to such State or area plan, to community action agencies carrying out programs under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2781 et seq.] or to other appropriate and qualified public or nonprofit entities in such State or area so that— (A) funds will be allocated on the basis of the relative need for weatherization assistance among the low-income persons within such State or area, taking into account appropriate climatic and energy conservation factors; and (B) due consideration will be given to the results of periodic evaluations of the projects carried out under this part in light of available information regarding the current and anticipated energy and weatherization needs of low-income persons within the State; and (3) be terminated or discontinued during the application period only in accordance with policies and procedures consistent with the policies and procedures set forth in section 6868 of this title. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), the expenditure of financial assistance provided under this part for labor, weatherization materials, and related matters shall not exceed an average of $6,500 per dwelling unit weatherized in that State. Labor, weatherization materials, and related matter includes, but is not limited to— (A) the appropriate portion of the cost of tools and equipment used to install weatherization materials for a dwelling unit; (B) the cost of transporting labor, tools, and materials to a dwelling unit; (C) the cost of having onsite supervisory personnel; (D) and (E) (2) Dwelling units weatherized (including dwelling units partially weatherized) under this part, or under other Federal programs (in this paragraph referred to as “previous weatherization”), may not receive further financial assistance for weatherization under this part until the date that is 15 years after the date such previous weatherization was completed. This paragraph does not preclude dwelling units that have received previous weatherization from receiving assistance and services (including the provision of information and education to assist with energy management and evaluation of the effectiveness of installed weatherization materials) other than weatherization under this part or under other Federal programs, or from receiving non-Federal assistance for weatherization. (3) Beginning with fiscal year 2000, the dwelling unit averages provided in paragraphs (1) and (4) shall be adjusted annually by increasing the average amount by an amount equal to— (A) the average amount for the previous fiscal year, multiplied by (B) the lesser of (i) the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (all items, United States city average) for the most recent calendar year completed before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the determination is being made, or (ii) three percent. (4) The expenditure of financial assistance provided under this part for labor, weatherization materials, and related matters for a renewable energy system shall not exceed an average of $3,000 per dwelling unit. (A) The Secretary shall by regulations— (i) establish the criteria which are to be used in prescribing performance and quality standards under paragraph (6)(A)(ii) or in specifying any form of renewable energy under paragraph (6)(A)(i)(I); and (ii) establish a procedure under which a manufacturer of an item may request the Secretary to certify that the item will be treated, for purposes of this paragraph, as a renewable energy system. (B) The Secretary shall make a final determination with respect to any request filed under subparagraph (A)(ii) within 1 year after the filing of the request, together with any information required to be filed with such request under subparagraph (A)(ii). (C) Each month the Secretary shall publish a report of any request under subparagraph (A)(ii) which has been denied during the preceding month and the reasons for the denial. (D) The Secretary shall not specify any form of renewable energy under paragraph (6)(A)(i)(I) unless the Secretary determines that— (i) there will be a reduction in oil or natural gas consumption as a result of such specification; (ii) such specification will not result in an increased use of any item which is known to be, or reasonably suspected to be, environmentally hazardous or a threat to public health or safety; and (iii) available Federal subsidies do not make such specification unnecessary or inappropriate (in the light of the most advantageous allocation of economic resources). (6) In this subsection— (A) the term “renewable energy system” means a system which— (i) when installed in connection with a dwelling, transmits or uses— (I) solar energy, energy derived from the geothermal deposits, energy derived from biomass, or any other form of renewable energy which the Secretary specifies by regulations, for the purpose of heating or cooling such dwelling or providing hot water or electricity for use within such dwelling; or (II) wind energy for nonbusiness residential purposes; (ii) meets the performance and quality standards (if any) which have been prescribed by the Secretary by regulations; (iii) in the case of a combustion rated system, has a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75 percent; and (iv) in the case of a solar system, has a thermal efficiency rating of at least 15 percent; and (B) the term “biomass” means any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis, including agricultural crops and trees, wood and wood wastes and residues, plants (including aquatic plants), grasses, residues, fibers, and animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other waste materials. (d) of this title to provide supplementary financial assistance to those States which the Secretary determines have achieved the best performance during the previous fiscal year in achieving the purposes of this part. In making this determination, the Secretary shall— (1) consult with the State Energy Advisory Board established under section 6325(g) of this title; and (2) give priority to those States which, during such previous fiscal year, obtained a significant portion of income from non-Federal sources for their weatherization programs or increased significantly the portion of low-income weatherization assistance that the State obtained from non-Federal sources. (A) Beginning with fiscal year 1992, the Secretary may allocate, from funds appropriated pursuant to section 6872(b) 3 of this title, among the States an equal amount for each State not to exceed $100,000 per State. Each State shall make available amounts received under this subsection to provide supplementary financial assistance to recipients of grants under this part that have achieved the best performance during the previous fiscal year in advancing the purposes of this part. (B) None of the funds made available under this subsection may be used by any State for administrative purposes. (2) The Secretary shall, after consulting with the State Energy Advisory Board referred to in subsection (d)(1), prescribe guidelines to be used by each State in making available supplementary financial assistance under this subsection, with a priority being given to subgrantees that, by law or through administrative or other executive action, provided non-Federal resources (including private resources) to supplement Federal financial assistance under this part during the previous fiscal year.