PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed action:
This is a consensus rule making to amend section 393.4(c) of Title 18 NYCRR. This rule is proposed pursuant to SAPA section 207(3), 5-Year Review of Existing Rules.
Statutory authority:
Social Services Law, sections 20(3)(d), 34, 97 and 131(1)
Subject:
Home Energy Assistance Program.
Purpose:
To relocate an undesignated paragraph concerning regular Home Energy Assistance Program benefits to a more appropriate location within the same regulatory section.
Text of proposed rule:
Subdivision (c) of section 393.4 is amended to read as follows:
(c) “Regular HEAP benefit.” For purposes of the annual HEAP State Plan, eligibility for the regular HEAP benefit must be determined annually and must be based on the household's circumstances (income, household size, energy type, etc.) for the entire calendar month in which the household has filed its application. In order to be eligible for a regular HEAP benefit, a household must pay for heat directly or make undesignated energy payments for heat in the form of rent and not reside in an ineligible living situation as provided in paragraph (3) of this subdivision. If heat is not included in the applicant's rent, a vendor relationship must be established for the applicant household. The vendor relationship must be documented by a current fuel/utility bill or contact with the fuel/utility company. While the applicant is not required to be the customer of record for regular HEAP, direct responsibility for payment of the bill must be established if the applicant or member of the applicant household is not the customer of record. The term “customer of record” means a person or persons who have an account, in their name, with a home energy vendor. The term “home energy vendor” means an individual or entity engaged in the business of selling electricity, natural gas, oil, propane, kerosene, coal, wood, or any other fuel used for residential heating. Once determined eligible, a household will receive a regular HEAP benefit for such program year in an amount to be set by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (the office). The office must annually establish a payment matrix which will enable the office to meet the requirements of 42 USC section 8624(b)(5) and (8) and which sets payment levels with consideration to the availability of Federal funds and utilizes various factors including, but not limited to, income and fuel costs. Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subdivision, the following households shall be eligible to receive a regular HEAP benefit, if and to the extent that an allocation of Federal funds is available to the district in which the household resides.
The undesignated paragraph following subparagraph (ix) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) of section 393.4 is repealed.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Jeanine Stander Behuniak, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, 40 N. Pearl St., 16C, Albany, NY 12243-0001, (518) 474-9779, e-mail: Jeanine.Behuniak@otda.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Reasoned Justification for Modification of the Rule
Pursuant to section 207 of the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA), the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) must review at five-year intervals those regulations that were adopted on or after January 1, 1997. In accordance with this provision, OTDA published in the New York State Register, on January 4, 2006, a list of regulations that it had adopted in the year 2002. OTDA received one letter in response to the rule review. That letter, in part, asserted that subdivision (c) of section 393.4 of Title 18 NYCRR was difficult to cite due to an undesignated paragraph at the end of that subdivision.
OTDA is proposing a technical amendment to subdivision (c) of section 393.4 to relocate the undesignated paragraph to a more appropriate location. The undesignated paragraph generally addresses regular Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits. At the present time, the undesignated paragraph is located after paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) of that section. Paragraph (4) concerns specific eligibility requirements. It would be more appropriate if the undesignated paragraph were moved from paragraph (4) to the beginning of that subdivision, which addresses regular HEAP benefits. From a program perspective, it would be more logical if the undesignated paragraph were located at the beginning of subdivision (c), and as a practical matter, the undesignated paragraph could then be accurately cited as subdivision (c) of section 393.4 of Title 18 NYCRR.
Consensus Rule Making Determination
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is proposing a rule to amend subdivision (c) of section 393.4 of Title 18 NYCRR to relocate an undesignated paragraph concerning regular Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits. OTDA has determined that no person is likely to object to the adoption of the proposed rule as written.
This proposed rule is a technical amendment. At the present time, there is an undesignated paragraph, which generally addresses regular HEAP benefits, at the end of subdivision (c) of section 393.4. The undesignated paragraph is located after paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) of that section. Paragraph (4) concerns specific eligibility requirements for HEAP. It would be more appropriate if the undesignated paragraph were moved from paragraph (4) to the beginning of that subdivision, which addresses regular HEAP benefits. From a program perspective, it would be more logical if the undesignated paragraph were located at the beginning of subdivision (c), and as a practical matter, the undesignated paragraph could then be cited as subdivision (c) of section 393.4 of Title 18 NYCRR.
It is expected that no person will object to the proposed amendments contained in this consensus rule since the rule renders section 393.4 of Title 18 NYCRR more comprehensible to the public.
Job Impact Statement
A job impact statement has not been prepared for the proposed regulatory amendment. It is evident from the technical nature of the amendment that the jobs of the workers applying the regulation impacted by the proposed amendment would not be affected in any real way. Thus, the change would not have any impact on jobs and employment opportunities in the State.
