Section 370-AA. State heating fuel crisis assistance

1. The commissioner
  shall establish a state program to provide heating fuel  related  crisis
  assistance  to households whose total income from all sources is between
  one hundred twenty-five percent and two hundred percent of  the  federal
  community  services  administration  poverty guidelines and who have not
  received a grant for heating fuel assistance during the nineteen hundred
  seventy-nine--nineteen hundred eighty winter from any other emergency or
  energy assistance program. To  the  extent  funds  are  available,  such
  household  may  apply and be eligible for assistance if the household is
  threatened  with  shut-off  or  nondelivery  of  heating  fuel  due   to
  nonpayment  and  in  the case of a one person household, the household's
  liquid resources do not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars  or  in
  the  case  of households of more than one person liquid resources do not
  exceed two thousand two hundred fifty dollars.  Liquid  resources  shall
  mean  those  resources  which  are  in cash or are financial instruments
  which are convertible to cash.
    2. Eligible households with incomes between  one  hundred  twenty-five
  percent  and one hundred fifty percent of the federal community services
  administration poverty guidelines may receive a  total  benefit  not  to
  exceed two hundred dollars; eligible households with incomes between one
  hundred  fifty  per  cent  and  one  hundred seventy-five percent of the
  federal community services administration poverty guidelines may receive
  a total benefit not to exceed one hundred fifty  dollars;  and  eligible
  households with incomes between one hundred seventy-five percent and two
  hundred percent of the federal community services administration poverty
  guidelines  may  receive  a  total  benefit  not  to  exceed one hundred
  dollars. Eligible households which pay for  heat  directly  may  receive
  benefits  in  the  form  of  direct payment to suppliers of home heating
  fuels. All households may receive assistance in the form of cash  up  to
  fifty  dollars for warm clothing, blankets, replacement of broken window
  panes,  firewood,  temporary  shelter,  emergency  repairs  to   heating
  equipment,  nutrition, health and other supportive services. In no event
  shall the sum of assistance under this program made to or on  behalf  of
  any  household exceed the actual amount needed to ameliorate the heating
  fuel crisis.
    3. a. Assistance  may  also  be  provided  to  households  whose  rent
  includes  heat.  Such  assistance may be provided only in the event that
  the owner of the rented dwelling has abandoned responsibility for paying
  heating costs. Such assistance may be in the form of  emergency  heating
  fuel deliveries.
    b.  Such  assistance  shall  be  provided  for  a period not to exceed
  fifteen days, in order to allow time for appropriate action to be  taken
  by city or county officials.
    c.  In  such  cases  where  the  landlord  or  owner has abandoned his
  responsibility for paying heating costs, and where tenants or  landlords
  can  verify that at least sixty percent of the building's households are
  at or below two  hundred  percent  of  the  federal  community  services
  administration poverty guidelines, the buildings may qualify.
    d.  The  department  shall make all reasonable efforts to recover from
  the landlord, emergency expenditures for heating fuel.
    4. This program shall be administered at the county level and  in  the
  city  of  New  York  by  the local departments of social services. Local
  departments shall distribute funds allocated  for  heating  fuel  crisis
  assistance  to eligible households for the payment of heating fuel costs
  as described  in  subdivisions  two  and  three  of  this  section.  The
  department  shall  prepare  application  forms  for  use  by  the  local
  departments and instructions to  be  used  in  completing  applications.
  Certification  of  eligibility and authorization of payment shall be the

  responsibility of the local departments.  The  local  departments  shall
  provide  for  preliminary  screening  and  assistance  to  applicants by
  community action agencies, area offices on  aging  and  other  community
  agencies.
    5.  The  department  and  local  departments  shall  contract  for the
  provision  of  an  outreach  program  to  inform  potentially   eligible
  households  of  the  availability of heating fuel crisis assistance. The
  department shall enter into an agreement with the state office  for  the
  aging  which  will  provide  outreach  to the elderly and with community
  action agencies and other community based agencies for outreach to other
  potentially eligible households. The department  shall  develop  program
  materials  which  will  be made available to utilities, fuel oil dealers
  and community agencies for the purpose of informing the public about the
  availability of crisis assistance.
    6. Elderly persons over the age of sixty shall be a priority class  to
  be  served  by this program. To insure the priority becomes operational,
  local departments shall provide directly  or  when  appropriate  through
  contract  the  following  special  services  to the elderly: priority in
  scheduling appointments; arrangements for transportation when  no  other
  transportation is available; intake and certification at home or through
  a representative for those elderly who are homebound.
    7.  Payments made under this program shall not be considered as income
  or resource for the purpose  of  determining  eligibility  for  benefits
  under any income maintenance or medical assistance program.
    8.  The  department  shall  be  responsible  for  monitoring the local
  implementation of this program. All cases  including  a  declaration  of
  income  shall be subject to a redetermination and verification of income
  eligibility. To insure that the elderly receive priority, the department
  shall periodically review the population certified to  receive  benefits
  and  in districts where the elderly are not being served shall, with the
  state office for aging, take appropriate  actions  to  ensure  that  the
  elderly  are served. The department and local districts shall maintain a
  system of records for this program which  is  separate  from  any  other
  emergency or energy related assistance program.
    No   later  than  July  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  eighty,  the
  department shall provide the governor and legislature with a  report  on
  the  state  heating  fuel crisis assistance program's implementation and
  use in each district. Such report shall  include  the  total  number  of
  households  and  the  number of elderly households served in each income
  category, the amount and type of assistance provided to  each  household
  and  the  activities and expenditures for all administering and outreach
  agencies in each district.
    9. The department  shall  promulgate  all  regulations  necessary  for
  operation  of the state heating fuel crisis assistance program which are
  consistent with the state plan for the nineteen hundred eighty community
  services administration energy crisis assistance program.
    10. Within the  amounts  appropriated  therefor  funds  will  be  made
  available  to  each  social  services  district  for heating fuel crisis
  assistance.  If  a  county  or  city  social  services  district  incurs
  expenditures  in  excess  of its allocated amount, the county or city as
  the case may be shall be liable for such  expenditures.  Funds  will  be
  allocated  by  the  department  according to the following formula: Five
  percent of the funds shall be set aside by the department to be used  in
  meeting   any  unanticipated  heating  fuel  related  crisis  caused  by
  especially severe weather. All remaining funds and set aside funds which
  are  unexpended  by  April  first,  nineteen  hundred  eighty  shall  be
  allocated  according  to  the  following  formula: Twenty percent of the
  funds shall be allocated equally  to  every  county  and  the  remaining

  eighty  percent  shall  be allocated to the fifty-seven counties outside
  the city of New York and the city of New York  based  on  the  corrected
  product of the percentage of state's poverty population residing in each
  county,  the  average  heating degree days for the county divided by the
  state average and the percentage of  county  population  which  is  aged
  divided by the percentage of state population which is aged.
    When  thirty  percent  of  the funds are obligated the department will
  review the expenditures of program funds for the  elderly  with  a  view
  toward  increasing  outreach  and  support  services  if  this  priority
  population is not being reached.
    When fifty percent of the funds are  obligated,  the  department  will
  review  the initial allocation to determine variances in utilization and
  make appropriate adjustments or transfers.
    11. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the commissioner determines that
  a federally funded program of energy crisis assistance is in effect  and
  is  duplicative  in  whole  or  part to the program provided for in this
  section the commissioner shall notify the local social services district
  in writing of such determination of duplication and the date after which
  state reimbursement for all or part of the expenditures made pursuant to
  this section shall not be authorized.
    12. For purposes of this section, the term "home heating  fuel"  shall
  mean  fuel  oil,  coal,  wood, propane, natural gas, electricity, steam,
  kerosene and any other fuel when used for residential heating purposes.
    * NB Expired October 1, 1980