[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21750-21752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8993]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
State Median Income Estimate for a Four-Person Family: Notice of
the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2012 State Median Income Estimates for
Use Under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community
Services, Division of Energy Assistance, HHS.
ACTION: Notice of State median income estimates for FFY 2012.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces to LIHEAP grantees the estimated median
income of four-person families in each State and the District of
Columbia for FFY 2012 (October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012). LIHEAP
grantees that choose to base their income eligibility criteria on these
State median income (SMI) estimates may adopt these estimates (up to 60
percent) on the estimates' date of publication in the Federal Register
or on a later date as discussed below. This enables these grantees to
implement this notice during the period between the heating and cooling
seasons. However, by October 1, 2011, or the beginning of the grantees'
fiscal years, whichever is later, these grantees must adjust their
income eligibility criteria so that such criteria are in accord with
the FFY 2012 SMI.
This listing of 60 percent of SMI provides one of the maximum
income criteria that LIHEAP grantees may use in determining a
household's income eligibility for LIHEAP.
LIHEAP appropriations for FFY 2009 through FFY 2010 raised this
criterion from 60 percent of SMI to 75 percent of SMI for those years.
The Continuing Resolutions covering FFY 2011 through the date of this
publication have maintained this criterion at 75 percent of SMI. This
criterion will remain at 75 percent SMI for FFY 2011 unless Congress
acts otherwise after the date of this publication. This criterion will
return to 60 percent of SMI for FFY 2012 unless Congress acts otherwise
in providing FFY 2012 appropriations after the publication of this
notice. This is because no change to the LIHEAP authorizing statute has
been made.
DATES: Effective Date: For each LIHEAP grantee, these estimates become
effective at any time between their date of publication in the Federal
Register and the later of October 1, 2011, or the beginning of that
grantee's fiscal year.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Edelman, Office of Community
Services, Division of Energy Assistance, 5th Floor West, 370 L'Enfant
Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Telephone: (202) 401-5292, E-
Mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the provisions of section 2603(11) of
Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law
(Pub. L.) 97-35, as amended, HHS announces the estimated median income
of four-person families for each State, the District of Columbia, and
the United States for FFY 2012 (October 1, 2011, through September 30,
2012).
Section 2605(b)(2)(B)(ii) of this Act provides that 60 percent of
the median income of four-person families for each State and the
District of Columbia (State median income, or SMI), as annually
[[Page 21751]]
established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is one of
the income criteria that LIHEAP grantees may use in determining a
household's eligibility for LIHEAP.
LIHEAP was last authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public
Law 109-58, which was enacted on August 8, 2005. This authorization
expired on September 30, 2007, and reauthorization remains pending.
The SMI estimates that HHS publishes in this notice are three-year
estimates derived from the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by
the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce (Census Bureau).
HHS obtained these estimates directly from the Census Bureau. For
additional information about the ACS State median income estimates, see
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/statemedian/index.html. For
additional information about the ACS in general, see http://www.census.gov/acs/www/ or contact the Census Bureau's Housing and
Household Economic Statistics Division at (301) 763-3243.
Under the advice of the Census Bureau, HHS switched to three-year
estimates rather than single-year estimates to reduce the large year-
to-year fluctuations that the single-year estimates tend to generate
for certain States and the District of Columbia. HHS plans to use the
Census Bureau's ACS-derived SMI three-year estimates for all fiscal
years after 2010. For further information about ACS one-year and three-
year estimates, see http://factfinder.census.gov/jsp/saff/SAFFInfo.jsp?_content=acs_guidance.html.
The SMI estimates, like those derived from any survey, are subject
to two types of errors: (1) Nonsampling Error, which consists of random
errors that increase the variability of the data and non-random errors
that consistently direct the data into a specific direction; and (2)
Sampling Error, which consists of the error that arises from the use of
probability sampling to create the sample. For additional information
about the accuracy of the ACS SMI estimates, see http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/data_documentation/Accuracy/MultiyearACSAccuracyofData2009.pdf.
A State-by-State listing of SMI and 60 percent of SMI for a four-
person family for FFY 2012 follows. The listing describes the method
for adjusting SMI for families of different sizes as specified in
regulations applicable to LIHEAP, at 45 CFR 96.85(b), which were
published in the Federal Register on March 3, 1988, at 53 FR 6824 and
amended on October 15, 1999, at 64 FR 55858.
Dated: March 22, 2011.
Yolanda J. Butler,
Acting Director, Office of Community Services.
Estimated State Median Income for a Four-Person Family, by State, for
Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2012, for Use in the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
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60 percent of
Estimated State estimated State
States median income for median income for
four-person four-person
families\1\ families 2 3
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Alabama........................... $63,888 $38,333
Alaska............................ 86,515 51,909
Arizona........................... 69,119 41,471
Arkansas.......................... 56,219 33,731
California........................ 78,666 47,200
Colorado.......................... 80,717 48,430
Connecticut....................... 102,127 61,276
Delaware.......................... 83,602 50,161
District of Columbia.............. 69,558 41,735
Florida........................... 67,705 40,623
Georgia........................... 68,908 41,345
Hawaii............................ 87,463 52,478
Idaho............................. 62,079 37,247
Illinois.......................... 80,607 48,364
Indiana........................... 69,434 41,660
Iowa.............................. 73,413 44,048
Kansas............................ 71,842 43,105
Kentucky.......................... 63,825 38,295
Louisiana......................... 66,109 39,665
Maine............................. 68,237 40,942
Maryland.......................... 101,997 61,198
Massachusetts..................... 100,058 60,035
Michigan.......................... 73,433 44,060
Minnesota......................... 86,099 51,659
Mississippi....................... 55,809 33,485
Missouri.......................... 70,232 42,139
Montana........................... 66,079 39,647
Nebraska.......................... 70,665 42,399
Nevada............................ 71,230 42,738
New Hampshire..................... 91,832 55,099
New Jersey........................ 101,841 61,105
New Mexico........................ 54,500 32,700
New York.......................... 82,531 49,519
North Carolina.................... 67,966 40,780
North Dakota...................... 74,177 44,506
Ohio.............................. 72,817 43,690
Oklahoma.......................... 61,881 37,129
Oregon............................ 72,093 43,256
[[Page 21752]]
Pennsylvania...................... 78,287 46,972
Rhode Island...................... 87,669 52,601
South Carolina.................... 64,228 38,537
South Dakota...................... 68,064 40,838
Tennessee......................... 63,480 38,088
Texas............................. 65,508 39,305
Utah.............................. 70,322 42,193
Vermont........................... 74,877 44,926
Virginia.......................... 85,546 51,328
Washington........................ 81,788 49,073
West Virginia..................... 58,739 35,243
Wisconsin......................... 77,946 46,768
Wyoming........................... 75,998 45,599
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Note: FFY 2012 covers the period of October 1, 2011, through September
30, 2012. The estimated median income for four-person families living
in the United States for this period is $74,985. These estimates
become effective for LIHEAP at any time between the date of this
publication and October 1, 2011, or the beginning of a LIHEAP
grantee's fiscal year, whichever is later.
\1\ Prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce
(Census Bureau), from three-year estimates from the 2007, 2008 and
2009 American Community Surveys (ACSs). These estimates, like those
derived from any survey, are subject to two types of errors: (1)
Nonsampling Error, which consists of random errors that increase the
variability of the data and non-random errors that consistently direct
the data into a specific direction; and (2) Sampling Error, which
consists of the error that arises from the use of probability sampling
to create the sample.
\2\ These figures were calculated by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of
Community Services, Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) by multiplying
the estimated State median income for a four-person family for each
State by 60 percent.
\3\ To adjust for different sizes of family, 45 CFR 96.85 calls for
multiplying 60 percent of a State's estimated median income for a four-
person family by the following percentages: 52 percent for one person,
68 percent for two persons, 84 percent for three persons, 100 percent
for four persons, 116 percent for five persons, and 132 percent for
six persons. For each additional family member above six persons, 45
CFR 96.85 calls for adding 3 percentage points to the percentage for a
six-person family (132 percent) and multiply the new percentage by 60
percent of a State's estimated median income for a four-person family.
[FR Doc. 2011-8993 Filed 4-15-11; 8:45 am]
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