State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title17b > Chap319uu > Sec17b-801Sec. 17b-801. (Formerly Sec. 17-591). Fuel and weatherization assistance programs. Crime prevention and safety program. (a) The Commissioner of Social Services shall administer a state-appropriated fuel assistance program to provide, within available appropriations, fuel assistance to elderly and disabled persons whose household gross income is above the income eligibility guidelines for the Connecticut energy assistance program but does not exceed two hundred per cent of federal poverty guidelines. The income eligibility guidelines for the state-appropriated fuel assistance program shall be determined, annually, by the Commissioner of Social Services, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement the provisions of this subsection.
(b) The commissioner shall administer a state-appropriated weatherization assistance program to provide, within available appropriations, weatherization assistance in accordance with the provisions of the state plan implementing the weatherization assistance block grant program authorized by the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, and programs of fuel assistance and weatherization assistance with funds authorized by the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 and by the U.S. Department of Energy in accordance with 10 CFR Part 440 promulgated under Title IV of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended, and oil settlement funds in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of section 4-28. The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, (1) establishing priorities for determining which households shall receive such weatherization assistance, (2) requiring that such weatherization assistance for energy conservation measures other than the retrofitting of heating systems be provided only for any dwelling unit for which an energy audit has been conducted in accordance with the provisions of sections 16a-45a to 16a-46c, inclusive, (3) requiring that the only criterion for determining which energy conservation measures shall be implemented pursuant to this subsection in any such dwelling unit shall be the simple payback calculated for each energy conservation measure recommended in the energy audit conducted for such unit, (4) establishing the maximum allowable payback period for such energy conservation measures and (5) establishing conditions for the waiver of the provisions of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection in the event of emergencies. The programs provided for under this subsection shall include a program of fuel and weatherization assistance for emergency shelters for homeless individuals and victims of domestic violence. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement and administer the program of fuel and weatherization assistance for emergency shelters.
(c) The Commissioner of Social Services shall administer, within available appropriations, a crime prevention and safety program for residences occupied by elderly and disabled persons who are eligible for the weatherization assistance block grant program authorized by the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 or the state-appropriated weatherization assistance program. The program shall be operated through the community action agencies and the municipal agency responsible for said low income weatherization program. The program may provide for the purchase and installation, where necessary, of devices which allow a person inside a dwelling unit to view the area outside the door, or doors with windows, locks on windows and doors, and smoke detectors. The installation of devices under this program shall be done at the time weatherization is done.
(P.A. 84-267, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-406, S. 1, 2; 85-499, S. 1, 3; P.A. 86-177, S. 1, 2; P.A. 87-216, S. 2; P.A. 91-234, S. 2, 3; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87.)
History: P.A. 85-406 added Subsec. (b), requiring commissioner to administer a state-appropriated weatherization assistance program; P.A. 85-499 added Subsec. (c) re crime prevention and safety program; P.A. 86-177 added provisions in Subsec. (b) requiring commissioner to adopt regulations establishing priorities for weatherization assistance; P.A. 87-216 amended Subsec. (b) by requiring commissioner to administer federally funded fuel and weatherization assistance programs and a program of fuel and weatherization assistance for emergency shelters; Sec. 17-31w transferred to Sec. 17-591 in 1991; P.A. 91-234 revised provisions re determination of eligibility for the state-appropriated fuel assistance program in Subsec. (a); P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of human resources, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-591 transferred to Sec. 17b-801 in 1995; (Revisor's note: In 1997 the reference in Subsec. (a) to "Commissioner of the Department of Social Services" was replaced editorially by the Revisors with "Commissioner of Social Services" for consistency with customary statutory usage).
Cited. 233 C. 557.
