2002 Minnesota Statutes

     119A.41 Coordination of federal and state residential 
  weatherization programs. 

    Subdivision 1.    Agency designation.  The department is 
 the state agency to apply for, receive, and disburse money made 
 available to the state by federal law for the purpose of 
 weatherizing the residences of low-income persons.  The 
 commissioner must coordinate available federal money with state 
 money appropriated for this purpose. 

    Subd. 2.    Grants.  The commissioner must make grants 
 of federal and state money to community action agencies and 
 other public or private nonprofit agencies for the purpose of 
 weatherizing the residences of low-income persons.  Grant 
 applications must be submitted in accordance with rules 
 promulgated by the commissioner. 

    Subd. 3.    Benefits of weatherization.  In the case of 
 any grant made to an owner of a rental dwelling unit for 
 weatherization, the commissioner must require that (1) the 
 benefits of weatherization assistance in connection with the 
 dwelling unit accrue primarily to the low-income family that 
 resides in the unit; (2) the rents on the dwelling unit will not 
 be raised because of any increase in value due solely to the 
 weatherization assistance; and (3) no undue or excessive 
 enhancement will occur to the value of the dwelling unit. 

    Subd. 4.    Rules.  The commissioner must promulgate 
 rules that describe procedures for the administration of grants, 
 data to be reported by grant recipients, and compliance with 
 relevant federal regulations.  The commissioner must require 
 that a rental unit weatherized under this section be rented to a 
 household meeting the income limits of the program for 24 of the 
 36 months after weatherization is complete.  In applying this 
 restriction to multiunit buildings weatherized under this 
 section, the commissioner must require that occupancy continue 
 to reflect the proportion of eligible households in the building 
 at the time of weatherization.  

    Subd. 5.    Grant allocation.  The commissioner must 
 distribute supplementary state grants in a manner consistent 
 with the goal of producing the maximum number of weatherized 
 units.  Supplementary state grants are provided primarily for 
 the payment of additional labor costs for the federal 
 weatherization program, and as an incentive for the increased 
 production of weatherized units. 

    Criteria for the allocation of state grants to local 
 agencies include existing local agency production levels, 
 emergency needs, and the potential for maintaining or increasing 
 acceptable levels of production in the area.  

    An eligible local agency may receive advance funding for 90 
 days' production, but thereafter must receive grants solely on 
 the basis of program criteria.  

    Subd. 6.    Eligibility criteria.  To the extent allowed 
 by federal regulations, the commissioner must ensure that the 
 same income eligibility criteria apply to both the 
 weatherization program and the energy assistance program. 

    HIST: 1998 c 273 s 4