State Plans in the Hearing Process
On April 25, 2024, at 11:00 am, the Weatherization Assistance Program will hold a public hearing for the Annual Weatherization Program and the hearing for the 5-year Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Program immediately following.
Annual Weatherization Program Hearing
Purpose: To receive comments on the proposed “State of North Carolina, Weatherization Assistance Program, Annual State Plan”. Also, to receive comment on the accompanying “Training & Technical Assistance Plan”, “Health & Safety Plan”, and “Weatherization Installation Standard Work Specifications” for the proposed adoption.
The NCSEO implements “annual” WAP through a network of local providers with expertise in energy conservation. These subgrantees provide energy conservation services using their own trained crews or by subcontracting work to qualified contractors. On April 10, 2024, the United States Department of Energy released its funding allocations for FY2024-25 via WPN 24-2. As such, the NCWAP will receive $6,699,655 of US Department of Energy funds for the purpose of enhancing energy efficiency in the homes of low-income families, particularly those in disadvantaged communities (DACs), in all 100 counties of North Carolina.
5-Year BIL Program
Purpose: To receive comments on the proposed “State of North Carolina, Weatherization Assistance Program, Five Year Plan Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”. Also, to receive comment on the accompanying “Training & Technical Assistance Plan”, “Health & Safety Plan”, and “Weatherization Installation Standard Work Specifications” for the proposed adoption. The emphasis of this comment period is to adopt the following service providers, related qualifications, and associated service territories under the five-year Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) program: (A) Albemarle Commission Council of Governments [Region 1]; (B) Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC) [Region 5]; (C) Advanced Energy [Regions 2,3 & 4]; and (D) International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST) [Region 8]. In accordance with 10 CFR 440.15(a)(3), and the five-year BIL Plan, these providers were granted the regions under a “request for proposal” issued by the SEO.
On November 15, 2021, the President signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Under this law, the WAP was appropriated $89 million to expend by June 2027. As such, the United States Department of Energy requires each state to submit a plan that will address: (1) program management; (2) subgrantee networks; (3) production and expenditures; (4) training; (5) monitoring; and (6) BIL flow-down requirements such as “Davis-Bacon”, “Buy American”, and “Justice 40” prior to expending the funds.