Why It Matters
States and tribal grantees receiving federal block grants for energy assistance, social services, and mental health programs would face fewer administrative requirements under a proposal the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published Oct. 29.
ACF says the revisions are "intended to streamline grantee obligations, eliminate unnecessary requirements, and align the regulations with current law and policy." The agency also assessed the proposal under Executive Order 14192, which requires certain new regulatory costs to be offset by eliminating costs associated with prior regulations.
The Big Picture
The proposal would revise ACF's block grant regulations to remove outdated fiscal-year triggers, duplicative provisions, and agency-created procedural requirements affecting states and tribal grantees under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) block grants. ACF says the current regulations "include outdated provisions and procedural requirements that no longer reflect statutory authority or agency practice." Comments are due Nov. 30.
This is a proposed rule; no effective date has been set. Written comments must be received by Nov. 30 and may be submitted through regulations.gov.
What the Proposal Would Remove
Several provisions targeted for deletion are already inoperative. 45 C.F.R. § 96.43, covering LIHEAP tribal procedures for fiscal year 1982 only, would be removed as wholly obsolete. The CSBG expenditure restriction referenced in 45 C.F.R. § 96.14 was removed from federal law but never deleted from the regulation; the proposal would correct that mismatch.
The proposal would also add the SAMHSA block grants to the list of programs subject to statutory expenditure limits in § 96.14(b), reflecting laws enacted after the section was last updated. ACF says the relevant statutes impose a two-year limit on obligating and expending those allotments. In 45 C.F.R. § 96.10, the proposal would remove the phrase "Effective beginning in fiscal year 2001" from provisions establishing application deadlines for SSBG and LIHEAP; the underlying deadlines would remain.
In 45 C.F.R. § 96.15, the proposal updates the title of the SAMHSA official who receives waiver applications from "Administrator" to "Assistant Secretary," updates the substance-use block grant's name to its current statutory title and removes an obsolete reference to the Secretary's LIHEAP waiver authority beginning in fiscal year 1986.
The Foster-Home Restriction and SSBG Definitions
Section 96.71 of 45 CFR Part 96 defines "integral but subordinate" for purposes of the SSBG room-and-board prohibition and states that room and board in a foster family home cannot qualify as an integral but subordinate part of a social service. The proposal would remove § 96.71 in full. ACF says the foster-family-home restriction was "an extension of statutory interpretation by agency regulators that does not align with Congressional action." Removing it would restore states' flexibility to use SSBG funds for qualifying short-term room and board in foster family homes, subject to the underlying statutory restrictions. The agency says this "will not result in increased costs as this is a capped program."
The proposal would also remove the section's regulatory definition of "employees," which ACF says extends beyond the statutory language by including staff, contractors and others under an institution's professional supervision.
Appendix A, which contains 29 uniform SSBG service definitions used in annual reporting under 45 C.F.R. § 96.74, would be removed from the regulation and placed in subregulatory guidance. The annual reporting section itself would be amended to remove the Appendix A cross-references and a paragraph referring to outdated reporting technology, including "computer diskettes." The underlying statutory annual reporting obligation would remain.
LIHEAP Weatherization Waivers
Under 45 C.F.R. § 96.83, states seeking to increase the LIHEAP weatherization spending cap from 15% to up to 25% of funds face agency-created procedural prerequisites and substantive criteria beyond the statutory "good cause" waiver standard. The Oct. 29 proposal would remove those additional requirements while preserving the statutory waiver authority under 42 U.S.C. 8624(k).
The proposed regulatory text would allow a grantee that does not meet one or more waiver criteria to submit documentation demonstrating good cause for granting a waiver despite that failure and explaining "how such a waiver will still accomplish the intent of the statute." ACF says the changes would restore the Secretary's discretion to evaluate waiver requests on their merits.
The Bottom Line
The proposed rule's comment period opened Oct. 29 and closes Nov. 30. The Federal Register currently lists two public comments received. Written comments may also be emailed to [email protected] with Docket No. ACF-2026-0628 or RIN 0970-AD49 in the subject line.
ACF says the proposal would not result in expenditures meeting the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act threshold of $193 million in any year, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and would create no new paperwork burdens. The agency also determined that the proposal does not require formal tribal consultation, although tribes are encouraged to submit comments.
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