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ACKNOWLEDGING THE IMPORTANCE OF FUNDING FOR THE WEATHERIZATION
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
______
HON. DAVID B. McKINLEY
of west virginia
in the house of representatives
Friday, October 8, 2021
Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the importance of robust funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The purpose of this program is to prepare the buildings that low-income Americans live in for the requirements of the 21st century.
The current limitations to the formula that provide funding for this program, however, will not cover the costs of ensuring that homes are cool enough in the hot weather, warm enough in the cold weather, or dry enough in any season. The formula for calculating the value of investments in homes must reflect the expected impact on the safety of participants and their homes under anticipated weather conditions, and the impact on their health and of adapting their energy system to meet future requirements. The current program cost limits mean that switching a home to a cleaner fuel mix is rarely possible. The same limits impede the integration of apprentice workers and other trainees into the program.
Therefore, the Secretary must ensure that the regulations for this Program achieve the statutory goals of permitting a combination of deep retrofit measures sufficient to keep participants safe from extreme weather conditions, minimize the greenhouse gas emissions from their homes, and ensure health conditions in weatherized homes.
The Secretary should establish the appropriate costs for an average package of retrofits that delivers retrofits of sufficient scale to produce safe, healthy, and efficient homes with the cleanest possible fuel mix, and to adjust applicable regulations to support this mission, particularly by ensuring the costs attributed to a home are no more than the costs of services provided directly to that home.
The Secretary should also simplify and streamline the procedures for delivering Weatherization investments, including the procedures for retrofitting entire multi-family buildings and the regulations regarding combination of Weatherization and funding available from other public or private sources for the same general purposes.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 178
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