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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release February 10, 2000

              PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES LOW INCOME HOME 
                ENERGY ASSISTANCE (LIHEAP) ALLOCATIONS
                           February 10, 2000

     These funds are in addition to the $45 million HHS released to

eleven states on January 25th. That release was targeted to states which were most seriously affected by the increase in home heating fuel prices at that time. Since then, fuel prices have continued to climb -- by more than 60 percent in some states -- causing significant hardship for low-income families throughout the country.

LIHEAP helps eligible families pay the costs of heating and insulating their homes in the winter, and cooling their homes in the summer. Approximately four million low-income households receive assistance each year.

Additional steps that the Administration will take include:

Ensuring Availability of Small Business Administration Loans for heating oil distributors who need a better cash flow in order to meet contractual obligations and make deliveries;
Working with states on a case-by-case basis to determine whether temporary Clean Air Act waivers are necessary to address the current situation of high fuel oil prices. This would add to the quantity of available fuels to ensure that people have adequate fuel oil supplies this winter;
Obtaining "Hours of Service" waivers through a joint Energy Department/Department of Transportation/State Energy Office task force which will enable truckers to work extended hours to deliver product safely;
Urging refiners to defer routine maintenance turnarounds. Recognizing individual refinery needs and safety requirements, the Administration urged trade associations and companies to defer turnarounds to increase heating oil production until the home heating oil crisis has passed;
Urging State Public Utility Commissions to exercise interruptible contract options and switch from heating oil to natural gas and tasking the Energy Information Agency and the Energy Department Office of Policy to jointly conduct a study on the impacts of interruptible contracts on home heating oil supply;
Re-establishing an Energy Emergency Office at the Energy Department to enable the federal government to work more closely with the states to anticipate, plan and respond in a more immediate and coordinated way when energy crises occur, including heating oil/gasoline shortages, power outages, or pipeline emergencies;
Intensifying diplomatic efforts with OPEC and other oil trading partners. Secretary Richardson will be meeting with the ministers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 10 days and has already met or spoken with his counterparts in Mexico, Venezuela and Norway; and
Creating a DOE/U.S. Coast Guard Task Force for Product Movement, to prioritize heating oil shipments at terminals, clear rivers as needed, deploy Coast Guard vessels and other resources to make certain there are no shipping or loading delays.

            Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
                   FY 2000 State Contingency Allotments

     The state allocations of the LIHEAP release follow.  These

allocations reflect the fact that some states have been more significantly affected by increased fuel prices than others in recent weeks and that eleven states already received LIHEAP emergency funds on January 25th. These totals include funds that will be provided directly to tribes in these states.

                                    Feb. 10th       Total Jan. 25th
     State                           Release         and Feb. 10th
     ______________________________________________________________

     Alabama                     $    730,048        $     730,048
     Alaska                           466,006            2,936,034
     Arizona                          353,060              353,060 
     Arkansas                         557,061              557,061 
     California                     3,916,496            3,916,496 
     Colorado                       1,365,560            1,365,560 
     Connecticut                    3,078,067            6,186,268 
     Delaware                         236,449            1,183,355 
     District of Columbia             276,658              276,658 
     Florida                        1,155,154            1,155,154 
     Georgia                          913,327              913,327 
     Hawaii                            91,977               91,977 
     Idaho                            532,659              532,659 
     Illinois                       4,930,667            4,930,667 
     Indiana                        2,232,467            2,232,467 
     Iowa                           1,582,180            1,582,180 
     Kansas                           726,608              726,608 
     Kentucky                       1,161,769            1,161,769 
     Louisiana                        746,362              746,362 
     Maine                          1,154,077           11,441,506 
     Maryland                       3,164,769            3,164,769 
     Massachusetts                  3,563,433           13,653,916 
     Michigan                       4,681,236            4,681,236 
     Minnesota                      3,612,513            3,612,513 
     Mississippi                      625,903              625,903 
     Missouri                       1,969,501            1,969,501 
     Montana                          624,776              624,776 
     Nebraska                         782,449              782,449 
     Nevada                           165,822              165,822 
     New Hampshire                    674,485            6,086,898 
     New Jersey                     7,553,190           10,590,834 
     New Mexico                       442,007              442,007 
     New York                      34,337,864           36,986,065 
     North Carolina                 3,948,115            3,948,115 
     North Dakota                     802,567              802,567 
     Ohio                           4,361,912            4,361,912 
     Oklahoma                         671,064              671,064 
     Oregon                         1,058,367            1,058,367 
     Pennsylvania                  14,477,123           16,987,005 
     Rhode Island                     586,561            3,214,145 
     South Carolina                 1,053,634            1,053,634 
     South Dakota                     798,978              798,978 
     Tennessee                      1,176,847            1,176,847 
     Texas                          1,921,791            1,921,791 
     Utah                             634,579              634,579 
     Vermont                          505,551            2,366,780 
     Virginia                       3,683,634            3,683,634 
     Washington                     1,740,868            1,740,868 
     West Virginia                    768,830              768,830 
     Wisconsin                      3,035,793            3,035,793 
     Wyoming                          254,072              254,072 
     Puerto Rico                      103,637              103,637 
     Outer Pacific                      7,529                7,529 
     Virgin Islands                     3,948                3,948
     ______________________________________________________________

              Total             $ 130,000,000        $ 175,000,000