§ 1894 — Competitive grants for outreach, enrollment and related services

§ 1894. Competitive grants for outreach, enrollment and related\nservices. 1. The authority shall issue one or more program opportunity\nnotices or requests for proposals to solicit applications from\npartnerships or consortia comprised of constituency-based organizations\nwhich can connect community members to the program, including\nfacilitating awareness of the program and enrollment, and (a)\ndistribution utilities, (b) contractors that have signed enforceable\nagreements to meet standards set by the authority, including standards\nfor local hiring and pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship and other\nlabor-management training program participation, (c) workforce\ndevelopment organizations that will recruit unemployed individuals, and\nprovide training and job placement in conjunction with contractors\npursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-seven of this title; and/or\n(d) organized trades and their certification or apprenticeship programs.\nThe authority shall specifically solicit applications that propose to\ndemonstrate the feasibility of innovative financing mechanisms,\nincluding but not limited to applications undertaken in partnership with\ndistribution utilities that propose to demonstrate the feasibility of\non-bill financing. The public service commission and other appropriate\nagencies are authorized to coordinate with the authority and applicants\nin developing and implementing proposed demonstrations of innovative\nfinancing mechanisms.\n 2. In awarding grants, the authority shall:\n (a) target communities in areas where energy costs are particularly\nhigh in relation to a measure of median household income as determined\nby the authority; or which have been designated as a nonattainment area\nfor one or more pollutants pursuant to section 107 of the federal Clean\nAir Act (42 U.S.C. section 4207);\n (b) give preference in awards to applicants that include significant\nparticipation by minority and women owned business enterprises and/or to\napplications to serve economically distressed communities;\n (c) ensure that the awards as a whole reflect the geographic diversity\nof the state; and\n (d) award a sufficient number of grants to make it possible to fully\ncommit the resources allocated during the initial phase of the program.\n 3. (a) The authority is authorized to consult with the department of\npublic service, the division of housing and community renewal, the\ndepartment of labor and the department of environmental conservation, as\nappropriate, in making any determinations contemplated by this section.\n (b) The authority shall consult with representatives of businesses who\nprovide home heating oil, propane and other petroleum-based heating\nproducts to develop innovative financing mechanisms for energy\nefficiency retrofits.\n (c) The authority shall consult with the division of housing and\ncommunity renewal and the council established pursuant to section\neighteen hundred ninety-eight of this title to develop strategies to\nmitigate any adverse economic impact of the program on tenants,\nincluding but not limited to residents of in rent-regulated housing or\nrecipients of housing subsidies.\n 4. Any organization using funding provided under the program for\nmarketing or other outreach activities shall not commingle such\nmarketing or outreach activities with any other advocacy or policy\npromotion efforts.\n