Financial assistance for WAP enhancement and innovation

The purposes of this section are— to encourage entities providing weatherization assistance to hire and retain employees who are individuals— The Secretary shall, to the extent funds are made available, award financial assistance, on an annual basis, through a competitive process to entities receiving funding from the Federal Government or from a State, tribal organization, or unit of general purpose local government through a weatherization program under section 6863 of this title or section 6864 of this title, or to nonprofit entities, to be used by such an entity— with respect to dwelling units that are occupied by low-income persons, to— to improve the capability of the entity— In awarding financial assistance under this section, the Secretary shall consider— To be eligible for an award of financial assistance under this section, an applicant shall submit to the Secretary an application in such manner and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Subject to the availability of appropriations, not later than 270 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall make a first award of financial assistance under this section. The total amount of financial assistance awarded to an entity under this section shall not exceed $2,000,000. The total amount of financial assistance awarded to an entity under this section shall be reduced by the cost of any technical and training assistance provided by the Secretary that relates to such financial assistance. The term of an award of financial assistance under this section shall not exceed 3 years. An entity may use financial assistance awarded to such entity under this section in conjunction with other financial assistance provided to such entity under this part. Not later than 90 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall issue requirements to implement this section, including, for entities receiving financial assistance under this section— standards for— Nothing in this section supersedes or otherwise affects any State or local law, to the extent that the State or local law contains a requirement that is more stringent than the applicable requirement of this section. The Secretary shall review and evaluate the performance of each entity that receives an award of financial assistance under this section (which may include an audit). The Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report that provides a description of— For each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, of the amount made available under section 6872 of this title for such fiscal year to carry out the weatherization program under this part (not including any of such amount made available for Department of Energy headquarters training or technical assistance), not more than— For each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, if the amount made available under section 6872 of this title (not including any of such amount made available for Department of Energy headquarters training or technical assistance) for such fiscal year is less than $225,000,000, no funds shall be made available to carry out this section. For any fiscal year, the Secretary may not use more than $25,000,000 of the amount made available under section 6872 of this title to carry out this section. The Secretary may not award financial assistance under this section after September 30, 2025.