42 U.S.C. § 6861
Section 6861 · Congressional findings and purpose
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Texas American Oil Corporation v. United States Department of Energy (1995)
Most recently applied in Houston v. Williams (November 2008)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The Congress finds that—
(1) a fast, cost-effective, and environmentally sound way to prevent future energy shortages in the United States while reducing the Nation's dependence on imported energy supplies, is to encourage and facilitate, through major programs, the implementation of energy conservation and renewable-resource energy measures with respect to dwelling units;
(2) existing efforts to encourage and facilitate such measures are inadequate because—
(A) many dwellings owned or occupied by low-income persons are energy inefficient;
(B) low-income persons can least afford to make the modifications necessary to provide for efficient energy equipment in such dwellings and otherwise to improve the energy efficiency of such dwellings;
(3) weatherization of such dwellings would lower shelter costs in dwellings owned or occupied by low-income persons as well as save energy and reduce future energy capacity requirements; and
(4) States, through Community Action Agencies established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.] and units of general purpose local government, should be encouraged, with Federal financial and technical assistance, to develop and support coordinated weatherization programs designed to alleviate the adverse effects of energy costs on such low-income persons, to supplement other Federal programs serving such low-income persons, and to increase energy efficiency.
(b) It is, therefore, the purpose of this part to develop and implement a weatherization assistance program to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings owned or occupied by low-income persons, reduce their total residential energy expenditures, and improve their health and safety, especially low-income persons who are particularly vulnerable such as the elderly, the handicapped, and children.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, referred to in subsec. (a)(4), is Pub. L. 88–452, Aug. 20, 1964, 78 Stat. 508, as amended, which was classified generally to chapter 34 (§2701 et seq.) of this title prior to repeal, except for titles VIII and X, by Pub. L. 97–35, title VI, §683(a), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 519. Titles VIII and X of the Act are classified generally to subchapters VIII (§2991 et seq.) and X (§2996 et seq.) of chapter 34 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
Amendments
1990—Pub. L. 101–440 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows:
“(a) The Congress finds that—
“(1) dwellings owned or occupied by low-income persons frequently are inadequately insulated;
“(2) low-income persons, particularly elderly and handicapped low-income persons, can least afford to make the modifications necessary to provide for adequate insulation in such dwellings and to otherwise reduce residential energy use;
“(3) weatherization of such dwellings would lower utility expenses for such low-income owners or occupants as well as save thousands of barrels per day of needed fuel; and
“(4) States, through community action agencies established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and units of general purpose local government, should be encouraged, with Federal financial and technical assistance, to develop and support coordinated weatherization programs designed to ameliorate the adverse effects of high energy costs on such low-income persons, to supplement other Federal programs serving such persons, and to conserve energy.
“(b) It is, therefore, the purpose of this part to develop and implement a supplementary weatherization assistance program to assist in achieving a prescribed level of insulation in the dwellings of low-income persons, particularly elderly and handicapped low-income persons, in order both to aid those persons least able to afford higher utility costs and to conserve needed energy.”