277-22 Exhibit(s)-Low Income Household Water Assistance Program.pdf

DATA SHARING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS AND TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE I. PARTIES This Data Sharing Agreement (“Agreement”) is made and entered into by and between the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (“Department”) whose address is 101 South Broad Street, PO Box 800, Trenton, N.J. 08625-0037, and {Insert Utility Company} __________, serving as a participating vendor in the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (“LIHWAP”) (referred to as “Utility Company”), whose address is ______________________________. When executed by the Parties, this Agreement shall become effective as of the date of the last signature set forth below. II. PURPOSE The purpose of this Agreement is to establish the terms by which the Department and the Utility Company, will share customer information. As a participating vendor, Utility Company is eligible to receive direct payment based on customer’s eligibility for the LIHWAP, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF”) and/or Food Stamp programs and any other program where the customer’s eligibility has already been determined by the Department, or through an eligibility determination process for those customers who are not currently participating in a program administered by the Department. III. LEGAL AUTHORITY The Consolidated Appropriation Act 2021 (P.L. 116-260, 2020) and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2, 2020) provided the Department with funding to provide relief to assist low-income households with water and wastewater bills. As a result, the Department implemented the LIHWAP Program, to provide relief in the form of benefits directly to water and waste water utility companies. The Department entered into a Grant Implementation Plan that was submitted to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administrative for Children and Families, that allows it to receive necessary customer data from the participating Utility Company. Page 1 of 7