<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".02" citation="COMAR 07.03.21.02" title_num="07" subtitle_num="03" chapter_num="21" heading="Definitions.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>The following terms have the meanings indicated.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>Terms Defined.</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>“Administration” means the Family Investment Administration of the Department of Human Services.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>“Applicant” means the head of household and spouse or cohabitant of the head of household, or representative of a shelter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>“Benefit” means the amount of assistance or related service that is provided on behalf of an eligible household.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>“Boarder” means an individual to whom a household furnishes lodging and meals for compensation. A relative may be given boarder status if aged 60 years old or older, or disabled.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>“Crisis assistance” means a benefit provided an eligible household during an energy-related emergency and required to be delivered within 18 or 48 hours in accordance with Regulation .10F or G of this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>“Current program year” means the State fiscal year from July 1 through June 30.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>“Department” means the Maryland Department of Human Services.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(8)">
      <text>“Disabled” means an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that interferes with one or more of life's major activities, such as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, working, or learning.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(9)">
      <text>“Domiciliary care facility” means an institution which admits aged or disabled persons, maintains the necessary facilities, and provides a protective institutional or home type environment to persons who are of advanced age or have a physical or mental disability.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(10)">
      <text>“Duration of benefit” means the length of a State fiscal year during which a household expends an energy benefit or has it returned to the Maryland Energy Assistance Program.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(11)">
      <text>“Elderly” means a person 60 years old or older.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(12)">
      <text>“Energy crisis” means weather-related or supply-shortage emergencies, or other household energy-related emergencies.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(13)">
      <text>“Energy supplier” means a vendor of home energy. An energy supplier may be a company or sole proprietorship supplying electricity, natural gas, propane, kerosene, coal, or wood for residential use.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(14)">
      <text>“Head of household” means a person who is designated by the household as the head or representative of the household.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(15)">
      <text>“Homeless person” means a resident of Maryland without shelter and lacking resources to provide shelter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(16)">
      <text>“Household” means an individual or group of individuals who are living together as one unit and for whom residential energy is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated payments for energy in the form of rent.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(17)">
      <text>“Landlord” means the owner of the property who leases or rents the property to the household.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(18)">
      <text>“Local agency” means the local administering agency that the Department has designated to administer a component or components of the Program.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(19)">
      <text>“Public housing” means a dwelling complex owned and operated by a local government and whose:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Residents are determined eligible based on income; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Rental fees are subsidized by local or federal funding.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(20)">
      <text>“Qualified alien” means an individual who is not a citizen of the United States who:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Is admitted to the United States as a refugee under §207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Is granted asylum under §208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Has had deportation or removal withheld under §234(h) or 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(e)">
        <text>Has been granted status as a Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in §501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(f)">
        <text>Is paroled into the United States under §212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for a period of at least 1 year;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(g)">
        <text>Is granted conditional entry pursuant to §203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as in effect before April 1, 1980; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(h)">
        <text>Is a battered spouse, battered child, or parent or child of a battered individual.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(21)">
      <text>“Renter” means an individual who leases a residential dwelling from a landlord.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(22)">
      <text>“Roomer” means an individual to whom a household furnishes lodging but not meals for compensation. A relative may be given roomer status if 60 years old or older, or disabled.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(23)">
      <text>Shelter.</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>“Shelter” means a public or private nonprofit residential facility whose function is to provide temporary or intermediate accommodations to battered spouses and homeless persons.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>“Shelter” does not include residential treatment programs, for example, those funded by the Departments of Juvenile Services, Aging, Human Services, and Department of Health.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(24)">
      <text>Subsidized Housing.</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>“Subsidized Housing” means a privately owned dwelling complex where eligibility for residency is based on income and the rental fees are subsidized by federal or local funding.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>“Subsidized Housing” does not include a dwelling funded under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Below Market Interest Rate Program or under the Rental Assistance Program.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(25)">
      <text>“Verification” means proof of accuracy of statements made by the applicant or recipient.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>