[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4219 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4219

  To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the 
 recognition of voluntary certification programs for air conditioning, 
         furnace, boiler, heat pump, and water heater products.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2014

 Mr. Latta (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Matheson) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the 
 recognition of voluntary certification programs for air conditioning, 
         furnace, boiler, heat pump, and water heater products.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Voluntary Certification Program Act 
of 2014''.

SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR AIR CONDITIONING, FURNACE, 
              BOILER, HEAT PUMP, AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS.

    Section 326(b) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 
6296(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Voluntary certification programs for air 
        conditioning, furnace, boiler, heat pump, and water heater 
        products.--
                    ``(A) Definition of basic model group.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `basic model group' means a set of 
                models--
                            ``(i) that share characteristics that allow 
                        the performance of 1 model to be generally 
                        representative of the performance of other 
                        models within the group; and
                            ``(ii) in which the group of products does 
                        not necessarily have to share discrete 
                        performance.
                    ``(B) Reliance on voluntary certification 
                programs.--For the purpose of testing to verify the 
                performance rating of, or receiving test reports from 
                manufacturers certifying compliance with energy 
                conservation standards and Energy Star specifications 
                established under sections 324A, 325, and 342, the 
                covered products described in paragraphs (3), (4), (5), 
                (9), and (11) of section 322(a) and covered equipment 
                described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (F), (I), 
                (J), and (K) of section 340(1), the Secretary and 
                Administrator shall rely on voluntary certification 
                programs that--
                            ``(i) are nationally recognized;
                            ``(ii) maintain a publicly available list 
                        of all certified products and equipment;
                            ``(iii) as determined by the Secretary, 
                        annually test not less than 10 percent and not 
                        more than 30 percent of the basic model group 
                        of a program participant;
                            ``(iv) require the changing of the 
                        performance rating or removal of the product or 
                        equipment from the program, if verification 
                        testing determines that the performance rating 
                        does not meet the levels the manufacturer has 
                        certified to the Secretary;
                            ``(v) require the qualification of new 
                        participants in the program through testing and 
                        production of test reports;
                            ``(vi) allow for challenge testing of 
                        products and equipment within the scope of the 
                        program;
                            ``(vii) require program participants to 
                        certify the performance rating of all covered 
                        products and equipment within the scope of the 
                        program;
                            ``(viii) are conducted by a certification 
                        body that is accredited under International 
                        Organization for Standardization/International 
                        Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Standard 
                        17065;
                            ``(ix) provide to the Secretary--
                                    ``(I) an annual report of all test 
                                results;
                                    ``(II) prompt notification when 
                                program testing results in--
                                            ``(aa) the rerating of the 
                                        performance rating of a product 
                                        or equipment; or
                                            ``(bb) the delisting of a 
                                        product or equipment; and
                                    ``(III) test reports, on the 
                                request of the Secretary or the 
                                Administrator, for Energy Star 
                                compliant products, which shall be 
                                treated as confidential business 
                                information as provided for under 
                                section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United 
                                States Code (commonly known as the 
                                `Freedom of Information Act');
                            ``(x) use verification testing that--
                                    ``(I) is conducted by an 
                                independent test laboratory that is 
                                accredited under International 
                                Organization for Standardization/
                                International Electrotechnical 
                                Commission (ISO/IEC) Standard 17025 
                                with a scope covering the tested 
                                products or equipment;
                                    ``(II) follows the test procedures 
                                established under this title; and
                                    ``(III) notes in each test report 
                                any instructions specified by the 
                                manufacturer or the representative of 
                                the manufacturer for the purpose of 
                                conducting the verification testing; 
                                and
                            ``(xi) satisfy such other requirements as 
                        the Secretary has determined--
                                    ``(I) are essential to ensure 
                                standards compliance; or
                                    ``(II) have consensus support 
                                achieved through a negotiated 
                                rulemaking process.
                    ``(C) Administration.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall not 
                        require--
                                    ``(I) manufacturers to participate 
                                in a voluntary certification program 
                                described in subparagraph (B); or
                                    ``(II) participating manufacturers 
                                to provide information that can be 
                                obtained through a voluntary 
                                certification program described in 
                                subparagraph (B).
                            ``(ii) List of covered products.--The 
                        Secretary or the Administrator may maintain a 
                        publicly available list of covered products and 
                        equipment certified under a program described 
                        in subparagraph (B) that distinguishes 
                        between--
                                    ``(I) covered products and 
                                equipment verified by the program; and
                                    ``(II) products not verified by the 
                                program.
                            ``(iii) Reduction of requirements.--Any 
                        rules promulgated by the Secretary that require 
                        testing of products or equipment for 
                        certification of performance ratings shall on 
                        average reduce requirements and burdens for 
                        manufacturers participating in a voluntary 
                        certification program described in subparagraph 
                        (B) for the products or equipment relative to 
                        other manufacturers.
                            ``(iv) Periodic testing by program 
                        nonparticipants.--In addition to certification 
                        requirements, the Secretary shall require a 
                        manufacturer that does not participate in a 
                        voluntary certification program described in 
                        subparagraph (B)--
                                    ``(I) to verify the accuracy of the 
                                performance rating of the product or 
                                equipment through periodic testing 
                                using the testing methods described in 
                                clause (iii) or (x) of subparagraph 
                                (B); and
                                    ``(II) to provide to the Secretary 
                                test results and, on request, test 
                                reports verifying the certified 
                                performance for each basic model group 
                                of the manufacturer.
                            ``(v) Restrictions on test laboratories.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Subject to 
                                subclause (II), with respect to covered 
                                products and equipment, a voluntary 
                                certification program described in 
                                subparagraph (B) shall not be a test 
                                laboratory that conducts the testing on 
                                products or equipment within the scope 
                                of the program.
                                    ``(II) Limitation.--Subclause (I) 
                                shall not apply to Energy Star 
                                specifications established under 
                                section 324A.
                            ``(vi) Effect on other authority.--Nothing 
                        in this paragraph limits the authority of the 
                        Secretary or the Administrator to test products 
                        or equipment or to enforce compliance with any 
                        law (including regulations).''.
                                 <all>