[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 32 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1006-H1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EPS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2016
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4444) to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to
exclude power supply circuits, drivers, and devices designed to be
connected to, and power, light-emitting diodes or organic light-
emitting diodes providing illumination from energy conservation
standards for external power supplies, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4444
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 ``EPS Improvement Act of
2016''.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS TO
CERTAIN EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES.
(a) Definition of External Power Supply.--Section
321(36)(A) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42
U.S.C. 6291(36)(A)) is amended--
(1) by striking the subparagraph designation and all that
follows through ``The term'' and inserting the following:
``(A) External power supply.--
``(i) In general.--The term''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Exclusion.--The term `external power supply' does
not include a power supply circuit, driver, or device that is
designed exclusively to be connected to, and power--
``(I) light-emitting diodes providing illumination;
``(II) organic light-emitting diodes providing
illumination; or
``(III) ceiling fans using direct current motors.''.
(b) Standards for Lighting Power Supply Circuits.--
(1) Definition.--Section 340(2)(B) of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6311(2)(B)) is amended by
striking clause (v) and inserting the following:
``(v) electric lights and lighting power supply
circuits;''.
(2) Energy conservation standard for certain equipment.--
Section 342 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42
U.S.C. 6313) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Lighting Power Supply Circuits.--If the Secretary,
acting pursuant to section 341(b), includes as covered
equipment solid state lighting power supply circuits,
drivers, or devices described in section 321(36)(A)(ii), the
Secretary may prescribe under this part, not earlier than 1
year after the date on which a test procedure has been
prescribed, an energy conservation standard for such
equipment.''.
(c) Technical Corrections.--
(1) Section 321(6)(B) of the Energy Policy and Conservation
Act (42 U.S.C. 6291(6)(B)) is amended by striking ``(19)''
and inserting ``(20)''.
(2) Section 324 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act
(42 U.S.C. 6294) is amended by striking ``(19)'' each place
it appears in each of subsections (a)(3), (b)(1)(B), (b)(3),
and (b)(5) and inserting ``(20)''.
(3) Section 325(l) of the Energy Policy and Conservation
Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(l)) is amended by striking ``paragraph
(19)'' each place it appears and inserting ``paragraph
(20)''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring to the floor today H.R. 4444, the
EPS Improvement Act of 2016.
I want to give special thanks to our colleagues, Renee Ellmers of
North Carolina, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Mike Pompeo of Kansas, Doris
Matsui of California, and Mr. Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, for their
work on this piece of legislation.
I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs.
Ellmers).
Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina. I thank the chairman for yielding on
this specific issue and for leading our subcommittee of the Energy and
Commerce Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4444,
the EPS Improvement Act of 2016. This bipartisan bill would provide
certainty to North Carolina lighting manufacturers that provide over
3,000 jobs in my home State. H.R. 4444 will resolve the underlying
issues of the Department of Energy External Power Supply rule.
In 2005, Congress directed the Department of Energy to develop energy
efficiency standards for external power supplies. The DOE initially
stated that products intended to be covered by these standards
``convert household electric current into DC or lower voltage AC to
operate consumer products such as a laptop computer or a smartphone.''
Years after the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, new
technologies such as OLED and LED drivers were introduced into the
marketplace. While the development of these drivers increased energy
efficiency, it has also caused uncertainty in the manufacturing sector.
This is because DOE roped in drivers as products to also be covered
under the EPS rule.
DOE is now attempting to regulate a product that was not in the
marketplace at the time Congress initially directed the Department to
set external power supply standards. Both manufacturers and the energy
efficiency community agree that this was and is not the intent of
Congress.
DOE has continued with this misguided rule despite the distinct
difference in the design and use of LED drivers to that of the design
and use of EPS. One example demonstrating the difference is that EPS
uses single-stage power conversion while LED drivers use a two-stage
power conversion.
Thankfully, H.R. 4444 is a promanufacturing, proconsumer piece of
legislation that resolves this problem. It will exclude certain
technologies from being included in other broad rulemakings.
I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives DeGette, Pompeo,
Matsui, and Dent for their leadership on this important issue.
Additionally, I would like to thank Chairman Whitfield and the Energy
and Power Subcommittee staff for their time and efforts in advancing
this legislation.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H1007]]
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleagues on the Energy and
Commerce Committee--Mrs. Ellmers and Ms. DeGette, in particular--as
well as all of my other colleagues who worked on H.R. 4444, the EPS
Improvement Act of 2016.
This bipartisan piece of legislation would exclude the drivers that
power light-emitting diodes, commonly known as LEDs, and direct-current
ceiling fans from DOE's energy conservation standards for external
power supplies.
Mr. Speaker, in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress directed DOE
to establish conservation standards for external power supplies used to
convert household electric current into DC current or lower voltage AC
current.
At the time, external power supplies were almost exclusively the kind
of wall chargers used to power laptops, cell phones, and other similar
consumer devices.
{time} 1600
Mr. Speaker, in 2005, LED lighting was in its infancy stages. LED
lamps were not even on the market then, nor were they available in
2007, when Congress amended the definition of external power supply in
the Energy Independence Act of 2007.
However, in just over a decade, Mr. Speaker, LED and other high-
efficiency, solid-state lighting products have become widely available.
These lights provide significant energy-efficiency cost savings to
consumers when compared with traditional light bulbs.
LEDs get swept up in the energy conservation standards for external
power supplies because they are powered by solid-state lighting drivers
that bear superficial similarities to the kind of chargers that
Congress directed DOE to set standards for.
Now, Mr. Speaker, one might ask, if these LEDs are so efficient, how
is it that their drivers cannot meet the energy conservation standards
for external power supplies?
Well, this is simply because in order to comply with the standards,
an external power supply must be tested when it is disconnected from
the object it is powering.
For example, Mr. Speaker, a laptop power supply would have to be
tested when it is disconnected from the laptop. LED drivers are not
designed to operate when disconnected from LEDs, and so they cannot be
tested in the same way as other external power supplies.
This means that even though they are indeed very energy efficient,
they cannot comply with the standards. The same is true of a new
generation of energy-efficient ceiling fans.
Mr. Speaker, to be sure, this legislation still holds these devices
accountable to energy and conservation standards. H.R. 4444 makes DOE's
authority to prescribe separate energy and conservation standards for
LED drivers explicit.
Ceiling fans with the direct current motors would still be required
to meet DOE energy conservation standards for ceiling fans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill before
us.
I ask unanimous consent to yield the balance of my time to the
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), and that she may control that
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers other than
myself, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to add my thanks to those of my colleague, Mrs.
Ellmers. I want to also thank Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Pallone. I
want to thank Chairman Whitfield and Ranking Member Rush, Ms. Matsui,
Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Dent, and Mrs. Capps, all for supporting this important
measure.
This bill updates the DOE's energy conservation standards to keep
with the innovations that have taken place over the last decade in
household and commercial lighting.
While the latest lighting may look similar on the exterior, it
actually runs on new and exciting technology. Frankly, as you have
heard from the other speakers, we need to update our regulatory scheme
to keep these innovations going.
Specifically, when the Energy and Commerce Committee wrote the Energy
Policy and Conservation Act of 2005, it directed the Department of
Energy to develop a conservation standard for external power supply
products.
Because of the inadvertently broad definition we created for external
power supplies, emerging LED drivers were swept up into a standard
that, as you have heard so eloquently from the other speakers, just
doesn't make any sense.
That means that, although LED drivers are highly energy-efficient,
they can't meet the EPS conservation standard, and their ability to
compete in the competitive lighting market is now an open question.
Now, this might seem like a technicality, but in the real world, this
bill is vitally important. Just last week, for example, General
Electric and JPMorgan Chase rang the closing bell at the New York Stock
Exchange to announce a deal for the world's largest single-order
installation of LED lighting.
GE will install LED lighting at 5,000 JPMorgan Chase bank branches
this year, which will cut the bank's lighting bill in half. But unless
we pass this bill quickly, the new lighting at JPMorgan Chase locations
technically won't meet basic efficiency standards.
It is urgent that we pass this bill now and that we pass it quickly
through the other body because these new efficiency standards are going
into effect. And while everybody agrees LED lighting is important, we
are still coming against the letter of the law.
And so that is why I want to thank everybody on both sides of the
aisle for realizing how incredibly important this is.
By passing the EPS Improvement Act of 2016, we will let the LED
lighting revolution continue. We will help lower energy prices for
every American business and household, and will continue our goal of
more and more efficient energy.
Mr. Speaker, if my friend across the aisle still has no speakers, I
yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).
Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4444. This overdue
legislation is critically important to ensure that the innovation and
implementation of LED technologies continues.
Our Nation has made great strides toward the production of accessible
and affordable clean energy. To continue this momentum, we must do all
we can to embrace and support technologies that strive to improve
energy efficiency.
In so doing, we must support efforts toward greater energy efficiency
by supporting technologies that use fewer resources for the same or
better results. This allows us to balance our energy consumption with
the need to protect the global environment. And that is exactly what
this bill does.
When it comes to the lighting sector, LED technologies are at the
forefront of meeting the efficiency demand. This technology is
drastically reducing the energy required to provide light in both
residential and industrial settings throughout the country and around
the world.
While the reach of this technology is amazingly broad, LEDs are
incredibly important to my district as well. There is a long history of
researching, developing and innovating LEDs technologies in academia,
industry, and nonprofits along the central coast of California.
The University of California Santa Barbara continues to lead the way
in research to improve upon the light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, as we
know them.
Furthermore, UCSB is fortunate to employ one of the leading
researchers in the world, Dr. Shuji Nakamura, who was awarded the Nobel
Prize for his work on LEDs.
And Cree Lighting, which translates this research into employable
technologies has a facility in my district where they are continuing to
develop cutting-edge applications for LEDs.
The promise of this technology really is a game changer. In fact, the
Institute for Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara has worked with the
nonprofit Unite for Light to provide reading lights to people across
the world, replacing dangerous kerosene lamps still
[[Page H1008]]
used in places where electricity is not available with solar charged
LED reading lights.
You know, I have one of these little reading lights in my home. They
are about 12 inches tall. This is Unite for Light. Instead of a power
cord plugging into the wall, they have two little solar panels at the
base.
If you set them in the sunlight during the day, then you have the
ability in the evening, then a child in a Third World country, or some
person who needs to do work or homework at night, can take this little
lamp, reading light, and use it to further their employment, their
education until we get the infrastructure in place to do that itself.
So there is no doubt that LEDs are an important technology to change
lighting, as we know it, providing an accessible and efficient source
of illumination.
H.R. 4444 ensures that the important research and development of LED
technologies, such as the activities in my district, will be able to
continue and that LEDs will be able to efficiently light the world
around us.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, having no other speakers, I urge my
colleagues to support this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to thank all of those involved in bringing forth this
legislation. We are all excited about it.
It does teach each one of us a lesson, though, and that is, sometimes
we pass legislation, and we use language a little bit too broad; and
the regulatory agencies take that and run. And now we see them trying
to regulate something that was not even in existence when the 2005
Energy Policy Act was adopted.
I don't think that many Members of Congress or the American people
ever thought that the Department of Energy would be setting efficiency
standards for ceiling fans, for microwave ovens, refrigerators.
It reminds me of that Dire Straits song, and I hope you all liked
them as much I did, but they had this song entitled ``Money for
Nothing'' and the chicks are free. They talked about the importance of
moving microwave ovens, refrigerators, and color TVs.
We find ourselves today living in a world in which everything is so
micromanaged, and this is an example of that action. We understand we
need regulations, but I am glad that we have a group of Democrats and
Republicans coming together with common sense to say to the Department
of Energy, hey, we need some balance here.
I would urge passage of this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4444.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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