[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1023-1025]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      EPS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2017

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 518) 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. 518

       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 
     2017''.

     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;

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       ``(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 
Michigan (Mr. Upton) and the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. UPTON. 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 Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise certainly in support of H.R. 518.
  Regulations are based on the state of technology at the time that 
they are developed and may have the unintended consequences of 
hindering new advances in products. Such has been the case with the 
Department of Energy's efficiency standards for external power 
suppliers, EPS. As the regs on the books now stand, it is not legally 
possible to make certain types of light -emitting diode--LED--devices, 
as well as some kinds of ceiling fans.
  So this bill, H.R. 518, the EPS Improvement Act, provides a carefully 
tailored solution to the problem. And I want to thank two Members, 
Republican and Democrat, Mr. Guthrie and Ms. DeGette, for their good 
work on behalf of both the manufacturers, as well as the users, of 
these products.
  The bill carves out an exception for these devices while giving DOE 
the option of setting separate efficiency standards that are more 
suited to them.
  This bill has been thoroughly vetted--yes, it has. It was included in 
last year's energy package. And although that bill didn't make it to 
the finish line for unrelated reasons, language virtually identical to 
that in H.R. 518 enjoyed very strong bipartisan and certain bicameral 
support.

                              {time}  1600

  In addition, the bill passed the House on suspension last year as 
well, but failed to make it on the Senate calendar.
  For the sake of the manufacturing jobs that are associated with these 
products as well as the consumers and small businesses that rely on 
them, I would urge all of my colleagues to support and vote for H.R. 
518.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today to urge the passage of H.R. 518, the EPS Improvement 
Act.
  Last session of Congress, I cosponsored this bill with our former 
colleague Congresswoman Ellmers, and this year, Representatives 
Guthrie, Matsui, and Dent are joining me in this effort to strengthen 
the standards used to keep LED lighting safe and efficient.
  By ensuring that our country's energy conservation standards are up 
to date with the latest developments in high-tech lighting, we can 
remove obstacles to innovation without sacrificing safety. And as we 
heard from the chairman, if there has ever been a bill in Congress that 
was vetted, it was this one.
  We have been working on this bill for some years now, and, frankly, 
what it is doing is it is truly addressing unintended consequences that 
happened due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That act defined 
external power supplies in a way that just simply did not anticipate 
the rapid growth and use of LED and OLED light sources during the 
decade that followed.
  Now, these lights are really energy efficient. They are up to 80 
percent more efficient than traditional lights like fluorescent and 
incandescent lights, and 90 percent of the energy in LEDs is committed 
to illumination, while only 5 percent is heat; so it is no wonder they 
have become so popular in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, in the 2005 
act, the standards did not allow for these types of lighting as their 
use continues to constitute an ever-growing share of our energy 
consumption.
  What this bill does is it clarifies the definition of ``external 
power supplies'' and it amends the conditions under which the Energy 
Department can undertake a rulemaking process in the future. The bill 
will facilitate the continued growth of LED lighting, and it will help 
lower energy prices for businesses and households both in my home State 
of Colorado and across America.
  Clean energy truly is the future. It can be safe, efficient, and 
affordable for all when it is properly regulated, and that is exactly 
what this legislation does.
  I urge everybody to support this act, and I hope that the Senate will 
pass it this year. We are getting a good, early start.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no one else to speak on this bill, so I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side of 
the aisle either.
  I would urge my colleagues on both sides to again vote for this bill. 
Let's hope that the Senate can get it on their plate and get it to the 
President for him to sign into law.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the EPS 
Improvement Act of 2017. Michigan is a success story for clean energy 
job growth. For many years, the press reported on Detroit's urban 
decline and the lights literally going out. While this may have been 
true in the past, Detroit has been making a comeback.
  After generations of urban flight, the population of Detroit is 
rising. Along with that growth has come revitalization. All across 
town, the lights are coming back on. The LED project cost $185 million 
and was paid for by the city and the state. The Public Lighting 
Authority of Detroit, also received support from the Obama 
Administration with Department of Energy advising local officials on 
how to brighten up the city.
  Investments by the Obama Administration in energy-efficient lighting 
has reduced costs across the industry, making LEDS feasible for a city 
like Detroit. Only three years ago, nearly half of the 88,000 
streetlights in the city were out of commission.
  This major infrastructure project in my city of Detroit, created not 
only smart urban design to an aging city, but it brought jobs. City 
officials told me that since 2014, using Federal Department of 
Transportation funding, Detroit has added buses, hired dozens of 
drivers and increased ridership by approximately 100,000 a week. Like 
the streetlights that are now on across the city, buses restore the 
fabric of the streets and re-establish a semblance of normalcy.
  Mr. Speaker, infrastructure projects like the LED project in Detroit 
and the transportation funding for buses are what we need to get 
America back to work. These funded projects have a ripple effect on the 
community and not only rejuvenate it but put people back to work.
  I support H.R. 518 and more projects that support clean energy 
growth.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by

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the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R., 518.
  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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