II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4584 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the definition 

of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify 

the definition of water heater under energy conservation 

standards, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. WATER HEATERS. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF WATER HEATER.—Section 321 

5 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 6291) is amended by striking paragraph (27) and insert7 ing the following: 

8 ‘‘(27) WATER HEATER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘water heat2 er’ means a product that utilizes oil, gas, or 

3 electricity to heat potable water for use outside 

4 the heater on demand, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) storage type units that heat and 

6 store water at a thermostatically controlled 

7 temperature, including— 

8 ‘‘(I) gas storage water heaters 

9 with an input of 75,000 Btu per hour 

10 or less, including heat pump type 

11 units that meet the current and volt12 age limits under clause (iii); 

13 ‘‘(II) oil storage water heaters 

14 with an input of 105,000 Btu per 

15 hour or less; and 

16 ‘‘(III) electric storage water heat17 ers with an input of 12 kilowatts or 

18 less, including heat pump type units 

19 that meet the current and voltage lim20 its under clause (iii); 

21 ‘‘(ii)(I) instantaneous type units that 

22 heat water but contain not more than 1 

23 gallon of water per 4,000 Btu per hour of 

24 input; and 

25 ‘‘(II) in the case of— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) gas instantaneous water 

2 heaters, have an input of 200,000 Btu 

3 per hour or less and are designed and 

4 marketed to provide outlet hot water 

5 at a thermostatically controlled tem6 perature of less than 180 degrees 

7 Fahrenheit; 

8 ‘‘(bb) oil instantaneous water 

9 heaters, have an input of 210,000 Btu 

10 per hour or less; and 

11 ‘‘(cc) electric instantaneous water 

12 heaters, have an input of 12 kilowatts 

13 or less; 

14 ‘‘(iii) heat pump type units (including 

15 add-on heat pumps, integrated heat pumps 

16 with storage, split-system heat pumps that 

17 consist of a separate heat pump and stor18 age tank that are designed and marketed 

19 to operate together, and all ancillary equip20 ment, such as fans, storage tanks, pumps, 

21 electric resistance heating elements, or 

22 controls necessary for the device to per23 form its function) that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) have a maximum current 

2 rating of 24 amperes at a voltage not 

3 greater than 250 volts; and 

4 ‘‘(II) are designed to transfer 

5 thermal energy from 1 temperature 

6 level to a different temperature level 

7 for the purpose of heating water; 

8 ‘‘(iv) solar thermal-assisted electric 

9 storage units; and 

10 ‘‘(v) solar thermal-assisted fossil fuel 

11 storage units. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Unless otherwise de13 termined by the Secretary under section 

14 325(e)(7)(B), the term ‘water heater’ does not 

15 include— 

16 ‘‘(i) electric storage type units de17 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(III) that— 

18 ‘‘(I) are designed and marketed 

19 exclusively for commercial building 

20 applications; and 

21 ‘‘(II)(aa) are designed, con22 structed, inspected, tested, and 

23 stamped in accordance with Section 

24 IV, Part HLW, or Section X of the 

25 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4584.IS S4584

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1 mulgated by the American Society of 

2 Mechanical Engineers; 

3 ‘‘(bb) exclusively use 3-phase 

4 electricity, are designed and marketed 

5 to provide outlet hot water at a 

6 thermostatically controlled tempera7 ture of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 

8 greater, and operate only at rated 

9 voltages of not less than 208 volts; or 

10 ‘‘(cc) exclusively use single-phase 

11 electricity, are designed and marketed 

12 to provide outlet hot water at a 

13 thermostatically controlled tempera14 ture of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 

15 greater, and operate only at a rated 

16 voltage of 277 volts; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) gas storage type units described 

18 in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) that— 

19 ‘‘(I) are designed and marketed 

20 exclusively for commercial building 

21 applications; and 

22 ‘‘(II) are designed, constructed, 

23 inspected, tested, and stamped in ac24 cordance with Section IV, Part HLW, 

25 of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel 


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1 Code promulgated by the American 

2 Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

3 ‘‘(C) MULTI-INPUT ELECTRIC STORAGE

4 WATER HEATER.—The term ‘multi-input elec5 tric storage water heater’ means a product 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(i) is not a heat pump type unit de8 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) is designed, marketed, or shipped 

10 from the manufacturer with a capability of 

11 operating or being configured to operate at 

12 inputs greater than, equal to, or below 12 

13 kilowatts. 

14 ‘‘(D) SOLAR THERMAL-ASSISTED ELECTRIC

15 STORAGE UNIT.—The term ‘solar thermal-as16 sisted electric storage unit’ means a unit that— 

17 ‘‘(i) has an input of 12 kilowatts or 

18 less; 

19 ‘‘(ii) has at least 2 dedicated ports in 

20 addition to the ports used for introduction 

21 and delivery of potable water for the sup22 ply and return of water or a heat transfer 

23 fluid heated externally by solar panels; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) does not have electric resistance 

2 heating elements located in the lower half 

3 of the storage tank; 

4 ‘‘(iv) has the temperature sensing de5 vice that controls the auxiliary electric heat 

6 source located in the upper half of the 

7 storage tank; and 

8 ‘‘(v) has a ratio of less than 0.70 for 

9 the proportion that the certified first hour 

10 rating bears to the nominal volume of the 

11 storage tank.’’. 

12 (b) STANDARDS FOR WATER HEATERS.—Section 

13 325(e) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 6295(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(7) EXEMPTED WATER HEATERS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF EXEMPTED WATER

18 HEATER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘exempt19 ed water heater’ means a water heater de20 scribed in section 321(27)(B). 

21 ‘‘(B) MONITORING OF SHIPMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) SUBMISSION OF DATA.—Not later 

23 than 90 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this paragraph, and not later than May 

25 1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary 


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1 shall require each manufacturer of water 

2 heaters to report to the Secretary the 

3 quantity of exempted water heaters, in 

4 each category of exempted water heaters, 

5 that the manufacturer shipped in the pre6 ceding calendar year. 

7 ‘‘(ii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRE8 MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat ship9 ment data reported by manufacturers 

10 under clause (i) as confidential business in11 formation subject to appropriate confiden12 tial data safeguards. 

13 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(I) BASELINE SHIPMENT

15 DATA.—Not later than 120 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this para17 graph, the Secretary shall publish an 

18 analysis of the data collected under 

19 clause (i) for public comment, subject 

20 to applicable confidentiality safe21 guards, which shall serve as the base22 line data for the analysis described in 

23 subclause (II)(bb). 

24 ‘‘(II) PERCENTAGE GROWTH

25 FROM BASELINE.—Not later than 


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1 June 1 of each year after the year in 

2 which the Secretary publishes data 

3 under subclause (I), the Secretary 

4 shall publish— 

5 ‘‘(aa) an analysis of the data 

6 collected under clause (i) for pub7 lic comment, subject to applicable 

8 confidentiality safeguards; 

9 ‘‘(bb) the percentage growth 

10 in the number of shipments with11 in each category of exempted 

12 water heater relative to the base13 line data described in subclause 

14 (I); and 

15 ‘‘(cc) the determination of 

16 the Secretary as to whether the 

17 number of shipments for any cat18 egory of exempted water heater 

19 have increased by more than 25 

20 percent compared to the baseline 

21 data for that category. 

22 ‘‘(C) INCLUSION OF EXEMPTED WATER

23 HEATERS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

25 shall, by regulation, revise the definition of 


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1 water heater under section 321(27) to in2 clude an exempted water heater under sub3 paragraph (A) of that section if the Sec4 retary makes an affirmative determination 

5 under subparagraph (B)(iii)(II)(cc) for 

6 that category of exempted water heater. 

7 ‘‘(ii) ENERGY CONSERVATION STAND8 ARDS.—Any category of exempted water 

9 heater included in the definition of water 

10 heater under clause (i) shall be required to 

11 meet the energy conservation standards 

12 applicable to an electric or gas storage type 

13 water heater under this part. 

14 ‘‘(iii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—For any 

15 category of exempted water heater, the 

16 Secretary shall carry out clause (i), and re17 quire compliance under clause (ii), not 

18 later than 1 year after the date on which 

19 the Secretary makes the affirmative deter20 mination described in clause (i) for that 

21 category. 

22 ‘‘(8) STANDARDS FOR MULTI-INPUT ELECTRIC

23 STORAGE WATER HEATERS.—A multi-input electric 

24 storage water heater shall be subject to the test proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4584.IS S4584

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1 cedures, energy conservation standards, labeling (if 

2 applicable), and certification requirements— 

3 ‘‘(A) for electric storage water heaters 

4 under this part; and 

5 ‘‘(B) for storage water heaters under part 

6 C. 

7 ‘‘(9) TECHNOLOGY-NEUTRAL ELECTRIC STOR8 AGE WATER HEATER STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may 

10 not create separate product classes for heat pump 

11 water heaters and other electric storage water heat12 ers.’’. 

13 (c) DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL WATER HEATER.— 

14 Section 340 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 6311) is amended by striking paragraph (12) 

16 and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(12)(A) STORAGE WATER HEATER.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘storage 

19 water heater’ means a water heater that— 

20 ‘‘(I) heats and stores water within an 

21 appliance at a thermostatically controlled 

22 temperature for delivery on demand; and 

23 ‘‘(II) is not a water heater described 

24 in section 321(27)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘storage 

2 water heater’ does not include a unit with an 

3 input rating of 4,000 Btu per hour or more per 

4 gallon of stored water. 

5 ‘‘(B) INSTANTANEOUS WATER HEATER.—The 

6 term ‘instantaneous water heater’ means a water 

7 heater that— 

8 ‘‘(i) has an input rating of at least 4,000 

9 Btu per hour per gallon of stored water; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) is not a water heater described in sec11 tion 321(27)(A). 

12 ‘‘(C) UNFIRED HOT WATER STORAGE TANK.— 

13 The term ‘unfired hot water storage tank’ means a 

14 tank used to store water that is heated externally.’’. 

15 (d) LABELING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 344 of the 

16 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6315) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(l) LABELS FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL WATER

19 HEATERS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of this section, water heaters described in 

22 section 321(27)(B) shall be required to bear a per23 manent label, applied at the point of manufacture, 

24 that, subject to paragraph (3), satisfies the require25 ments described in paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A label required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be made of material not adversely af4 fected by water; 

5 ‘‘(B) be attached by means of nonwater6 soluble adhesive; and 

7 ‘‘(C) bear the following notice printed in 

8 16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold font: ‘IMPOR9 TANT INFORMATION: Exclusively intended 

10 for commercial installations. This model is not 

11 certified by the U.S. Department of Energy as 

12 a residential water heater. This model does not 

13 have a certified First Hour or UEF rating.’. 

14 ‘‘(3) REVISION UPON PETITION.—On receipt of 

15 a petition by an interested party, the Secretary may 

16 conduct a rulemaking to revise the scope and re17 quirements of the label required under paragraph 

18 (1).’’. 

19 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend20 ments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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