II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1029 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to prohibit the Secretary 

of Energy from prescribing a final rule amending the efficiency standards 

for residential non-weatherized gas furnaces or mobile home furnaces 

until an analysis has been completed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mr. ALEXANDER) 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 prohibit the Secretary of Energy from prescribing a final 

rule amending the efficiency standards for residential 

non-weatherized gas furnaces or mobile home furnaces 

until an analysis has been completed, 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. STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN FURNACES. 

4 Section 325(f)(4) of the Energy Policy and Conserva5 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(f)(4)) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following: 


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•S 1029 IS

1 ‘‘(E) RESTRICTION ON FINAL RULE FOR

2 RESIDENTIAL NON-WEATHERIZED GAS FUR3 NACES AND MOBILE HOME FURNACES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall not prescribe a final rule 

7 amending the efficiency standards for resi8 dential non-weatherized gas furnaces or 

9 mobile home furnaces until each of the fol10 lowing has occurred: 

11 ‘‘(I) The Secretary convenes a 

12 representative advisory group of inter13 ested stakeholders, including the man14 ufacturers, distributors, and contrac15 tors of residential non-weatherized gas 

16 furnaces and mobile home furnaces, 

17 home builders, building owners, en18 ergy efficiency advocates, natural gas 

19 utilities, electric utilities, and con20 sumer groups. 

21 ‘‘(II) Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of enactment of this subpara23 graph, the advisory group described in 

24 subclause (I) completes an analysis of 

25 a nationwide requirement of a conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1029.IS S1029

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•S 1029 IS

1 densing furnace efficiency standard 

2 including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) a complete analysis of 

4 current market trends regarding 

5 the transition of sales from non6 condensing furnaces to con7 densing furnaces; 

8 ‘‘(bb) the projected net loss 

9 in the industry of the present 

10 value of original equipment man11 ufacturers after adoption of the 

12 standard; 

13 ‘‘(cc) the projected consumer 

14 payback period and life cycle cost 

15 savings after adoption of the 

16 standard; 

17 ‘‘(dd) a determination of 

18 whether the standard is economi19 cally justified, based solely on the 

20 definition of energy under section 

21 321); and 

22 ‘‘(ee) other common eco23 nomic principles. 

24 ‘‘(III) The advisory group de25 scribed in subclause (I) reviews the 


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•S 1029 IS

1 analysis and determines whether a na2 tionwide requirement of a condensing 

3 furnace efficiency standard is tech4 nically feasible and economically justi5 fied. 

6 ‘‘(IV) The final determination of 

7 the advisory group under subclause 

8 (III) is published in the Federal Reg9 ister. 

10 ‘‘(ii) AMENDED STANDARDS.—If the 

11 advisory group determines under clause 

12 (i)(III) that a nationwide requirement of a 

13 condensing furnace efficiency standard is 

14 not technically feasible and economically 

15 justified, the Secretary shall, not later than 

16 180 days after the date on which the final 

17 determination of the advisory group is pub18 lished in the Federal Register under clause 

19 (i)(IV), establish amended standards 

20 through the negotiated rulemaking proce21 dure provided for under subchapter III of 

22 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code 

23 (commonly known as the ‘Negotiated Rule24 making Act of 1990’).’’. 

Æ 


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