I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6192 

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

of Energy from prescribing any new or amended energy conservation 

standard for a product that is not technologically feasible and economically justified, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Mrs. LESKO 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 prohibit the Secretary of Energy from prescribing any new 

or amended energy conservation standard for a product 

that is not technologically feasible and economically justified, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hands Off Our Home 

5 Appliances Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESCRIBING NEW OR AMENDED ENERGY CON2 SERVATION STANDARDS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT OF STANDARDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 325(m)(1) of the 

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

6 6295(m)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, for any 

8 product, publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in9 cluding new proposed standards for such product 

10 based on the criteria established under subsection 

11 (o) and the procedures established under subsection 

12 (p).’’. 

13 (2) AMENDMENT OF STANDARD.—Section 

14 325(m)(3) of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(3)) is amended to read as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘(3) AMENDMENT OF STANDARD.—Not later 

18 than 2 years after a notice is issued under para19 graph (1), the Secretary shall publish a final rule 

20 amending the standard for the product.’’. 

21 (b) PETITION FOR AMENDED STANDARD.—Section 

22 325(n) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 6295(n)) is amended— 

24 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘AN

25 AMENDED STANDARD’’ and inserting ‘‘AMENDMENT

26 OR REVOCATION OF STANDARD’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or revoked’’ 

2 after ‘‘should be amended’’; 

3 (3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall grant a petition to de6 termine if energy conservation standards for a cov7 ered product should be amended or revoked if the 

8 Secretary finds that such petition contains evidence, 

9 assuming no other evidence were considered, that 

10 such standards— 

11 ‘‘(A) result in additional costs to con12 sumers; 

13 ‘‘(B) do not result in significant conserva14 tion of energy or water; 

15 ‘‘(C) are not technologically feasible; and 

16 ‘‘(D) result in such covered product not 

17 being commercially available in the United 

18 States to all consumers.’’; and 

19 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘NEW OR AMENDED

21 STANDARDS.’’ and inserting ‘‘NEW, AMENDED, 

22 OR REVOKED STANDARDS.’’; 

23 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

24 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘Not later than 3 years’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(A) Not later than 3 years’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(B) Not later than 180 days after the date of 

5 granting a petition to revoke standards, the Sec6 retary shall publish in the Federal Register— 

7 ‘‘(i) a final rule revoking the standards; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) a determination that it is not nec9 essary to revoke the standards. 

10 ‘‘(C) The grant of a petition by the Secretary 

11 under this subsection creates no presumption with 

12 respect to the Secretary’s determination of any of 

13 the criteria in a rulemaking under this section.’’. 

14 (c) CRITERIA.—Paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 

15 325(o) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 6295(o)) are amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DESIGN.—Any new or amended en19 ergy conservation standard prescribed by the 

20 Secretary under this section for any type (or 

21 class) of covered product shall be designed to 

22 achieve the maximum improvement in energy 

23 efficiency, or, in the case of showerheads, fau24 cets, water closets, or urinals, water efficiency, 


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1 which the Secretary determines is techno2 logically feasible and economically justified. 

3 ‘‘(B) TEST PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

4 may not prescribe a new or amended energy 

5 conservation standard under this section for a 

6 type (or class) of covered product if a test pro7 cedure has not been prescribed pursuant to sec8 tion 323 with respect to that type (or class) of 

9 product. 

10 ‘‘(C) SIGNIFICANT CONSERVATION.—The 

11 Secretary may not prescribe a new or amended 

12 energy conservation standard under this section 

13 for a type (or class) of covered product if the 

14 Secretary determines that the establishment 

15 and imposition of such energy conservation 

16 standard will not result in significant conserva17 tion of— 

18 ‘‘(i) energy; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of showerheads, fau20 cets, water closets, or urinals, water. 

21 ‘‘(D) TECHNOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE AND

22 ECONOMICALLY JUSTIFIED.—The Secretary 

23 may not prescribe a new or amended energy 

24 conservation standard under this section for a 

25 type (or class) of covered product unless the 


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1 Secretary determines that the establishment 

2 and imposition of such energy conservation 

3 standard is technologically feasible and eco4 nomically justified. 

5 ‘‘(3) FACTORS FOR DETERMINATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—Prior to pre7 scribing any new or amended energy conserva8 tion standard under this section for any type 

9 (or class) of covered product, the Secretary 

10 shall conduct a quantitative economic impact 

11 analysis of imposition of the energy conserva12 tion standard that determines the predicted— 

13 ‘‘(i) effects of imposition of the energy 

14 conservation standard on costs and mone15 tary benefits to consumers of the products 

16 subject to such energy conservation stand17 ard, including— 

18 ‘‘(I) costs to low-income house19 holds; and 

20 ‘‘(II) variations in costs to con21 sumers based on differences in re22 gions, including climatic differences; 

23 ‘‘(ii) effects of imposition of the en24 ergy conservation standard on employment; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) lifecycle costs for the covered 

2 product, including costs associated with 

3 the purchase, installation, maintenance, 

4 disposal, and replacement of the covered 

5 product. 

6 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL COSTS

7 TO THE CONSUMER.—The Secretary may not 

8 determine that imposition of an energy con9 servation standard is economically justified un10 less the Secretary, based on an economic anal11 ysis under subparagraph (A), determines that— 

12 ‘‘(i) imposition of such energy con13 servation standard is not likely to result in 

14 additional net costs to the consumer, in15 cluding any increase in net costs associated 

16 with the purchase, installation, mainte17 nance, disposal, and replacement of the 

18 covered product; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the monetary value of the energy 

20 savings and, as applicable, water savings, 

21 that the consumer will receive as a result 

22 of such energy conservation standard dur23 ing the first 3 years after purchasing and 

24 installing a covered product complying with 

25 such energy conservation standard, as calVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:11 Nov 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6192.IH H6192

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1 culated under the applicable test proce2 dure, will be greater than any increased 

3 costs to the consumer of the covered prod4 uct due to imposition of such energy con5 servation standard, including increased 

6 costs associated with the purchase, instal7 lation, maintenance, disposal, and replace8 ment of the covered product. 

9 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED ENERGY OR WATER SAV10 INGS.—The Secretary may not determine that 

11 imposition of an energy conservation standard 

12 is economically justified unless the Secretary 

13 determines that compliance with such energy 

14 conservation standard will result in— 

15 ‘‘(i) a reduction of at least 0.3 quads 

16 of site energy over 30 years; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) at least a 10 percent reduction in 

18 energy or water use of the covered product. 

19 ‘‘(D) CRITERIA RELATED TO PERFORM20 ANCE.—The Secretary may not determine that 

21 imposition of an energy conservation standard 

22 is economically justified unless the Secretary 

23 determines that imposition of such energy con24 servation standard will not result in any less25 ening of the utility or the performance of the 


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1 applicable covered product, taking into consid2 eration the effects of such energy conservation 

3 standard on— 

4 ‘‘(i) the compatibility of the covered 

5 product with existing systems; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the life span of the covered prod7 uct; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the operating conditions of the 

9 covered product; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the duty cycle, charging time, 

11 and run time of the covered product, as 

12 applicable; 

13 ‘‘(v) the maintenance requirements of 

14 the covered product; and 

15 ‘‘(vi) the replacement and disposal re16 quirements for the covered product. 

17 ‘‘(E) CRITERIA RELATED TO MARKET COM18 PETITION AND PRICE DISCRIMINATION.—The 

19 Secretary may not determine that imposition of 

20 an energy conservation standard is economically 

21 justified unless the Secretary determines that 

22 imposition of the energy conservation standard 

23 is not likely to result in— 

24 ‘‘(i) any lessening of market competi25 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) price discrimination. 

2 ‘‘(F) TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.—The 

3 Secretary may not determine that imposition of 

4 an energy conservation standard is economically 

5 justified unless the Secretary determines that 

6 imposition of such energy conservation standard 

7 is not likely to result in the unavailability in the 

8 United States of a type (or class) of products 

9 based on what type of fuel the product con10 sumes. 

11 ‘‘(G) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter12 mining whether imposition of an energy con13 servation standard is economically justified, the 

14 Secretary— 

15 ‘‘(i) shall prioritize the interests of 

16 consumers; 

17 ‘‘(ii) may not consider estimates of 

18 the social costs or social benefits associated 

19 with incremental greenhouse gas emissions; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) shall consider— 

22 ‘‘(I) the economic impact of the 

23 standard on the manufacturers and 

24 on the consumers of the products sub25 ject to such standard; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the savings in operating 

2 costs throughout the estimated aver3 age life of the covered product in the 

4 type (or class) compared to any in5 crease in the price of, or in the initial 

6 charges for, or maintenance expenses 

7 of, the covered products which are 

8 likely to result from the imposition of 

9 the standard; 

10 ‘‘(III) the total projected amount 

11 of energy, or as applicable, water, sav12 ings likely to result directly from the 

13 imposition of the standard; 

14 ‘‘(IV) the need for national en15 ergy and water conservation; and 

16 ‘‘(V) other factors the Secretary 

17 considers relevant. 

18 ‘‘(H) REGULATORY REVIEW.— 

19 ‘‘(i) EVALUATION.—Not later than 2 years 

20 after the issuance of any final rule prescribing 

21 a new or amended energy conservation standard 

22 under this section for any type (or class) of cov23 ered product, the Secretary shall evaluate the 

24 rule to determine whether such energy con25 servation standard is technologically feasible 


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1 and economically justified and whether the reg2 ulatory impact analysis for such rule remains 

3 accurate. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EFFECT.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of this part, if the Secretary deter6 mines, based on an evaluation under clause (i), 

7 that an energy conservation standard is not 

8 technologically feasible or economically justi9 fied— 

10 ‘‘(I) the Secretary shall publish such 

11 determination and such energy conserva12 tion standard shall have no force or effect; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) the Secretary may publish a 

15 final rule amending the energy conserva16 tion standard for the type (or class) of cov17 ered product to be technologically feasible 

18 and economically justified in accordance 

19 with this subsection, which amendment 

20 shall apply to such a product that is manu21 factured after the date that is 2 years 

22 after publication of such final rule.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

24 (a) REGIONAL STANDARDS.—Section 

25 325(o)(6)(D)(i)(II) of the Energy Policy and Conservation 


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1 Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(6)(D)(i)(II)) is amended by strik2 ing ‘‘this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’. 

3 (b) PROCEDURE FOR PRESCRIBING NEW OR AMEND4 ED STANDARDS.—Section 325(p)(2)(A) of the Energy 

5 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(2)(A)) 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘taking into account those factors 

7 which the Secretary must consider under subsection 

8 (o)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘as determined in accordance with 

9 subsection (o)’’. 

10 (c) ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS FOR HIGH11 INTENSITY DISCHARGE LAMPS, DISTRIBUTION TRANS12 FORMERS, AND SMALL ELECTRIC MOTORS.—Section 346 

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

14 6317) is amended by striking subsection (c). 

Æ 


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