I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1326 

To strengthen the Department of Energy’s appliance energy efficiency standards program and promote further energy efficiency gains, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To strengthen the Department of Energy’s appliance energy 

efficiency standards program and promote further energy 

efficiency gains, 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 ‘‘Energy Efficient Appli5 ances Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEALS. 

7 (a) PROCEDURES FOR USE IN NEW OR REVISED EN8 ERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS AND TEST PROCE9 DURES.—The final rule titled ‘‘Energy Conservation ProVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1326.IH H1326

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1 gram for Appliance Standards: Procedures for Use in New 

2 or Revised Energy Conservation Standards and Test Pro3 cedures for Consumer Products and Commercial/Indus4 trial Equipment’’ (published at 85 Fed. Reg. 8626 (Feb5 ruary 14, 2020)) shall have no force or effect and shall 

6 be treated as if such rule had never been issued. 

7 (b) PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATING STATUTORY

8 FACTORS.—The final rule titled ‘‘Energy Conservation 

9 Program for Appliance Standards: Procedures for Evalu10 ating Statutory Factors for Use in New or Revised Energy 

11 Conservation Standards’’ (published at 85 Fed. Reg. 

12 50937 (August 19, 2020)) shall have no force or effect 

13 and shall be treated as if such rule had never been issued. 

14 SEC. 3. MULTIPLE METRICS. 

15 Section 321(6) of the Energy Policy and Conserva16 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6291(6)) is amended to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(6) ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARD.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘energy con20 servation standard’ means, with respect to a 

21 product, 1 or more performance standards that 

22 prescribe— 

23 ‘‘(i) a minimum level of energy effi24 ciency or a maximum quantity of energy 


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1 use, determined in accordance with test 

2 procedures prescribed under section 323; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a minimum level of water effi4 ciency or a maximum quantity of water 

5 use, determined in accordance with test 

6 procedures prescribed under section 323; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(iii) both (i) and (ii). 

9 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘energy con10 servation standard’ includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) 1 or more design requirements; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) any other requirements that the 

14 Secretary may prescribe under section 

15 325(r).’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EXPANDING THE POOL OF COVERED PRODUCTS. 

17 (a) LOWERING ENERGY THRESHOLD LEVELS FOR

18 CONSUMER PRODUCTS.— 

19 (1) SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION OF CONSUMER

20 PRODUCT.—Section 322(b)(1)(B) of the Energy Pol21 icy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6292(b)(1)(B)) 

22 is amended by striking ‘‘exceed 100’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘exceed 75’’. 

24 (2) STANDARDS FOR OTHER COVERED PROD25 UCTS.—Section 325(l)(1)(A) of the Energy Policy 


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1 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(l)(1)(A)) is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘exceeded 150’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘exceeded 75’’. 

4 (b) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT.—Section 340(2)(B) of 

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

6 6311(2)(B)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (xii), by striking ‘‘and’’; and 

8 (2) by striking clause (xiii) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(xiii) other motors; and 

11 ‘‘(xiv) other types of equipment for which the 

12 Secretary determines that— 

13 ‘‘(I) classifying equipment of such type as 

14 industrial equipment is necessary or appro15 priate to carry out the purposes of this part; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(II) average annual energy use by equip18 ment of such type nationwide is likely to exceed 

19 3,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours (or its Btu equiv20 alent) per year.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. REDUCING LEAD TIMES. 

22 (a) STANDARDS FOR OTHER COVERED PRODUCTS.— 

23 Section 325(l)(2) of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(l)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

25 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), any new or amended stand3 ard for covered products of a type specified in 

4 paragraph (20) of section 322(a) shall apply to 

5 products manufactured after the date that is 3 

6 years after the publication of the final rule es7 tablishing such standard. 

8 ‘‘(B) OTHER APPLICABILITY.—The Sec9 retary may, in prescribing a new or amended 

10 standard for covered products of a type speci11 fied in paragraph (20) of section 322(a), re12 quire that such standard apply to products 

13 manufactured not earlier than 1 year after pub14 lication of the final rule establishing such 

15 standard and not later than 3 years after such 

16 publication.’’. 

17 (b) PRODUCTS RECEIVING UPDATED RULES.— 

18 (1) AMENDED STANDARDS.—Paragraph (4) of 

19 section 325(m) of the Energy Policy and Conserva20 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(4)) is amended— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

22 (i) the matter preceding clause (i), by 

23 inserting ‘‘and subparagraph (C)’’ after 

24 ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 


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1 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘5 

2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘3 years’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following sub4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(C) OTHER APPLICABILITY.—The Sec6 retary may, in prescribing an amended stand7 ard under this subsection, require that such 

8 amended standard apply to products manufac9 tured not earlier than 1 year after publication 

10 of the final rule establishing such amended 

11 standard and not later than 3 years after such 

12 publication.’’. 

13 (2) AMENDED STANDARDS RESULTING FROM

14 PETITION.—Paragraph (5) of section 325(n) of the 

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

16 6295(n)) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), an amended standard pre20 scribed under this subsection shall apply to 

21 products manufactured after the date that is 3 

22 years after the publication of the final rule es23 tablishing the amended standard. 

24 ‘‘(B) OTHER APPLICABILITY.—The Sec25 retary may, in prescribing an amended standVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1326.IH H1326

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1 ard under this subsection, require that such 

2 amended standard apply to products manufac3 tured not earlier than 1 year after publication 

4 of the final rule establishing such amended 

5 standard and not later than 3 years after such 

6 publication.’’. 

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION FOR MULTIPLE STANDARDS

8 UNDER ONE RULEMAKING.—Section 325(o) of the En9 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para12 graph (7); and 

13 (2) by adding after paragraph (5) the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) MULTIPLE STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding 

15 subsection (m)(4)(B), in any rulemaking to prescribe 

16 a new or amended energy conservation standard for 

17 a covered product, or class of covered products, the 

18 Secretary may prescribe more than one such stand19 ard for such covered product, or class of covered 

20 products, provided— 

21 ‘‘(A) the less stringent standard prescribed 

22 shall apply to any such covered product, or 

23 class of covered products, manufactured not 

24 earlier than 1 year after publication of the final 


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1 rule prescribing such standards and not later 

2 than 3 years after such publication; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the more stringent standard pre4 scribed shall apply to any such covered product, 

5 or class of covered products, manufactured not 

6 later than 6 years after such publication.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM PREEMPTION. 

8 (a) REMOVING BARRIERS TO EFFICIENCY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 327 of the Energy 

10 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6297) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h) SUSPENSION OF PREEMPTION.—A State regula13 tion concerning the energy efficiency, energy use, or water 

14 use of a covered product that would otherwise be super15 seded by the provisions of this part in accordance with 

16 this section shall not be superseded during any period 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(1) begins on the date that is 8 years after the 

19 date on which an energy conservation standard is es20 tablished or revised under section 325 for the cov21 ered product; and 

22 ‘‘(2) ends on the date that compliance with an 

23 energy conservation standard that is established or 

24 revised under section 325 and that is equivalent to 


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1 or more stringent than the State regulation is re2 quired. 

3 ‘‘(i) NO PREEMPTION ABSENT A FEDERAL STAND4 ARD.— 

5 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of this part, a State regulation concerning 

7 the energy efficiency, energy use, or water use of a 

8 covered product is not superseded by the provisions 

9 of this part if the State applies to any product not 

10 subject to an energy conservation standard estab11 lished under section 325. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE PERIOD.—Notwithstanding 

13 any other provision of this part, any State regulation 

14 prescribed or enacted for a covered product before 

15 the date on which an energy conservation standard 

16 is established under section 325 for the covered 

17 product shall not be preempted until the date on 

18 which compliance with an energy conservation stand19 ard that is established under section 325 and that 

20 is equivalent to, or more stringent than, the require21 ments of the State is required.’’. 

22 (2) ASHRAE PRODUCTS.—Section 345(b)(2) of 

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

24 6316(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a 

2 standard prescribed or established under section 

3 342(a) shall not supersede any State or local 

4 regulation concerning the energy efficiency or 

5 energy use of a product for which the standard 

6 is prescribed or established during any period 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(i) begins on the date that is 8 years 

9 after the date on which such standard is 

10 prescribed or established; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) ends on the effective date of a 

12 standard prescribed or established after 

13 the date described in clause (i) under sec14 tion 342(a) for the product, that is equiva15 lent to, or more stringent than, the State 

16 or local regulation.’’. 

17 (b) BUILDING CODES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 327(f) of the Energy 

19 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6297(f)) is 

20 amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN BUILDING CODE RE22 QUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A regulation or other re24 quirement that is contained in a State or local build25 ing code for new construction concerning the energy 


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1 efficiency or energy use of a covered product is not 

2 superseded by this part if the regulation or other re3 quirement concerning the energy efficiency or energy 

4 use of the covered product is more stringent than 

5 the corresponding Federal energy conservation 

6 standard. 

7 ‘‘(2) NEW CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

8 this subsection, the term ‘new construction’ in9 cludes— 

10 ‘‘(A) new buildings and their systems; and 

11 ‘‘(B) new portions of buildings and their 

12 systems.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 327 

14 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 6297) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (b), by striking para17 graph (3); and 

18 (B) in subsection (c), by striking para19 graph (3). 

20 (3) ASHRAE PRODUCTS.—Section 

21 345(b)(2)(B) of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 6316(b)(2)(B)) is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘new construction’’ and all that follows through 

24 the end and inserting ‘‘new construction.’’. 

Æ 


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