I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1785 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the recognition of voluntary verification programs for air conditioning, furnace, 

boiler, heat pump, and water heater products. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2015 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. COOPER, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) 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 provide 

for the recognition of voluntary verification programs 

for air conditioning, furnace, boiler, heat pump, and 

water heater products. 

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 ‘‘Voluntary Verification 

5 Program Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY VERIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR AIR 

2 CONDITIONING, FURNACE, BOILER, HEAT 

3 PUMP, AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS. 

4 Section 326(b) of the Energy Policy and Conserva5 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6296(b)) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) VOLUNTARY VERIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR

8 AIR CONDITIONING, FURNACE, BOILER, HEAT PUMP, 

9 AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) RELIANCE ON VOLUNTARY

11 VERIFICATION PROGRAMS.—For the purpose of 

12 verifying compliance with energy conservation 

13 standards and Energy Star specifications estab14 lished under sections 324A, 325, and 342 for 

15 covered products described in paragraphs (3), 

16 (4), (5), (9), and (11) of section 322(a) and 

17 covered equipment described in subparagraphs 

18 (B), (C), (D), (F), (I), (J), and (K) of section 

19 340(1), the Secretary and Administrator of the 

20 Environmental Protection Agency (in this para21 graph referred to as the ‘Administrator’) 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) rely on voluntary verification pro24 grams that are recognized by the Secretary 

25 or the Administrator according to criteria 


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1 that have consensus support established 

2 through a negotiated rulemaking; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of enactment of the Voluntary 

5 Verification Program Act of 2015, initiate 

6 a negotiated rulemaking described in 

7 clause (i) to establish criteria for achieving 

8 recognition by the Secretary or the Admin9 istrator as an approved voluntary 

10 verification program, which at a minimum 

11 shall ensure that voluntary verification 

12 programs— 

13 ‘‘(I) are nationally recognized; 

14 ‘‘(II) maintain a publicly avail15 able list of all verified products and 

16 equipment; 

17 ‘‘(III) require the changing of the 

18 performance rating or removal of the 

19 product or equipment from the pro20 gram if testing determines that the 

21 performance rating does not meet the 

22 levels the manufacturer has verified to 

23 the Secretary or the Administrator; 

24 ‘‘(IV) require the qualification of 

25 new participants in the program 


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1 through testing and production of test 

2 reports; 

3 ‘‘(V) allow for challenge testing 

4 of products and equipment within the 

5 scope of the program; 

6 ‘‘(VI) require program partici7 pants to verify the performance rating 

8 of all covered products and equipment 

9 within the scope of the voluntary 

10 verification program; 

11 ‘‘(VII) provide to the Secretary 

12 or the Administrator— 

13 ‘‘(aa) prompt notification 

14 when program testing results 

15 in— 

16 ‘‘(AA) the rerating of 

17 the performance rating of a 

18 product or equipment; or 

19 ‘‘(BB) the delisting of a 

20 product or equipment; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) test reports, on the re22 quest of the Secretary or the Ad23 ministrator, for Energy Star 

24 compliant products, which shall 

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1 ness information as provided for 

2 under section 552(b)(4) of title 

3 5, United States Code (commonly 

4 known as the ‘Freedom of Infor5 mation Act’); and 

6 ‘‘(VIII) meet any additional re7 quirements or standards that the Sec8 retary or the Administrator shall es9 tablish consistent with this clause. 

10 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Sec12 retary nor the Administrator shall re13 quire— 

14 ‘‘(I) manufacturers to participate 

15 in a voluntary verification program 

16 described in subparagraph (A); or 

17 ‘‘(II) participating manufacturers 

18 to provide information that can be ob19 tained through a voluntary 

20 verification program described in sub21 paragraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(ii) LIST OF COVERED PRODUCTS.— 

23 The Secretary or the Administrator may 

24 maintain a publicly available list of covered 

25 products and equipment verified under 


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1 subparagraph (A) that distinguishes be2 tween— 

3 ‘‘(I) covered products and equip4 ment verified by a program described 

5 in subparagraph (A); and 

6 ‘‘(II) products not verified by a 

7 program described in subparagraph 

8 (A). 

9 ‘‘(iii) PERIODIC VERIFICATION TEST10 ING.—The Secretary and the Adminis11 trator shall not subject a manufacturer 

12 that participates in a voluntary verification 

13 program described in subparagraph (A), 

14 and that is in compliance with subpara15 graph (A)(ii) (I) through (VIII), to addi16 tional periodic verification testing to verify 

17 the accuracy of the performance rating of 

18 the product or equipment, if the voluntary 

19 verification program subjects covered prod20 ucts to periodic verification testing and 

21 provides test results to the Secretary or 

22 the Administrator on request. 

23 ‘‘(iv) EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHOR24 ITY.—Nothing in this paragraph limits the 

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1 trator to enforce compliance with any 

2 law.’’. 

Æ 


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