I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4219 

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

boiler, heat pump, and water heater products. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2014 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. MATHESON) 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 certification 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 Certification 

5 Program Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY CERTIFICATION 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 CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

8 FOR AIR CONDITIONING, FURNACE, BOILER, HEAT

9 PUMP, AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF BASIC MODEL

11 GROUP.—In this paragraph, the term ‘basic 

12 model group’ means a set of models— 

13 ‘‘(i) that share characteristics that 

14 allow the performance of 1 model to be 

15 generally representative of the performance 

16 of other models within the group; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) in which the group of products 

18 does not necessarily have to share discrete 

19 performance. 

20 ‘‘(B) RELIANCE ON VOLUNTARY CERTIFI21 CATION PROGRAMS.—For the purpose of testing 

22 to verify the performance rating of, or receiving 

23 test reports from manufacturers certifying com24 pliance with energy conservation standards and 

25 Energy Star specifications established under 

26 sections 324A, 325, and 342, the covered prodVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:38 Mar 20, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4219.IH H4219

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1 ucts described in paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (9), 

2 and (11) of section 322(a) and covered equip3 ment described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), 

4 (F), (I), (J), and (K) of section 340(1), the 

5 Secretary and Administrator shall rely on vol6 untary certification programs that— 

7 ‘‘(i) are nationally recognized; 

8 ‘‘(ii) maintain a publicly available list 

9 of all certified products and equipment; 

10 ‘‘(iii) as determined by the Secretary, 

11 annually test not less than 10 percent and 

12 not more than 30 percent of the basic 

13 model group of a program participant; 

14 ‘‘(iv) require the changing of the per15 formance rating or removal of the product 

16 or equipment from the program, if 

17 verification testing determines that the 

18 performance rating does not meet the lev19 els the manufacturer has certified to the 

20 Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(v) require the qualification of new 

22 participants in the program through test23 ing and production of test reports; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) allow for challenge testing of 

2 products and equipment within the scope 

3 of the program; 

4 ‘‘(vii) require program participants to 

5 certify the performance rating of all cov6 ered products and equipment within the 

7 scope of the program; 

8 ‘‘(viii) are conducted by a certification 

9 body that is accredited under International 

10 Organization for Standardization/Inter11 national Electrotechnical Commission 

12 (ISO/IEC) Standard 17065; 

13 ‘‘(ix) provide to the Secretary— 

14 ‘‘(I) an annual report of all test 

15 results; 

16 ‘‘(II) prompt notification when 

17 program testing results in— 

18 ‘‘(aa) the rerating of the 

19 performance rating of a product 

20 or equipment; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) the delisting of a 

22 product or equipment; and 

23 ‘‘(III) test reports, on the request 

24 of the Secretary or the Administrator, 

25 for Energy Star compliant products, 


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1 which shall be treated as confidential 

2 business information as provided for 

3 under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, 

4 United States Code (commonly known 

5 as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’); 

6 ‘‘(x) use verification testing that— 

7 ‘‘(I) is conducted by an inde8 pendent test laboratory that is accred9 ited under International Organization 

10 for Standardization/International 

11 Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/ 

12 IEC) Standard 17025 with a scope 

13 covering the tested products or equip14 ment; 

15 ‘‘(II) follows the test procedures 

16 established under this title; and 

17 ‘‘(III) notes in each test report 

18 any instructions specified by the man19 ufacturer or the representative of the 

20 manufacturer for the purpose of con21 ducting the verification testing; and 

22 ‘‘(xi) satisfy such other requirements 

23 as the Secretary has determined— 

24 ‘‘(I) are essential to ensure 

25 standards compliance; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) have consensus support 

2 achieved through a negotiated rule3 making process. 

4 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

6 shall not require— 

7 ‘‘(I) manufacturers to participate 

8 in a voluntary certification program 

9 described in subparagraph (B); or 

10 ‘‘(II) participating manufacturers 

11 to provide information that can be ob12 tained through a voluntary certifi13 cation program described in subpara14 graph (B). 

15 ‘‘(ii) LIST OF COVERED PRODUCTS.— 

16 The Secretary or the Administrator may 

17 maintain a publicly available list of covered 

18 products and equipment certified under a 

19 program described in subparagraph (B) 

20 that distinguishes between— 

21 ‘‘(I) covered products and equip22 ment verified by the program; and 

23 ‘‘(II) products not verified by the 

24 program. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) REDUCTION OF REQUIRE2 MENTS.—Any rules promulgated by the 

3 Secretary that require testing of products 

4 or equipment for certification of perform5 ance ratings shall on average reduce re6 quirements and burdens for manufacturers 

7 participating in a voluntary certification 

8 program described in subparagraph (B) for 

9 the products or equipment relative to other 

10 manufacturers. 

11 ‘‘(iv) PERIODIC TESTING BY PROGRAM

12 NONPARTICIPANTS.—In addition to certifi13 cation requirements, the Secretary shall re14 quire a manufacturer that does not partici15 pate in a voluntary certification program 

16 described in subparagraph (B)— 

17 ‘‘(I) to verify the accuracy of the 

18 performance rating of the product or 

19 equipment through periodic testing 

20 using the testing methods described in 

21 clause (iii) or (x) of subparagraph 

22 (B); and 

23 ‘‘(II) to provide to the Secretary 

24 test results and, on request, test re25 ports verifying the certified performVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:38 Mar 20, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4219.IH H4219

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1 ance for each basic model group of 

2 the manufacturer. 

3 ‘‘(v) RESTRICTIONS ON TEST LABORA4 TORIES.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

6 subclause (II), with respect to covered 

7 products and equipment, a voluntary 

8 certification program described in 

9 subparagraph (B) shall not be a test 

10 laboratory that conducts the testing 

11 on products or equipment within the 

12 scope of the program. 

13 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Subclause 

14 (I) shall not apply to Energy Star 

15 specifications established under sec16 tion 324A. 

17 ‘‘(vi) EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHOR18 ITY.—Nothing in this paragraph limits the 

19 authority of the Secretary or the Adminis20 trator to test products or equipment or to 

21 enforce compliance with any law (including 

22 regulations).’’. 

Æ 


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