I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4219 
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the recogni-
tion 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voluntary Certification 
Program Act of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR AIR 
CONDITIONING, 
FURNACE, 
BOILER, 
HEAT 
PUMP, AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS. 
Section 326(b) of the Energy Policy and Conserva-
tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6296(b)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(6) VOLUNTARY
CERTIFICATION
PROGRAMS 
FOR AIR CONDITIONING, FURNACE, BOILER, HEAT 
PUMP, AND WATER HEATER PRODUCTS.— 
‘‘(A) 
DEFINITION
OF
BASIC
MODEL 
GROUP.—In this paragraph, the term ‘basic 
model group’ means a set of models— 
‘‘(i) that share characteristics that 
allow the performance of 1 model to be 
generally representative of the performance 
of other models within the group; and 
‘‘(ii) in which the group of products 
does not necessarily have to share discrete 
performance. 
‘‘(B) RELIANCE ON VOLUNTARY CERTIFI-
CATION PROGRAMS.—For the purpose of testing 
to verify the performance rating of, or receiving 
test reports from manufacturers certifying com-
pliance with energy conservation standards and 
Energy Star specifications established under 
sections 324A, 325, and 342, the covered prod-
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ucts described in paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (9), 
and (11) of section 322(a) and covered equip-
ment described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), 
(F), (I), (J), and (K) of section 340(1), the 
Secretary and Administrator shall rely on vol-
untary certification programs that— 
‘‘(i) are nationally recognized; 
‘‘(ii) maintain a publicly available list 
of all certified products and equipment; 
‘‘(iii) as determined by the Secretary, 
annually test not less than 10 percent and 
not more than 30 percent of the basic 
model group of a program participant; 
‘‘(iv) require the changing of the per-
formance rating or removal of the product 
or 
equipment 
from 
the 
program, 
if 
verification testing determines that the 
performance rating does not meet the lev-
els the manufacturer has certified to the 
Secretary; 
‘‘(v) require the qualification of new 
participants in the program through test-
ing and production of test reports; 
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‘‘(vi) allow for challenge testing of 
products and equipment within the scope 
of the program; 
‘‘(vii) require program participants to 
certify the performance rating of all cov-
ered products and equipment within the 
scope of the program; 
‘‘(viii) are conducted by a certification 
body that is accredited under International 
Organization 
for 
Standardization/Inter-
national 
Electrotechnical 
Commission 
(ISO/IEC) Standard 17065; 
‘‘(ix) provide to the Secretary— 
‘‘(I) an annual report of all test 
results; 
‘‘(II) prompt notification when 
program testing results in— 
‘‘(aa) the rerating of the 
performance rating of a product 
or equipment; or 
‘‘(bb) the delisting of a 
product or equipment; and 
‘‘(III) test reports, on the request 
of the Secretary or the Administrator, 
for Energy Star compliant products, 
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which shall be treated as confidential 
business information as provided for 
under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, 
United States Code (commonly known 
as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’); 
‘‘(x) use verification testing that— 
‘‘(I) is conducted by an inde-
pendent test laboratory that is accred-
ited under International Organization 
for 
Standardization/International 
Electrotechnical 
Commission 
(ISO/ 
IEC) Standard 17025 with a scope 
covering the tested products or equip-
ment; 
‘‘(II) follows the test procedures 
established under this title; and 
‘‘(III) notes in each test report 
any instructions specified by the man-
ufacturer or the representative of the 
manufacturer for the purpose of con-
ducting the verification testing; and 
‘‘(xi) satisfy such other requirements 
as the Secretary has determined— 
‘‘(I) are essential to ensure 
standards compliance; or 
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‘‘(II) have consensus support 
achieved through a negotiated rule-
making process. 
‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall not require— 
‘‘(I) manufacturers to participate 
in a voluntary certification program 
described in subparagraph (B); or 
‘‘(II) participating manufacturers 
to provide information that can be ob-
tained through a voluntary certifi-
cation program described in subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘(ii) LIST OF COVERED PRODUCTS.— 
The Secretary or the Administrator may 
maintain a publicly available list of covered 
products and equipment certified under a 
program described in subparagraph (B) 
that distinguishes between— 
‘‘(I) covered products and equip-
ment verified by the program; and 
‘‘(II) products not verified by the 
program. 
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‘‘(iii) 
REDUCTION
OF
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Any rules promulgated by the 
Secretary that require testing of products 
or equipment for certification of perform-
ance ratings shall on average reduce re-
quirements and burdens for manufacturers 
participating in a voluntary certification 
program described in subparagraph (B) for 
the products or equipment relative to other 
manufacturers. 
‘‘(iv) PERIODIC TESTING BY PROGRAM 
NONPARTICIPANTS.—In addition to certifi-
cation requirements, the Secretary shall re-
quire a manufacturer that does not partici-
pate in a voluntary certification program 
described in subparagraph (B)— 
‘‘(I) to verify the accuracy of the 
performance rating of the product or 
equipment through periodic testing 
using the testing methods described in 
clause (iii) or (x) of subparagraph 
(B); and 
‘‘(II) to provide to the Secretary 
test results and, on request, test re-
ports verifying the certified perform-
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ance for each basic model group of 
the manufacturer. 
‘‘(v) RESTRICTIONS ON TEST LABORA-
TORIES.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to 
subclause (II), with respect to covered 
products and equipment, a voluntary 
certification program described in 
subparagraph (B) shall not be a test 
laboratory that conducts the testing 
on products or equipment within the 
scope of the program. 
‘‘(II) 
LIMITATION.—Subclause 
(I) shall not apply to Energy Star 
specifications established under sec-
tion 324A. 
‘‘(vi) EFFECT
ON
OTHER
AUTHOR-
ITY.—Nothing in this paragraph limits the 
authority of the Secretary or the Adminis-
trator to test products or equipment or to 
enforce compliance with any law (including 
regulations).’’. 
Æ 
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