I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1786 
To establish a Best-in-Class Appliances Deployment Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2009 
Ms. HARMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To establish a Best-in-Class Appliances Deployment 
Program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. BEST-IN-CLASS APPLIANCES DEPLOYMENT 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall, in 
consultation with the Administrator, establish and admin-
ister a program to be known as the ‘‘Best-in-Class Appli-
ances Deployment Program’’. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Best-in-Class Ap-
pliances Deployment Program is to reward retailers with 
bonuses for increasing the sales of best-in-class high-effi-
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
ciency installed building equipment, high-efficiency con-
sumer electronics, and high-efficiency household appliance 
models, with the goal of reducing life-cycle costs for con-
sumers, encouraging innovation, and maximizing energy 
savings and public benefit. The program shall include 
bounties under subsection (c) to retailers for the replace-
ment and recycling of old, inefficient, and environmentally 
harmful appliances. The program shall also include bo-
nuses under subsection (d) to manufacturers for devel-
oping new Superefficient Best-in-Class Products. 
(c) INCENTIVES
FOR
SALES
OF
BEST-IN-CLASS 
PRODUCT MODELS.— 
(1) SELECTION
OF
BEST-IN-CLASS
PRODUCT 
MODELS.—In establishing the program, the Sec-
retary of Energy shall use broad product classes and 
select as qualifying Best-in-Class Product models no 
more than the most efficient ten percent of the com-
mercially available product models in a class that 
demonstrate, as a group, a distinctly greater energy 
efficiency than the average energy efficiency of that 
class of appliances. In selecting models, the Sec-
retary shall— 
(A) identify commercially available models 
in the relevant class of products; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(B) identify the subgroup and percentage 
of those models (not greater than 10 percent) 
that the Secretary believes share the distinctly 
higher energy-efficiency characteristics that 
warrant designation as best-in-class; 
(C) specify the higher energy-efficiency 
characteristic they share; 
(D) announce the best-in-class designation 
and the best-in-class bonus to be paid for each 
sale of an eligible best-in-class model over a 3- 
year period beginning on the date of the an-
nouncement; 
(E) add other models in that class to the 
list of best-in-class models eligible for the bonus 
as they demonstrate their ability to meet the 
higher-efficiency characteristics on which the 
designation was made; and 
(F) make bonus payments for qualifying 
models sold during the 3-year period. 
(2) REVIEW OF BEST-IN-CLASS STANDARDS.— 
The Secretary shall review annually the product-spe-
cific criteria and the product models that qualify as 
Best-in-Class Products and, after a 30-day comment 
period, make upwards adjustments in the efficiency 
criteria as required to maintain an appropriate ratio 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
of such product models to the total number of prod-
uct models in the product class. 
(3) UPGRADE OF BEST-IN-CLASS PRODUCT ELI-
GIBILITY.—To the extent that the Secretary deter-
mines to increase the energy efficiency required to 
qualify for best-in-class designation within any group 
of product models, the Secretary shall— 
(A) consider any Superefficient Best-in- 
Class Product models that have been designated 
pursuant to subsection (d); 
(B) specify and announce the new higher 
best-in-class standard; 
(C) list those models that qualify as best- 
in-class under the new higher standard; 
(D) announce any change in the bonus 
payment appropriate to increase the market 
share of such best-in-class models, which shall 
not be lower than any ongoing bonus payment 
during the 3-year period for any prior designa-
tion of best-in-class models; 
(E) pay the new bonus payment for any 
models already qualifying under the earlier 
best-in-class standard that continue to qualify 
under the revised standard for a new 3-year-pe-
riod; and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(F) continue paying bonus payments at the 
original level to any models that qualified at 
that level but do not qualify at the new level for 
the remainder of the 3-year period announced 
with the original designation. 
(4) SIZE OF INDIVIDUAL BONUS PAYMENTS.— 
The size of each bonus payment shall be the product 
of— 
(A) an amount determined by the Sec-
retary; and 
(B) the difference in energy consumption 
as determined by comparing the energy used by 
the qualifying product and the energy used by 
the average product in the product class. 
The Secretary shall determine the amount under 
subparagraph (A) for each product type in consulta-
tion with State and utility efficiency program admin-
istrators as well as the Administrator, based on esti-
mates of the amount of bonus payment that would 
provide significant incentive to increase the market 
share of Best-in-Class Products. 
(5) ELIGIBLE
BONUS
RECIPIENT.—(A) The 
Secretary shall ensure that not more than 1 bonus 
payment is provided to distributors and retailers per 
unit of eligible models sold. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(B) In this section— 
(i) the term ‘‘retailer’’ means an indi-
vidual, organization, or company that sells 
products directly to end-users; and 
(ii) the term ‘‘distributor’’ mean an indi-
vidual, organization, or company that sells 
products in multiple lots and not directly to in-
dividual end-users. 
(C) The Secretary may make distributors eligi-
ble to receive the best-in-class incentive for sales 
that are not to the final end-user in addition to re-
tailers to the extent that the Secretary determines 
that for a particular product category distributors 
are well situated to increase sales of Best-in-Class 
Products. 
(d) BOUNTIES
FOR REPLACEMENT
AND RETIRE-
MENT OF EXISTING LOW-EFFICIENCY PRODUCTS.— 
(1) The Secretary of Energy shall establish a 
program to make a bounty payment for the recovery 
and recycling of older operating low-efficiency appli-
ances that might otherwise continue in operation. 
(2) The Secretary shall offer a bounty as an ad-
ditional incentive for retailers based on documenta-
tion that the sales of a Best-in-Class Product were 
accompanied by the retirement and recycling of an 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
existing inefficient but still-functioning product by 
the consumer to whom the Best-in-Class Product 
was sold. 
(3) The bounty payment shall be based on the 
difference between the estimated energy use of the 
product replaced and the energy use of an average 
new product in the product class, discounted for the 
estimated remaining lifetime of the product that was 
recycled. 
(4) The Secretary may specify that the avail-
ability of a product bonus related to sale of a Best- 
in-Class Product is linked to the recovery and recy-
cling of an older working appliance, and may limit 
the total payment to less than the sum of the bonus 
and the bounty payments, if not doing so would 
mean that the Nation’s total energy use would oth-
erwise increase. 
(5) The Secretary shall ensure that no product 
for which a bounty is paid is sold or returned to ac-
tive service, but that it is instead destroyed, and re-
cycled to the extent feasible. 
(6) The Secretary shall establish standards for 
environmentally responsible methods of recycling, es-
pecially for products utilizing refrigerants. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(e) REWARDS TO MANUFACTURERS FOR DEVELOP-
MENT OF SUPEREFFICIENT BEST-IN-CLASS PRODUCTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Secretary of Energy 
shall establish a program to reward manufacturers 
for the development and production of Superefficient 
Best-in-Class Products. 
(B) In this section, the term ‘‘Superefficient 
Best-in-Class Product’’ means a product that— 
(i) can be mass produced; and 
(ii) achieves the highest level of efficiency 
that the Secretary finds could be produced and 
sold commercially to mass-market consumers. 
(C) The Secretary may establish a standard for 
a Superefficient Best-in-Class Product even if no ex-
isting product exists, if the Secretary has reasonable 
grounds to conclude that a mass-producable product 
could be made to meet that standard. 
(D) The Secretary may also establish a super-
efficient best-in-class level that is met by one or 
more existing Best-in-Class Product models if those 
product models have distinct energy efficiency at-
tributes and performance characteristics that make 
them significantly better, in the judgment of the 
Secretary, than those product models qualifying as 
best-in-class, but that represent not more than 10 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
percent of the currently qualifying best-in-class mod-
els. 
(2) REWARD.— 
(A) The bonus payment provided to a 
manufacturer for the development and produc-
tion of a Superefficient Best-in-Class Product 
shall be in addition to any bonus payments 
made to retailers for best-in-class qualification. 
(B) The amount of the bonus paid per unit 
for 
qualifying 
Superefficient 
Best-in-Class 
Product models as sold to retailers or distribu-
tors shall be the product of— 
(i) an amount determined by the Sec-
retary; and 
(ii) the difference in energy consump-
tion as determined by comparing the en-
ergy used by the qualifying product and 
the energy used by the average product in 
the product class. 
(C) The Secretary shall determine the 
amount under subparagraph (B)(i) for each 
product type by considering the present value to 
the Nation of the energy (and water or other 
resources or inputs) saved over the useful life of 
the product, and may adjust this value upward 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:26 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
or downward after consultation with State and 
utility efficiency program administrators as well 
as the Administrator. 
(D) The adjustment may also be made 
based on the effect of the reward on the sales 
of products in different classes that may be af-
fected by this program. 
(E) The incremental bonus payments shall 
be applied to sales of any Superefficient Best- 
in-Class Product for the first 3 years of its sale. 
(3) COORDINATION OF INCENTIVES.—No prod-
uct for which Federal tax credit is received under 
section 45M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
shall be eligible to receive bonus payments pursuant 
to this subsection. 
(f) REPORTING.—Each retailer, distributor, and 
manufacturer participating in the program under this sec-
tion shall meet any reasonable request of the Secretary 
of Energy for documentation of sales reported for purpose 
of receiving bonuses or bounties, and shall report to the 
Secretary, on a confidential basis for program-design pur-
poses— 
(1) for retailers and distributors, the number of 
units sold within each product type and model-spe-
cific wholesale purchase price on a monthly basis; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(2) for manufacturers, model-specific energy 
consumption data; and 
(3) for manufacturers, on an immediate basis, 
concerning any product design or function changes 
that affect the energy consumption of the unit. 
(g) AUDITING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary of 
Energy shall establish monitoring and verification proto-
cols to ensure that energy consumption tests for each 
model are recorded correctly and that sales of energy-effi-
cient models are tabulated correctly by each claimant of 
bonus or bounty payments under this section. In addition, 
the Secretary may require reports from retailers on the 
methods used to increase the sales of qualifying products 
as a factor in determining the level and allocation of any 
such payments. 
(h) DISCLOSURE.—The Secretary of Energy may re-
quire that retailers and distributors disclose publicly and 
to consumers their participation in the program under this 
section. 
(i) COST-EFFECTIVENESS REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) 
COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—The 
term 
‘‘cost-effectiveness’’ means a measure of aggre-
gate savings in the cost of energy over the life-
time of the product as a ratio to the cost to the 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
Secretary of Energy of the rewards for the 
product. 
(B) SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘savings’’ means 
the cumulative megawatt-hours of electricity or 
million British thermal units of other fuels 
saved by a product, in comparison to projected 
energy consumption based on the efficiency per-
formance of displaced new product sales. The 
amount of savings is the product of— 
(i) the net number of best-in-class or 
superefficient best-in-class pieces of equip-
ment, electronics, and appliances sold by a 
retailer, manufacturer, or distributor in a 
calendar year; 
(ii) the savings during the projected 
useful life of the pieces of equipment, elec-
tronics, and appliances; and 
(iii) the impact of any documented 
measures to retire and recycle low-per-
forming devices at the time of purchase of 
highly-efficient substitutes. 
(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall make 
cost-effectiveness a top priority in designing and ad-
ministering this section, except that the cost-effec-
tiveness of the rewards to manufacturers, in aggre-
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
gate, may be lower by this measure than that of the 
rewards to retailers and distributors. 
(j) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to the Secretary of Energy 
for purposes of this section, of which not more than 10 
percent for any fiscal year may be expended on program 
administration. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
21:27 Mar 31, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1786.IH
H1786
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS