I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2043 
To provide for the establishment of a Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate 
Program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 3, 2019 
Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of a Home Energy Savings 
Retrofit Rebate Program, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Home Owner Man-
aging Energy Savings Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HOMES 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) BPI.—The term ‘‘BPI’’ means the Building 
Performance Institute. 
(2) ENERGY AUDIT.—The term ‘‘energy audit’’ 
means an inspection, survey, and analysis of energy 
flows for energy conservation in a building, process, 
or system to reduce the amount of energy input into 
the system without negatively affecting the output. 
An energy audit is the first step in identifying op-
portunities to reduce energy expense and carbon 
footprints. 
(3) ELECTRIC
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 
utility’’ means any company, person, cooperative, 
State, or Indian tribe agency that delivers or sells 
electric energy at retail, including nonregulated utili-
ties, utilities that are subject to State or Indian tribe 
rate regulation, and Federal power marketing ad-
ministrations. 
(4) FEDERAL REBATE PROCESSING SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘‘Federal Rebate Processing System’’ 
means the Federal Rebate Processing System estab-
lished under section 3(b). 
(5) HOME.—The term ‘‘home’’ means a resi-
dential dwelling unit in a building with no more than 
4 dwelling units that— 
(A) is located in the United States; 
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(B) was constructed before the date of en-
actment of this Act; and 
(C) is occupied at least six months out of 
the year. 
(6) HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE 
PROGRAM.—The terms ‘‘Home Energy Savings Ret-
rofit Rebate Program’’ or ‘‘Program’’ means the 
Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program es-
tablished under section 3(a). 
(7) HOMEOWNER.—The term ‘‘homeowner’’ 
means the owner of an owner-occupied home or a 
tenant-occupied home. 
(8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(9) NATURAL GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘nat-
ural gas utility’’ means any company, person, coop-
erative, State or local governmental agency or in-
strumentality, or Indian tribe that transports, dis-
tributes, or sells natural gas at retail. 
(10) 
QUALIFIED
CONTRACTOR.—The 
term 
‘‘qualified contractor’’ means a residential energy ef-
ficiency contractor that meets minimum applicable 
requirements established under section 4. 
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(11) QUALIFIED
HOME
ENERGY
EFFICIENCY 
RETROFIT.—The term ‘‘qualified home energy effi-
ciency retrofit’’ means a retrofit described in section 
8(d). 
(12) QUALITY
ASSURANCE
PROGRAM.—The 
term ‘‘quality assurance program’’ means a program 
established under this Act, or recognized by the Sec-
retary under this Act, to oversee the delivery of 
home efficiency retrofit programs to ensure that 
work is performed in accordance with standards and 
criteria established under this Act. Delivery of ret-
rofit programs includes delivery of quality assurance 
reviews of rebate applications and field inspections. 
Individuals performing quality assurance work under 
a quality assurance program must be certified under 
an ANSI accredited quality control inspection certifi-
cation designation. 
(13) QUALITY
ASSURANCE
PROVIDER.—The 
term ‘‘quality assurance provider’’ means any entity 
that meets the minimum applicable requirements es-
tablished under section 6. 
(14) REBATE AGGREGATOR.—The term ‘‘rebate 
aggregator’’ means an entity that meets the require-
ments of section 5. 
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(15) RESNET.—The term ‘‘RESNET’’ means 
the Residential Energy Services Network, which is a 
nonprofit certification and standard setting organi-
zation for home energy raters that evaluate the en-
ergy performance of a home and Energy Smart Con-
tractors that make energy improvements to the 
home. 
(16) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Energy. 
(17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 
(A) a State; 
(B) the District of Columbia; 
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 
(D) Guam; 
(E) American Samoa; 
(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands; 
(G) the United States Virgin Islands; and 
(H) any other territory or possession of the 
United States. 
SEC. 3. HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish the 
Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. 
(b) FEDERAL REBATE PROCESSING SYSTEM.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Treasury, shall— 
(A) establish a Federal Rebate Processing 
System which shall serve as a database and in-
formation technology system that will allow re-
bate aggregators to submit claims for reim-
bursement using standard data protocols; 
(B) establish a national retrofit website 
that provides information on the Home Energy 
Savings Retrofit Rebate Program, including— 
(i) how to determine whether par-
ticular efficiency measures are eligible for 
rebates; and 
(ii) how to participate in the Program; 
and 
(C) make available model forms for dem-
onstrating compliance with all applicable re-
quirements of this Act, which shall be required 
to be submitted by— 
(i) each qualified contractor on com-
pletion of an eligible home energy retrofit; 
and 
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(ii) each quality assurance provider on 
completion of field verification. 
(2) MODEL FORMS.—In carrying out paragraph 
(1)(C), the Secretary shall convene a group of stake-
holders that are directly and materially affected by 
the Program to develop the final forms. 
SEC. 4. CONTRACTORS. 
(a) CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS.—A contractor 
may perform retrofit work under the Home Energy Sav-
ings Retrofit Rebate Program in a State if the con-
tractor— 
(1) meets all applicable contractor licensing re-
quirements established by the State; 
(2) is— 
(A) accredited by— 
(i) BPI as a BPI GoldStar Con-
tractor; 
(ii) RESNET as an Energy Smart 
Home Performance Team; 
(iii) ACCA as a QA Home Perform-
ance Contractor; 
(iv) a State-based certification pro-
gram established to carry out State energy, 
clean air, or environmental programs; or 
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(v) an equivalent accreditation pro-
gram approved by the Secretary for this 
purpose; or 
(B) the general contractor, and— 
(i) subjects the energy efficiency ret-
rofit to a third-party review by a party ap-
proved by the Secretary and a quality as-
surance inspection authorized by the Sec-
retary; and 
(ii) employs, or utilizes subcontractors 
who employ, individuals to complete indi-
vidual or comprehensive scopes of work re-
lated to the energy efficiency retrofit who 
are certified by— 
(I) BPI; 
(II) RESNET; 
(III) NATE; 
(IV) ACCA; 
(V) LIUNA; 
(VI) the Regional and State De-
partment of Energy Weatherization 
Training Centers; or 
(VII) other contractor or worker 
certification programs approved by 
the Secretary; 
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