Energy Star Improvements Act of 2011

Energy Star Improvements Act of 2011 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to revise the Energy Star program by requiring the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Secretary of Energy (DOE): (1) to require inclusion of developmental products planned for sale within two years in the testing or evaluation of products proposed for purposes of establishing and revising an Energy Star product category, specification, or criterion; (2) within two years, to establish and implement a ratings system for Energy Star products to provide consumers with the most helpful information on the relative energy efficiency of those products, unless the Administrator and the Secretary communicate to Congress that establishing such a system would diminish the value of the Energy Star brand; (3) at least once every three years, to review the Energy Star product criteria for the 10 products in each product category with the greatest energy consumption; (4) to update and publish the Energy Star product criteria for each such category based on such review; (5) before permitting a product to be identified as an Energy Star product, to require the manufacturer to prove the compliance of the product with Energy Star criteria through testing at a certified independent laboratory; and (6) to periodically verify, at the expense of the manufacturer of the product, compliance by products identified as Energy Star products with Energy Star criteria.

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 438 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 438

  To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide further 
   requirements for the Energy Star program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 25, 2011

  Mr. Weiner 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 further 
   requirements for the Energy Star program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Energy Star Improvements Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. ENERGY STAR STANDARDS.

    (a) Energy Star.--Section 324A(c) of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) in establishing and revising an Energy Star product 
        category, specification, or criterion, require inclusion of 
        developmental products planned for sale within 2 years in the 
        testing or evaluation of products proposed for purposes of such 
        establishment or revision;
            ``(9) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
        this paragraph, establish and implement a ratings system for 
        products identified as Energy Star products pursuant to this 
        section to provide consumers with the most helpful information 
        on the relative energy efficiency of those products, unless the 
        Administrator and the Secretary communicate to Congress that 
        establishing such a system would diminish the value of the 
        Energy Star brand to consumers;
            ``(10)(A) review the Energy Star product criteria for the 
        10 products in each product category with the greatest energy 
        consumption at least once every 3 years; and
            ``(B) based on the review, update and publish the Energy 
        Star product criteria for each such category, as necessary;
            ``(11) before permitting a product to be identified as an 
        Energy Star product, require the manufacturer of such product 
        to prove the compliance of the product with Energy Star product 
        criteria through testing at an independent laboratory certified 
        for such purpose by the Secretary; and
            ``(12) periodically verify, at the expense of the 
        manufacturer of the product, compliance with Energy Star 
        product criteria by products identified as Energy Star products 
        pursuant to this section, including through--
                    ``(A) purchase and testing of products from the 
                market; or
                    ``(B) other appropriate testing and compliance 
                approaches.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the amendments made by this section 
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and for each fiscal year thereafter.
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