To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the definition of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2975 To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the definition of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Mrs. DINGELL 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 modify the definition of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. WATER HEATERS. 3 (a) DEFINITION OF WATER HEATER.—Section 321 4 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 5 6291) is amended by striking paragraph (27) and insert- 6 ing the following: 7 ‘‘(27) WATER HEATER.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘water heat- 9 er’ means a product that utilizes oil, gas, or 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2975 IH electricity to heat potable water for use outside 1 the heater on demand, including— 2 ‘‘(i) storage type units that heat and 3 store water at a thermostatically controlled 4 temperature, including— 5 ‘‘(I) gas storage water heaters 6 with an input of 75,000 Btu per hour 7 or less, including heat pump type 8 units that meet the current and volt- 9 age limits under clause (iii); 10 ‘‘(II) oil storage water heaters 11 with an input of 105,000 Btu per 12 hour or less; and 13 ‘‘(III) electric storage water heat- 14 ers with an input of 12 kilowatts or 15 less, including heat pump type units 16 that meet the current and voltage lim- 17 its under clause (iii); 18 ‘‘(ii)(I) instantaneous type units that 19 heat water but contain not more than 1 20 gallon of water per 4,000 Btu per hour of 21 input; and 22 ‘‘(II) in the case of— 23 ‘‘(aa) gas instantaneous water 24 heaters, have an input of 200,000 Btu 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2975 IH per hour or less and are designed and 1 marketed to provide outlet hot water 2 at a thermostatically controlled tem- 3 perature of less than 180 degrees 4 Fahrenheit; 5 ‘‘(bb) oil instantaneous water 6 heaters, have an input of 210,000 Btu 7 per hour or less; and 8 ‘‘(cc) electric instantaneous water 9 heaters, have an input of 12 kilowatts 10 or less; 11 ‘‘(iii) heat pump type units (including 12 add-on heat pumps, integrated heat pumps 13 with storage, split-system heat pumps that 14 consist of a separate heat pump and stor- 15 age tank that are designed and marketed 16 to operate together, and all ancillary equip- 17 ment, such as fans, storage tanks, pumps, 18 electric resistance heating elements, or 19 controls necessary for the device to per- 20 form its function) that— 21 ‘‘(I) have a maximum current 22 rating of 24 amperes at a voltage not 23 greater than 250 volts; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(II) are designed to transfer 1 thermal energy from 1 temperature 2 level to a different temperature level 3 for the purpose of heating water; 4 ‘‘(iv) solar thermal-assisted electric 5 storage units; and 6 ‘‘(v) solar thermal-assisted fossil fuel 7 storage units. 8 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Unless otherwise de- 9 termined by the Secretary under section 10 325(e)(7)(B), the term ‘water heater’ does not 11 include— 12 ‘‘(i) electric storage type units de- 13 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(III) that— 14 ‘‘(I) are designed and marketed 15 exclusively for commercial building 16 applications; and 17 ‘‘(II)(aa) are designed, con- 18 structed, inspected, tested, and 19 stamped in accordance with Section 20 IV, Part HLW, or Section X of the 21 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code pro- 22 mulgated by the American Society of 23 Mechanical Engineers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(bb) exclusively use 3-phase 1 electricity, are designed and marketed 2 to provide outlet hot water at a 3 thermostatically controlled tempera- 4 ture of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 greater, and operate only at rated 6 voltages of not less than 208 volts; or 7 ‘‘(cc) exclusively use single-phase 8 electricity, are designed and marketed 9 to provide outlet hot water at a 10 thermostatically controlled tempera- 11 ture of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 greater, and operate only at a rated 13 voltage of 277 volts; or 14 ‘‘(ii) gas storage type units described 15 in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) that— 16 ‘‘(I) are designed and marketed 17 exclusively for commercial building 18 applications; and 19 ‘‘(II) are designed, constructed, 20 inspected, tested, and stamped in ac- 21 cordance with Section IV, Part HLW, 22 of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel 23 Code promulgated by the American 24 Society of Mechanical Engineers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(C) MULTI-INPUT ELECTRIC STORAGE 1 WATER HEATER.—The term ‘multi-input elec- 2 tric storage water heater’ means a product 3 that— 4 ‘‘(i) is not a heat pump type unit de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii); and 6 ‘‘(ii) is designed, marketed, or shipped 7 from the manufacturer with a capability of 8 operating or being configured to operate at 9 inputs greater than, equal to, or below 12 10 kilowatts. 11 ‘‘(D) SOLAR THERMAL-ASSISTED ELECTRIC 12 STORAGE UNIT.—The term ‘solar thermal-as- 13 sisted electric storage unit’ means a unit that— 14 ‘‘(i) has an input of 12 kilowatts or 15 less; 16 ‘‘(ii) has at least 2 dedicated ports in 17 addition to the ports used for introduction 18 and delivery of potable water for the sup- 19 ply and return of water or a heat transfer 20 fluid heated externally by solar panels; 21 ‘‘(iii) does not have electric resistance 22 heating elements located in the lower half 23 of the storage tank; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(iv) has the temperature sensing de- 1 vice that controls the auxiliary electric heat 2 source located in the upper half of the 3 storage tank; and 4 ‘‘(v) has a ratio of less than 0.70 for 5 the proportion that the certified first hour 6 rating bears to the nominal volume of the 7 storage tank tested without solar energy 8 input.’’. 9 (b) STANDARDS FOR WATER HEATERS.—Section 10 325(e) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 11 U.S.C. 6295(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(7) EXEMPTED WATER HEATERS.— 14 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF EXEMPTED WATER 15 HEATER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘exempt- 16 ed water heater’ means a water heater de- 17 scribed in section 321(27)(B). 18 ‘‘(B) MONITORING OF SHIPMENTS.— 19 ‘‘(i) SUBMISSION OF DATA.—Not later 20 than 90 days after the date of enactment 21 of this paragraph, and not later than May 22 1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary 23 shall require each manufacturer of water 24 heaters to report to the Secretary the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2975 IH quantity of exempted water heaters, in 1 each category of exempted water heaters, 2 that the manufacturer shipped in the pre- 3 ceding calendar year. 4 ‘‘(ii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRE- 5 MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat ship- 6 ment data reported by manufacturers 7 under clause (i) as confidential business in- 8 formation subject to appropriate confiden- 9 tial data safeguards. 10 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.— 11 ‘‘(I) BASELINE SHIPMENT 12 DATA.—Not later than 120 days after 13 the date of enactment of this para- 14 graph, the Secretary shall publish an 15 analysis of the data collected under 16 clause (i) for public comment, subject 17 to applicable confidentiality safe- 18 guards, which shall serve as the base- 19 line data for the analysis described in 20 subclause (II)(bb). 21 ‘‘(II) PERCENTAGE GROWTH 22 FROM BASELINE.—Not later than 23 June 1 of each year after the year in 24 which the Secretary publishes data 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2975 IH under subclause (I), the Secretary 1 shall publish— 2 ‘‘(aa) an analysis of the data 3 collected under clause (i) for pub- 4 lic comment, subject to applicable 5 confidentiality safeguards; 6 ‘‘(bb) the percentage growth 7 in the number of shipments with- 8 in each category of exempted 9 water heater relative to the base- 10 line data described in subclause 11 (I); and 12 ‘‘(cc) the determination of 13 the Secretary as to whether the 14 number of shipments for any cat- 15 egory of exempted water heater 16 have increased by more than 25 17 percent compared to the baseline 18 data for that category. 19 ‘‘(C) INCLUSION OF EXEMPTED WATER 20 HEATERS.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 22 shall, by regulation, revise the definition of 23 water heater under section 321(27) to in- 24 clude an exempted water heater under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2975 IH paragraph (A) of that section if the Sec- 1 retary makes an affirmative determination 2 under subparagraph (B)(iii)(II)(cc) for 3 that category of exempted water heater. 4 ‘‘(ii) ENERGY CONSERVATION STAND- 5 ARDS.—Any category of exempted water 6 heater included in the definition of water 7 heater under clause (i) shall be required to 8 meet the energy conservation standards 9 applicable to an electric or gas storage type 10 water heater under this part. 11 ‘‘(iii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—For any 12 category of exempted water heater, the 13 Secretary shall carry out clause (i), and re- 14 quire compliance under clause (ii), not 15 later than 1 year after the date on which 16 the Secretary makes the affirmative deter- 17 mination described in clause (i) for that 18 category. 19 ‘‘(8) STANDARDS FOR MULTI-INPUT ELECTRIC 20 STORAGE WATER HEATERS.—A multi-input electric 21 storage water heater shall be subject to the test pro- 22 cedures, energy conservation standards, labeling (if 23 applicable), and certification requirements— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(A) for electric storage water heaters 1 under this part; and 2 ‘‘(B) for storage water heaters under part 3 C. 4 ‘‘(9) TECHNOLOGY-NEUTRAL ELECTRIC STOR- 5 AGE WATER HEATER STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding 6 any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may 7 not create separate product classes for heat pump 8 water heaters and other electric storage water heat- 9 ers.’’. 10 (c) DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL WATER HEATER.— 11 Section 340 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 12 (42 U.S.C. 6311) is amended by striking paragraph (12) 13 and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(12)(A) STORAGE WATER HEATER.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘storage 16 water heater’ means a water heater that— 17 ‘‘(I) heats and stores water within an 18 appliance at a thermostatically controlled 19 temperature for delivery on demand; and 20 ‘‘(II) is not a water heater described 21 in section 321(27)(A). 22 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘storage 23 water heater’ does not include a unit with an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2975 IH input rating of 4,000 Btu per hour or more per 1 gallon of stored water. 2 ‘‘(B) INSTANTANEOUS WATER HEATER.—The 3 term ‘instantaneous water heater’ means a water 4 heater that— 5 ‘‘(i) has an input rating of at least 4,000 6 Btu per hour per gallon of stored water; and 7 ‘‘(ii) is not a water heater described in sec- 8 tion 321(27)(A). 9 ‘‘(C) UNFIRED HOT WATER STORAGE TANK.— 10 The term ‘unfired hot water storage tank’ means a 11 tank used to store water that is heated externally.’’. 12 (d) LABELING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 344 of the 13 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6315) is 14 amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(l) LABELS FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL WATER 16 HEATERS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 18 provision of this section, water heaters described in 19 section 321(27)(B) shall be required to bear a per- 20 manent label, applied at the point of manufacture, 21 that, subject to paragraph (3), satisfies the require- 22 ments described in paragraph (2). 23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A label required under 24 paragraph (1) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2975 IH ‘‘(A) be made of material not adversely af- 1 fected by water; 2 ‘‘(B) be attached by means of nonwater- 3 soluble adhesive; and 4 ‘‘(C) bear the following notice printed in 5 16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold font: ‘IMPOR- 6 TANT INFORMATION: Exclusively intended 7 for commercial installations. This model is not 8 certified by the U.S. Department of Energy as 9 a residential water heater. This model does not 10 have a certified First Hour or UEF rating.’. 11 ‘‘(3) REVISION UPON PETITION.—On receipt of 12 a petition by an interested party, the Secretary may 13 conduct a rulemaking to revise the scope and re- 14 quirements of the label required under paragraph 15 (1).’’. 16 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 17 ments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after 18 the date of enactment of this Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2975.IH H2975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS