HOPE for HOMES Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3456 To make grants to support online training of residential contractors and rebates for the energy efficiency upgrades of homes and multifamily buildings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. TONKO, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. BLUNT ROCH- ESTER, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. HAYES, and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To make grants to support online training of residential contractors and rebates for the energy efficiency up- grades of homes and multifamily buildings, 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. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘HOPE for HOMES Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3456 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—HOPE TRAINING Sec. 101. Notice for HOPE Qualification training and grants. Sec. 102. Course criteria. Sec. 103. HOPE Qualification. Sec. 104. Grants. Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE II—HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE PROGRAM Sec. 201. Establishment of Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. Sec. 202. Partial system rebates. Sec. 203. State administered rebates for home energy efficiency retrofits. Sec. 204. State administered rebates for reductions in home energy use not measured by meters. Sec. 205. State administered rebates for multifamily building energy efficiency retrofits. Sec. 206. Special provisions for moderate income households and multifamily buildings. Sec. 207. Coordination of rebate and existing State-Sponsored or utility-Spon- sored programs. Sec. 208. Consumer access to electric energy and natural gas information. Sec. 209. Evaluation reports to Congress. Sec. 210. Administration. Sec. 211. Treatment of rebates. Sec. 212. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 301. Appointment of personnel. Sec. 302. Maintenance of funding. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) AGGREGATOR.—The term ‘‘aggregator’’ 5 means a gas utility, electric utility, or commercial, 6 nonprofit, or government entity that may receive re- 7 bates provided under a State program under this 8 Act for one or more portfolios, consisting of one or 9 more energy efficiency retrofits. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3456 IH (2) CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION.—The term 1 ‘‘contractor certification’’ means an industry recog- 2 nized certification that may be obtained by a resi- 3 dential contractor to advance the expertise and edu- 4 cation of the contractor in energy efficiency retrofits 5 of residential buildings, including— 6 (A) a certification provided by— 7 (i) the Building Performance Insti- 8 tute; 9 (ii) the Air Conditioning Contractors 10 of America; 11 (iii) the National Comfort Institute; 12 (iv) the North American Technician 13 Excellence; 14 (v) RESNET; 15 (vi) the United States Green Building 16 Council; or 17 (vii) Home Innovation Research Labs; 18 and 19 (B) any other certification the Secretary 20 determines appropriate for purposes of the 21 Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Pro- 22 gram. 23 (3) CONTRACTOR COMPANY.—The term ‘‘con- 24 tractor company’’ means a company— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3456 IH (A) the business of which is to provide 1 services to residential building owners with re- 2 spect to HVAC systems, insulation, air sealing, 3 or other services that are approved by the Sec- 4 retary; 5 (B) that holds the licenses and insurance 6 required by the State in which the company 7 provides services; and 8 (C) that provides services for which a re- 9 bate may be provided pursuant to the Home 10 Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. 11 (4) ELECTRIC CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘electric 12 consumer’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 13 tion 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 14 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 15 (5) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 16 utility’’ has the meaning given such term in section 17 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 18 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 19 (6) ENERGY AUDIT.—The term ‘‘energy audit’’ 20 means an inspection, survey, and analysis of the en- 21 ergy use of a building, including the building enve- 22 lope and HVAC system. 23 (7) GAS CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘gas con- 24 sumer’’ has the meaning given such term in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3456 IH 302 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3202). 2 (8) GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘gas utility’’ has 3 the meaning given such term in section 302 of the 4 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 5 U.S.C. 3202). 6 (9) HOME.—The term ‘‘home’’ means a build- 7 ing with no more than 4 dwelling units, or a manu- 8 factured housing unit, including units built before 9 June 15, 1976, that— 10 (A) is located in the United States; 11 (B) was constructed before the date of en- 12 actment of this Act; and 13 (C) is occupied at least 6 months out of 14 the year. 15 (10) HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT RE- 16 BATE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Home Energy Savings 17 Retrofit Rebate Program’’ means the Home Energy 18 Savings Retrofit Rebate Program established under 19 section 201. 20 (11) HOMEOWNER.—The term ‘‘homeowner’’ 21 means the owner of an owner-occupied home or a 22 tenant-occupied home. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3456 IH (12) HOME VALUATION CERTIFICATION.—The 1 term ‘‘home valuation certification’’ means one of 2 the following home assessments: 3 (A) Home Energy Score. 4 (B) PEARL Certification. 5 (C) National Green Building Standard. 6 (D) LEED. 7 (E) Any other assessment the Secretary 8 determines to be appropriate. 9 (13) HOPE QUALIFICATION.—The term 10 ‘‘HOPE Qualification’’ means the qualification de- 11 scribed in section 103. 12 (14) HOPE TRAINING CREDIT.—The term 13 ‘‘HOPE training credit’’ means a HOPE training 14 task credit or a HOPE training supplemental credit. 15 (15) HOPE TRAINING TASK CREDIT.—The 16 term ‘‘HOPE training task credit’’ means a credit 17 described in section 102(a). 18 (16) HOPE TRAINING SUPPLEMENTAL CRED- 19 IT.—The term ‘‘HOPE training supplemental cred- 20 it’’ means a credit described in section 102(b). 21 (17) HVAC SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘HVAC sys- 22 tem’’ means a system— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3456 IH (A) consisting of a heating component, a 1 ventilation component, and an air-conditioning 2 component; and 3 (B) which components may include central 4 air conditioning, a heat pump, a furnace, a boil- 5 er, a rooftop unit, and a window unit. 6 (18) MEASURED PERFORMANCE HOME RE- 7 BATE.—The term ‘‘measured performance home re- 8 bate’’ means a rebate provided in accordance with 9 section 203 and described in subsection (e) of that 10 section. 11 (19) MEASURED PERFORMANCE MULTIFAMILY 12 BUILDING REBATE.—The term ‘‘measured perform- 13 ance multifamily building rebate’’ means a rebate 14 provided in accordance with section 205 and de- 15 scribed in subsection (e) of that section. 16 (20) METER.—The term ‘‘meter’’ means a de- 17 vice that measures and records energy usage data at 18 any interval. 19 (21) MODELED PERFORMANCE HOME RE- 20 BATE.—The term ‘‘modeled performance rebate’’ 21 means a rebate provided in accordance with section 22 203 and described in subsection (d) of that section. 23 (22) MODELED PERFORMANCE MULTIFAMILY 24 BUILDING REBATE.—The term ‘‘modeled perform- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3456 IH ance multifamily building rebate’’ means a rebate 1 provided in accordance with section 205 and de- 2 scribed in subsection (d) of that section. 3 (23) MODERATE INCOME.—The term ‘‘mod- 4 erate income’’ means, with respect to a household, a 5 household with an annual income that is less than 6 80 percent of the area median income, as deter- 7 mined annually by the Department of Housing and 8 Urban Development. 9 (24) MULTIFAMILY BUILDING.—The term 10 ‘‘multifamily building’’ means a building with 5 or 11 more dwelling units. 12 (25) PARTIAL SYSTEM REBATE.—The term 13 ‘‘partial system rebate’’ means a rebate provided in 14 accordance with section 202. 15 (26) RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY INFORMA- 16 TION.—The term ‘‘retail electric energy informa- 17 tion’’ means— 18 (A) the electric energy usage of an electric 19 consumer over a time interval, as measured and 20 recorded by the applicable meter; 21 (B) the retail electric energy prices or 22 rates applied to the electric energy usage for 23 the time interval described in subparagraph (A) 24 for the electric consumer; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3456 IH (C) the cost of service provided to an elec- 1 tric consumer, as displayed on billing informa- 2 tion provided to such electric consumer; and 3 (D) in the case of nonresidential electric 4 meters, any other electrical information that the 5 meter is programmed to record that is used for 6 billing purposes (such as demand measured in 7 kilowatts, voltage, frequency, current, and 8 power factor). 9 (27) RETAIL NATURAL GAS INFORMATION.— 10 The term ‘‘retail natural gas information’’ means— 11 (A) the natural gas usage of a gas con- 12 sumer, as measured and recorded by the appli- 13 cable gas utility; 14 (B) the retail natural gas prices or rates 15 applied to the natural gas usage described in 16 subparagraph (A) for the gas consumer; 17 (C) the cost of service provided to a gas 18 consumer, as displayed on billing information 19 provided to such gas consumer; and 20 (D) in the case of nonresidential natural 21 gas meters, any other information that the 22 meter is programmed to record that is used for 23 billing purposes. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3456 IH (28) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 1 means the Secretary of Energy. 2 (29) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes— 3 (A) a State; 4 (B) the District of Columbia; 5 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 6 (D) Guam; 7 (E) American Samoa; 8 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 9 Mariana Islands; 10 (G) the United States Virgin Islands; and 11 (H) any other territory or possession of the 12 United States. 13 (30) STATE ENERGY OFFICE.—The term ‘‘State 14 energy office’’ means the office or agency of a State 15 responsible for developing the State energy conserva- 16 tion plan for the State under section 362 of the En- 17 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6322). 18 (31) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 19 ‘‘underserved community’’ means— 20 (A) a community located in a ZIP Code 21 that includes one or more census tracts that are 22 identified as— 23 (i) a low-income community; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3456 IH (ii) a community of racial or ethnic 1 minority concentration; or 2 (B) any other community that the Sec- 3 retary determines is disproportionately vulner- 4 able to, or bears a disproportionate burden of, 5 any combination of economic, social, and envi- 6 ronmental stressors. 7 TITLE I—HOPE TRAINING 8 SEC. 101. NOTICE FOR HOPE QUALIFICATION TRAINING 9 AND GRANTS. 10 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 11 of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Director of 12 the Building Technologies Office of the Department of 13 Energy, shall issue a notice that includes— 14 (1) criteria established under section 102 for 15 approval by the Secretary of courses for which cred- 16 its may be issued for purposes of a HOPE Qualifica- 17 tion; 18 (2) a list of courses that meet such criteria and 19 are so approved; and 20 (3) information on how individuals and entities 21 may apply for grants under this title. 22 SEC. 102. COURSE CRITERIA. 23 (a) HOPE TRAINING TASK CREDIT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3456 IH (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 1 criteria for approval of a course for which a credit, 2 to be known as a HOPE training task credit, may 3 be issued, including that such course— 4 (A) is equivalent to at least 30 hours in 5 total course time; 6 (B) is provided by a provider accredited by 7 the Interstate Renewable Energy Council or has 8 other accreditation determined to be equivalent 9 by the Secretary; 10 (C) is, with respect to a particular job, 11 aligned with the relevant National Renewable 12 Energy Laboratory Job Task Analysis, or other 13 credentialing program foundation that helps 14 identify the necessary core knowledge areas, 15 critical work functions, or skills, as approved by 16 the Secretary; 17 (D) has established learning objectives; 18 and 19 (E) includes, as the Secretary determines 20 appropriate, an appropriate assessment of such 21 learning objectives that may include a final 22 exam, to be proctored on-site or through remote 23 proctoring, or an in-person field exam. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3456 IH (2) INCLUDED COURSES.—The Secretary shall 1 app [Text truncated for display. 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