HOPE for HOMES Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1768 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 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 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1768 IS 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. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) AGGREGATOR.—The term ‘‘aggregator’’ 3 means a gas utility, electric utility, or commercial, 4 nonprofit, or government entity that may receive re- 5 bates provided under a State program under this 6 Act for one or more portfolios, consisting of one or 7 more energy efficiency retrofits. 8 (2) CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION.—The term 9 ‘‘contractor certification’’ means an industry recog- 10 nized certification that may be obtained by a resi- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1768 IS dential contractor to advance the expertise and edu- 1 cation of the contractor in energy efficiency retrofits 2 of residential buildings, including— 3 (A) a certification provided by— 4 (i) the Building Performance Insti- 5 tute; 6 (ii) the Air Conditioning Contractors 7 of America; 8 (iii) the National Comfort Institute; 9 (iv) the North American Technician 10 Excellence; 11 (v) RESNET; 12 (vi) the United States Green Building 13 Council; or 14 (vii) Home Innovation Research Labs; 15 and 16 (B) any other certification the Secretary 17 determines appropriate for purposes of the 18 Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Pro- 19 gram. 20 (3) CONTRACTOR COMPANY.—The term ‘‘con- 21 tractor company’’ means a company— 22 (A) the business of which is to provide 23 services to residential building owners with re- 24 spect to HVAC systems, insulation, air sealing, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1768 IS or other services that are approved by the Sec- 1 retary; 2 (B) that holds the licenses and insurance 3 required by the State in which the company 4 provides services; and 5 (C) that provides services for which a re- 6 bate may be provided pursuant to the Home 7 Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. 8 (4) ELECTRIC CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘electric 9 consumer’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 10 tion 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 11 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 12 (5) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 13 utility’’ has the meaning given such term in section 14 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 15 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 16 (6) ENERGY AUDIT.—The term ‘‘energy audit’’ 17 means an inspection, survey, and analysis of the en- 18 ergy use of a building, including the building enve- 19 lope and HVAC system. 20 (7) GAS CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘gas con- 21 sumer’’ has the meaning given such term in section 22 302 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 23 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3202). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1768 IS (8) GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘gas utility’’ has 1 the meaning given such term in section 302 of the 2 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 3 U.S.C. 3202). 4 (9) HOME.—The term ‘‘home’’ means a build- 5 ing with no more than 4 dwelling units, or a manu- 6 factured housing unit, including units built before 7 June 15, 1976, that— 8 (A) is located in the United States; 9 (B) was constructed before the date of en- 10 actment of this Act; and 11 (C) is occupied at least 6 months out of 12 the year. 13 (10) HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT RE- 14 BATE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Home Energy Savings 15 Retrofit Rebate Program’’ means the Home Energy 16 Savings Retrofit Rebate Program established under 17 section 201. 18 (11) HOMEOWNER.—The term ‘‘homeowner’’ 19 means the owner of an owner-occupied home or a 20 tenant-occupied home. 21 (12) HOME VALUATION CERTIFICATION.—The 22 term ‘‘home valuation certification’’ means one of 23 the following home assessments: 24 (A) Home Energy Score. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1768 IS (B) PEARL Certification. 1 (C) National Green Building Standard. 2 (D) LEED. 3 (E) Any other assessment the Secretary 4 determines to be appropriate. 5 (13) HOPE QUALIFICATION.—The term 6 ‘‘HOPE Qualification’’ means the qualification de- 7 scribed in section 103. 8 (14) HOPE TRAINING CREDIT.—The term 9 ‘‘HOPE training credit’’ means a HOPE training 10 task credit or a HOPE training supplemental credit. 11 (15) HOPE TRAINING TASK CREDIT.—The 12 term ‘‘HOPE training task credit’’ means a credit 13 described in section 102(a). 14 (16) HOPE TRAINING SUPPLEMENTAL CRED- 15 IT.—The term ‘‘HOPE training supplemental cred- 16 it’’ means a credit described in section 102(b). 17 (17) HVAC SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘HVAC sys- 18 tem’’ means a system— 19 (A) consisting of a heating component, a 20 ventilation component, and an air-conditioning 21 component; and 22 (B) which components may include central 23 air conditioning, a heat pump, a furnace, a boil- 24 er, a rooftop unit, and a window unit. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1768 IS (18) MEASURED PERFORMANCE HOME RE- 1 BATE.—The term ‘‘measured performance home re- 2 bate’’ means a rebate provided in accordance with 3 section 203 and described in subsection (e) of that 4 section. 5 (19) MEASURED PERFORMANCE MULTIFAMILY 6 BUILDING REBATE.—The term ‘‘measured perform- 7 ance multifamily building rebate’’ means a rebate 8 provided in accordance with section 205 and de- 9 scribed in subsection (e) of that section. 10 (20) METER.—The term ‘‘meter’’ means a de- 11 vice that measures and records energy usage data at 12 any interval. 13 (21) MODELED PERFORMANCE HOME RE- 14 BATE.—The term ‘‘modeled performance rebate’’ 15 means a rebate provided in accordance with section 16 203 and described in subsection (d) of that section. 17 (22) MODELED PERFORMANCE MULTIFAMILY 18 BUILDING REBATE.—The term ‘‘modeled perform- 19 ance multifamily building rebate’’ means a rebate 20 provided in accordance with section 205 and de- 21 scribed in subsection (d) of that section. 22 (23) MODERATE INCOME.—The term ‘‘mod- 23 erate income’’ means, with respect to a household, a 24 household with an annual income that is less than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1768 IS 80 percent of the area median income, as deter- 1 mined annually by the Department of Housing and 2 Urban Development. 3 (24) MULTIFAMILY BUILDING.—The term 4 ‘‘multifamily building’’ means a building with 5 or 5 more dwelling units. 6 (25) PARTIAL SYSTEM REBATE.—The term 7 ‘‘partial system rebate’’ means a rebate provided in 8 accordance with section 202. 9 (26) RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY INFORMA- 10 TION.—The term ‘‘retail electric energy informa- 11 tion’’ means— 12 (A) the electric energy usage of an electric 13 consumer over a time interval, as measured and 14 recorded by the applicable meter; 15 (B) the retail electric energy prices or 16 rates applied to the electric energy usage for 17 the time interval described in subparagraph (A) 18 for the electric consumer; 19 (C) the cost of service provided to an elec- 20 tric consumer, as displayed on billing informa- 21 tion provided to such electric consumer; and 22 (D) in the case of nonresidential electric 23 meters, any other electrical information that the 24 meter is programmed to record that is used for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1768 IS billing purposes (such as demand measured in 1 kilowatts, voltage, frequency, current, and 2 power factor). 3 (27) RETAIL NATURAL GAS INFORMATION.— 4 The term ‘‘retail natural gas information’’ means— 5 (A) the natural gas usage of a gas con- 6 sumer, as measured and recorded by the appli- 7 cable gas utility; 8 (B) the retail natural gas prices or rates 9 applied to the natural gas usage described in 10 subparagraph (A) for the gas consumer; 11 (C) the cost of service provided to a gas 12 consumer, as displayed on billing information 13 provided to such gas consumer; and 14 (D) in the case of nonresidential natural 15 gas meters, any other information that the 16 meter is programmed to record that is used for 17 billing purposes. 18 (28) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 19 means the Secretary of Energy. 20 (29) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes— 21 (A) a State; 22 (B) the District of Columbia; 23 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 24 (D) Guam; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1768 IS (E) American Samoa; 1 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 2 Mariana Islands; 3 (G) the United States Virgin Islands; and 4 (H) any other territory or possession of the 5 United States. 6 (30) STATE ENERGY OFFICE.—The term ‘‘State 7 energy office’’ means the office or agency of a State 8 responsible for developing the State energy conserva- 9 tion plan for the State under section 362 of the En- 10 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6322). 11 (31) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 12 ‘‘underserved community’’ means— 13 (A) a community located in a ZIP Code 14 that includes one or more census tracts that are 15 identified as— 16 (i) a low-income community; or 17 (ii) a community of racial or ethnic 18 minority concentration; or 19 (B) any other community that the Sec- 20 retary determines is disproportionately vulner- 21 able to, or bears a disproportionate burden of, 22 any combination of economic, social, and envi- 23 ronmental stressors. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1768 IS TITLE I—HOPE TRAINING 1 SEC. 101. NOTICE FOR HOPE QUALIFICATION TRAINING 2 AND GRANTS. 3 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 4 of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Director of 5 the Building Technologies Office of the Department of 6 Energy, shall issue a notice that includes— 7 (1) criteria established under section 102 for 8 approval by the Secretary of courses for which cred- 9 its may be issued for purposes of a HOPE Qualifica- 10 tion; 11 (2) a list of courses that meet such criteria and 12 are so approved; and 13 (3) information on how individuals and entities 14 may apply for grants under this title. 15 SEC. 102. COURSE CRITERIA. 16 (a) HOPE TRAINING TASK CREDIT.— 17 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 18 criteria for approval of a course for which a credit, 19 to be known as a HOPE training task credit, may 20 be issued, including that such course— 21 (A) is equivalent to at least 30 hours in 22 total course time; 23 (B) is provided by a provider accredited by 24 the Interstate Renewable Energy Council or has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1768 IS other accreditation determined to be equivalent 1 by the Secretary; 2 (C) is, with respect to a particular job, 3 aligned with the relevant National Renewable 4 Energy Laboratory Job Task Analysis, or other 5 credentialing program foundation that helps 6 identify the necessary core knowledge areas, 7 critical work functions, or skills, as approved by 8 the Secretary; 9 (D) has established learning objectives; 10 and 11 (E) includes, as the Secretary determines 12 appropriate, an appropriate assessment of such 13 learning objectives that may include a final 14 exam, to be proctored on-site or through remote 15 proctoring, or an in-person field exam. 16 (2) INCLUDED COURSES.—The Secretary shall 17 approve one or more courses that meet the criteria 18 described in paragraph (1) for training related to— 19 (A) contractor certification; 20 (B) energy auditing or assessment; 21 (C) home energy systems (including HVAC 22 systems); 23 (D) insulation installation and air leakage 24 control; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1768.IS S1768 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1768 IS (E) health and safety regarding the instal- 1 lation [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]