HOMES Act

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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home Owner Man- 4 aging Energy Savings Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HOMES 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2043 IH (1) BPI.—The term ‘‘BPI’’ means the Building 1 Performance Institute. 2 (2) ENERGY AUDIT.—The term ‘‘energy audit’’ 3 means an inspection, survey, and analysis of energy 4 flows for energy conservation in a building, process, 5 or system to reduce the amount of energy input into 6 the system without negatively affecting the output. 7 An energy audit is the first step in identifying op- 8 portunities to reduce energy expense and carbon 9 footprints. 10 (3) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 11 utility’’ means any company, person, cooperative, 12 State, or Indian tribe agency that delivers or sells 13 electric energy at retail, including nonregulated utili- 14 ties, utilities that are subject to State or Indian tribe 15 rate regulation, and Federal power marketing ad- 16 ministrations. 17 (4) FEDERAL REBATE PROCESSING SYSTEM.— 18 The term ‘‘Federal Rebate Processing System’’ 19 means the Federal Rebate Processing System estab- 20 lished under section 3(b). 21 (5) HOME.—The term ‘‘home’’ means a resi- 22 dential dwelling unit in a building with no more than 23 4 dwelling units that— 24 (A) is located in the United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2043 IH (B) was constructed before the date of en- 1 actment of this Act; and 2 (C) is occupied at least six months out of 3 the year. 4 (6) HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE 5 PROGRAM.—The terms ‘‘Home Energy Savings Ret- 6 rofit Rebate Program’’ or ‘‘Program’’ means the 7 Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program es- 8 tablished under section 3(a). 9 (7) HOMEOWNER.—The term ‘‘homeowner’’ 10 means the owner of an owner-occupied home or a 11 tenant-occupied home. 12 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 13 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 14 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 15 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 16 (9) NATURAL GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘nat- 17 ural gas utility’’ means any company, person, coop- 18 erative, State or local governmental agency or in- 19 strumentality, or Indian tribe that transports, dis- 20 tributes, or sells natural gas at retail. 21 (10) QUALIFIED CONTRACTOR.—The term 22 ‘‘qualified contractor’’ means a residential energy ef- 23 ficiency contractor that meets minimum applicable 24 requirements established under section 4. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2043 IH (11) QUALIFIED HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY 1 RETROFIT.—The term ‘‘qualified home energy effi- 2 ciency retrofit’’ means a retrofit described in section 3 8(d). 4 (12) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.—The 5 term ‘‘quality assurance program’’ means a program 6 established under this Act, or recognized by the Sec- 7 retary under this Act, to oversee the delivery of 8 home efficiency retrofit programs to ensure that 9 work is performed in accordance with standards and 10 criteria established under this Act. Delivery of ret- 11 rofit programs includes delivery of quality assurance 12 reviews of rebate applications and field inspections. 13 Individuals performing quality assurance work under 14 a quality assurance program must be certified under 15 an ANSI accredited quality control inspection certifi- 16 cation designation. 17 (13) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVIDER.—The 18 term ‘‘quality assurance provider’’ means any entity 19 that meets the minimum applicable requirements es- 20 tablished under section 6. 21 (14) REBATE AGGREGATOR.—The term ‘‘rebate 22 aggregator’’ means an entity that meets the require- 23 ments of section 5. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2043 IH (15) RESNET.—The term ‘‘RESNET’’ means 1 the Residential Energy Services Network, which is a 2 nonprofit certification and standard setting organi- 3 zation for home energy raters that evaluate the en- 4 ergy performance of a home and Energy Smart Con- 5 tractors that make energy improvements to the 6 home. 7 (16) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 8 means the Secretary of Energy. 9 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 10 (A) a State; 11 (B) the District of Columbia; 12 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 13 (D) Guam; 14 (E) American Samoa; 15 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 16 Mariana Islands; 17 (G) the United States Virgin Islands; and 18 (H) any other territory or possession of the 19 United States. 20 SEC. 3. HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE PRO- 21 GRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish the 23 Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. 24 (b) FEDERAL REBATE PROCESSING SYSTEM.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2043 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 3 Treasury, shall— 4 (A) establish a Federal Rebate Processing 5 System which shall serve as a database and in- 6 formation technology system that will allow re- 7 bate aggregators to submit claims for reim- 8 bursement using standard data protocols; 9 (B) establish a national retrofit website 10 that provides information on the Home Energy 11 Savings Retrofit Rebate Program, including— 12 (i) how to determine whether par- 13 ticular efficiency measures are eligible for 14 rebates; and 15 (ii) how to participate in the Program; 16 and 17 (C) make available model forms for dem- 18 onstrating compliance with all applicable re- 19 quirements of this Act, which shall be required 20 to be submitted by— 21 (i) each qualified contractor on com- 22 pletion of an eligible home energy retrofit; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2043 IH (ii) each quality assurance provider on 1 completion of field verification. 2 (2) MODEL FORMS.—In carrying out paragraph 3 (1)(C), the Secretary shall convene a group of stake- 4 holders that are directly and materially affected by 5 the Program to develop the final forms. 6 SEC. 4. CONTRACTORS. 7 (a) CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS.—A contractor 8 may perform retrofit work under the Home Energy Sav- 9 ings Retrofit Rebate Program in a State if the con- 10 tractor— 11 (1) meets all applicable contractor licensing re- 12 quirements established by the State; 13 (2) is— 14 (A) accredited by— 15 (i) BPI as a BPI GoldStar Con- 16 tractor; 17 (ii) RESNET as an Energy Smart 18 Home Performance Team; 19 (iii) ACCA as a QA Home Perform- 20 ance Contractor; 21 (iv) a State-based certification pro- 22 gram established to carry out State energy, 23 clean air, or environmental programs; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2043 IH (v) an equivalent accreditation pro- 1 gram approved by the Secretary for this 2 purpose; or 3 (B) the general contractor, and— 4 (i) subjects the energy efficiency ret- 5 rofit to a third-party review by a party ap- 6 proved by the Secretary and a quality as- 7 surance inspection authorized by the Sec- 8 retary; and 9 (ii) employs, or utilizes subcontractors 10 who employ, individuals to complete indi- 11 vidual or comprehensive scopes of work re- 12 lated to the energy efficiency retrofit who 13 are certified by— 14 (I) BPI; 15 (II) RESNET; 16 (III) NATE; 17 (IV) ACCA; 18 (V) LIUNA; 19 (VI) the Regional and State De- 20 partment of Energy Weatherization 21 Training Centers; or 22 (VII) other contractor or worker 23 certification programs approved by 24 the Secretary; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2043 IH (3) holds insurance coverage of at least 1 $1,000,000 for general liability, and for such other 2 purposes and in such other amounts as required by 3 the State; 4 (4) provides warranties to the homeowner that 5 completed work will— 6 (A) be free of significant defects; 7 (B) be installed in accordance with the 8 specifications of the manufacturer, and all ap- 9 plicable State and local codes; and 10 (C) perform properly for a period of at 11 least 1 year after the date of completion of the 12 work; and 13 (5) completes an energy audit to determine the 14 impact of the proposed energy efficiency measures in 15 accordance with an ANSI accredited energy auditing 16 standard. 17 (b) AGREEMENT BETWEEN CONTRACTOR AND 18 HOMEOWNER.—A contractor who performs retrofit work 19 under the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program 20 must sign a written or electronic contract with the home- 21 owner that includes— 22 (1) an agreement to not increase the cost of the 23 home improvement as a result of the rebates re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2043 IH ceived under this Act with respect to physical im- 1 provements made to the home; 2 (2) if the contractor and homeowner choose the 3 transferable rebate option authorized under section 4 7, an agreement to provide the homeowner, before a 5 contract is executed between the contractor and the 6 homeowner covering the eligible work, a notice of the 7 rebate amount the contractor intends to apply for 8 with respect to eligible work under this Act; and 9 (3) a notice that the homeowner acknowledges 10 that they— 11 (A) reviewed the national retrofit website 12 for the Program; 13 (B) understand the scope of work intended 14 to be completed and that such work may be eli- 15 gible for a rebate under the Program; and 16 (C) understand that the rebate funds are 17 fully subject to availability from the Depart- 18 ment of Energy or rebate aggregator and not 19 within the control of the contractor. 20 SEC. 5. REBATE AGGREGATORS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a net- 22 work of rebate aggregators or a national rebate aggregator 23 that can facilitate the delivery of rebates to homeowners 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2043 IH or contractors participating in the Home Energy Savings 1 Retrofit Rebate Program by— 2 (1) reviewing the proposed rebate application 3 for completeness and accuracy; 4 (2) reviewing measures for eligibility in accord- 5 ance with this Act; 6 (3) providing data to the Federal Rebate Proc- 7 essing System consistent with data protocols estab- 8 lished by the Secretary; and 9 (4) not later than 30 days after the date of re- 10 ceipt, distributing funds received from the Depart- 11 ment of Energy to homeowners or contractors. 12 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply to the Sec- 13 retary for approval as a rebate aggregator, an entity shall 14 be— 15 (1) a Home Performance with Energy Star pro- 16 gram sponsor; 17 (2) an entity administering a residential or 18 building energy efficiency retrofit program, solar 19 program, or other such program impacting energy 20 efficiency in homes established or approved by a 21 State or local government; 22 (3) a Federal power marketing administration, 23 an electric utility, or a natural gas utility that has— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2043 IH (A) a residential energy efficiency retrofit 1 program; and 2 (B) a quality assurance provider or pro- 3 vider network; or 4 (4) an entity that demonstrates to the Sec- 5 retary that the entity can perform the functions of 6 a rebate aggregator, without disrupting existing resi- 7 dential retrofits in the States that are incorporating 8 the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program, 9 including demonstration of— 10 (A) the capability to provide electronic 11 data to the Federal Rebate Processing System; 12 (B) a financial system that is capable of 13 tracking the distribution of rebates to partici- 14 pating contractors; and 15 (C) coordination and cooperation by the 16 entity with the appropriate State energy office 17 regarding participation in the existing energy 18 efficiency programs that will be delivering the 19 Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Pro- 20 gram. 21 (c) PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION EFFICIENCY TAR- 22 GETS.—The Secretary shall— 23 (1) develop guidelines for States and local gov- 24 ernments to use to allow utilities participating as re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2043 IH bate aggregators to count the energy savings from 1 the participation of the utilities toward State and 2 local level energy savings targets; and 3 (2) work with States and local governments to 4 assist in the adoption of those guidelines for the 5 purposes and duration of the Home Energy Savings 6 Retrofit Rebate Program. 7 SEC. 6. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVIDERS. 8 (a) QUALIFICATIONS.—An entity shall be considered 9 a quality assurance provider under this Act only if the en- 10 tity is qualified through— 11 (1) the BPI; 12 (2) RESNET; or 13 (3) any other entity designated by the Secretary 14 such as a State, local government, or State-appro [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]