REGIONAL STANDARDS FOR FURNACES, CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONERS, AND HEAT PUMPS.

SEC. 306. REGIONAL STANDARDS FOR FURNACES, CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONERS, AND HEAT PUMPS.(a) In General.—Section 325(o) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following:“(6) Regional standards for furnaces, central air conditioners, and heat pumps.—“(A) In general.—In any rulemaking to establish a new or amended standard, the Secretary may consider the establishment of separate standards by geographic region for furnaces (except boilers), central air conditioners, and heat pumps.“(B) National and regional standards.—“(i) National standard.—If the Secretary establishes a regional standard for a product, the Secretary shall establish a base national standard for the product.“(ii) Regional standards.—If the Secretary establishes a regional standard for a product, the Secretary may establish more restrictive standards for the product by geographic region as follows:“(I) For furnaces, the Secretary may establish 1 additional standard that is applicable in a geographic region defined by the Secretary.“(II) For any cooling product, the Secretary may establish 1 or 2 additional standards that are applicable in 1 or 2 geographic regions as may be defined by the Secretary.“(C) Boundaries of geographic regions.—“(i) In general.—Subject to clause (ii), the boundaries of additional geographic regions established by the Secretary under this paragraph shall include only contiguous States.“(ii) Alaska and hawaii.—The States of Alaska and Hawaii may be included under this paragraph in a geographic region that the States are not contiguous to.“(iii) Individual states.—Individual States shall be placed only into a single region under this paragraph.121 STAT. 1557“(D) Prerequisites.—In establishing additional regional standards under this paragraph, the Secretary shall—“(i) establish additional regional standards only if the Secretary determines that—“(I) the establishment of additional regional standards will produce significant energy savings in comparison to establishing only a single national standard; and“(II) the additional regional standards are economically justified under this paragraph; and“(ii) consider the impact of the additional regional standards on consumers, manufacturers, and other market participants, including product distributors, dealers, contractors, and installers.“(E) Application; effective date.—“(i) Base national standard.—Any base national standard established for a product under this paragraph shall—“(I) be the minimum standard for the product; and“(II) apply to all products manufactured or imported into the United States on and after the effective date for the standard.“(ii) Regional standards.—Any additional and more restrictive regional standard established for a product under this paragraph shall apply to any such product installed on or after the effective date of the standard in States in which the Secretary has designated the standard to apply.“(F) Continuation of regional standards.—“(i) In general.—In any subsequent rulemaking for any product for which a regional standard has been previously established, the Secretary shall determine whether to continue the establishment of separate regional standards for the product.“(ii) Regional standard no longer appropriate.—Except as provided in clause (iii), if the Secretary determines that regional standards are no longer appropriate for a product, beginning on the effective date of the amended standard for the product—“(I) there shall be 1 base national standard for the product with Federal enforcement; and“(II) State authority for enforcing a regional standard for the product shall terminate.“(iii) Regional standard appropriate but standard or region changed.—“(I) State no longer contained in region.—Subject to subclause (III), if a State is no longer contained in a region in which a regional standard that is more stringent than the base national standard applies, the authority of the State to enforce the regional standard shall terminate.“(II) Standard or region revised so that existing regional standard equals base national standard.—If the Secretary revises a 121 STAT. 1558 base national standard for a product or the geographic definition of a region so that an existing regional standard for a State is equal to the revised base national standard—“(aa) the authority of the State to enforce the regional standard shall terminate on the effective date of the revised base national standard; and“(bb) the State shall be subject to the revised base national standard.“(III) Standard or region revised so that existing regional standard equals base national standard.—If the Secretary revises a base national standard for a product or the geographic definition of a region so that the standard for a State is lower than the previously approved regional standard, the State may continue to enforce the previously approved standard level.“(iv) Waiver of federal preemption.—Nothing in this paragraph diminishes the authority of a State to enforce a State regulation for which a waiver of Federal preemption has been granted under section 327(d).“(G) Enforcement.—“(i) Base national standard.—“(I) In general.—The Secretary shall enforce any base national standard.“(II) Trade association certification programs.—In enforcing the base national standard, the Secretary shall use, to the maximum extent practicable, national standard nationally recognized certification programs of trade associations.“(ii) Regional standards.—“(I) Enforcement plan.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the issuance of a final rule that establishes a regional standard, the Secretary shall initiate a rulemaking to develop and implement an effective enforcement plan for regional standards for the products that are covered by the final rule.“(II) Responsible entities.—Any rules regarding enforcement of a regional standard shall clearly specify which entities are legally responsible for compliance with the standards and for making any required information or labeling disclosures.“(III) Final rule.—Not later than 15 months after the date of the issuance of a final rule that establishes a regional standard for a product, the Secretary shall promulgate a final rule covering enforcement of regional standards for the product.“(IV) Incorporation by states and localities.—A State or locality may incorporate any Federal regional standard into State or local building codes or State appliance standards.121 STAT. 1559“(V) State enforcement.—A State agency may seek enforcement of a Federal regional standard in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction.“(H) Information disclosure.—“(i) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the publication of a final rule that establishes a regional standard for a product, the Federal Trade Commission shall undertake a rulemaking to determine the appropriate 1 or more methods for disclosing information so that consumers, distributors, contractors, and installers can easily determine whether a specific piece of equipment that is installed in a specific building is in conformance with the regional standard that applies to the building.“(ii) Methods.—A method of disclosing information under clause (i) may include—“(I) modifications to the Energy Guide label; or“(II) other methods that make it easy for consumers and installers to use and understand at the point of installation.“(iii) Completion of rulemaking.—The rulemaking shall be completed not later 15 months after the date of the publication of a final rule that establishes a regional standard for a product.”.(b) Prohibited Acts.—Section 332(a) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6302(a)) is amended—(1) in paragraph (4), by striking “or” after the semicolon at the end;(2) in paragraph (5), by striking “part.” and inserting “part, except to the extent that the new covered product is covered by a regional standard that is more stringent than the base national standard; or”; and(3) by adding at the end the following:“(6) for any manufacturer or private labeler to knowingly sell a product to a distributor, contractor, or dealer with knowledge that the entity routinely violates any regional standard applicable to the product.”.(c) Consideration of Prices and Operating Patterns.—Section 342(a)(6)(B) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following:“(iii)Consideration of prices and operating patterns.—If the Secretary is considering revised standards for air-cooled 3-phase central air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps with less 65,000 Btu per hour (cooling capacity), the Secretary shall use commercial energy prices and operating patterns in all analyses conducted by the Secretary.”.