PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 54.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · May 18, 2011
Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act of 2011 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to expand the definition of "energy conservation standard" under such Act to mean one or more performance or design requirements relating to energy and water efficiency.
Establishes energy conservation standards for: (1) central air conditioners and heat pumps; (2) through-the-wall central air conditioners; (3) through-the-wall central air conditiioning heat pumps; (4) small duct, high velocity systems; and (5) non-weatherized furnaces.
(Sec. 3) Establishes energy conservation standards for: (1) heat pump pool heaters, and (2) GU-24 lamps, lamp sockets, and adaptors.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
(Sec. 5) Establishes energy conservation standards and test procedures for bottle-type water dispensers, commercial hot food holding cabinets, and portable electric spas.
(Sec. 6) Allows any person to petition the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to prescribe or amend test procedures for covered products and equipment. Establishes deadlines for responding to such petitions.
(Sec. 7) Requires the Secretary to publish amended test procedures for refrigerators and freezers, residential clothes washers, and clothes dryers.
(Sec. 8) Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether to update the Energy Star criteria for residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and room air conditioners to incorporate smart grid and demand response features.
(Sec. 9) Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study of video game console energy use and opportunities for energy savings for such use, (2) determine whether to establish minimum energy efficiency standards for such use after completing such study, and (3) conduct a follow-up study if an energy efficiency standard is not established.
(Sec. 10) Revises energy conservation standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers manufactured as of January 1, 2014.
(Sec. 11) Establishes energy conservation standards for room air conditioners manufactured on or after June 1, 2014.
(Sec. 12) Requires the Secretary to publish a final rule that establishes a uniform energy descriptor and test methods for covered water heaters (i.e., a water heater, a storage water heater, an instantaneous water heater, or an unfired water storage tank).
(Sec. 13) Establishes energy conservation standards for: (1) clothes dryers manufactured on or after January 1, 2015; (2) clothes washers manufactured on or after January 1, 2015, and on or after January 1, 2018; and (3) residential dishwashers manufactured on or after January 1, 2013.
(Sec. 16) Requires the Secretary, in conducting rulemakings for reflector lamps after January 1, 2014, to consider incandescent and nonincandescent technologies and a new energy-related measure other than lumens per watt.
(Sec. 17) Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a notice of, and explanation for, any DOE decision to grant or deny a petition for a new or amended energy standard and to publish, within three years after granting a petition, a final rule that contains the new or amended standards or a determination that no new or amended standards are necessary.
(Sec. 18) Amends EPCA to extend provisions of that Act relating to prohibited acts to manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or private labelers.
(Sec. 19) Defines and establishes energy conservation standards for: (1) high light output double-ended quartz halogen lamps and general purpose mercury vapor lamps; (2) gas-fired and oil-fired warm air furnaces; and (3) service over the counter, self-contained, medium temperature commercial refrigerators.
(Sec. 22) Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct an assessment of electric motors and the electric motor market in the United States and develop recommendations for improving the efficiency of motor systems; and (2) establish a proactive, national program targeted at motor end-users to increase awareness of the energy and cost-saving opportunities in commercial and industrial facilities using higher efficiency electric motors, improvements in motor system procurement and management procedures, and criteria for making decisions for new, replacement, or repair motor and motor system components.
(Sec. 23) Directs the Secretary to study and report on: (1) the degree of compliance with energy standards for appliances; and (2) the costs and benefits of requiring high-quality, direct current electricity supply in buildings and the role of the federal government in imposing such requirements.
People & committees
Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · D–NM
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 54.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 112-18.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 112-18.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-10.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S891-904)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S890-891)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.398 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.398 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.398 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.398 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.