78R2867 SMH-D
By: Puente H.B. No. 489
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to water and energy saving performance standards for
commercial clothes-washing machines.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 372.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding a new Subdivision (1) and renumbering existing
Subdivision (1) as Subdivision (1-a) and amending that subdivision
to read as follows:
(1) "Commercial clothes-washing machine" means a
clothes washer that:
(A) is designed to be used in a commercial
setting; and
(B) has a capacity of:
(i) less than 3.5 cubic feet, if it is a
front-loading machine; or
(ii) more than 1.6 cubic feet but less than
3.5 cubic feet, if it is a top-loading machine.
(1-a) "Commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource
Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality.
SECTION 2. Chapter 372, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 372.005 to read as follows:
Sec. 372.005. COMMERCIAL CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINE
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. (a) A person may not sell, offer for sale,
distribute, lease, or import into this state a commercial
clothes-washing machine for use in this state unless the machine:
(1) meets the water and energy saving performance
standards provided by Subsection (b); and
(2) is listed by the commission under Subsection (c).
(b) For a commercial clothes-washing machine, the water
consumption factor may not exceed 9.5 gallons per cubic foot per
cycle and the modified energy factor must be at least 1.42 cubic
feet per kilowatt-hours per cycle, as determined using the test
procedures established by the United States Department of Energy as
specified in 10 C.F.R. Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix J1, as that
appendix existed on September 1, 2002.
(c) The commission shall make and maintain a current list of
commercial clothes-washing machines that are certified to the
commission by the manufacturer or importer to meet the water and
energy saving performance standards provided by Subsection (b). To
have a commercial clothes-washing machine included on the list, the
manufacturer or importer must supply to the commission, in the form
prescribed by the commission, the identification and the
performance specifications of the commercial clothes-washing
machine. The commission may test a listed commercial
clothes-washing machine to determine the accuracy of the
manufacturer's or importer's certification and shall remove from
the list a machine the commission determines to be inaccurately
certified.
(d) The commission may include on the list described by
Subsection (c) commercial clothes-washing machines that are
certified by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, Inc., to meet
the water and energy saving performance standards provided by
Subsection (b).
(e) The commission may assess against a manufacturer or an
importer a reasonable fee for an inspection of a commercial
clothes-washing machine to determine the accuracy of the
manufacturer's or importer's certification in an amount determined
by the commission to cover the expenses incurred in the
administration of this chapter. A fee received by the commission
under this subsection shall be deposited in the state treasury to
the credit of the water resource management account. Fees deposited
under this section may be appropriated only for the administration
of this chapter.
(f) The commission shall, to the extent appropriate and
practical, employ the standards established by the United States
Department of Energy in determining or evaluating performance
standards or testing procedures under this chapter.
SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect January 1, 2004.
(b) Section 372.005, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, does not apply to a commercial clothes-washing machine
that as of January 1, 2004:
(1) is in the inventory of a commercial
clothes-washing machine retailer, distributor, lessor, or
importer; or
(2) has been ordered by a commercial clothes-washing
machine retailer, distributor, lessor, or importer.