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79R7128 JTS-D

By:  Puente                                                       H.B. No. 2429



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, including multifamily housing, an apartment, or a 
coin-operated laundry; and
			(B)  has a capacity of:                                               
				(i)  not more than 3.5 cubic feet if it is a 
horizontal axis machine; or
				(ii)  not more than 4 cubic feet if it is a 
vertical axis 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 1.26 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 October 31, 2003.
	(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 to the credit of the water 
resource management account in the general revenue fund. 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.  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, 2007:
		(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 for delivery on 
or before January 31, 2007.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2007.