ACCA Statement on EPA Proposal to Strengthen Science Used in Regulatory Actions

April 26, 2018

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protect Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to ensure that Agency actions are based on publicly available research:

“ACCA welcomes the EPA’s proposal to ensure the Agency uses publicly available research when considering regulatory actions. ACCA leads the HVAC industry’s standard development process and believes that the federal government should utilize the HVAC industry’s consensus standards. This proposal is in line with the HVAC Industry Alliance’s priority for government agencies to follow the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119, which directs federal agencies to use voluntary consensus standards in lieu of government- unique standards,” said Barton James, ACCA senior vice president of government relations.

“By shifting the focus to the use of publicly available science in rulemakings, EPA can finally get serious about promoting realized energy efficiency programs,” continued James. “Until now, most energy efficiency programs have been based on lab-tested efficiencies, instead of the realized or installed efficiency, which is significantly less in most HVACR systems.”

BACKGROUND
On April 24, the EPA signed a proposal to require EPA to use publicly available research as the basis for its regulatory decisions. Stakeholders will have 30 days to submit comments to EPA upon the proposal’s publication in the Federal Register.

For more information, please contact ACCA’s Director of Industry and External Relations, Todd Washam, at todd.washam@acca.org or 703-824-8864.

 

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ACCA is a non-profit association serving more than 60,000 professionals and 4,000 businesses in the indoor environment and energy services community. Our member firms are the nation's most professional contracting businesses, serving residential and commercial customers in every state. With roots stretching back a century, ACCA was incorporated in its present form nearly 50 years ago. Today, ACCA sets the standards for quality comfort systems, provides leading-edge education for contractors and their employees, and fights for the interests of professional contractors throughout the nation. Learn more about ACCA here.