SECTIONS 25942-25943 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 25942-25943

25942. (a) On or before July 1, 1995, the commission shall
establish criteria for adopting a statewide home energy rating
program for residential dwellings. The program criteria shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the following elements:
(1) Consistent, accurate, and uniform ratings based on a single
statewide rating scale.
(2) Reasonable estimates of potential utility bill savings, and
reliable recommendations on cost-effective measures to improve energy
efficiency.
(3) Training and certification procedures for home raters and
quality assurance procedures to promote accurate ratings and to
protect consumers.
(4) In coordination with home energy rating service organization
data bases, procedures to establish a centralized, publicly
accessible, data base that includes a uniform reporting system for
information on residential dwellings, excluding proprietary
information, needed to facilitate the program. There shall be no
public access to information in the data base concerning specific
dwellings without the owner's or occupant's permission.
(5) Labeling procedures that will meet the needs of home buyers,
homeowners, renters, the real estate industry, and mortgage lenders
with an interest in home energy ratings.
(b) The commission shall adopt the program pursuant to subdivision
(a) in consultation with representatives of the Department of Real
Estate, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the
Public Utilities Commission, investor-owned and municipal utilities,
cities and counties, real estate licensees, home builders, mortgage
lenders, home appraisers and inspectors, home energy rating
organizations, contractors who provide home energy services, consumer
groups, and environmental groups.
(c) On and after January 1, 1996, no home energy rating services
may be performed in this state unless the services have been
certified, if such a certification program is available, by the
commission to be in compliance with the program criteria specified in
subdivision (a) and, in addition, are in conformity with any other
applicable element of the program.
(d) On or before July 1, 1996, the commission shall consult with
the agencies and organizations described in subdivision (b), to
facilitate a public information program to inform homeowners, rental
property owners, renters, sellers, and others of the existence of the
statewide home energy rating program adopted by the commission.
(e) Beginning with the 1998 biennial energy conservation report
required by Section 25401.1, the commission shall, as part of that
biennial report, report on the progress made to implement a statewide
home energy rating program. The report shall include an evaluation
of the energy savings attributable to the program, and a
recommendation concerning which means and methods will be most
efficient and cost-effective to induce home energy ratings for
residential dwellings.

25943. (a) (1) By March 1, 2010, the commission shall establish a
regulatory proceeding to develop and implement a comprehensive
program to achieve greater energy savings in California's existing
residential and nonresidential building stock. This program shall
comprise a complementary portfolio of techniques, applications, and
practices that will achieve greater energy efficiency in existing
residential and nonresidential structures that fall significantly
below the current standards in Title 24 of the California Code of
Regulations, as determined by the commission.
(2) The comprehensive program may include, but need not be limited
to, a broad range of energy assessments, building benchmarking,
energy rating, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, public
and private sector energy efficiency financing options, public
outreach and education efforts, and green workforce training.
(b) To develop and implement the program specified in subdivision
(a), the commission shall do both of the following:
(1) Coordinate with the Public Utilities Commission and consult
with representatives from the Department of Real Estate, the
Department of Housing and Community Development, investor-owned and
publicly owned utilities, local governments, real estate licensees,
commercial and home builders, commercial property owners, small
businesses, mortgage lenders, financial institutions, home
appraisers, inspectors, energy rating organizations, consumer groups,
environmental and environmental justice groups, and other entities
the commission deems appropriate.
(2) Hold at least three public hearings in geographically diverse
locations throughout the state.
(c) In developing the requirements for the program specified in
subdivision (a), the commission shall consider all of the following:
(1) The amount of annual and peak energy savings, greenhouse gas
emission reductions, and projected customer utility bill savings that
will accrue from the program.
(2) The most cost-effective means and reasonable timeframes to
achieve the goals of the program.
(3) The various climatic zones within the state.
(4) An appropriate method to inform and educate the public about
the need for, benefits of, and environmental impacts of, the
comprehensive energy efficiency program.
(5) The most effective way to report the energy assessment results
and the corresponding energy efficiency improvements to the owner of
the residential or nonresidential building, including, among other
things, the following:
(A) Prioritizing the identified energy efficiency improvements.
(B) The payback period or cost-effectiveness of each improvement
identified.
(C) The various incentives, loans, grants, and rebates offered to
finance the improvements.
(D) Available financing options including all of the following:
(i) Mortgages or sales agreement components.
(ii) On-bill financing.
(iii) Contractual property tax assessments.
(iv) Home warranties.
(6) Existing statutory and regulatory requirements to achieve
energy efficiency savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
(7) A broad range of implementation approaches, including both
utility and nonutility administration of energy efficiency programs.
(8) Any other considerations deemed appropriate by the commission.
(d) The program developed pursuant to this section shall do all of
the following:
(1) Minimize the overall costs of establishing and implementing
the comprehensive energy efficiency program requirements.
(2) Ensure, for residential buildings, that the energy efficiency
assessments, ratings, or improvements do not unreasonably or
unnecessarily affect the home purchasing process or the ability of
individuals to rent housing. A transfer of property subject to the
program implemented pursuant to this section shall not be invalidated
solely because of the failure of a person to comply with a provision
of the program.
(3) Ensure, for nonresidential buildings, that the energy
improvements do not have an undue economic impact on California
businesses.
(4) Determine, for residential buildings, the appropriateness of
the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program to support the goals of
this section and whether there are a sufficient number of
HERS-certified raters available to meet the program requirements.
(5) Determine, for nonresidential structures, the availability of
an appropriate cost-effective energy efficiency assessment system and
whether there are a sufficient number of certified raters or
auditors available to meet the program requirements.
(6) Coordinate with the California Workforce Investment Board, the
Employment Training Panel, the California Community Colleges, and
other entities to ensure a qualified, well-trained workforce is
available to implement the program requirements.
(7) Coordinate with, and avoid duplication of, existing
proceedings of the Public Utilities Commission and programs
administered by utilities.
(e) A home energy rating or energy assessment service does not
meet the requirements of this section unless the service has been
certified by the commission to be in compliance with the program
criteria developed pursuant to this section and is in conformity with
other applicable elements of the program.
(f) The commission shall periodically update the criteria and
adopt any revision that, in its judgment, is necessary to improve or
refine program requirements after receiving public input.
(g) Before implementing an element of the program developed
pursuant to subdivision (a) that requires the expansion of statutory
authority of the commission or the Public Utilities Commission, the
commission and the Public Utilities Commission shall obtain
legislative approval for the expansion of their authorities.
(h) The commission shall report on the status of the program in
the integrated energy policy report pursuant to Section 25302.
(i) The commission shall fund activities undertaken pursuant to
this section from the Federal Trust Fund consistent with the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) or
other sources of nonstate funds available to the commission for the
purposes of this section.
(j) For purposes of this section, "energy assessment" means a
determination of an energy user's energy consumption level, relative
efficiency compared to other users, and opportunities to achieve
greater efficiency or improve energy resource utilization.