EPA No Fan of Lifting Energy Star 3rd-Party Certifications, Agency Official Says
EPA doesn’t share CTA’s enthusiasm for a just-passed Senate measure that would rescind Energy Star’s third-party certification requirement for consumer tech manufacturers that are in good standing with the program for at least 18 months (see 1604210019), an agency official told us. S-2012, which cleared the Senate Wednesday by an 85-12 vote, gives EPA authority instead to require “that test data and other product information be submitted to facilitate product listing and performance verification for a sample of products,” the legislation says.
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CTA hailed the S-2012 provision lifting the third-party certification requirement as “a vital and long-awaited update” to Energy Star that frees consumer tech companies “with a demonstrated track record of compliance from the cost burdens and time delays of adhering to arbitrary, pre-market requirements.” But EPA stands by its 2011 decision imposing third-party certifications as a rule after a blistering March 2010 GAO report in which agents went undercover and found Energy Star product self-certifications were vulnerable to fraud and abuse (see 1110270091), Kathleen Vokes, an EPA official who heads Energy Star certifications, emailed us Thursday.
EPA believes the third-party certification rule “dramatically reduced the potential for fraud and is important to preserving consumer confidence in the ENERGY STAR label,” Vokes told us. “Prior to third-party certification, manufacturers self-certified products and were responsible for their own claims," she said. Third party certification takes advantage of a long-standing certification infrastructure that relies on international standards for accreditation of certification bodies, who independently review performance data from laboratories recognized by EPA for purposes of ENERGY STAR testing.”
For the roughly five years that third-party certifications have been in effect, the requirement “is functioning efficiently with a broad network of over 600 participating laboratories and 24 participating certification bodies that present a competitive market from which consumer tech companies can choose for ENERGY STAR certification services.” So said Vokes when asked if EPA concedes, as CTA asserts, that third-party certifications have been an unnecessary burden on tech companies. “There continues to be strong participation in the ENERGY STAR program with over 50,000 products currently certified,” Vokes said.
On whether third-party certifications placed an administrative burden on EPA, Vokes thinks the requirement represents “good government,” she told us. “In lieu of expanded government function, it leverages existing certification infrastructure and the competitive market to efficiently and effectively ensure the integrity of a label that delivers value to the program participants who invest in protecting it,” she said of the Energy Star brand.
Were Congress to direct EPA to scrap third-party certifications through the enactment of S-2012 and similar legislation (HR-175) in the House, EPA fears that “in the absence of third party certification," Energy Star would again be more "vulnerable to fraud," as "GAO has documented," Vokes said. In its March 2010 report, GAO said its “covert” investigation found the agency obtained Energy Star approval for 15 self-certified “bogus products,” including one for a gas-powered alarm clock.
The consumer tech industry is "a strong supporter" of the Energy Star program, "which started with computers more than 20 years ago," Doug Johnson, CTA vice president-technology policy, emailed us Friday in response to Vokes. "For 15 years, our industry successfully complied with ENERGY STAR program requirements based on self-certification," Johnson said. "In fact, our industry has had a long record of successful self-certification as a means of compliance with other national and international regulatory requirements and programs."
EPA’s decision five years ago "to impose a blanket requirement for third party certification across all participating industries, regardless of compliance track records, has resulted in unnecessary costs and burdens to participate in the program," Johnson said. "Especially now, with new international agreements and goals to reduce emissions, encouraging participation in energy efficiency programs such as ENERGY STAR, and maintaining their value and integrity, is crucial," he said. "CTA strongly supports the reasonable, balanced and bipartisan approach to ENERGY STAR third-party certification included in S. 2012.”