Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 90 Part 1.djvu/1200

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PUBLIC LAW 94-000—MMMM. DD, 1976

90 STAT. 1150

PUBLIC LAW 94-385—AUG. 14, 1976 (3) evaluate the effectiveness of such prevailing standards; and (4) within 12 months after the date of enactment of this title, and semiannually thereafter, report to the Congress on (A) the progress of the States and units of general purpose local government in adopting and implementing energy conservation standards for new buildings, and (B) the effectivensss of such standards.

Report to Congress.

Energy Conservation in Lxisting Buildings Act of jgyg " 42 USC 6851 note.

TITLE IV—ENERGY CONSERVATION AND RENEWABLERESOURCE ASSISTANCE FOR E X I S T I N G BUILDINGS SHORT TITI/E SEC. 401. This title may be cited as the "Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings Act of 1976". FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

42 USC 6851.

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SEC. 402. (a) The Congress finds that— ' (1) the fastest, most cost-effective, and most environmentally sound way to prevent future energy shortages in the United States, while reducing the Nation's dependence on imported energy supplies, is to encourage and facilitate, through major programs, the implementation of energy conservation and renewable-resource energy measures with respect to dwelling units, nonresidential buildings, and industrial plants; (2) current efforts to encourage and facilitate such measures are inadequate as a consequence of— (A) a lack of adequate and available financing for such measures, particularly with respect to individual consumers and owners of small businesses; (B) a shortage of reliable and impartial information and advisory services pertaining to practicable energy conservation measures and renewable-resource energy measures and the cost savings that are likely if they are implemented in such units, buildings, and plants; and (C) the absence of organized programs which, if they existed, would enable consumers, especially individuals and owners of small businesses, to undertake such measures easily and with confidence in their economic value; (3) major programs of financial incentives and assistance for energy conservation measures and renewable-resource energy measures in dwelling units, nonresidential buildings, and industrial plants would— (A) significantly reduce the Nation's demand for energy and the need for petroleum imports; (B) cushion the adverse impact of the high price of energy supplies on consumers, particularlv elderly and handicapped low-income persons who cannot afford to make the modifications necessary to reduce their residential energy use; and ^Q^ increase, directly and indirectly, job opportunities and national economic output; (4) the primary responsibility for the implementation of such major programs should be lodged with the governments of the States; the diversity of conditions among the various States and regions of the Nation is sufficiently great that a wholly federally