The Energy Policy Act of 1992, effective October 24, 1992, (102nd Congress H.R.776.ENR, abbreviated as EPACT92) is a

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

act. It was passed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and set goals, created mandates, and amended utility laws to increase

clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...

use and improve overall energy efficiency in the United States. The Act consists of twenty-seven titles detailing various measures designed to lessen the nation's dependence on imported energy, provide incentives for clean and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, and promote

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...

in buildings.

Amendment of prior energy acts

It reformed the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) to help small utility companies stay competitive with larger utilities and amended the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978, broadening the range of resource choices for utility companies and outlined new rate-making standards. It also amended parts of the Federal Power Act of 1935 (Title VII).

Titles

The act addressed: *Energy efficiency, energy conservation and energy management (Title I), *Natural gas imports and exports (Title II), *Alternative fuels and requiring certain fleets to acquire

alternative fuel vehicle An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum-based fossil fuels such as gasoline, petrodiesel or liquefied petroleum gas (autogas). The term typically refers to internal combustio ...

s, which are capable of operating on nonpetroleum fuels (Title III-V), *Electric motor vehicles (Title VI), *

Radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

(Title VIII), *Coal power and clean coal (Title XIII), *Renewable energy (Title XII), and *Other issues.

Title I—Energy efficiency

Title I established a comprehensive energy efficiency program that included incentives for energy conservation in buildings and created efficiency standards for appliances. The EPAct directed the federal government to decrease energy consumption in federal buildings when feasible, and to integrate the use of alternative fuel vehicles in federal and state fleets. There are separate sections dedicated to coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy detailing clean energy incentives, research & development strategies, conservation goals, and responsible management practices.

Energy efficiency provisions

*Buildings - Requires states to establish minimum commercial building energy codes and to consider minimum residential codes based on current voluntary codes. This gave impetus to the creation and modification of ASHRAE 90.1/1999, 2001, ASHRAE 90.2, the Model Energy Code etc. *Utilities - Requires states to consider new regulatory standards that would require utilities to undertake integrated resource planning; allow the energy efficiency programs to be at least as profitable as new supply options; and encourage improvements in supply system efficiency. *Equipment Standards - Establishes efficiency standards for: Commercial heating and

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

equipment; electric motors; and lamps. *Renewable Energy - Establishes a program for providing federal support on a competitive basis for renewable energy technologies *Alternative Fuels *Electric Vehicles *Electricity - Removes obstacles to wholesale power competition in the Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA).

Title III--Alternative fuels

Title III of the 1992 Energy Policy Act addresses alternative fuels. It gave the U.S. Department of Energy administrative power to regulate the minimum number of light duty alternative fuel vehicles required in certain federal fleets beginning in fiscal year 1993. Title III includes: *Federal Fleet Requirements. *State and Alternative Fuel Provider Rule. *Private and Local Government Fleet Rule. *Alternative Fuel Designation Authority.

Title VI—Electric motor vehicles

The

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

, which has EPACT92 implementation authority, ruled that diesel-electric or gasoline-electric hybrids are not "alternative fuel vehicles."

Title VIII--Radioactive waste

Section 801 directed the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

to promulgate radiation protection standards for the

Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, as designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act amendments of 1987, is a proposed deep geological repository storage facility within Yucca Mountain for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioact ...

, which had been designated by the Federal government to serve as the permanent disposal site for used nuclear fuel and other radioactive materials from commercial

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

s and U.S. Department of Defense activities.

Title XII—Renewable energy

Title XXII in the EPAct authorized

tax incentive A tax incentive is an aspect of a government's taxation policy designed to incentive, incentivize or encourage a particular economic activity by reducing tax payments. Tax incentives can have both positive and negative impacts on an economy. Amo ...

s and marketing strategies for

technologies in an effort to encourage commercial sales and production.

Title XX—Reduction of oil vulnerability

Section 2026 known as Renewable Hydrogen Energy establishes a five-year program in accordance with the Spark M. Matsunaga Hydrogen Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1990 for the distribution, production, storage, and utilization of hydrogen.

Impact

EPACT92 was far reaching in the impacting electric power

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

building code A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for construction objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permis ...

s and new energy efficient products. The act was also responsible for the mandate of low flush toilets and outlawing the installation of toilets that flushed more than of water.

References

Congress.gov Congress.gov is the online database of United States Congress legislative information. Congress.gov is a joint project of the Library of Congress, the House, the Senate and the Government Publishing Office. Congress.gov was in beta in 2012, and ...

U.S. Department of Energy - Yucca Mountain Project site
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060901153306/http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/fedbook/energypo.html {{Authority control 1992 in the environment 1992 in American law 102nd United States Congress United States federal energy legislation