Statement of Administration Policy: S. 83 - National Appliance Energy Standards

(Senate)
(Sen. Johnston (D) Louisiana and 42 others)

The President's senior advisors will recommend a veto of S. 83 if it is presented to him. S. 83 is virtually identical to H.R. 5456, which the President pocket vetoed on November 1, 1986. The President vetoed H.R. 5465 because it would have:

— intruded unduly on the free market;

— limited the freedom of choice available to consumers who would be denied the opportunity to purchase lower-cost appliances;

— unintentially harmed consumers (especially low-income consumers) by causing them to spend an estimated extra $1.4 billion per year on more expensive appliances than they would have otherwise, or forcing them to delay or forgo some appliance purchases altogether; and

— constituted a substantial intrusion into traditional State responsibilities and perogatives.

Further, the bill would have mandated a complicated series of 19 rulemakings over the next 20 years for 52 subcategories of appliances, virtually assuring extensive litigation and increasing Federal regulation many years into the future.

Finally, S. 83 is not needed to insure Federal regulation of appliance energy standards. Under current law, the Department of Energy is required to conduct a rulemaking which may lead to the imposition of Federal standards if they are economically justified.