[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28519-28520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11732]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Parts 429 and 430
[Docket No. EERE-2012-BT-TP-0017]
Test Procedure Guidance for Room Air Conditioners, Residential
Dishwashers, and Residential Clothes Washers: Public Meeting
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is holding a public
meeting to provide a forum for manufacturers and test laboratories to
discuss their respective interpretations of existing DOE test
procedures, where they believe that the test procedures lack clarity,
and to provide information for DOE to consider prior to publishing any
proposed guidance to clarify the current test procedures for room air
conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential clothes washers.
DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting on June 1, 2012, beginning at
9:00 a.m. in Washington, DC.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of
Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 8E-089, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585-0121. To attend, please notify Ms. Brenda Edwards
at (202) 586-2945. Please note that foreign nationals visiting DOE
Headquarters are subject to advance security screening procedures. Any
foreign national wishing to participate in the public meeting should
advise DOE as soon as possible by contacting Ms. Brenda Edwards at
(202) 586-2945 to initiate the necessary procedures.
Additionally, DOE plans to conduct the public meeting via webinar.
To participate via webinar, participants must sign up by following the
instructions at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/350255376.
Participants are responsible for ensuring that their systems are
compatible with the webinar software.
Docket: The docket is available for review at www.regulations.gov.
All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov
index. However, not all documents in the index may be publicly
available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure. A
link to the docket web page can be found at www.regulations.gov. The
www.regulations.gov web page contains a link to the docket for this
notice, along with simple instructions on how to access all documents,
including public comments, in the docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Armstrong, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building
Technologies, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20585-0121. Phone: (202) 586-6590. Email: Ashley.Armstrong@ee.doe.gov
or Abigail Chingos, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General
Counsel, GC-32, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121.
Phone: (202) 586-5060. Email: Abigail.Chingos@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III, Part B of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the Act), Public Law 94-163 (42
U.S.C. 6291-6309, as codified), established the Energy Conservation
Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles, a program
covering most major household appliances, including the residential
room air conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential clothes
washers that are the focus of this notice.\1\ (42 U.S.C. 6292(2), (6)
and (8))
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\1\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code,
Part B was re-designated Part A.
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Under EPCA, the program consists of four activities: (1) Testing;
(2) labeling; (3) Federal energy conservation standards, and (4)
certification, compliance, and enforcement. The testing requirements
consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered products must
use as the basis for certifying to DOE that their products comply with
applicable energy conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA and
for representing the efficiency of those products. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c);
42 U.S.C. 6295(s)) Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures in any
enforcement action to determine whether covered products comply with
these energy conservation standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s))
DOE's existing test procedures for residential room air
conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential
[[Page 28520]]
clothes washers adopted pursuant to these provisions appear under Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B,
appendices F (``Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy
Consumption of Room Air Conditioners''), C (``Uniform Test Method for
Measuring the Energy Consumption of Dishwashers''), and J1 (``Uniform
Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Automatic and Semi-
Automatic Clothes Washers''). DOE also recently published a new test
procedure for residential clothes washers (Appendix J2--``Uniform Test
Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Automatic and Semi-
Automatic Clothes Washers''), the use of which is not required until
compliance with any amended standards is required. These procedures
establish the currently permitted means for determining energy
efficiency and annual energy consumption of these products.
DOE has received inquiries regarding the appropriate interpretation
of various provisions of the current DOE test procedures. DOE has
issued guidance documents on certain aspects of testing room air
conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential clothes washers.
See http://www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1 for
additional information.
The Department is holding this public meeting and webinar to gather
information regarding the current practices of manufacturer-run and
private testing facilities. The Department seeks to understand how
interested parties have interpreted test procedures provisions that
they believe to be ambiguous absent DOE guidance. DOE plans to issue
guidance, as needed and appropriate, to provide better consistency in
the application of the test procedures and better clarity regarding how
DOE conducts testing.
Discussion at the public meeting should focus on current test
procedures (Appendices C, F, J1 and J2). Furthermore, while DOE seeks
the views of all interested parties, this public meeting is not an
appropriate forum for consensus building. The Department will take the
information provided in the course of the public meeting into
consideration when drafting DOE interpretive guidance.
In 2011, DOE launched a new Web site dedicated to DOE guidance:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1. All
test procedure guidance is now published through a public process. DOE
publishes guidance in draft form on the guidance Web site. DOE accepts
public comment on the draft guidance. After considering comments, DOE
may take one of three courses: Publishing final guidance, publishing
revised draft guidance, or withdrawing the guidance. If the Department
publishes revised draft guidance, interested parties have another
opportunity to provide comments.
DOE will conduct the public meeting in an informal, conference
style. There shall be no discussion of proprietary information, costs
or prices, market shares, or other commercial matters regulated by U.S.
antitrust laws. A court reporter will record the meeting, after which a
transcript will be placed on the DOE Web site and made available for
purchase from the court reporter.
Anyone who wishes to participate in the public meeting, receive
meeting materials, or be added to the DOE mailing list to receive
future notices and information about room air conditioners, residential
dishwashers, or residential clothes washers should contact Ms. Brenda
Edwards at (202) 586-2945.
Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2012.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2012-11732 Filed 5-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P