[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42719-42720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17157]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 137 / Wednesday, July 17, 2013 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 42719]]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 430
[Docket No. EERE-2011-BT-TP-0061]
RIN 1904-AC65
Test Procedures for Showerheads, Faucets, Water Closets, Urinals,
and Commercial Prerinse Spray Valves: Public Meeting
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S.
Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting
to discuss methodologies and gather comments on DOE's proposed test
method for verifying the amount of force required to remove the flow
control insert of showerheads for purposes of amending DOE test
procedures. In addition, DOE encourages written comments on these
subjects.
DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, from 1
p.m. to 3 p.m. in Washington, DC. DOE will accept comments, data, and
information regarding the subjects of this notice before or after the
public meeting, but no later than August 9, 2013.
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.
Interested parties may submit comments, identified by docket number
EERE-2011-BT-TP-0061 or Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1904-AC65,
by any of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected]. Include the docket
number and/or RIN in the subject line of the message.
3. Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building
Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on a
CD. It is not necessary to include printed copies.
4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of
Energy, Building Technologies Program, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Suite
600, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 586-2945. If possible,
please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary to include printed
copies.
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
in the docket, including public comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Lucas Adin, 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) 287-1317. Email:
[email protected].
Ms. Jennifer Tiedeman, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General
Counsel, GC-71, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121. Phone: (202) 287-6111. Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.; ``EPCA'') sets forth
a variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. (All
references to EPCA refer to the statute as amended through the American
Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (AEMTCA), Pub. L. 112-
210 (Dec. 18, 2012)). Part B of title III (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309, as
codified) establishes the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer
Products Other Than Automobiles, which includes the showerheads that
are the subjects of today's notice.\1\
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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; and (3) Federal energy and water conservation standards;
and (4) certification, and enforcement procedures. The testing
requirements consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered
products must use as the basis for (1) certifying to DOE that their
products comply with applicable water conservation standards adopted
pursuant to EPCA and (2) making representations about the water
consumption of those products. Similarly, DOE must use these test
procedures to determine whether the products comply with any relevant
standards promulgated under EPCA.
EPCA states that the procedures for testing and measuring the water
use of faucets and showerheads shall be American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) Standard A112.18.1M-1989, ``Plumbing Fixture
Fittings.'' \2\ EPCA further specifies that if ASME revises these
requirements, the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) shall adopt such
revisions if they conform to the basic statutory requirements for test
procedures. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(7)) DOE last amended test procedures for
these products in a final rule published in March 1998 (March 1998
final rule), which incorporated by reference ASME Standard A112.18.1M-
1996, ``Plumbing Fixture Fittings,'' for showerheads and faucets.\3\ 63
FR 13308 (March 18, 1998). The current test procedures for faucets and
showerheads, as adopted in the March 1998 final rule, are located in
appendix S to subpart B of 10 CFR part 430, ``Uniform Test Method for
Measuring the Water Consumption of Faucets and Showerheads.''
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\2\ EPCA also mandates that the test procedure for water closets
and urinals shall be ASME Standard A112.19.6-1990, ``Hydraulic
Requirements for Water Closets and Urinals.''
\3\ DOE also incorporated by reference ASME Standard A112.19.6-
1995, ``Hydraulic Performance Requirements for Water Closets and
Urinals,'' for water closets and urinals in this final rule.
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On May 30, 2012, DOE issued a notice of proposed rulemaking,
proposing to
[[Page 42720]]
amend, among other items, the test procedures for showerheads by
incorporating by reference, with the exception of certain provisions
regarding rounding of measured values, ASME Standard A112.18.1-2011. 77
FR 31742, 31744. DOE requested comments and information on prospective
methods for verifying compliance with the requirement in section 42
U.S.C. 6295(j)(1) of EPCA that a showerhead must be manufactured such
that a pushing or pulling force of 8 lbf or more is required to remove
the insert.\4\ DOE also requested comments and information on
showerhead designs that may complicate verification of the force
requirement or, alternatively, make verification unnecessary. 77 FR at
31746-31748.
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\4\ This requirement is also found in 10 CFR 430.32(p) and
section 4.11.1 of ASME A112.18.1-2011.
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Several comments submitted in response to the NOPR recommended that
DOE not adopt a standardized test method (Docket No. EERE-2011-BT-TP-
0061, Moen, No. 4 at p. 2; PMI, No. 8 at p. 2; Kohler, No. 9 at p. 3;
Kohler, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 11 at p. 47; ICC, Public Meeting
Transcript, No. 11 at pp. 48-49; Sloan Valve, No. 12 at p. 2); on the
other hand, some comments suggested that such a test would be valuable
(NRDC/ASAP, No. 14 at p. 5). DOE did not receive any comments
indicating that a standardized method currently exists, however. DOE
subsequently conducted testing on a selection of showerhead models to
evaluate flow insert designs and developed a pull-force verification
test. In an April 8, 2013 supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking
(SNOPR), DOE proposed to adopt this test method, which would not be
required for certifying compliance with the DOE standards at 10 CFR
430.32(p), but rather, would only be used by DOE for verification or
enforcement testing. 78 FR at 20835-20837.
In response to the SNOPR, DOE received several comments opposing
adoption of a standardized test, generally indicating that the proposed
pull-style test represented a duplication of the requirements in the
ASME Standard A112.18.1 test method or that it would conflict with
other established industry test methods (NSF, No. 22 at p. 2, PMI, No.
23 at p. 3, Kohler, No. 27 at p. 2, Chicago Faucet, No. 28 at p. 2, and
Moen, No. 30 at p. 2). However, DOE notes that A112.18.1 states only
that the flow-restricting insert in a showerhead must be mechanically
retained at the point of manufacture such that a pulling or pushing
force of 8 lbf or more is required to remove the insert, but does not
specify a method for verifying that this requirement has been met for a
given model. DOE did not receive any comments describing a test method
currently in use by manufacturers, test laboratories, or others for
verifying compliance with this requirement.
To ensure that all aspects of DOE's proposal for a standardized
method of verifying compliance with the requirements for the flow-
restricting insert have been considered and to consider whether DOE's
proposed method should be adopted in the absence of an industry test
method, DOE has scheduled a public meeting to receive additional
information, comments, and proposals from manufacturers, testing
organizations, and other interested stakeholders. DOE encourages
stakeholders to bring examples of products subject to these
requirements that may aid in discussions of prospective test
methodologies or that illustrate points raised in comments. DOE does
not intend to discuss any other aspect of the plumbing products test
procedure proposals as part of this meeting.
DOE will conduct the public meeting in an informal, facilitated,
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 minutes of the meeting, after which a transcript will be available
for purchase from the court reporter and placed on the DOE Web site.
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 showerheads should contact Ms.
Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2013.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2013-17157 Filed 7-16-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P