[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 51 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14209-14211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6484]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 305


Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and 
Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under 
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ``Appliance Labeling Rule''

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') announces non-
substantive amendments to its Appliance Labeling Rule (``Rule''). 
Specifically, the Commission is amending the Rule's water flow rates 
disclosure requirements for showerheads and faucets to specify that the 
metric disclosures ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle'' be 
abbreviated as ``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' rather than ``Lpm'' and 
``Lpc.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 16, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Terrence J. Boyle, Attorney, (202) 326-3016, Division of Enforcement, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 
1975 (``EPCA'') directed the Commission to issue rules requiring 
various categories of home appliances and other products to be labeled 
with information about their energy consumption and efficiency.\1\ 
Pursuant to EPCA, the Commission on November 19, 1979, issued the 
Appliance Labeling Rule requiring label disclosures of energy operating 
costs and/or efficiency for seven categories of products.\2\

    \1\42 U.S.C. 6291, 6294.
    \2\44 FR 66466.
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    The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (``EPA 92'') amended EPCA to add 
showerheads, faucets, water closets and urinals as covered products. As 
amended, EPCA establishes for showerheads and faucets a national 
maximum water flow rate standard of 2.5 gallons per minute at 80 pounds 
per square inch (``psi'') water pressure and, for those products, 
adopted the testing methods of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers (``ASME'') Standard A112.18.1M as ``the proper protocols for 
measuring the water usage.''\3\ EPA 92 also directed the Commission to 
issue rules requiring these plumbing products to be permanently marked 
with their water flow rates and to bear disclosures ``consistent with 
the marking and [[Page 14210]] labeling requirements'' of specified 
national standards that have been published for such products by 
ASME.\4\

    \3\42 U.S.C. 6293(b) (7)(A) and (8)(A).
    \4\Pub. L. 102-486, 106 Stat. 2778, 2817-2832 (1992).
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    On October 25, 1993, the Commission amended the Rule to add four 
categories of plumbing fixtures and fittings.\5\ The amended Rule 
requires water closets, urinals and showerheads, as well as faucets and 
the flow restricting devices (aerators) that are placed in faucets, to 
be clearly and conspicuously labeled, and water closets, urinals and 
showerheads to be permanently and legibly marked, with disclosures of 
their water flow rates.\6\ The amended Rule also requires, in all 
point-of-sale promotional materials for such plumbing products and in 
all catalogs offering such products for sale, disclosure of the 
products' water flow rates.\7\

    \5\58 FR 54955.
    \6\16 CFR part 305.11(e) (1) and (2).
    \7\16 CFR part 305.13(a)(2) and .14(d).
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    The amended EPCA provides that if ASME revises the marking and 
labeling requirements contained in its Standard A112.18.1M for 
showerheads and faucets, and if the American National Standards 
Institute (``ANSI'') approves the revisions, the Commission shall amend 
the Rule to be consistent with the revisions, unless the revisions are 
inconsistent with the purposes of EPA 92 or with the requirement that 
plumbing fittings be permanently marked with legible disclosures of 
their water flow rates.\8\

    \8\42 U.S.C. 6294(a)(2)(D)(ii).
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    On July 8, 1994, ASME adopted, and on September 15, 1994, ANSI 
approved and published, revisions to the ASME National Standard 
A112.18.1M that governs showerheads and faucets. One of these revisions 
pertains to the Commission's Rule because it changes the abbreviations 
used by the ASME Standard in its marking and labeling requirements for 
plumbing fittings.\9\ The first revision to the ASME Standard changed 
the abbreviations for ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle'' 
from ``Lpm'' and ``Lpc'' to ``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' respectively. The 
change was made to avoid confusion with the ``m'' that is 
internationally recognized as the proper abbreviation for meter.\10\

    \9\A second revision changed the Standard's protocols for 
measuring faucet water flow rates. See discussion infra.
    \10\The ``liters per cycle'' change was just for symmetry. For 
English system disclosures, though, the revised ASME Standard 
continues to use just the letter ``m'' to stand for minute. The use 
of ``m'' there was not seen as confusing because, since gallons are 
not metric units of measurement, readers would not likely think of 
meters.
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    The Commission is amending the Rule to adopt the ASME abbreviations 
of ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle'' for required 
disclosure of the water flow rates of faucets (and aerators) and 
showerheads.\11\ Because this rule amendment is technical in nature and 
is not intended to modify the substantive legal requirements and 
restrictions imposed by the Rule, the Commission finds that a comment 
period is not necessary or warranted for purposes of the Administrative 
Procedures Act. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b).

    \11\For technical reasons the Commission has specified an 
effective date of May 16, 1995, for this amendment. The Rule in 
recent months has been amended on several occasions both to add new 
product categories and to revise the disclosure requirements for 
several existing categories. To ensure an orderly publication of all 
these amendments in the Code of Federal Regulations, the Commission 
is setting the effective date for this amendment to follow 
immediately that of the Commission's previous amendment to the Rule, 
which added lamps as covered products. The Commission, however, will 
permit manufacturers to begin immediately using the abbreviations 
``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' in place of ``Lpm'' and ``Lpc,'' deeming 
the use of the revised abbreviations prior to the effective date of 
the amendment to be compliance with the Rule.
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    ASME and ANSI also tentatively made a second revision to ASME 
Standard A112.18.1M that would pertain to the marking and labeling 
requirements of the Commission's Rule. This second revision changed the 
Standard's protocols for measuring the water flow rates of faucets, 
requiring measurements at 60 psi instead of the 80 psi specified in the 
national standard. The Commission's Rule requires flow rate disclosures 
to be based on measurements at 80 psi as specified in the national 
standard established by EPA 92. ASME made this change in water 
pressures in its September 15, 1994, revision of the existing ASME 
Standard for faucets and showerheads. But, on December 19, 1994, the 
ASME committee for these products voted to rescind the change and 
return to using 80 psi. ASME and ANSI will soon act on the proposed 
rescission. Under section 324(a)(2)(D)(ii) of EPCA, any change in the 
water pressures used to test faucets would first have to be approved by 
the Department of Energy (``DOE'') by rule before the Commission can 
incorporate the change into the Appliance Labeling Rule.\12\ Therefore, 
even if ASME and ANSI ultimately decide to retain the change to 60 psi, 
prior action by DOE is needed before the Commission can act on the 
change.

    \12\42 U.S.C. 6294(a)(2)(D)(ii).
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List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305

    Advertising, Water conservation, Household appliances, 
Incorporation by reference, Labeling, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

Text of Amendments

    Accordingly, 16 CFR part 305 is amended as follows:

Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water 
Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under 
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``Appliance Labeling 
Rule'')

    1. The authority citation for part 305 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.

    2. Section 305.8 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(4)(v) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 305.8  Submission of data.

    (a) * * *
    (a) * * *
    (v) The product's water use, expressed in gallons and liters per 
flush (gpf and Lpf) or gallons and liters per minute (gpm and L/min) or 
per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) as determined in accordance with 
Sec. 305.5.
* * * * *
    3. Section 305.11 is amended by revising subparagraph (f) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 305.11  Labeling for covered products.

* * * * *
    (f) Plumbing Products--
    (1) * * *
    (i) Each showerhead and flow restricting or controlling spout end 
device shall bear a permanent legible marking indicating the flow rate, 
expressed in gallons per minute (gpm) or gallons per cycle (gpc), and 
the flow rate value shall be the actual flow rate or the maximum flow 
rate specified by the standards established in subsection (j) of 
section 325 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 6295(j). Except where impractical due 
to the size of the fitting, each flow rate disclosure shall also be 
given in liters per minute (L/min) or liters per cycle (L/cycle). For 
purposes of this section, the marking indicating the flow rate will be 
deemed ``legible,'' in terms of placement, if it is located in close 
proximity to the manufacturer's identification marking.
* * * * *
    (v) The package or any label attached to the package for each 
showerhead or faucet shall contain at least the following: 
``A112.18.1M'' and the flow rate expressed in gallons per minute (gpm) 
or gallons per cycle (gpc), and the flow rate value shall be the actual 
flow rate or the maximum flow rate specified by the standards 
established in [[Page 14211]] subsection (j) of section 325 of the Act, 
42 U.S.C. 6295(j). Each flow rate disclosure shall also be given in 
liters per minute (L/min) or liters per cycle (L/cycle).
* * * * *
    4. Section 305.13 is amended by revising subparagraph (a)(4) to 
read as follows:


Sec. 305.13  Promotional material displayed or distributed at point of 
sale.

    (a) * * *
    (4) Any manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or private labeler who 
prepares printed material for display or distribution at point-of-sale 
concerning a covered product that is a showerhead, faucet, water 
closet, or urinal shall clearly and conspicuously include in such 
printed material the product's water use, expressed in gallons and 
liters per minute (gpm and L/min) or per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) or 
gallons and liters per flush (gpf and Lpf) as specified in 
Sec. 305.11(f).
* * * * *
    5. Section 305.14 is amended by revising subparagraph (d) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 305.14  Catalogs.

* * * * *
    (d) Any manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or private labeler who 
advertises a covered product that is a showerhead, faucet, water 
closet, or urinal in a catalog, from which it may be purchased, shall 
include in such catalog, on each page that lists the covered product, 
the product's water use, expressed in gallons and liters per minute 
(gpm and L/min) or per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) or gallons and liters 
per flush (gpf and Lpf) as specified in Sec. 305.11(f).
* * * * *
    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-6484 Filed 3-15-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M