[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 14, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5678-5680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3263]
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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 revision.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission's Appliance Labeling Rule
requires that Table 1, in Sec. 305.9, which sets forth the
representative average unit energy costs for five residential energy
sources, be revised periodically on the basis of updated information
provided by the Department of Energy (``DOE'').
This document revises the table to incorporate the latest figures
for average unit energy costs as published by DOE in the Federal
Register on January 19, 1996.\1\
\1\ 61 FR 1366.
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DATES: The revisions to Sec. 305.9(a) and Table 1 are effective March
15, 1996. The mandatory dates for using these revised DOE cost figures
in connection with the Appliance Labeling Rule are detailed in the
Supplementary Information Section, below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Mills, Attorney, 202-326-3035 Division of Enforcement, Federal
Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 19, 1979, the Federal Trade
Commission issued a final rule in response to a directive in section
324 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``EPCA''), 42 U.S.C.
6201.\2\ The rule requires the disclosure of energy efficiency,
consumption, or cost information on labels and in retail sales catalogs
for eight categories of appliances, and mandates that the energy costs,
consumption, or efficiency ratings be based on standardized test
procedures developed by DOE. The cost information obtained by following
the test procedures is derived by using the representative average unit
energy costs provided by DOE. Table 1 in Sec. 305.9(a) of the rule sets
forth the representative average unit energy costs to be used for all
cost-related requirements of the rule. As stated in Sec. 305.9(b), the
Table is to be revised periodically on the basis of updated information
provided by DOE.
\2\ 44 FR 66466. since its promulgation, the rule has been
amended four times to include new product categories--central air
conditioners (52 FR 46888, Dec. 10, 1987), fluorescent lamp ballasts
(54 FR 1182, Jan. 12, 1989), certain plumbing products (58 FR 54955,
Oct. 25, 1993), and certain lamp products (59 FR 25176, May 13,
1994). Obligations under the rule concerning fluorescent lamp
ballasts, lighting products, and plumbing products are not affected
by the cost figures in this notice.
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On January 19, 1996, DOE published the most recent figures for
representative average unit energy costs. Accordingly, Table 1 is
revised to reflect these latest cost figures as set forth below.
The dates when use of the figures in revised Table 1 becomes
mandatory in calculating cost disclosures for use in labeling and
catalog sales of products covered by the Commission's rule and/or EPCA
are as follows:
For 1996 Submissions of Data Under Section 305.8 of the
Commission's Rule: Manufacturers no longer need to use the DOE cost
figures in complying with the data submission requirements of section
305.8 of the rule. Pursuant to amendments to the rule published on July
1, 1994 \3\ (with extended compliance dates published on December 8,
1994),\4\ the estimated annual operating cost is no longer the primary
energy usage descriptor for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers,
freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, and water heaters. Under the
amendments, the energy usage and the ranges of comparability for those
product categories must be expressed in terms of estimated annual
energy consumption (kilowatt-hour use per year for electricity, therms
per year for natural gas, or gallons per year for propane and oil).
Thus, the 1996 (and all subsequent) data submissions under section
305.8 for these product categories (which are to enable the Commission
to publish ranges of comparability) must be made in terms of estimated
annual energy consumption, for the determination of which the DOE cost
figures are unnecessary. The 1996 (and all subsequent) submissions also
must be made in terms of the new product sub-categories created by the
above-mentioned amendments. The energy efficiency energy usage
descriptors for the other products covered by the rule (room air
conditioners, furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, heat pumps,
and pool heaters) are unaffected by the amendments mentioned above. The
annual data submission requirements for those products, which are not
based on the DOE cost figures, will continue to be in terms of energy
efficiency (although submissions for room air conditioners, furnaces,
and boilers must be made in terms of the new product sub-categories
created by the amendments). For convenience, the annual dates for data
submission are repeated here:
\3\ 59 FR 34014.
\4\ 59 FR 63688.
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Fluorescent lamp ballasts: March 1
Clothes washers: March 1
Water heaters: May 1
Furnaces: May 1
Room air conditioners: May 1
Pool Heaters: May 1
Dishwashers: June 1
Central air conditioners: July 1
Heat pumps: July 1
Refrigerators: August 1
Refrigerator-freezers: August 1
Freezers: August 1
For Labeling and Catalog Sales of Products Covered by the
Commission's Rule: The July 1, 1994, amendments require that labels for
refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers, clothes washers,
dishwashers, water heaters, and room air conditioners contain a
secondary energy usage disclosure in terms of an estimated annual
operating cost (labels for clothes washers and dishwashers will show
two such secondary disclosures--one based on operation with water
heated by natural gas, and one on operation with water heated by
electricity). The labels must also disclose, below the secondary
estimated annual operating cost disclosure, the fact that the estimated
annual operating cost is based on the appropriate DOE energy cost
figure and identify the year in which the cost figure was published.\5\
Manufacturers of refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers,
clothes washers, dishwashers, and room air conditioners began making
these disclosures on the labels required by the amendments and in
catalogs beginning ninety days after the Commission published new
energy consumption ranges of comparability based on the 1995
submissions required by Sec. 305.8. They must continue to use the 1995
DOE cost figures until the Commission publishes new ranges of
comparability based on future annual submissions of estimated annual
energy consumption data. At that time, these manufacturers must use the
then-current DOE energy cost figures when they prepare new labels in
response to the new energy consumption ranges of comparability. When
such new ranges are published, the effective date for
[[Page 5680]]
labeling new products will be ninety days after the publication of the
ranges in the Federal Register. Similarly, manufacturers of storage-
type water heaters, who began to comply with the amendments in 1994,
used the 1994 DOE cost figures in determining the secondary energy use
disclosures on the labels on their products. They must continue to use
1994 cost figures to calculate these estimated annual operating cost
figures on their labels until the Commission publishes new ranges of
comparability for those products. As in the past, products that have
been properly labeled prior to the effective date of any range
modification need not be relabeled.
\5\ The secondary estimated annual operating cost disclosures on
the initial group of revised labels for storage-type water heaters
are based on the 1994 DOE cost figures that were published by the
Commission on February 8, 1994 (59 FR 5699). The secondary estimated
annual operating cost disclosures on the initial group of revised
labels for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, clothes washers,
dishwashers, and room air conditioners are (or will be) based on the
1995 DOE cost figures that were published by the Commission on
February 17, 1995 (60 FR 9295).
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For Energy Cost Representations Respecting Products Covered by EPCA
but not by the Commission's Rule: Manufacturers of products covered by
section 323(c) of EPCA, 42 U.S.C. 6293(c), but not by the Appliance
Labeling Rule (clothes dryers, television sets, kitchen ranges and
ovens, and space heaters) must use the 1996 representative average unit
costs for energy in all operating cost representations beginning May
14, 1996.
List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305
Advertising, Energy conservation, Household appliances, Labeling,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
PART 305--[AMENDED]
Accordingly, 16 CFR Part 305 is amended as follows:
1. The authority citation for Part 305 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.
Section 305.9(a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 305.9 Representative average unit energy costs.
(a) Table 1, below, contains the representative unit energy costs
to be utilized for all requirements of this part.
Table 1.--Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for Five Residential Energy Sources (1996)
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Dollars per
Type of energy In commonly used terms As required by DOE test million Btu
procedure \1\
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Electricity.............................. 8.6 cents/kWh2 3........... $0.086/kWh................. $25.21
Natural Gas.............................. 62.6 cents/therm \4\ or 0.000006626/Btu............ 6.26
$6.43/MCF 5 6.
No. 2 heating oil........................ .92/gallon \7\............. 0.00000663/Btu............. 6.63
Propane.................................. 0.90/gallon \8\............ 0.00000984/Btu............. 9.84
Kerosene................................. 1.00/gallon \9\............ 0.00000739/Btu............. 7.39
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\1\ Btu stands for British thermal unit.
\2\ kWh stands for kilowatt hour.
\3\ 1 kWh=3,412 Btu.
\4\ 1 therm=100,000 Btu. Natural gas prices include taxes.
\5\ MCF stands for 1,000 cubic feet.
\6\ For the purposes of this table, 1 cubic foot of natural gas has an energy equivalence of 1,027 Btu.
\7\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of No. 2 heating oil has an energy equivalence of 138,690 Btu.
\8\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of liquid propane has an energy equivalence of 91,333 Btu.
\9\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of kerosene has an energy equivalence of 135,000 Btu.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-3263 Filed 2-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M