[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 186 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51304-51305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25687]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 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. 63, No. 186 / Friday, September 25, 1998 / 
Proposed Rules  

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
[Docket Number EE-98]

10 CFR Part 430


Workshop Regarding Water Heater Energy Efficiency Standards, 
Preliminary Analysis

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (the Department or DOE) will hold an 
informal public workshop to discuss the preliminary results from the 
engineering and life-cycle cost analyses for the proposed water heater 
energy efficiency standards. DOE will also present and discuss its 
methods for analyzing the impacts of energy efficiency standards on 
manufacturers, the national energy savings, environmental and consumer 
sub-group analyses, and the impacts of energy efficiency standards on 
utilities.

DATES: The public workshop will be held on Monday, November 9, 1998, 
from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday, November 10, 1998, from 
8:30 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the U.S. Department of Energy, 
Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, 
Washington, DC 20585.
    Written comments are welcome. Please submit 10 copies (no faxes) 
and, if possible, a computer diskette (WordPerfect 6.1) to: Ms. Brenda 
Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency 
and Renewable Energy, ``Energy Conservation Program for Consumer 
Products: Water Heater Efficiency Standards, Docket No. EE-98-'', EE-
43, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 
(202) 586-2945.
    Copies of the transcript of the public workshop, public comments 
received, and this notice may be read (or copied) at the Freedom of 
Information Reading Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal 
Building, Room 1E-190, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 
20585, (202) 586-3142, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Logee EE-43, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 
586-9138, e-mail: [email protected]; or Eugene Margolis, Esq., GC-
72, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9507, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Energy is preparing 
engineering and economic analyses to support a revised Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking for Water Heater Energy Efficiency Standards under 
the authority of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), 42 
U.S.C. 6295(e). Previously, the Department issued a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking on March 4, 1994, 59 FR 10465.
    This workshop will provide opportunities for interested parties to 
discuss the results of the revised engineering and life-cycle cost 
analyses to support water heater energy efficiency standards. These 
revised analyses use commercially available spreadsheet software and 
can be customized so that stakeholders may run ``what if'' scenarios 
with their own data and assumptions. The revised analyses also 
incorporate current manufacturing cost and price data for each design 
option, information on household demographics from the 1992 Residential 
Energy Consumption Survey and special cost data from expert consultants 
hired by the Department's contractors.
    The Department will also be presenting and discussing its proposed 
method for analyzing the impacts of energy efficiency standards on 
manufacturers. This is a revised analysis using the Government 
Regulatory Impact Model (GRIM) also implemented on a commercially 
available spreadsheet software program. The GRIM is a cash flow model 
that assesses the changes in industry cash flow resulting from proposed 
changes in energy efficiency standards. In order to complete the 
analysis, manufacturer interviews will need to be conducted.
    DOE is particularly interested in determining whether its proposal 
for confidential interviews with individual manufacturers will be 
acceptable. During these interviews the DOE contractor, a 
representative from Arthur D. Little, will present the spreadsheet 
results of a strawman GRIM analysis. The company being interviewed will 
be asked qualitative and quantitative questions regarding the strawman 
analysis that will indicate the extent and nature of any impacts on the 
individual manufacturer. These questions will be coordinated with and 
approved by the Department of Justice.
    DOE will also present and discuss its proposed methods for 
analyzing the national energy savings, including fuel switching 
scenarios, environmental, utility, and consumer sub-group impacts. 
DOE's contractor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has convened a 
fuel switching working group to evaluate forecast algorithms, fuel 
switching scenarios, and data sources. This working group is made up of 
invited individuals from gas and electric utilities, utility 
associations, State energy offices, environmental advocates, research 
organizations, etc. DOE plans to analyze the impacts on consumer sub-
groups by income levels. Environmental and utility impacts will be 
analyzed using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) from the 
Energy Information Administration (EIA). NEMS will be modified to 
extend its forecast capability to 30 years and to allow the use of the 
EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey demographic data with 
respect to water heaters.
    At the workshop, the Department is particularly interested in 
receiving comments and views of interested parties concerning: (1) the 
analysis methodologies, (2) the results from the engineering and life-
cycle cost analyses, and (3) DOE's assumptions regarding the costs of 
designs that will prevent ignition of flammable vapors and costs of 
venting for gas water heaters. The Department encourages those who wish 
to participate in the workshop to obtain the preliminary Technical 
Support Document from the internet (see the address above) and to make 
presentations that address its contents.

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Workshop participants need not limit their statements to those topics, 
however. The Department is interested in receiving views concerning 
other issues that participants believe would affect the Proposed Rule 
for Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Water Heaters.
    The workshop will be conducted in an informal, conference style. A 
court reporter will be present to record the minutes of the meeting. 
There shall be no discussion of proprietary information, costs or 
prices, market shares, or other commercial matters regulated under 
antitrust law. The Department may use a professional facilitator to 
conduct the workshop.
    After the manufacturer interviews are completed and the draft 
manufacturing impacts analysis is finished, the Department will issue a 
final technical support document to present the results. The national 
energy savings, consumer sub-group, environmental, and utility analyses 
will also be presented in the final technical support document. The 
Department will invite comments on the final technical support document 
and the analyses used. If you would like to receive the technical 
support document, or be added to the DOE mailing list to receive future 
notices and information regarding the water heater energy efficiency 
standards rulemaking, please contact Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, (202) 
586-2945.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 21, 1998.
Dan W. Reicher,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 98-25687 Filed 9-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P