[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] ======================================================================== 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. ======================================================================== Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 186 / Friday, September 25, 1998 / Proposed Rules [[Page 51304]] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. [[Page 51305]] 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