[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49529-49531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24261]


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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'') amends its 
Appliance Labeling Rule (``Rule'') by publishing new ranges of 
comparability to be used on required labels for compact dishwashers. 
The Commission also announces that the current ranges of comparability 
for standard-sized dishwashers, central air conditioners, and heat 
pumps will remain in effect until further notice. Finally, the 
Commission amends the portions of Appendices H (Cooling Performance and 
Cost for Central Air Conditioners) and I (Heating Performance and Cost 
for Central Air Conditioners) to reflect the

[[Page 49530]]

current (2001) Representative Average Unit Cost of Electricity that was 
published on March 8, 2001 (66 FR 13917), by the Department of Energy 
(``DOE''), and on May 21, 2001 (66 FR 27856) by the Commission.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The amendments to Appendix C1 to part 305 establishing 
new ranges of comparability for compact dishwashers will become 
effective March 22, 2002. The amendments to Appendices H and I to Part 
305 will become effective December 27, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of 
Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580 (202-326-
2889); [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Rule was issued by the Commission in 
1979, 44 FR 66466 (Nov. 19, 1979), in response to a directive in the 
Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975.\1\ The Rule covers eight 
categories of major household appliances: refrigerators and 
refrigerator-freezers, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, water 
heaters (this category includes storage-type water heaters, gas-fired 
instantaneous water heaters, and heat pump water heaters), room air 
conditioners, furnaces (this category includes boilers), and central 
air conditioners (this category includes heat pumps). The Rule also 
covers pool heaters, 59 FR 49556 (Sept. 28, 1994), and contains 
requirements that pertain to fluorescent lamp ballasts, 54 FR 28031 
(July 5, 1989), certain plumbing products, 58 FR 54955 (Oct. 25, 1993), 
and certain lighting products, 59 FR 25176 (May 13, 1994, eff. May 15, 
1995).
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    \1\ 42 U.S.C. 6294. The statute also requires the Department of 
Energy (DOE) to develop test procedures that measures how much 
energy the appliances use, and to determine the representative 
average cost a consumer pays for the different types of energy 
available.
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    The Rule requires manufacturers of all covered appliances and pool 
heaters to disclose specific energy consumption or efficiency 
information (derived from the DOE test procedures) at the point of sale 
in the form of an ``EnergyGuide'' label and in catalogs. It also 
requires manufacturers of furnaces, central air conditioners, and heat 
pumps either to provide fact sheets showing additional cost 
information, or to be listed in an industry directory showing the cost 
information for their products. The Rule requires manufacturers to 
include, on labels and fact sheets, an energy consumption or efficiency 
figure and a ``range of comparability.'' This range shows the highest 
and lowest energy consumption or efficiencies for all comparable 
appliance models so consumers can compare the energy consumption or 
efficiency of other models (perhaps competing brands) similar to the 
labeled model. The Rule also requires manufacturers to include, on 
labels for some products, a secondary energy usage disclosure in the 
form of an estimated annual operating cost based on a specified DOE 
national average cost for the fuel the appliance uses.
    Section 305.8(b) of the Rule requires manufacturers, after filing 
an initial report, to report annually (by specified dates for each 
product type) \2\ the estimated annual energy consumption or energy 
efficiency ratings for the appliances derived from tests performed 
pursuant to the DOE test procedures. Because manufacturers regularly 
add new models to their lines, improve existing models, and drop 
others, the data base from which the ranges of comparability are 
calculated is constantly changing. Under Section 305.10 of the Rule, to 
keep the required information on labels consistent with these changes, 
the Commission publishes new ranges (but not more often than annually) 
if an analysis of the new information indicates that the upper or lower 
limits of the ranges have changed by more than 15%. Otherwise, the 
Commission publishes a statement that the prior ranges remain in effect 
for the next year.
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    \2\ Reports for dishwashers are due June 1; reports for central 
air conditioners and heat pumps are due July 1.
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    The annual submissions of data for dishwashers, central air 
conditioners, and heat pumps have been made and have been analyzed by 
the Commission. The ranges of comparability for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps have not changed by more than 15% from the 
current ranges for these products. Therefore, the current ranges for 
these products, which were published on September 16, 1996 (61 FR 
48620), will remain in effect until further notice.
    The data submissions for dishwashers show no significant change in 
the high or low ends of the range of comparability scale for standard 
models, but a significant change in the low end of the compact 
scale.\3\ Rather than require new ranges for the vast majority of 
dishwashers (the standard category) when only the high end of the 
compact range has changed significantly, the Commission has decided to 
publish new ranges of comparability only for compact dishwashers. These 
new ranges of comparability supersede the current ranges for compact-
sized dishwashers, which were published on September 1, 2000.\4\ As of 
the effective date of these new ranges, manufacturers of compact-sized 
dishwashers must base the disclosures of estimated annual operating 
cost required at the bottom of EnergyGuides for compact-sized 
dishwashers on the 2001 Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for 
electricity (8.29 cents per kiloWatt-hour) and natural gas (83.7 cents 
per therm) that were published by DOE on March 8, 2001 (66 FR 13917) 
and by the FTC on May 21, 2001 (66 FR 27856).
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    \3\ The Commission's classification of ``Standard'' and 
``Compact'' dishwashers is based on internal load capacity. Appendix 
C of the Commission's Rule defines ``Compact'' as including 
countertop dishwasher models with a capacity of fewer than eight (8) 
place settings and ``Standard'' as including portable or built-in 
dishwasher models with a capacity of eight(8) or more place 
settings. The Rule requires that place settings be determined be in 
accordance with appendix C to 10 CFR Part 430, subpart B, of DOE's 
energy conservation standards program.
    \4\ The current ranges for compact-sized dishwashers (Appendix 
C1) were published at 65 FR 53165, along with a republication of the 
current (1997) ranges for standard-sized dishwashers (Appendix C2), 
which were originally published on August 25, 1997, at 62 FR 44890.
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    The effective date of the Federal Register Notice that established 
the current ranges of comparability for compact-sized dishwashers was 
March 22, 2001. Because section 326(c) of EPCA states that the 
Commission cannot require that labels be changed more often than 
annually to reflect changes in the ranges of comparability,\5\ the 
effective date of today's revised ranges of comparability for compact-
sized dishwashers therefore will be March 22, 2002.
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    \5\ 42 U.S.C. 6296(c).
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    The ranges of comparability for standard-sized dishwashers will 
remain in effect until further notice. This means that manufacturers of 
standard-sized dishwashers must continue to use the ranges of 
comparability that were published on August 25, 1997 (62 FR 44890), and 
must continue to base the disclosures of estimated annual operating 
cost required at the bottom of EnergyGuides for these products on the 
1997 Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for electricity (8.31 
cents per kiloWatt-hour) and natural gas (61.2 cents per therm) that 
were published by DOE on November 18, 1996 (61 FR 58679), and by the 
Commission on February 5, 1997 (62 FR 5316).
    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission revises Appendix 
C1 of Part 305 by publishing the following ranges of comparability for 
use in required disclosures (including labeling) for compact-size 
dishwashers beginning March 22, 2002, and amends the cost calculation 
formulas in Appendices H and I to Part 305 that manufacturers of

[[Page 49531]]

central air conditioners and heat pumps must include on fact sheets and 
in directories, effective December 27, 2001.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act relating to a 
Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis (5 U.S.C. 603-604) are not 
applicable to this proceeding because the amendments do not impose any 
new obligations on entities regulated by the Appliance Labeling Rule. 
Thus, the amendments will not have a ``significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.'' 5 U.S.C. 605. The Commission 
has concluded, therefore, that a regulatory flexibility analysis is not 
necessary, and certifies, under Section 605 of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that the amendments announced today 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities.

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305

    Advertising, Energy conservation, Household appliances, Labeling, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 16 CFR Part 305 is amended as follows:

PART 305--[AMENDED]

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

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.

    2. Appendix C1 to Part 305 is revised to read as follows:

Appendix C1 to Part 305--Compact Dishwashers

Range Information

    ``Compact'' includes countertop dishwasher models with a 
capacity of fewer than eight (8) place settings. Place settings 
shall be in accordance with appendix C to 10 CFR part 430, subpart 
B. Load patterns shall conform to the operating normal for the model 
being tested.

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                                                   Range of estimated
                                                      annual energy
                   Capacity                       consumption (kWh/yr.)
                                               -------------------------
                                                    Low          High
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Compact.......................................          214          307
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Cost Information

    When the above ranges of comparability are used on EnergyGuide 
labels for compact-sized dishwashers, the estimated annual operating 
cost disclosure appearing in the box at the bottom of the labels 
must be derived using the 2001 Representative Average Unit Costs for 
electricity (8.29 cents per kilo Watt-hour) and natural gas 
(83.7 cents per therm), and the text below the box must identify the 
costs as such.
    3. In section 2 of Appendix H of Part 305, the text and formulas 
are amended by removing the figure ``8.03 cents'' wherever it 
appears and by adding, in its place, the figure ``8.29 cents''. In 
addition, the text and formulas are amended by removing the figure 
``12.05 cents'' wherever it appears and by adding, in its place, the 
figure ``12.45 cents''.
    4. In section 2 of Appendix I of Part 305, the text and formulas 
are amended by removing the figure ``8.03 cents'' wherever it 
appears and by adding, in its place, the figure ``8.29 cents''. In 
addition, the text and formulas are amended by removing the figures 
``12.05 cents'' and ``12.24 cents'' wherever they appear and by 
adding, in their place, the figure ``12.45 cents''.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-24261 Filed 9-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M