[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 208 (Monday, October 28, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65742-65743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27332]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

10 CFR Part 430

[Docket Nos. EE-RM/TP-02-002; EE-RM/STD-02-330]


Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedure 
for Residential Central Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps; Energy 
Conservation Standards for Small Duct High Velocity Air Conditioners 
and Heat Pumps

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 (DOE or Department) is convening a 
public workshop to discuss and receive comments on several issues 
related to test procedures for residential central air conditioners and 
heat pumps and energy conservation standards for small-duct high-
velocity (SDHV) central air conditioners and heat pumps.

DATES: The public workshop will be held on Friday, December 13, 2002, 
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Comments submitted by electronic mail will be 
considered timely if they are submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern time) 
January 8, 2003. Written comments, data and information, and a signed 
original with an electronic copy on diskette, must be received at the 
Department of Energy by January 8, 2003.

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. (Please note that foreign nationals visiting DOE 
Headquarters are subject to advance security screening procedures. If 
you are a foreign national and wish to participate in the workshop, 
please inform DOE of this fact as soon as possible by contacting Ms. 
Crystal Branson at (202) 586-6448 so that the necessary procedures can 
be completed.)
    On or about November 15, 2002, DOE will place a set of 
presentations describing the Department's research on these issues and 
workshop agenda on the DOE Web site at: http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/codes_standards/. Please submit comments, data and 
information electronically. These should be sent to the following 
Internet address: [email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted 
as a WordPerfect 5.1/6.1/8 format file and avoid the use of special 
characters or any form of encryption. Comments in electronic format 
should also be identified by the docket number EE-RM/STD-02-330 (for 
SDHV comments), or EE-RM/TP-02-002 (for test procedure comments), and 
wherever possible carry the electronic signature of the author. Absent 
an electronic signature, comments submitted electronically must be 
followed and authenticated by submitting the signed original paper 
document. No telefacsimiles (telefaxes) will be accepted.
    Written (paper) comments may be submitted to: Ms. Crystal Branson, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 
Energy, Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy 
Conservation Standards and Test Procedures for Residential Central Air 
Conditioners and Heat Pumps, Docket Number: EE-RM/TP-02-002 (for test 
procedure comments); EE-RM/STD-02-330 (for SDHV comments), EE-2J, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 
586-6448. Please submit one signed copy and a computer diskette or CD 
(in WordPerfectTM 8 format)--no telefacsimiles.
    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 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Raymond, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EE-2J, 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-
9611, e-mail: [email protected], or Mr. Michael W. Bowers, 
Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, GC-72, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-8140, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Part B of Title III of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or Act), Public Law 94-163, as amended 
by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA), Public Law 95-
619; the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA), 
Public Law 100-12; the National Appliance Energy Conservation 
Amendments of 1988 (NAECA 1988), Public Law 100-357; and the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), Public Law 102-486, created the Energy 
Conservation Program for Consumer Products other than Automobiles. The 
consumer products subject to this program include residential central 
air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(d)).
    The Department has been pursuing a rulemaking activity for the 
purpose of determining whether amended energy conservation standards 
for the niche central air conditioning products with small ducts and 
high velocities are justified. The Department also is developing 
additional revisions it intends to propose to the test procedures for 
residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. These revisions 
concern: (1) Establishing new default values for the cooling mode 
cyclic degradation coefficients; (2) increasing the minimum static 
pressure used in testing small duct high velocity systems; (3) testing 
of two-capacity heat pumps; and (4) acceptable verification units for 
the alternative rating method.
    The workshop announced in today's notice is the next step in the 
rulemaking process for determining whether to

[[Page 65743]]

amend the energy conservation standards for small-duct high-velocity 
air conditioners and heat pumps. In a notice of final rulemaking 
published on May 23, 2002 (67 FR 36368), DOE established amended energy 
conservation standards for all classes of residential central air 
conditioners and heat pumps except small-duct high-velocity systems. In 
that final rule, DOE created a separate product class for SDHV systems, 
but it deferred establishing amended standards pending completion of a 
new test procedure and the analysis needed to support new standards. 
The May 23, 2002, final rule defines ``small duct high-velocity 
system'' to mean a heating and cooling product that contains a blower 
and indoor coil combination that: (1) Is designed for, and produces, at 
least 1.2 inches of external static pressure when operated at the 
certified air volume rate of 220-350 CFM per rated ton of cooling; and 
(2) when applied in the field, uses high velocity room outlets 
generally greater than 1000 fpm which have less than 6.0 square inches 
of free area. (See revision to Sec.  430.2 at 67 FR 36406). The 
workshop announced in today's notice is also being held to consider the 
additional revisions to DOE's test procedure for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps mentioned in the preceding paragraph of 
this notice.
    A detailed agenda for this workshop is currently under development 
and as noted above, will be posted on the Department's Web site on or 
about November 15, 2002. The agenda items will include issues related 
to the engineering and life-cycle cost methodology used in the small-
duct high-velocity standards rulemaking, and the methodology and data 
used to derive new default values for the cooling mode cyclic 
degradation coefficients. For each agenda item, the Department will 
make a presentation summarizing the current status and will initiate a 
discussion regarding the accuracy and completeness of data and analysis 
tools. During these discussions, the Department is particularly 
interested in receiving comments and views of interested parties and 
possible approaches to enhance the accuracy of the analysis tools and 
data. The Department encourages those who wish to participate in the 
workshop to make presentations that address these issues. If you would 
like to make a presentation during the workshop, please inform Ms. 
Branson at least two weeks before the date of the workshop and provide 
her with a copy of your written presentation material at least one week 
before the date of the workshop.
    The meeting 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 by 
antitrust law. After the meeting and a period for written statements, 
the Department will begin collecting data and conducting the analyses 
discussed at the workshop.
    If you would like to participate in the workshop, to receive 
workshop materials, or to be added to the DOE mailing list to receive 
future notices and information regarding distribution transformers, 
please contact Ms. Crystal Branson at (202) 586-6448.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2002.
David K. Garman,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 02-27332 Filed 10-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P