[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47449-47453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20372]


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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 standard dishwashers. 
The Commission also announces that the current ranges of comparability 
for compact 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 current (2003) Representative Average Unit 
Cost of Electricity.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The amendments announced in this document will become 
effective November 10, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of 
Enforcement, Federal Trade

[[Page 47450]]

Commission, Washington, DC 20580 (202-326-2889).

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 (``EPCA'').\1\ The Rule 
covers several categories of major household appliances including 
dishwashers.
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    \1\ 42 U.S.C. 6294. The statute also requires the Department of 
Energy (``DOE'') to develop test procedures that measure 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 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. 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 certain information annually to the 
Commission by specified dates for each product type.\2\ These reports, 
which are to assist the Commission in preparing the ranges of 
comparability, contain 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. To keep the required information on 
labels consistent with these changes, the Commission will publish new 
ranges 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 will publish 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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I. 2003 Dishwasher Ranges

    The Commission has analyzed the annual data submissions for 
dishwashers. The data submissions show a significant change in the low 
and high ends of the range of comparability scale for standard 
models.\3\ Accordingly, the Commission is publishing a new range of 
comparability for standard dishwashers in Appendix C2 of the Rule. The 
range for compact dishwashers has not changed significantly. The new 
range of comparability for standard dishwashers supersedes the current 
range, which was published on July 19, 2002 (67 FR 47443). 
Manufacturers of these dishwashers must base the disclosures of 
estimated annual operating cost required at the bottom of EnergyGuide 
labels for standard-sized dishwashers on the 2003 Representative 
Average Unit Costs of Energy for electricity (8.41 cents per kiloWatt-
hour) and natural gas (81.6 cents per therm) that were published by DOE 
on April 9, 2003 (68 FR 17361) and by the Commission on May 5, 2003 (68 
FR 23584).
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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 in 
accordance with appendix C to 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, of DOE's 
energy conservation standards program.
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II. 2003 Central Air Conditioner and Heat Pump Information

    The annual submissions of data for central air conditioners and 
heat pumps have been made to 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.

III. Cost Figures for Central Air Conditioner and Heat Pump Fact Sheets

    The Commission is amending the cost calculation formulas in 
Appendices H and I to Part 305 that manufacturers of central air 
conditioners and heat pumps must include on fact sheets and in 
directories to reflect this year's energy costs figures published by 
DOE. These routine amendments will become effective November 10, 2003.

IV. Administrative Procedure Act

    The amendments published in this notice involve routine, technical 
and minor, or conforming changes to the labeling requirements in the 
Rule. These technical amendments merely provide a routine change to the 
range and cost information required on EnergyGuide labels and fact 
sheets. Accordingly, the Commission finds for good cause that public 
comment for these technical, procedural amendments is impractical and 
unnecessary (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A)(B) and (d)).

V. 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. 
These technical amendments merely provide a routine change to the range 
information required on EnergyGuide labels. 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.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

    In a June 13, 1988 notice (53 FR 22106), the Commission stated that 
the Rule contains disclosure and reporting requirements that constitute 
``information collection requirements'' as defined by 5 CFR 1320.7(c), 
the regulation that implements the Paperwork Reduction Act.\4\ The 
Commission noted that the Rule had been reviewed and approved in 1984 
by the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') and assigned OMB 
Control No. 3084-0068. OMB has reviewed the Rule and extended its 
approval for its recordkeeping and reporting requirements until 
September 30, 2004. The amendments now being adopted do not change the 
substance or frequency of the recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting 
requirements and, therefore, do not require further OMB clearance.
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    \4\ 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.
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List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305

    Advertising, Energy conservation, Household appliances, Labeling,

[[Page 47451]]

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.


0
Accordingly, 16 CFR Part 305 is amended as follows:

PART 305--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for Part 305 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.


0
2. Appendix C2 to Part 305 is revised to read as follows:

Appendix C2 to Part 305--Standard Dishwashers

Range Information

    ``Standard'' includes portable or built-in dishwasher models 
with a capacity of eight (8) or more 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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Range of
                                                        estimated annual
                                                             energy
                       Capacity                            consumption
                                                            (kWh/yr.)
                                                       -----------------
                                                          Low      High
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Standard..............................................      222      653
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cost Information

    When the above ranges of comparability are used on EnergyGuide 
labels for standard-sized dishwashers, the estimated annual 
operating cost disclosure appearing in the box at the bottom of the 
labels must be derived using the 2003 Representative Average Unit 
Costs for electricity (8.41[cent] per kiloWatt-hour) and natural gas 
(81.6[cent] per therm), and the text below the box must identify the 
costs as such.


0
3. Section 2 of Appendix H of Part 305 is amended as follows:
0
a. By removing the figure ``8.28[cent]'' wherever it appears and by 
adding, in its place, the figure ``8.41[cent]''.
0
b. By removing the figure ``12.42[cent]'' wherever it appears and by 
adding, in its place, the figure ``12.62[cent]'' in the Example after 
the formula.

0
4. In section 2 of Appendix H of Part 305 the second formula is removed 
and the first and third formulas are revised to read as follows:

Appendix H to Part 305--Cooling Performance and Cost for Central Air 
Conditioners

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR11AU03.041

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0
5. In section 2 of Appendix I of Part 305, the text is amended by 
removing the figure ``8.28[cent]'' wherever it appears and by adding, 
in its place, the figure ``8.41[cent]''. In addition, the Examples and 
formulas are amended by removing the figure ``12.42[cent]'' wherever it 
appears and by adding, in its place, the figure ``12.62[cent]''.

0
6. In section 2 of Appendix I of Part 305, the formula is revised to 
read as follows in both places that it appears:

Appendix I to Part 305--Heating Performance and Cost for Central Air 
Conditioners

* * * * *
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR11AU03.042

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0
7. Appendix L is amended by revising Sample Label 4 of part 305 to read 
as follows:
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BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR11AU03.040


[[Page 47453]]


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    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-20372 Filed 8-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-C