[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7673-7674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2875]


 ========================================================================
 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. 70, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 15, 2005 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 7673]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

10 CFR Part 431

[Docket No. EE-RM/STD-01-375]
RIN 1904-AB09


Energy Conservation Program for Commercial and Industrial 
Equipment: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Unitary Air 
Conditioners and Heat Pumps

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; availability of the 
``Joint Stakeholders Comments'' and opportunity for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: DOE announces the availability of the ``Joint Stakeholders 
Comments on Standards for Commercial Package Air Conditioners and Heat 
Pumps'' (hereafter ``Joint Stakeholders Comments'') and an opportunity 
for public comment. DOE received the Joint Stakeholders Comments from a 
group of nineteen stakeholders in response to DOE's advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) concerning standards for commercial unitary 
air conditioners and heat pumps. This notice informs the public of the 
recommended minimum energy efficiency standards presented in the Joint 
Stakeholders Comments. To help DOE determine the appropriate next step 
in this rulemaking, DOE invites interested members of the public who 
did not join in the Joint Stakeholders Comments to submit any comments 
they may have on the Joint Stakeholders Comments, including the 
recommendation for expediting the proceedings by adopting these 
recommended efficiency standards through a direct final rule.

DATES: DOE will accept written comments, data, and information 
regarding the Joint Stakeholders Comments until, but no later than 4 
p.m., April 1, 2005.

ADDRESSES: A document entitled ``Joint Stakeholders Comments on 
Standards for Commercial Package Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps, 
Docket EE-RM/STD-01-375'' is available for review on the Internet at: 
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/commercial/cuac_anopr.html or from Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, Room 1J-018, 1000 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, or by telephone (202) 
586-2945.
    You may submit comments, identified by EE-RM/STD-01-375 or RIN 
Number 1904-AB09, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected] with 
``Joint Stakeholders Comments on Standards for Commercial Air 
Conditioners and Heat Pumps'' in the subject line.
     Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, Room 1J-018, 1000 Independence 
Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585.
     Fax: (202) 586-4617.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Raba, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building 
Technologies, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585. Telephone: (202) 586-8654. E-mail: [email protected] or 
Francine Pinto, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, 
GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: 
(202) 586-9507. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 29, 2004, DOE published in the 
Federal Register an ANOPR to solicit public comments on its preliminary 
analyses concerning possible energy efficiency standards for certain 
commercial unitary air conditioners and heat pumps with rated cooling 
capacities of 65,000 British thermal units per hour (Btu/h) and 
greater, but less than 240,000 Btu/h. This rulemaking was initiated 
under the authority of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 
U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) (EPCA). In response to the ANOPR, a group of 
nineteen stakeholders submitted to DOE a set of joint comments. That 
group of stakeholders (hereafter ``Joint Stakeholders'') includes: the 
Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute; the American Council for 
an Energy-Efficient Economy; Aaon, Inc.; The Alliance to Save Energy; 
the Appliance Standards Awareness Project; Armstrong Air Conditioning 
Inc.; the California Energy Commission; Carrier Corporation; Daikin 
Industries, Ltd.; Lennox International Inc.; Mammoth, Inc.; McQuay 
International; the Natural Resources Defense Council; Nordyne Inc.; 
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships; Rheem Manufacturing Company; 
Sanyo Fisher (USA) Corp.; Trane/American Standard Inc.; and York 
International Corp.
    The Joint Stakeholders Comments recommend the adoption of certain 
energy efficiency standards that the Joint Stakeholders assert meet the 
applicable statutory requirements. Specifically, the Joint Stakeholders 
recommend minimum energy efficiency ratios (EERs) and coefficients of 
performance (COPs) for certain commercial package air conditioners and 
heat pumps, respectively, as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Air-cooled products                                      Efficiency standards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>=65,000 -- < 135,000 Btu/h..................   11.2/11.0 EER for Air Conditioners.
                                               11.0/10.8 EER for Heat Pumps.
                                               3.3 COP @47[deg]F for Heat Pumps.
>=135,000 -- < 240,000 Btu/h.................   11.0/10.8 EER for Air Conditioners.
                                               10.6/10.4 EER for Heat Pumps.

[[Page 7674]]

 
                                               3.2 COP @47[deg]F for Heat Pumps.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Joint Stakeholders Comments further ask DOE to adopt January 1, 
2010, as the effective date for compliance with the recommended minimum 
efficiency standards. The Comments state that this date was chosen to 
coincide with a change in the refrigerant used in these systems 
mandated by the Clean Air Act, as amended. (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) The 
Joint Stakeholders urge DOE to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NOPR) or a direct final rule that would adopt the Joint Stakeholders' 
recommended minimum efficiency standards. The Joint Stakeholders 
Comments are available for review on the Internet at http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/commercial/cuac_anopr.html, or from Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, Room 1J-018, 1000 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, or by telephone (202) 
586-2945.

1. The Efficiency Standards

    Because of the diversity of interests represented by the Joint 
Stakeholders, the minimum efficiency standards they have recommended 
may be acceptable to stakeholders who were not parties to the Joint 
Stakeholders Comments. DOE is interested in other stakeholders' 
reactions to the recommended minimum efficiency standards and whether 
stakeholders who did not sign the joint comments believe the 
recommended standards are appropriate and could or should be adopted.

2. Rulemaking Procedure

    The Joint Stakeholders urge DOE to adopt the recommended standards 
by issuing either a standard Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) or a 
direct final rule.
    If DOE were to proceed with the NOPR process, it would issue a 
standard NOPR and accept comments from interested members of the 
public. After considering the comments and possibly conducting further 
analyses, DOE would publish a notice of final rulemaking with a 
preamble that responded to major issues that emerge from the comments. 
This procedure would be the more time consuming of the two alternatives 
suggested by the Joint Stakeholders because, based on DOE's experience, 
it believes the two notices would require long preparation times; 
moreover, the two notices would be published separately with a wide 
interval between publication dates.
    The direct final rulemaking procedure would involve simultaneous 
publication of both a direct final rule, and a NOPR that incorporates 
by reference the text of the direct final rule. The preamble of the 
direct final rule would include a statement that the agency would 
publish a timely notice of withdrawal in the Federal Register before 
the effective date established for purposes of modifying the Code of 
Federal Regulations and proceed with the NOPR if it receives 
significant adverse public comments. If significant adverse comments 
are not received, the direct final rule would become effective without 
any other action by the agency. This procedure is appropriate only for 
rules for which significant adverse comment is considered unlikely.
    DOE is interested in stakeholder comments on these alternative 
procedures and whether the public would benefit by implementing minimum 
energy efficiency standards for commercial package air conditioners and 
heat pumps in an expedited manner. If public comments in response to 
today's notice of availability indicate that there is no significant 
opposition to DOE promulgating a direct final rule establishing the 
standards recommended by the Joint Stakeholders Comments, DOE would 
strongly consider doing so if DOE concluded that such standards meet 
EPCA requirements.
    All persons interested in submitting comments on the Joint 
Stakeholders Comments must submit their comments to DOE by the date 
specified in the DATES section of this notice; after that date, no 
further submissions will be entertained. Comments must be submitted to 
one of the addresses listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 
DOE will consider all comments received by the specified deadline.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 9, 2005.
David K. Garman,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 05-2875 Filed 2-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P