[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 110 (Friday, June 6, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32243-32245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12753]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
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 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.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 110 / Friday, June 6, 2008 / Proposed 
Rules  

[[Page 32243]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

[Docket No. EERE-2008-BT-STD-0006]
RIN 1904-AB47


Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer Products: Public Meeting 
and Availability of the Framework Document for Residential Central Air 
Conditioners and Heat Pumps

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and availability of the Framework 
Document.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating the rulemaking 
and data collection process to consider establishing amended energy 
conservation standards for residential central air conditioners and 
heat pumps. Accordingly, DOE will hold an informal public meeting to 
discuss and receive comments on its planned analytical approach and 
issues it will address in this rulemaking proceeding. DOE welcomes 
written comments from the public on this rulemaking. To inform 
stakeholders and to facilitate this process, DOE has prepared a 
Framework Document which details the analytical approach and identifies 
several issues on which DOE is particularly interested in receiving 
comment. A copy of the Framework Document is available at: http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/central_ac_hp.html.

DATES: The Department will hold a public meeting on June 12, 2008, from 
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Washington, DC. Any person requesting to speak at 
the public meeting should submit such request along with a signed 
original and an electronic copy of the statement to be given at the 
public meeting before 4 p.m., June 11, 2008. Written comments on the 
Framework Document are welcome, especially following the public 
meeting, and should be submitted by July 7, 2008.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of 
Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0121. Please note that foreign nationals 
participating in the public meeting are subject to advance security 
screening procedures. If a foreign national wishes to participate in 
the public meeting, please inform DOE of this fact as soon as possible 
by contacting Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945 so that the 
necessary procedures can be completed.
    Stakeholders may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-
2008-BT-STD-0006 and/or Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1904-AB47, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include EERE-2008-BT-
STD-0006 and/or RIN 1904-AB47 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, Framework Document for 
Central Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps, EERE-2008-BT-STD-0006 and/or 
RIN 1904-AB47, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121. Please submit one signed paper original.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Sixth Floor, 950 L'Enfant 
Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20024. Please submit one signed paper 
original.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number or RIN for this rulemaking found at the beginning of 
this notice.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents, a 
copy of the transcript of the public meeting, or comments received, go 
to the U.S. Department of Energy, Resource Room of the Building 
Technologies Program, Sixth Floor, 950 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, 
DC 20024, (202) 586-2945, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. Please call Ms. Brenda Edwards first 
at the above telephone number for additional information regarding 
visiting the Resource Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Wes Anderson, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building 
Technologies, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-7335. E-mail: [email protected].
    Mr. Eric Stas or Mr. Michael Kido, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Office of the General Counsel, GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-9507. E-mail: 
[email protected] or [email protected].
    For information on how to submit or review public comments and on 
how to participate in the public meeting, contact Ms. Brenda Edwards, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 
Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Washington, DC, 20585-0121. Telephone (202) 586-2945. E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Part A \1\ of Title III of the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), Public Law 94-163, as amended by 
the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, Public Law 95-619, the 
National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, Public Law 100-12, 
the National Appliance Energy Conservation Amendments of 1988, Public 
Law 100-357, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Public Law 102-486, 
created the ``Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other 
than Automobiles.'' (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309) The consumer products subject 
to this program include residential central air conditioners and 
central air conditioning heat pumps (hereafter referred to as central 
air conditioners and heat pumps).
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    \1\ This part was originally titled Part B; however, it was 
redesignated Part A after Part B was repealed by Pub. L. 109-58.
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    The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA) 
established energy conservation standards for central air conditioners 
and heat pumps as well as requirements for determining whether these 
standards should be amended. Specifically,

[[Page 32244]]

NAECA established energy conservation standards for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps in the form of minimum limits on the 
seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for air conditioners and for 
heat pumps operating in the cooling mode, and on the heating seasonal 
performance factor (HSPF) for heat pumps operating in the heating 
mode.\2\ NAECA established the following standards for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps: 10.0 SEER/6.8 HSPF for split systems and 
9.7 SEER/6.6 HSPF for single-package systems. These standards became 
effective January 1, 1992 for split systems; standards for single-
package systems came into effect one year later. See 42 U.S.C. 
6295(d)(1)(A)-(B) and (2)(A)-(B). NAECA also required that DOE conduct 
two cycles of rulemakings to determine if more stringent standards are 
economically justified and technologically feasible. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(d)(3)(A)-(B))
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    \2\ NAECA established the following standards for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps: 10.0 SEER/6.8 HSPF for split systems, 
9.7 SEER/6.6 HSPF for single-package systems.
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    Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6295(b)(3)(A), DOE published a final rule in 
the Federal Register on January 22, 2001 (2001 final rule), amending 
the energy conservation standards for central air conditioners and heat 
pumps. 66 FR 7170. The amended standards increased the minimum SEER to 
13 and the minimum HSPF to 7.7, excluding through-the-wall and space-
constrained systems.\3\ Id. This final rule constituted the first cycle 
of revised standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps.
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    \3\ Shortly after the publication of the 2001 final rule, DOE 
postponed the effective date of the rule to take time to reconsider 
the amended standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps. 
DOE eventually promulgated a 12 SEER standard in a final rule 
published in the Federal Register May 23, 2002 (2002 final rule; 67 
FR 36368), but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 
ruled that DOE had done so improperly. Natural Resources Defense 
Council v. Abraham, 355 F.3d 179 (2d Cir. 2004). As a result, DOE 
published a technical amendment in the Federal Register on August 
17, 2004, which established a 13 SEER standard for all central air 
conditioners and heat pumps, excluding through-the-wall and space-
constrained systems. 69 FR 50997.
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    EPCA was further amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), 
Public Law 109-58. In Section 141 of EPACT, Congress directed DOE to 
submit an initial report regarding a plan for expeditiously prescribing 
new or revised standards. Pursuant to section 141 of EPACT, DOE 
submitted an implementation report \4\ to Congress in January 2006. 
This report included a schedule for the completion of the second 
rulemaking cycle of revised standards for central air conditioners and 
heat pumps, which called for DOE to publish a final rule by June 2011, 
with a standards compliance effective date of June 2016. In separate 
court proceedings (New York, v. Bodman, No. 05 Civ. 7807 (S.D.N.Y. 
filed Sept. 7, 2005) and Natural Resources Defense Council v. Bodman, 
No. 05 Civ. 7808 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept. 7, 2005), the resulting consent 
decree (filed November 6, 2006) adopted the schedule for central air 
conditioners and heat pumps that DOE published in the January 2006 
report to Congress (i.e., publication of a final rule by June 30, 
2011). This Framework Document initiates this second rulemaking cycle 
for central air conditioners and heat pumps.
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    \4\ Energy Conservation Standards Activities, January 2006. This 
document can be downloaded from the DOE Web site at:http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/2006_schedule_setting.html.
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    More recently, EPCA was amended by the Energy Independence and 
Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), Public Law 110-140. In section 306 of 
EISA 2007, Congress directed DOE to consider regional standards for 
central air conditioners and heat pumps (among other products), for one 
or two regions in addition to a base national standard. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(o)(6)) EISA 2007 states that in considering regional standards, 
DOE may consider regions made up of contiguous States only. Further, in 
section 310 of EISA 2007, Congress directed DOE to consider amended 
test procedures and standards for standby-mode and off-mode energy 
consumption by covered equipment (such as central air conditioners and 
heat pumps) for any standard published after July 1, 2010. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(gg)(3)) Because this energy conservation standards rulemaking for 
central air conditioners and heat pumps will be completed in 2011, the 
requirement to incorporate standby-mode and off-mode energy use into 
the energy conservation standards analysis is applicable.
    To initiate the second rulemaking cycle to consider amended energy 
conservation standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps, DOE 
has prepared a Framework Document to explain the issues, analyses, and 
processes it anticipates using for the development of potential energy 
conservation standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps. As 
noted above, DOE will hold a public meeting on June 12, 2008 in 
Washington, DC, the main focus of which will be to discuss the analyses 
presented and issued identified in the Framework Document. At the 
public meeting, the Department will make a number of presentations, 
invite discussion on the rulemaking process as it applies to central 
air conditioners and heat pumps, and solicit public comments, data, and 
information from participants and other stakeholders.
    The Department encourages those who wish to participate in the 
public meeting to obtain the Framework Document and to be prepared to 
discuss its contents. A copy of the draft Framework Document is 
available at: http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/central_ac_hp.html
    Public meeting participants need not limit their comments to the 
issues identified in the Framework Document. The Department is also 
interested in receiving views concerning other relevant issues that 
participants believe would affect energy conservation standards for 
these products and applicable test procedures. Furthermore, the 
Department welcomes all interested parties, whether or not they 
participate in the public meeting, to submit in writing by July 7, 
2008, comments and information on matters addressed in the Framework 
Document and on other matters relevant to consideration of standards 
for central air conditioners and heat pumps.
    The public meeting will be conducted in an informal, facilitated, 
conference style. There shall be no discussion of proprietary 
information, costs or prices, market shares, or other commercial 
matters regulated by U.S. antitrust laws. A court reporter will record 
the proceedings of the public meeting, after which a transcript will be 
made available for purchase from the court reporter and available on 
the above-referenced Web site.
    After the public meeting and the close of the comment period on the 
Framework Document, DOE will begin collecting data, conducting the 
analyses as discussed in the Framework Document and at the public 
meeting, and reviewing the comments received.
    DOE considers public participation to be a very important part of 
the process for setting energy conservation standards. DOE actively 
encourages the participation and interaction of the public during the 
comment period in each stage of the rulemaking process. Beginning with 
the Framework Document, and during each subsequent public meeting and 
comment period, interactions with and between members of the public 
provide a balanced discussion of the issues to assist DOE with the 
standards rulemaking process. Accordingly, anyone who would like to 
participate in the public meeting, receive meeting materials, or be 
added to the DOE mailing list to receive future

[[Page 32245]]

notices and information regarding this rulemaking on central air 
conditioners and heat pumps, should contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 
586-2945, or via e-mail at: [email protected].

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 2, 2008.
Alexander A. Karsner,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. E8-12753 Filed 6-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P