[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 106 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26816-26818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-12906]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

[Docket No. EERE-2008-BT-STD-0005]
RIN 1904-AB57


Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer Products: Public Meeting 
and Availability of Framework Document for Battery Chargers and 
External Power Supplies

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

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating a rulemaking 
process to consider establishing new energy conservation standards for 
battery chargers and amending the energy conservation standards for 
Class A external power supplies, as directed by the Energy Independence 
and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). 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 also welcomes written comments from the public 
concerning this rulemaking. To inform interested parties and to 
facilitate this process, DOE has prepared two documents: a framework 
document, which explains the analytical approach and identifies 
particular issues on which DOE is interested in receiving comment; and 
a draft technical report, which details DOE's research and analysis on 
these products to date. Copies of these and all other documents 
associated with this rulemaking are available at http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/battery_external.html.

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting in Washington, DC, beginning on 
July 16, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The agenda for the public meeting 
will include the energy conservation standards rulemaking on battery 
chargers and external power supplies. DOE must receive requests to 
speak at this public meeting no later than 4 p.m., Thursday, July 2, 
2009. DOE must receive a signed original and an electronic copy of 
statements to be given at the public meeting no later than 4 p.m., 
Thursday, July 9, 2009. Written comments on the framework document are 
welcome, especially following the public meeting, and should be 
submitted by July 20, 2009.

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 as soon as possible by contacting 
Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945 so that the necessary procedures 
can be completed.
    Interested parties may submit comments, identified by docket number 
EERE-2008-BT-STD-0005 and/or Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1904-
AB57, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include docket number 
EERE-2008-BT-STD-0005 and/or RIN 1904-AB57 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 
Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies, docket number EERE-2008-
BT-STD-0005 and/or RIN 1904-AB57, 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, 6th 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.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents 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 
about visiting the Resource Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Victor Petrolati, 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) 586-4549. E-mail: 
[email protected].
    Mr. Michael Kido, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. 
Telephone: (202) 586-9507. E-mail: [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: Title III of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq.), sets 
forth a variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. 
Part B of Title III (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309), subsequently renamed Part A, 
established the ``Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products 
Other Than Automobiles.'' \1\ The consumer products subject to this 
program are referred to as ``covered products.''
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    \1\ This part was originally titled Part B but it was 
redesignated Part A in the United States Code for editorial reasons.
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    Section 135 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005), Public 
Law 109-58, amended sections 321 and 325 of EPCA, by defining battery 
chargers and external power supplies and directing the Secretary to 
prescribe ``definitions and test procedures for the power use of 
battery chargers and external power

[[Page 26817]]

supplies'' and to ``issue a final rule that determines whether energy 
conservation standards shall be issued for battery chargers and 
external power supplies or classes of battery chargers and external 
power supplies.'' (42 U.S.C. 6295(u)(1)(A) and (E))
    On December 8, 2006, DOE complied with the first of these 
requirements by publishing a final rule that prescribed test procedures 
for a variety of products. 71 FR 71340. That rule, which is currently 
codified in multiple sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 
included definitions and test procedures for battery chargers and 
external power supplies. The test procedures for battery chargers and 
external power supplies are found in 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, 
Appendix Y (``Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption 
of Battery Chargers'') and 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix Z 
(``Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of External 
Power Supplies.''), respectively.
    DOE subsequently published a notice of public meeting and 
availability of documentation for public review on December 29, 2006. 
71 FR 78389. This public meeting, called a ``Scoping Workshop,'' 
discussed DOE's plans for conducting a determination analysis for 
battery chargers and external power supplies. The Scoping Workshop was 
held at DOE's Forrestal Building in Washington, DC, on January 24, 
2007. Information pertaining to the Scoping Workshop can be found on 
DOE's Web site at http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/battery_external.html.
    On December 19, 2007, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and 
Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Public Law 110-140, which amended, among 
others, sections 321, 323, and 325 of EPCA. While EPACT 2005 amended 
EPCA by defining an external power supply as ``an external power supply 
circuit that is used to convert household electric current into DC 
current or lower-voltage AC current to operate a consumer product'' (42 
U.S.C. 6291(36)(A)), section 301 of EISA amended this definition by 
creating a subset of external power supplies called ``Class A External 
Power Supplies''--those external power supplies that are ``able to 
convert to only 1 AC or DC output voltage at a time'' and that have 
``nameplate output power that is less than or equal to 250 watts.'' (42 
U.S.C. 6291(36)(C)(i)) Section 301 of EISA also established for these 
products energy conservation standards that became effective on July 1, 
2008, and directed DOE to conduct an energy conservation standards 
rulemaking to review those standards by July 1, 2011.
    Additionally, section 309 of EISA amended section 325(u)(1)(E) of 
EPCA by directing DOE to issue a final rule that prescribes energy 
conservation standards for battery chargers or classes of battery 
chargers or to determine that no energy conservation standard is 
technologically feasible and economically justified. DOE is bundling 
together this battery charger rulemaking proceeding with the 
requirement to review and consider amending the energy conservation 
standards for Class A external power supplies, as both rulemakings must 
be completed by July 1, 2011. The new rulemaking requirements contained 
in sections 301 and 309 of EISA effectively supersede the prior 
determination analysis that EPACT 2005 required DOE to conduct.
    Section 309 of EISA also instructed DOE to ``issue a final rule 
that determines whether energy conservation standards shall be issued 
for external power supplies or classes of external power supplies'' no 
later than two years after EISA's enactment. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(u)(1)(E)(i)(I)) Because DOE cannot conduct a determination 
analysis on whether it should issue energy conservation standards for a 
product for which standards have already been set, DOE is interpreting 
these sections jointly as a requirement to determine, in a separate 
rulemaking to be completed by December 19, 2009, whether energy 
conservation standards shall be issued for non-Class A external power 
supplies. Examples of these types of external power supplies include 
those with nameplate output power greater than 250 watts, those that 
are able to convert to more than one AC or DC output voltage at the 
same time, and those that are specifically excluded from coverage under 
the Class A external power supply definition provided by EISA by virtue 
of their application (e.g., EPSs used with medical devices).
    Finally, section 310 of EISA established definitions for active 
mode, standby mode, and off mode, and directed DOE to amend its 
existing test procedures for both BCs and EPSs to measure the energy 
consumed in standby mode and off mode. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(B)(i)) 
DOE satisfied this requirement by publishing a final rule that 
incorporated standby and off mode measurement into the DOE test 
procedure. 74 FR 13318 (March 27, 2009).
    To initiate the bundled battery charger and Class A external power 
supply rulemaking, DOE has prepared a Framework Document to explain the 
issues, analyses, inputs, and processes it anticipates will arise in 
developing new energy conservation standards for battery chargers and 
amended energy conservation standards for Class A external power 
supplies. In addition, DOE has prepared a draft technical report that 
presents DOE's research, analysis, and methods on both these products 
as part of its work on the determination analysis in 2007. The 
publication of this draft technical report is not intended to set any 
new precedent for framework document meetings. Instead, DOE believes 
that it may receive better comment and more precise direction from 
interested parties on key issues by publishing its previously developed 
draft analyses in conjunction with this framework document. As 
discussed earlier, the work on the determination was overtaken by the 
changes introduced by EISA, which modified both its scope and schedule.
    As noted above, DOE will hold a public meeting on Thursday, July 
16, 2009, in Washington, DC, to discuss the analyses presented and 
issues 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 battery chargers and external 
power supplies, and solicit comments, data, and information from 
participants and other interested parties. DOE will also invite comment 
on its preliminary analyses of battery chargers and external power 
supplies, as described in the draft technical report
    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, which will be entered into the 
docket for this rulemaking.
    DOE encourages those who wish to participate in the public meeting 
to read the Framework Document and draft technical report and to be 
prepared to discuss their contents. Copies of both documents are 
available at http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/battery_external.html.
    Public meeting participants need not limit their comments to the 
issues identified in the Framework Document. DOE is also interested in 
receiving comments concerning other relevant issues that participants 
believe would affect any energy conservation standards for these 
products. For example, interested parties are invited to comment on 
external power supplies

[[Page 26818]]

not included in Class A. DOE is conducting a separate determination 
analysis rulemaking for these products, but intends to invite public 
comment on the scope of coverage for non-Class A external power 
supplies at the end of the public meeting, if time permits.
    DOE invites all interested parties, whether they participate in the 
public meeting, to submit in writing by July 20, 2009, comments and 
information on matters addressed in the Framework Document and on other 
matters relevant to assessment of energy conservation standards for 
battery chargers and external power supplies.
    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 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 among members of the public 
provide a balanced discussion of the issues that assists DOE in 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 notices and information 
regarding this and related rulemakings on battery chargers and external 
power supplies should contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945, or 
via e-mail at [email protected].

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2009.
Steven Chalk,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 
Energy.
[FR Doc. E9-12906 Filed 6-3-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P