[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 62 (Thursday, March 31, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17755-17757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7579]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2011 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 17755]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

[Docket Number EERE-2008-BT-TP-0020]
RIN 1904-AB89


Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and 
Order Granting 180-Day Extension of Compliance Date for Residential 
Furnaces and Boilers Test Procedure Amendments

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

ACTION: Notice of petitions for extension of compliance date and 
Decision and Order granting petitions.

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SUMMARY: This document announces receipt by the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) of 29 petitions from 27 manufacturers seeking a 180-day 
extension of the compliance date related to recent amendments to the 
DOE test procedure for residential furnaces and boilers to address the 
standby mode and off mode energy consumption of those products. The 
petitioners demonstrated that meeting the specified compliance date 
would impose an undue hardship. Accordingly, today's Decision and Order 
grants these petitions to extend the compliance date by the requested 
180 days.

DATES: This Decision and Order is effective March 31, 2011. For 
representation purposes, petitioners must comply with all applicable 
provisions of the amended DOE test procedure for residential furnaces 
and boilers starting on October 15, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael G. Raymond, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Mail Stop EE-2J, 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 
(202) 586-9611. E-mail: [email protected].
    Mr. Eric Stas, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, GC-71, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121. Telephone: (202) 586-9507. E-mail: [email protected].
    For information on how to access the docket or to view hard copies 
of the docket in the Resource Room, 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:

I. Background and Authority

    Title III, Part B \1\ of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 
1975 (EPCA or the Act), Public Law 94-163 (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309, as 
codified) sets forth a variety of provisions designed to improve energy 
efficiency and established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer 
Products Other Than Automobiles,\2\ a program covering most major 
household appliances (collectively referred to as ``covered 
products''), which includes the types of residential boilers and 
furnaces that are the subject of this notice. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(5)) 
Under the Act, this program consists essentially of three parts: (1) 
Testing; (2) labeling; and (3) establishing Federal energy conservation 
standards. Of particular relevance here, the statute authorizes the 
Secretary of Energy to prescribe test procedures that are reasonably 
designed to produce results which measure energy efficiency, energy 
use, or estimated operating costs, and that are not unduly burdensome 
to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) Under EPCA's testing requirements, 
manufacturers of covered products must use these test procedures as the 
basis for certifying to DOE that their products comply with applicable 
energy conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA and for 
representing the efficiency of those products. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c); 42 
U.S.C. 6295(s))
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    \1\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, 
Part B was redesignated Part A.
    \2\ All references to EPCA refer to the statute as amended 
through the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Public Law 
110-140.
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    Pursuant to the amendments to EPCA contained in section 310(3) of 
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), any final 
rule for new or amended energy conservation standards promulgated after 
July 1, 2010 must address standby mode and off mode energy use. (42 
U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)) Specifically, when DOE adopts an energy 
conservation standard for a covered product after that date, it must, 
if justified by the criteria for adoption of standards under 42 U.S.C. 
6295(o), incorporate standby mode and off mode energy use into a single 
standard, if feasible, or, if that is not feasible, adopt a separate 
standard for such energy use for that product. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(gg)(3)(A)-(B)) Because the current energy conservation standard 
rulemaking for residential furnaces will be completed after July 1, 
2010, DOE conducted a test procedure rulemaking for these products and 
published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 20, 2010 (the 
October 2010 final rule), which included methods for measuring standby 
mode and off mode energy consumption. 75 FR 64621. More specifically, 
this test procedure final rule included a standby mode and off mode 
metric, Eso, and modified the calculation of annualized 
auxiliary electrical use (Eae) for gas or oil-fired furnaces 
or boilers and annual electric energy consumption (Ee) for 
electric furnaces or boilers to account for standby mode and off mode 
power consumption. Id. at 64632. The test procedure for residential 
furnaces and boilers is contained in title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B, appendix N.
    The statute mandates that 180 days after an amended or new test 
procedure is prescribed, no manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or 
private labeler may make any representation about a product with 
respect to energy use or efficiency unless that product has been tested 
in accordance with such amended or new test procedure and the 
representation fairly discloses the results of such testing. (42 U.S.C. 
6293(c)(2)) However, if a petition is submitted at least 60 days prior 
to the end of the initial 180-day period, the Secretary may extend the 
180-day period by up to an additional 180 days (but in no event for 
more than 180 days)

[[Page 17756]]

with respect to that petitioner, if it is determined that complying 
with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 6293(c)(2) would impose an undue 
hardship on the petitioner. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c)(3))

II. Petitions for Extension of Compliance Date

    Between February 14, 2011 and February 17, 2011, DOE received 29 
petitions from 27 manufacturers \3\ regarding the compliance date for 
the October 2010 test procedure final rule for residential furnaces and 
boilers. All of these petitions are available as part of Docket Number 
EERE-2008-BT-TP-0020.\4\ Specifically, all but one petitioner requested 
that DOE extend the April 18, 2011 compliance date specified in the 
final rule by 180 days, arguing that compliance with the April 18, 2011 
deadline would place an unnecessary burden upon each company. The 
remaining petitioner, Rheem Manufacturing Company, similarly requested 
DOE extend the compliance date; however, this company requested that 
the new compliance date be extended to end of the 2011 calendar year or 
by the maximum amount allowed by law, whichever is longer. The 
petitioners were: (1) Adams Manufacturing Company; (2) Allied Air 
Enterprises; (3) Bard Manufacturing Co. Inc.; (4) Boyertown Furnace; 
(5) Carrier Corporation; (6) Crown Boiler; (7) De Dietrich Boilers; (8) 
ECR International Inc.; (9) Goodman Manufacturing Company; (10) HTP 
Inc.; (11) Johnson Controls Inc.; (12) Laars Heating Systems Company; 
(13) Lennox International Inc.; (14) Lochinvar; (15) Newmac Furnace 
Company; (16) New Yorker Residential Heating Boilers; (17) Nordyne; 
(18) NY Thermal Inc.; (19) Peerless Boilers Heat LLC; (20) Raypak Inc.; 
(21) Rheem Manufacturing Company; (22) Slant/Fin; (23) Thermo Products 
LLC; (24) Trane; (25) Triangle Tube; (26) US Boiler Company; and (27) 
Weil-McLain. All petitions were timely filed, in that they were 
submitted prior to 60 days before the end of the 180-day period 
specified in 42 U.S.C. 6293(c)(3). All 29 petitions were very similar 
in form and content, as discussed in further detail below.
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    \3\ Two manufacturers submitted two essentially identical 
petitions signed by different corporate officials.
    \4\ The docket is available for review at http://www.regulations.gov, including Federal Register notices and other 
supporting documents/materials. All documents in the docket are 
listed in the  http://www.regulations.gov index. However, not all 
documents listed in the index may be publicly available, such as 
information that is exempt from public disclosure. A link to the 
docket Web page can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=EERE-2008-BT-TP-0020. 
The http://www.regulations.gov Web page contains simple instructions 
on how to access all documents in the docket.
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    Eae is a measure of the electrical energy use of a gas 
or oil-fired furnace over a one-year period. The petitioners noted that 
the amended definition of Eae, which was redefined in the 
final rule to include Eso, may be considered a 
representation of standby mode and off mode energy consumption now 
because it includes Eso. However, because the final rule had 
focused on the Eso descriptor itself and because 
manufacturers were under no obligation to publish results for 
Eso by April 18, 2011, the petitioners only recently came to 
realize the indirect implications of the amended test procedure on the 
Eae metric, which is widely used in the industry. As a 
result, the petitioners all argued that under the current deadline the 
revisions to the Eae calculation to include Eso 
would force the industry to either: (1) Retest all of its basic models 
in two months; or (2) remove the Eae listings from the AHRI 
product directory. On the first point, the petitioners asserted that it 
would be impracticable to conduct the requisite testing in the 
available time period, particularly given the substantial number of 
products to be tested and the limited capacity of facilities to conduct 
such testing. On the second point, the petitioners stated that the 
Eae listings are useful to customers, because many utilities 
and other third parties operate a variety of rebate programs and other 
programs predicated on the Eae descriptor. For this reason, 
the petitioners argued that removal of the listings would be 
undesirable for both manufacturers and consumers, potentially leading 
to confusion in the marketplace. Furthermore, the manufacturers would 
have to change all their product literature and Web sites where 
Eae is used by the current compliance date. In practice, 
manufacturers would have to communicate and explain the changes down 
their distribution chains to distributors, retailers and customers, and 
adjust inventory management and order systems. Because there is no 
requirement or reason to advertise Eso at the present time, 
manufacturers argued these efforts would represent undue burden and 
unintended consequence of the October 2010 test procedure final rule.
    Additionally, all petitioners made the point that the amended DOE 
test procedure for residential furnaces and boilers contains provisions 
for measuring standby mode and off mode energy consumption that 
reference the first edition of the International Electrotechnical 
Commission (IEC) Standard 62301, ``Household electrical appliances--
Measurement of standby power,'' but that a draft second edition of that 
standard was issued on October 29, 2010, for a final approval vote. 
(DOE notes that IEC Standard 62301 (Second Edition) has been issued by 
the IEC with a final publication date of January 27, 2011.) According 
to the petitioners, granting the requested extension of the compliance 
date would allow DOE to update the relevant references in its test 
procedure, thereby ensuring that furnace and boiler manufacturers are 
not subject to procedures with obsolete references.
    Fourteen petitioners from 13 companies also expressed concern about 
the effects of the amended test procedure on the ``e'' descriptor. 
While not an official DOE descriptor, ``e'' is used by utility 
incentive programs and certain Federal agencies to identify 
electrically-efficient furnaces. The value for this descriptor is 
dependent on Eae, and because the October 2010 final rule's 
amendments to the DOE test procedure redefined Eae, the 
petitioners argued that some models may no longer be considered 
electrically efficient. According to these petitioners, the revisions 
appear to disproportionately affect the ``e'' value of units with lower 
input capacities, meaning that the required changes to this calculation 
are not readily apparent and will require more testing than originally 
anticipated. Therefore, the requested extension of the compliance date 
would provide additional time for adequate consideration of the 
ramification of the changes to the ``e'' descriptor.

III. Summary and Conclusion

    Through today's notice, DOE announces receipt of petitions 
requesting a 180-day extension of the April 18, 2011 compliance date in 
the October 2010 furnace and boiler test procedure final rule from the 
following 27 companies: (1) Adams Manufacturing Company; (2) Allied Air 
Enterprises; (3) Bard Manufacturing Co. Inc.; (4) Boyertown Furnace; 
(5) Carrier Corporation; (6) Crown Boiler; (7) De Dietrich Boilers; (8) 
ECR International Inc.; (9) Goodman Manufacturing Company; (10) HTP 
Inc.; (11) Johnson Controls Inc.; (12) Laars Heating Systems Company; 
(13) Lennox International Inc.; (14) Lochinvar; (15) Newmac Furnace 
Company; (16) New Yorker Residential Heating Boilers; (17) Nordyne; 
(18) NY Thermal Inc.; (19) Peerless Boilers Heat LLC; (20) Raypak Inc.; 
(21) Rheem Manufacturing Company; (22) Slant/Fin; (23) Thermo

[[Page 17757]]

Products LLC; (24) Trane; (25) Triangle Tube; (26) US Boiler Company; 
and (27) Weil-McLain.
    The intent of the amended test procedure was to require 
manufacturers to test for standby mode and off mode power at this time 
only if they intended to publicize such information, and for the above-
stated reasons regarding the volume of and limited time available for 
testing, DOE agrees that requiring all basic models to be retested 
before April 18, 2011, would place an undue burden upon the 
petitioners. Likewise, DOE does not believe that it would be 
appropriate to prevent the dissemination of representations regarding 
auxiliary electrical energy consumption of residential furnaces and 
boilers, because consumers may find such information beneficial. 
Furthermore, DOE agrees that a 180-day extension would not be expected 
to harm consumers or undermine the purpose of the final rule. For these 
reasons, and given that the petitioners fulfilled their obligations 
under 42 U.S.C. 6293(c)(3), DOE hereby issues this Decision and Order 
which grants the 27 petitioners above an extension of 180 days for 
compliance with the amended provisions of the furnaces and boilers test 
procedure final rule that was published in the Federal Register on 
October 20, 2010. Accordingly, the petitioners must meet a new 
compliance date of October 15, 2011. With respect to Rheem's request 
that DOE extend the compliance date to the end of the calendar year 
2011, DOE reiterates that the maximum extension allowed by the statute 
is 180 days. As such, DOE denies Rheem's request.
    DOE notes that this extension does not release petitioners from the 
certification requirements set forth in 10 CFR 430.62.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 24, 2011.
Kathleen Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Office of Technology 
Development, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2011-7579 Filed 3-30-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P