[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21813-21815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9473]


 ========================================================================
 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. 76, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 19, 2011 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 21813]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 429

[Docket Number: EERE-2010-BT-CE-0014]
RIN 1904-AC23


Energy Conservation Program: Certification, Compliance, and 
Enforcement for Consumer Products and Commercial and Industrial 
Equipment

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

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the ``Department'') 
proposes to amend the compliance dates for revisions to its 
certification, compliance, and enforcement regulations for certain 
commercial and industrial equipment covered under the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act of 1975, as amended (EPCA or the ``Act''). 
Specifically, DOE is tentatively proposing an 18-month extension to the 
compliance date for the certification provisions for commercial 
refrigeration equipment; commercial heating, ventilating, air-
conditioning (HVAC) equipment; commercial water heating equipment; 
walk-in coolers; walk-in freezers; and automatic commercial ice makers. 
DOE is also considering extending the compliance date for the 
certification provisions for other commercial equipment based on 
comments.

DATES: DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding the 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) postmarked no later than May 19, 
2011.

ADDRESSES: Any comments submitted must reference the Energy 
Conservation Program: Certification, Compliance, and Enforcement for 
Consumer Products and Commercial and Industrial Equipment, and provide 
docket number EERE-2010-BT-CE-0014 and/or RIN number1904-AC23. Comments 
may be submitted using 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-2010-BT-CE-0014 and/or RIN 1904-AC23 in the subject line of 
the message. Submit electronic comments in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, 
PDF, or ASCII file format and avoid the use of special characters or 
any form of encryption.
     Postal Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 
586-2945. Please submit one signed original paper copy.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Building Technologies Program, 950 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., 6th 
Floor, Washington, DC 20024. Please submit one signed original paper 
copy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, visit the U.S. Department of Energy, Resource Room 
of the Building Technologies Program, 950 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., 6th 
Floor, 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 at the above telephone number for additional information 
regarding visiting the Resource Room. Please note: DOE's Freedom of 
Information Reading Room (Room 1E-190 at the Forrestal Building) no 
longer houses rulemaking materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Ashley Armstrong, 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) 586-6590. E-mail: 
[email protected]; and Ms. Laura Barhydt, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of the General Counsel, Forrestal Building, GC-32, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202) 287-
5772. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 7, 2011, DOE published a final rule 
in the Federal Register that, among other things, modified the 
requirements regarding manufacturer submission of compliance statements 
and certification reports to DOE (March 2011 Final Rule). 76 FR 12421. 
The March 2011 Final Rule will provide DOE more comprehensive 
information about the energy and water use characteristics of products 
sold in the United States. Furthermore, the certification provisions 
are central to the Department's regulatory framework for ensuring that 
covered products and equipment sold in the Unites States comply with 
existing federal energy conservation standards and associated 
regulations.
    The March 2011 Final Rule was largely procedural in nature; it did 
not amend pre-existing sampling provisions, test procedures, or 
conservation standard levels for any EPCA products or equipment. It 
did, however, impose new reporting requirements, including a 
requirement that manufacturers submit annual reports to the Department 
certifying compliance of their basic models with applicable standards. 
It also revised the types of information manufacturers must provide in 
that submission. Finally, the Department emphasized that manufacturers 
could use their discretion in grouping individual models as a certified 
``basic model'' such that the certified rating for the basic model 
matched the represented rating for all included models. See 76 FR 
12428-12429 for more information. This reflected a basic requirement of 
the Department's longstanding self-certification compliance regime--
that efficiency certifications and representations must be supported by 
either testing or an approved alternative method of estimating 
efficiency.
    The March 2011 Final Rule provides for the revised certification 
provisions to be effective on July 5, 2011. Since the publication of 
the Final Rule, certain manufacturers of particular types of commercial 
and industrial equipment have stated that they would be unable to meet 
that deadline. In particular, manufacturers of commercial refrigeration 
equipment; commercial heating, ventilating, air-conditioning (HVAC) 
equipment; commercial water heating equipment; walk-in coolers; walk-in 
freezers; and automatic commercial ice makers (as defined in 10 CFR 
part 431) contend that certifying supported basic model ratings under 
the revised provisions would require a cost-

[[Page 21814]]

prohibitive amount of additional testing and take far longer than the 
time allowed.
    The Department did not intend to change, let alone increase, 
testing burdens through the certification reporting provisions of the 
March 2011 Final Rule. However, the new information provided suggests 
that, for certain commercial manufacturers, the interplay between the 
reporting requirements, current industry practices, and preexisting 
regulations may mean that such manufacturers may need additional time 
to comply with the regulations. In particular, the Department has 
become aware of concerns related to its revised regulations for 
alternative efficiency determination methods (AEDMs), which are 
intended to reduce testing burdens by allowing manufacturers to use 
computer simulations, mathematical models, and other alternative 
methods to determine the amount of energy used by a particular basic 
model. For example, some commercial manufacturers have suggested that 
the AEDM provisions are too restrictive, overly burdensome, and 
unavailable for some products that would benefit from them and, as a 
result, do not permit the viable alternative to testing intended by the 
Department.
    Responding in part to these concerns, on April 8, 2011, the 
Department issued a request for information (RFI) (available at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/arm_aedms_rfi.pdf) seeking comment on, among other things, the use of such 
alternative methods for determining the efficiency of commercial and 
industrial equipment. As the RFI explained, the Department intends to 
use this information to propose revisions to improve the existing AEDM 
provisions in a future rulemaking. For commercial manufacturers, the 
Department understands that addressing some of the concerns with the 
AEDM provisions may alleviate some of the burden reported by these 
manufacturers of complying with DOE's existing regulations and the 
March 2011 Final Rule certification reporting provisions. Given the 
testing burdens reported by certain commercial manufacturers and the 
Department's recent RFI on alternative ways to estimate efficiency in 
lieu of testing, DOE tentatively proposes an 18-month delay in the 
compliance date for filing complete certification reports for 
manufacturers of commercial refrigeration equipment; commercial 
heating, ventilating, HVAC equipment; commercial water heating 
equipment; walk-in coolers; walk-in freezers; and automatic commercial 
ice makers.
    The Department seeks comment on this proposed delay for these 
specified manufacturers. We also seek comment on whether a longer or 
shorter period of time would be more appropriate. In addition, the 
Department seeks comment on whether manufacturers of other types of 
commercial or industrial equipment face similar circumstances with 
respect to unintended testing burdens or AEDM concerns that would 
require additional time to comply with the certification reporting 
requirements in the March 2011 Final Rule.
    The Department seeks comment on what, if any, limited reporting 
requirement should be required of manufacturers of these types of 
commercial equipment during the interim period. For example, DOE seeks 
comment on whether it should require these manufacturers to register 
with the Department's electronic CCMS system in the meantime.

Further Information on Submitting Comments

    Under 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that he or 
she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public 
disclosure should submit two copies: One copy of the document including 
all the information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the 
document with the information believed to be confidential deleted. DOE 
will make its own determination about the confidential status of the 
information and treat it according to its determination.
    Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat 
submitted information as confidential include (1) a description of the 
items, (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as 
confidential within the industry, (3) whether the information is 
generally known by or available from other sources, (4) whether the 
information has previously been made available to others without 
obligation concerning its confidentiality, (5) an explanation of the 
competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from 
public disclosure, (6) when such information might lose its 
confidential character due to the passage of time, and (7) why 
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.

I. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866

    This proposed rule has been determined not to be a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. 
Accordingly, this action was not subject to review under the Executive 
Order by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires 
preparation of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IFRA) for 
any rule that by law must be proposed for public comment, unless the 
agency certifies that the rule, if promulgated, will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
As required by Executive Order 13272, ``Proper Consideration of Small 
Entities in Agency Rulemaking,'' 67 FR 53461 (August 16, 2002), DOE 
published procedures and policies on February 19, 2003, to ensure that 
the potential impacts of its rules on small entities are properly 
considered during the DOE rulemaking process. 68 FR 7990. DOE has made 
its procedures and policies available on the Office of the General 
Counsel's Web site: http://www.gc.doe.gov.
    DOE reviewed this proposed rule under the provisions of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act and the procedures and policies published on 
February 19, 2003. This proposed rule would merely extend the 
compliance date of a rulemaking already promulgated. To the extent such 
action has any economic impact it would be positive in that it would 
allow regulated parties additional time to come into compliance. DOE 
did undertake a full regulatory flexibility analysis of the original 
CCE rulemaking. That analysis considered the impacts of that rulemaking 
on small entities. As a result, DOE certifies that, if adopted, this 
proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

C. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act

    DOE has determined that this rule falls into a class of actions 
that are categorically excluded from review under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and DOE's 
implementing regulations at 10 CFR part 1021. Specifically, this rule 
amends an existing rule without changing its environmental effect and, 
therefore, is covered by the Categorical Exclusion in 10 CFR part 1021, 
subpart D, paragraph A5. Accordingly, neither an environmental 
assessment nor an

[[Page 21815]]

environmental impact statement is required.

II. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

    The Secretary of Energy has approved publication of today's NOPR.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 429

    Confidential business information, Energy conservation, Household 
appliances, Imports, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 12, 2011.
Kathleen Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Office of Technology 
Development, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, DOE is proposing to amend 
part 429 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as set forth 
below:

PART 429--CERTIFICATION, COMPLIANCE, AND ENFORCEMENT FOR CONSUMER 
PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

    1. The authority citation for part 429 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 6291-6317.

    2. Add in Sec.  429.12 a new paragraph (i) to read as follows:


Sec.  429.12  General requirements applicable to certification reports.

* * * * *
    (i) Certain commercial equipment. Manufacturers of commercial 
refrigeration equipment; commercial heating, ventilating, air-
conditioning (HVAC) equipment; commercial water heating equipment; 
walk-in coolers; walk-in freezers; and automatic commercial ice makers 
are not required to comply with paragraphs (a) through (f) of this 
section until [date 18 months following publication of final rule].

[FR Doc. 2011-9473 Filed 4-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P