[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22472-22473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9036]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

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


Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for 
Certain External Power Supplies; Correction

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing this correction 
to its regulations pertaining to the energy conservation standards for 
certain external power supplies to re-insert a table that had been 
inadvertently deleted by a technical amendment published on September 
19, 2011. That table contained the statutorily-prescribed energy 
conservation standards for all Class A external power supplies to meet.

DATES: This correction is effective April 16, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Victor Petrolati, 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) 586-4549. Email: [email protected].
Mr. Michael Kido, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, GC-71, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121. Telephone: (202) 586-8145. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-140) 
amended section 325(u)(3) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 
(EPCA) to establish energy conservation standards for all Class A 
external power supplies. (42 U.S.C. 6295(u)(3)) Those standards 
consisted of minimum efficiency levels that these products must meet 
during active mode (i.e. when an external power supply is in actual 
use) and no-load mode (i.e. when an external power supply is plugged 
into AC mains but its output is not connected to an electrical load). 
DOE added these standards to its regulations as part of a final rule 
that incorporated a series of statutorily-prescribed changes made by 
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-140) 
(Dec. 19, 2007). That final rule was published on March 23, 2009. See 
74 FR 12058.
    Subsequently, Congress revisited elements of the no-load standards 
that it had prescribed for Class A external power supplies. On January 
4, 2011, Congress enacted Public Law 111-360, which amended section 
325(u)(3) of EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6295(u)(3)) by defining a new term--
``security or life safety alarm or surveillance system''--and excluding 
those external power supplies used in certain security or life safety 
alarms or surveillance system components from the no-load mode 
requirements Congress had previously set. To address this change, DOE 
issued a technical amendment to codify verbatim in regulation these 
statutory changes. See 76 FR 57897 (Sept. 19, 2011).
    Recently, DOE discovered that the amendatory language used in 
modifying the regulatory text to account for the January 2011 statutory 
changes to EPCA resulted in the Office of the Federal Register removing 
the statutory Class A external power supply standards from the 
regulations. Today's document addresses that error by re-inserting 
these pre-existing statutory standards into the regulations at 10 CFR 
430.32(w)(1)(i) where they were located previously. DOE notes that, in 
spite of this inadvertent removal, the standards have remained in 
effect by virtue of their continued existence as a statutory 
requirement. See 42 U.S.C. 6295(u)(3)(A).
    Pursuant to authority at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the DOE finds good 
cause to waive the requirement for prior notice and an opportunity for 
public comment on this rulemaking because such procedures would be 
unnecessary. As DOE is merely re-inserting into the Code of Federal 
Regulations statutory standards already applicable to these products 
prior notice and an opportunity for public comment would serve no 
useful purpose. For the same reason, DOE finds good cause under 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effective date and make 
this rule effective immediately.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 430

    Administrative practice and procedure, Confidential business 
information, Energy conservation, Household appliances, and Small 
businesses.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 9, 2012.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, DOE corrects 10 CFR part 
430 as set forth below:

PART 430--ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 430 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291-6309; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.


0
2. Section 430.32 is amended by revising paragraph (w)(1)(i) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  430.32  Energy and water conservation standards and their 
effective dates.

* * * * *
    (w) Class A external power supplies. (1)(i) Except as provided in 
paragraphs (w)(1)(ii) and (w)(1)(iii) of this section, all Class A 
external power supplies manufactured on or after July 1, 2008, shall 
meet the following standards:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Required efficiency (decimal
            Nameplate output               equivalent of a percentage)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Active Mode
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 1 watt.......................  0.5 times the Nameplate output.
From 1 watt to not more than 51 watts..  The sum of 0.09 times the
                                          Natural Logarithm of the
                                          Nameplate Output and 0.5.
Greater than 51 watts..................  0.85.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 22473]]

 
                              No-Load Mode
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nameplate output.......................        Maximum consumption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not more than 250 watts................  0.5 watts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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[FR Doc. 2012-9036 Filed 4-13-12; 8:45 am]
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