[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 144 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 44892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18530]


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 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. 80, No. 144 / Tuesday, July 28, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 44892]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 431

[Docket Number EERE-2010-BT-STD-0003]
RIN 1904-AC19


Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for 
Commercial Refrigeration Equipment

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

ACTION: Publication of determination.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as 
amended, prescribes that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) make a 
determination on the impact, if any, on the lessening of competition 
likely to result from a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed rule 
for energy conservation standards and that DOE publish the 
determination in the Federal Register. DOE published its final rule for 
energy conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment on 
March 28, 2014, and is publishing DOJ's November 25, 2013 determination 
on such proposed rule.

DATES: Date of DOJ determination--November 25, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building 
Technologies Program, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, 
DC, 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-1692. Email: [email protected].
    Ms. Johanna Hariharan, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the 
General Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, 
20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-6307. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 28, 2014 (79 FR 17725), DOE 
published a final rule amending energy conservation standards for 
commercial refrigeration equipment. Those amended standards were 
determined by DOE to be technologically feasible and economically 
justified and would result in the significant conservation of energy. 
The Energy Conservation and Policy Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C.6291, et seq; 
``EPCA''), Public Law 94-163, requires that the Attorney General make a 
determination and analysis of the impact, if any, of any lessening of 
competition likely to result from a proposed standard, within 60 days 
of publication. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(ii)) EPCA also requires that 
DOE publish the determination and analysis in the Federal Register. Id.
    DOE received the determination in response to the September 11, 
2013 NOPR (78 FR 55781) from the Attorney General and the U.S. 
Department of Justice (DOJ) on November 25, 2013. DOE is publishing the 
text of DOJ's November 25, 2013 determination.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 21, 2015.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Antitrust Division
WILLIAM J. BAER
Assistant Attorney General
RFK Main Justice Building
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20530-0001
(202) 514-2401/(202) 616-2645 (Fax)

November 25, 2013

Eric J. Fygi
Deputy General Counsel Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585

Dear Deputy General Counsel Fygi:

    I am responding to your September 24, 2013 letter seeking the views 
of the Attorney General about the potential impact on competition of 
proposed energy conservation standards for walk-in coolers and 
refrigerators. Your request was submitted under Section 
325(o)(2)(B)(i)(V) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as 
amended (ECPA), 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(V), which requires the 
Attorney General to make a determination of the impact of any lessening 
of competition that is likely to result from the imposition of proposed 
energy conservation standards. The Attorney General's responsibility 
for responding to requests from other departments about the effect of a 
program on competition has been delegated to the Assistant Attorney 
General for the Antitrust Division in 28 CFR 0.40(g).
    In conducting its analysis the Antitrust Division examines whether 
a proposed standard may lessen competition, for example, by 
substantially limiting consumer choice, by placing certain 
manufacturers at an unjustified competitive disadvantage, or by 
inducing avoidable inefficiencies in production or distribution of 
particular products. A lessening of competition could result in higher 
prices to manufacturers and consumers, and perhaps thwart the intent of 
the revised standards by inducing substitution to less efficient 
products.
    We have reviewed the proposed standards contained in the Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (78 FR 176, September 11, 2013) (NOPR). We have 
also reviewed supplementary information submitted to the Attorney 
General by the Department of Energy, including a transcript of the 
public meeting held on the proposed standards on October 3, 2013. Based 
on this review, our conclusion is that the proposed energy conservation 
standards for commercial refrigeration equipment are unlikely to have a 
significant adverse impact on competition.

Sincerely,

William J. Baer

Enclosure

[FR Doc. 2015-18530 Filed 7-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P