[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 84 (Monday, May 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26215-26217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-10209]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

[Case No. CW-026]


Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and 
Order Granting a Waiver to Whirlpool From the Department of Energy 
Residential Clothes Washer Test Procedure

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

ACTION: Decision and order.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of a decision 
and order (Case No. CW-026) that grants to Whirlpool Corporation 
(Whirlpool) a waiver from the DOE clothes washer test procedure for 
determining the energy consumption of clothes washers. Under this 
decision and order, Whirlpool is required to test and rate its clothes 
washers with clothes containers greater than 6.0 cubic feet using an 
alternate test procedure that takes this larger capacity into account 
when measuring energy consumption.

DATES: This Decision and Order is effective May 2, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Mr. Bryan Berringer, U.S. Department of Energy, Building 
Technologies Program, Mail Stop EE-5B, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 
586-0371. Email: [email protected].
    Ms. Elizabeth Kohl, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the 
General Counsel, Mail Stop GC-33, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0103. Telephone: (202) 586-7796. 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR 430.27(f)(2)), DOE gives notice of the 
issuance of its decision and order as set forth below. The decision and 
order grants Whirlpool a waiver from the applicable clothes washer test 
procedure in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix J2 for certain basic 
models of clothes washers with capacities greater than 6.0 cubic feet, 
provided that Whirlpool tests and rates such products using the 
alternate test procedure described in this notice. Whirlpool's 
representations concerning the energy efficiency of these products must 
be based on testing consistent with the provisions and restrictions in 
the

[[Page 26216]]

alternate test procedure set forth in the decision and order below, and 
the representations must fairly disclose the test results. 
Distributors, retailers, and private labelers are held to the same 
standard when making representations regarding the energy efficiency of 
these products. 42 U.S.C. 6293(c).
    Not later than July 1, 2016, any manufacturer currently 
distributing in commerce in the United States a residential clothes 
washer with a capacity larger than 6.0 cubic feet must submit a 
petition for waiver pursuant to the requirements of this section. 
Manufacturers not currently distributing such products in commerce in 
the United States must petition for and be granted a waiver prior to 
distribution in commerce in the United States. Manufacturers may also 
submit a request for interim waiver pursuant to the requirements of 10 
CFR 430.27.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 26, 2016.
 Kathleen Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order

    In the Matter of: Whirlpool Corporation (Case No. CW-026)

I. Background and Authority

    Title III, Part B of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 
(EPCA) (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309) established the Energy Conservation 
Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles, a program 
covering most major household appliances, including the residential 
clothes washers.\1\ Part B includes definitions, test procedures, 
labeling provisions, energy conservation standards, and the authority 
to require information and reports from manufacturers. Further, Part B 
authorizes the Secretary of Energy to prescribe test procedures that 
are reasonably designed to produce results measuring energy efficiency, 
energy use, or estimated operating costs, and that are not unduly 
burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) The test procedure for 
residential clothes washers is contained in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, 
appendix J2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, 
Part B was re-designated Part A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The regulations set forth in 10 CFR 430.27 enable a person to seek 
a waiver from the test procedure requirements for covered products. DOE 
will grant a waiver if DOE determines that the basic model for which 
the petition for waiver was submitted contains one or more design 
characteristics that prevents testing of the basic model according to 
the prescribed test procedures, or if the prescribed test procedures 
may evaluate the basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its 
true energy consumption characteristics as to provide materially 
inaccurate comparative data. 10 CFR 430.27(f)(2). DOE may grant the 
waiver subject to conditions, including adherence to alternate test 
procedures. 10 CFR 430.27(f)(2).

II. Whirlpool's Petition for Waiver: Assertions and Determinations

    On November 9, 2015, Whirlpool submitted a petition for waiver from 
the DOE test procedure applicable to automatic and semi-automatic 
clothes washers as set forth in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix 
J2. Whirlpool requested the waiver because the mass of the test load 
used in the procedure, which is based on the basket volume of the test 
unit, is currently not defined for basket sizes greater than 6.0 cubic 
feet. In its petition, Whirlpool sought a waiver for the specified 
basic models, which have capacities greater than 6.0 cubic feet, as the 
current DOE test procedure specifies test load sizes only for machines 
with capacities up to 6.0 cubic feet. (See 77 FR 13888, Mar. 7, 2012; 
the ``March 2012 Final Rule'')
    Table 5.1 of Appendix J2 defines the test load sizes used in the 
test procedure as linear functions of the basket volume. Whirlpool 
requested that DOE grant a waiver for testing and rating based on a 
revised Table 5.1. Whirlpool also requested an interim waiver from the 
existing DOE test procedure, which DOE granted. See 80 FR at 78208. 
After reviewing the alternate procedure suggested by Whirlpool, DOE 
granted the interim waiver because DOE concluded that it would allow 
for the accurate measurement of the energy use of these products, while 
alleviating the testing problems associated with testing clothes 
washers with capacities greater than 6.0 cubic feet.
    Whirlpool's petition was published in the Federal Register on 
December 16, 2015. 80 FR 78208. DOE received one comment on the 
Whirlpool petition filed jointly by the Appliance Standards Awareness 
Project (ASAP), Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), American Council for an 
Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Natural Resources Defense Council 
(NRDC), and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) (hereinafter 
the ``Joint Commenters''). The Joint Commenters did not object to 
manufacturers being able to test and certify clothes washers with 
capacities greater than 6.0 cu. ft. They reiterated concerns raised in 
the rulemaking that culminated in the March 2012 Final Rule, however, 
regarding a potential bias in the test procedure towards large capacity 
washers, and asserted that these concerns would be exacerbated with a 
further extension of Table 5.1 of appendix J2 up to 8.0 cu. ft. (Joint 
Commenters, No. 2 at p. 1) \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ A notation in the form ``Joint Commenters, No. 2 at p. 1'' 
identifies a written comment: (1) Made by the ASAP, ASE, ACEEE, 
NRDC, and NEEA (hereinafter the ``Joint Commenters''); (2) recorded 
in document number 2 that is filed in the docket of this waiver 
(Docket No. EERE-2015- BT-WAV-0020) and available for review at 
www.regulations.gov; and (3) which appears on page 1 of document 
number 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE granted a waiver to Whirlpool for a similar request under 
Decision and Order (75 FR 69653, Nov. 15, 2010) to allow for the 
testing of clothes washers with container volumes between 3.8 cubic 
feet and 6.0 cubic feet. In addition to the previous waiver granted to 
Whirlpool, DOE granted waivers to LG (CW-016 (76 FR 11233, Mar. 1, 
2011), CW-018 (76 FR 21879, Apr. 19, 2011), and CW-021 (76 FR 64330, 
Oct. 18, 2011); General Electric (75 FR 76968, Dec. 10, 2010), Samsung 
(76 FR 13169, Mar. 10, 2011); 76 FR 50207, Aug. 12, 2011), and 
Electrolux (76 FR 11440, Mar. 2, 2011) to allow for the testing of 
clothes washers with container volumes between 3.8 cubic feet and 6.0 
cubic feet.
    For the reasons set forth in DOE's March 2012 Final Rule, DOE 
concludes that extending the linear relationship between test load size 
and container capacity to larger capacities represents the best 
possible approach for determining load size for large capacity washers. 
DOE will continue to evaluate the possibility of a bias in the test 
procedure with respect to large capacity washers in the next revision 
to the DOE test procedure in appendix J2. In addition, DOE determines 
that testing a basic model with a capacity larger than 6.0 cubic feet 
using the current procedure at Appendix J2 could evaluate the basic 
models in a manner so unrepresentative of their true energy consumption 
as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data.

III. Consultations With Other Agencies

    DOE consulted with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff 
concerning the Whirlpool petition for waiver. The FTC staff did not 
have any objections to granting a waiver to Whirlpool.

IV. Order

    After careful consideration of all the material that was submitted 
by Whirlpool and the Joint Commenters, the testing and analysis 
conducted for the March 2012 Final Rule, and

[[Page 26217]]

consultation with the FTC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 430.27, it 
is ORDERED that:
    (1) The petition for waiver submitted by the Whirlpool Corporation 
(Case No. CW-026) is hereby granted as set forth in the paragraphs 
below.
    (2) Whirlpool must test and rate the Whirlpool basic models 
specified in paragraph (3) on the basis of the current test procedure 
contained in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix J2, except that Table 
5.1 of appendix J2 is supplemented by the following additional rows:

                                                         Table 5.1--Test Load Sizes--Supplement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Container volume                               Minimum load                    Maximum load                    Average load
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           cu. ft. >= <                  liter >= <             lb              kg              lb              kg              lb              Kg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.00-6.10.........................  169.9-172.7.........            3.00            1.36           24.80           11.25           13.90            6.30
6.10-6.20.........................  172.7-175.6.........            3.00            1.36           25.20           11.43           14.10            6.40
6.20-6.30.........................  175.6-178.4.........            3.00            1.36           25.60           11.61           14.30            6.49
6.30-6.40.........................  178.4-181.2.........            3.00            1.36           26.00           11.79           14.50            6.58
6.40-6.50.........................  181.2-184.1.........            3.00            1.36           26.40           11.97           14.70            6.67
6.50-6.60.........................  184.1-186.9.........            3.00            1.36           26.90           12.20           14.95            6.78
6.60-6.70.........................  186.9-189.7.........            3.00            1.36           27.30           12.38           15.15            6.87
6.70-6.80.........................  189.7-192.6.........            3.00            1.36           27.70           12.56           15.35            6.96
6.80-6.90.........................  192.6-195.4.........            3.00            1.36           28.10           12.75           15.55            7.05
6.90-7.00.........................  195.4-198.2.........            3.00            1.36           28.50           12.93           15.75            7.14
7.00-7.10.........................  198.2-201.0.........            3.00            1.36           28.90           13.11           15.95            7.23
7.10-7.20.........................  201.0-203.9.........            3.00            1.36           29.30           13.29           16.15            7.33
7.20-7.30.........................  203.9-206.7.........            3.00            1.36           29.70           13.47           16.35            7.42
7.30-7.40.........................  206.7-209.5.........            3.00            1.36           30.10           13.65           16.55            7.51
7.40-7.50.........................  209.5-212.4.........            3.00            1.36           30.60           13.88           16.80            7.62
7.50-7.60.........................  212.4-215.2.........            3.00            1.36           31.00           14.06           17.00            7.71
7.60-7.70.........................  215.2-218.0.........            3.00            1.36           31.40           14.24           17.20            7.80
7.70-7.80.........................  218.0-220.9.........            3.00            1.36           31.80           14.42           17.40            7.89
7.80-7.90.........................  220.9-223.7.........            3.00            1.36           32.20           14.61           17.60            7.98
7.90-8.00.........................  223.7-226.5.........            3.00            1.36           32.60           14.79           17.80            8.07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) This order applies only to the following three basic models: 
V15EAg50(3B); V15EBg50(3B); and V15ECg50(3B).
    (5) This waiver shall remain in effect consistent with the 
provisions of 10 CFR 430.27.

     Issued in Washington, DC, on April 26, 2016.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2016-10209 Filed 4-29-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P