[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 94 (Monday, May 16, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30217-30218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11468]


 ========================================================================
 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. 81, No. 94 / Monday, May 16, 2016 / Proposed 
Rules  

[[Page 30217]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 429

[Docket No. EERE-2015-BT-CE-0019]
RIN 1990-AA44


Energy Conservation Program: Certification and Enforcement--
Import Data Collection; Notice of Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On December 29, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 
published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) in the Federal 
Register proposing that a person importing into the United States any 
covered product or equipment subject to an applicable energy 
conservation standard provide, prior to importation, a certification of 
admissibility to the DOE. DOE is reopening the comment period until 
June 15, 2016, to provide interested parties with additional time to 
submit comments.

DATES: The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking 
published on December 29, 2015 (80 FR 81199), has been extended. DOE 
will accept comments, data, and information in response to the NOPR 
received no later than June 15, 2016.

ADDRESSES: See the section ``Public Participation'' for details on 
submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Ashley Armstrong, 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: 202-586-6590. Email: 
[email protected]; or Mr. Steven Goering, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of the General Counsel, Forrestal Building, GC-32, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 202-286-
5691. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 29, 2015, the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal 
Register proposing that a person importing into the United States any 
covered product or equipment subject to an applicable energy 
conservation standard provide, prior to importation, a certification of 
admissibility to the DOE. (80 FR 81199) The comment period ended 
February 12, 2016. On February 17, 2016, after receiving several 
requests for additional time to prepare and submit comments, DOE 
reopened the comment period until February 29, 2016. (81 FR 8022) At a 
public meeting held on February 19, 2016, DOE again received requests 
for additional time to prepare and submit comments, and reopened the 
period for submitting comments until March 16, 2016. 81 FR 11686 (Mar. 
7, 2016).
    DOE wishes to provide interested parties with additional time to 
submit comments, and is reopening the comment period until June 15, 
2016. DOE is particularly interested in receiving comments and views of 
interested parties concerning how to minimize the burden of data 
collection to importers of covered products or equipment subject to an 
applicable energy conservation standard, while at the same time 
providing DOE with traceability information sufficient to determine 
whether a covered import is one that the DOE has previously identified 
as noncompliant with the relevant standard and, if so, to provide U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) ``a description of the noncompliant 
covered import that is sufficient to enable CBP to identify the subject 
merchandise and refuse admission thereof into the customs territory of 
the United States.'' (19 CFR 12.50(c))
    In the NOPR, DOE proposed that an importer provide information 
regarding the importer's most recent submission in DOE's Compliance and 
Certification Management System (CCMS), specifically the CCMS ticket 
number, the CCMS attachment identification number assigned to the 
certification submission, and the line number in the submission 
corresponding to the basic model certified. Because DOE makes 
determinations of noncompliance on a basic model basis, identification 
of the certified basic model number of the covered import would allow 
DOE to accurately determine whether the covered import belongs to a 
basic model that has previously been found to be noncompliant with 
applicable energy conservation standards.
    DOE received comments in response to the NOPR suggesting the 
submission of alternative data elements to achieve its traceability 
requirements, such as brand and basic model number of the product, or 
brand and individual model number. One commenter stated that importers 
may already provide to CBP the model number of the covered products or 
equipment that they import, such that DOE may be able to rely on this 
information in lieu of additional information that it may require. 
Commenters also recommended that DOE allow multiple paths for importers 
of covered products to provide traceability information for their 
products.
    At the public meeting for the NOPR, DOE stated that it had 
considered alternatives to its proposal, such as requiring submission 
of brand and individual model number, or stock keeping unit (SKU). As 
noted, DOE is seeking a solution that will allow it to confirm that the 
covered import does not belong to a basic model that DOE has previously 
found to be noncompliant and is open to offering options for the 
importer to provide the necessary information in the least burdensome 
manner.
    To this end, DOE seeks comments on potential options to achieving 
DOE's goal of traceability while minimizing the burden on importers. 
Among the possibilities DOE is considering, some of which have been 
suggested by commenters to date, are for importers to provide: The 
brand name and basic model number of the product or equipment as 
reported in the most recent CCMS certification submission; the brand 
name and individual model number of the product or equipment as 
reported in the most recent CCMS certification submission; or a SKU 
code, Universal Product Code, International Article Number, or Global 
Trade Item Number. Generally, DOE seeks comment on the advantage of 
allowing importers to use any unique identifier of the covered import 
that is readily available

[[Page 30218]]

to employees of the importer across the enterprise, whether they 
interface with CBP or customs brokers or whether they are the employees 
who file certifications for the importer in CCMS. For DOE to adopt this 
approach, the importer would have to provide the same identifier in the 
corresponding CCMS report. DOE also welcomes comments as to other 
alternatives that would minimize importer burden while still allowing 
DOE to confirm that a covered import does not belong to a basic model 
that DOE has previously found to be noncompliant.
    Commenters have expressed concern with respect to DOE's proposal to 
require certain information related to covered products or equipment 
that are a component of another finished product, due to the fact that 
an importer may use more than one basic model of component part in its 
finished product, and may not know which basic model is contained in a 
given shipment. DOE notes that the purpose of this proposal is to allow 
quick identification by CBP of a noncompliant product. DOE welcomes 
comments on alternatives, including alternatives that would reduce 
importer burden, such as allowing the importer to identify the range of 
possible component part basic models, but importers should be aware 
that this approach could potentially result in a greater impact by 
having CBP stop shipments that may not contain noncompliant products 
due to the importer's choice to group multiple basic models into a 
single identifier.
    In addition, DOE understands that characterizing its proposed 
requirement as a ``certificate of admissibility'' may have created the 
mistaken impression that it was proposing a conformity assessment 
procedure as described in the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement 
administered by the World Trade Organization. DOE wishes to emphasize, 
however, that it is not proposing to mandate any additional testing \1\ 
or to require submission of information unnecessarily redundant of that 
already provided in accordance with those regulations. Instead, DOE 
only seeks in its proposal to collect the minimum information necessary 
to trace the covered import to the certified basic model to which it 
belongs.
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    \1\ Existing DOE regulations require testing to ensure 
compliance with energy conservation standards.
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    Moreover, it is not DOE's intent to delay in any way the 
importation of any covered product or equipment, aside from that for 
which DOE has already, separately, made a final determination that the 
basic model to which the covered import belongs is not compliant with 
applicable energy conservation standards. The importation of such a 
product is already prohibited. In addition, DOE notes that, although 
the information it proposes to collect would allow it to determine 
whether a covered import has been properly certified to DOE in CCMS, 
DOE is not proposing to delay the importation of a covered product 
subject to energy conservation standards solely due to a failure to 
certify the covered import. With this in mind, DOE welcomes comments on 
possible alternatives to the term ``certification of admissibility'' in 
reference to what is, in essence, a limited collection of information 
for purposes of traceability.
    Finally, DOE seeks comments on alternatives to the proposed 
compliance date for the rule of 2 years after the date of publication 
of the final rule in the Federal Register, such as a delayed or phased-
in compliance date.
    DOE will accept comments, data, and information in response to the 
NOPR received no later than June 15, 2016. DOE will consider any 
comments in response to the NOPR received by midnight of June 15, 2016, 
and deems any comments received by that time to be timely submitted. 
Based on the comments received, DOE will determine whether it will need 
to issue a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking or proceed to a 
final rule.

Public Participation

A. Submission of Comments

    Any comments submitted must identify the NOPR for Import Data 
Collection, and provide docket number EERE-2015-BT-CE-0019 and/or 
regulatory information number (RIN) number 1990-AA44. Comments may be 
submitted using any of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected]. Include the docket 
number and/or RIN in the subject line of the message.
    3. Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building 
Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on a 
CD. It is not necessary to include printed copies.
    4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Building Technologies Program, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Suite 
600, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 586-2945. If possible, 
please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary to include printed 
copies.
    Docket: The docket, which includes Federal Register notices, public 
meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other supporting 
documents/materials, is available for review at regulations.gov. All 
documents in the docket are listed in the regulations.gov index. 
However, some documents listed in the index, such as those containing 
information that is exempt from public disclosure, may not be publicly 
available.
    A link to the docket Web page can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2015-BT-CE-0019. This Web 
page will contain a link to the docket for this notice on the 
regulations.gov site. The regulations.gov Web page will contain simple 
instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, 
in the docket.
    For further information on how to submit a comment, review other 
public comments and the docket, or to request a public meeting, contact 
Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945 or by email: 
[email protected].

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2016.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2016-11468 Filed 5-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P