[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34513-34515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15579]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
[EERE-2017-BT-DET-0046]
Preliminary Analysis Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2016: Energy Standard for Buildings,
Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing the
availability of a Preliminary Energy Savings Analysis of ANSI/ASHRAE/
IES Standard 90.1-2016 (Preliminary Analysis). DOE welcomes written
comments from interested parties on any subject within the scope of
this Preliminary Analysis.
DATES: DOE will accept written comments and information on the
Preliminary Analysis no later than September 8, 2017.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the Preliminary Analysis is available at https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/preliminary-energy-savings-analysis-ansiashraeies-standard-901-2016.
Any comments submitted must provide docket number EERE-2017-BT-DET-
0046. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected]. Include the
docket number in the subject line of the message.
3. Postal Mail: Building Energy Codes Program, U.S. Department of
Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue
SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on
a CD, in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies.
4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Building Energy Codes Program, U.S.
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 950 L'Enfant Plaza
SW., Suite 600,
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Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 586-1927.
If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case it is
not necessary to include printed copies. For detailed instructions on
submitting comments, see section II of this document (Public
Participation).
Docket: The docket, which includes Federal Register notices,
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 on the Regulations.gov site can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2017-BT-DET-0046. The
regulations.gov Web page will contain simple instructions on how to
access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. See
section II for further information on how to submit comments through
Regulations.gov. For further information on how to submit a comment,
review other public comments and the docket, or participate in the
public meeting, contact David Cohan at 503-477-0851 or
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeremiah Williams; U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue SW., EE-5B, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 441-1288;
[email protected].
For legal issues, please contact Kavita Vaidyanathan; U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 1000 Independence
Avenue SW., GC-33, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-0669;
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Public Participation
I. Background
Title III of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended
(ECPA), establishes requirements for building energy conservation
standards, administered by the DOE Building Energy Codes Program. (42
U.S.C. 6831 et seq.) Section 304(b), as amended, of ECPA provides that
whenever the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1989 (Standard 90.1-1989
or 1989 edition), or any successor to that code, is revised, the
Secretary of Energy (Secretary) must make a determination, not later
than 12 months after such revision, whether the revised code would
improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings, and must publish
notice of such determination in the Federal Register. (42 U.S.C.
6833(b)(2)(A))
Standard 90.1-2016, the most recent edition, was published in
October 2016, triggering the statutorily-required DOE review process.
The Standard is developed under ANSI-approved consensus procedures, and
is under continuous maintenance by an ASHRAE Standing Standard Project
Committee (commonly referenced as SSPC 90.1). ASHRAE has an established
program for regular publication of addenda, or revisions, including
procedures for timely, documented, consensus action on requested
changes to the Standard. More information on the consensus process and
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2016 is available at: https://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/bookstore/standard-90-1.
To meet the statutory requirement, DOE conducted a preliminary
analysis to quantify the expected energy savings associated with
Standard 90.1-2016 relative to the previous 2013 version. A copy of the
Preliminary Analysis is available at https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/preliminary-energy-savings-analysis-ansiashraeies-standard-901-2016. DOE welcomes written comments from interested parties on any
subject within the scope of this Preliminary Analysis.
II. Public Participation
DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding the
Preliminary Analysis no later than the date provided in the DATES
section at the beginning of this notice. Interested parties may submit
comments, data, and other information using any of the methods
described in the ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this notice.
Submitting Comments via the Regulations.gov Web Site
The Regulations.gov Web page will require you to provide your name
and contact information. Your contact information will be viewable to
DOE Building Technologies Office staff only. Your contact information
will not be publicly viewable, except for your first and last names,
organization name (if any), and submitter representative name (if any).
If your comment is not processed properly because of technical
difficulties, DOE will use this information to contact you. If DOE
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot
contact you for clarification, DOE may not be able to consider your
comment.
However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you
include it in the comment itself or in any documents attached to your
comment. Any information that you do not want to be publicly viewable
should not be included in your comment, nor in any document attached to
your comment. Do not submit to Regulations.gov information for which
disclosure is restricted by statute, such as trade secrets and
commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as
Confidential Business Information (CBI)). Comments submitted through
Regulations.gov cannot be claimed as CBI. Comments received through the
Web site will waive any CBI claims for the information submitted. For
information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential Business
Information section below.
DOE processes submissions made through Regulations.gov before
posting. Normally, comments will be posted within a few days of being
submitted. However, if large volumes of comments are being processed
simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to several
weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that Regulations.gov
provides after you have successfully uploaded your comment.
Submitting Comments via Email, Hand Delivery/Courier, or Mail
Comments and documents submitted via email, hand delivery, or mail
also will be posted to Regulations.gov. If you do not want your
personal contact information to be publicly viewable, do not include it
in your comment or any accompanying documents. Instead, provide your
contact information in a cover letter, including your first and last
names, email address, telephone number, and optional mailing address.
The cover letter will not be publicly viewable as long as it does not
include any comments.
Include contact information each time you submit comments, data,
documents, and other information to DOE. If you submit via mail or hand
delivery/courier, please provide all items on a CD, if feasible. It is
not necessary to submit printed copies. No facsimiles (faxes) will be
accepted.
Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE
electronically should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or
Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that
are not secured, that are written in English, and that are free of any
defects or viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or
any form of encryption and, if possible, they should carry the
electronic signature of the author.
[[Page 34515]]
Campaign Form Letters
Please submit campaign form letters by the originating organization
in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters per PDF or as one form
letter with a list of supporters' names compiled into one or more PDFs.
This reduces comment processing and posting time.
Confidential Business Information
According to 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 via email, postal mail, or hand delivery/
courier two well-marked copies: one copy of the document marked
confidential including all the information believed to be confidential,
and one copy of the document marked non-confidential with the
information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these documents
via email or on a CD, if feasible. 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.
It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public
docket, without change and as received, including any personal
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be
exempt from public disclosure).
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2017.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2017-15579 Filed 7-24-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P