[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50907-50909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22003]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Case Number 2018-008, EERE-2017-BT-WAV-0038]


Energy Conservation Program: Extension of Waiver to Panasonic 
Appliances Refrigeration Systems Corporation of America (PAPRSA) From 
the Department of Energy Consumer Refrigerator and Refrigerator-Freezer 
Test Procedures

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

ACTION: Notice of extension of waiver.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') is granting a waiver 
extension (Case Number 2018-008) to Panasonic Appliances Refrigeration 
Systems Corporation of America (``PAPRSA'') to waive the requirements 
of the DOE refrigerator and refrigerator-freezer test procedures for 
determining the energy consumption of combination cooler-refrigerator 
basic model PR5181JKBC. PAPRSA is required to test and rate this basic 
model in accordance with the applicable DOE test procedure, with the 
exception that it must calculate the specified basic model's energy 
consumption using a correction factor (``K-factor'') of 0.85, as 
specified in the Extension of Waiver.

DATES: This Extension of Waiver is effective October 10, 2018. The 
Extension of Waiver will terminate on October 28, 2019, in conjunction 
with the compliance date that applies to the published standards for 
miscellaneous refrigeration products (``MREFs''). See 81 FR 75194 (Oct. 
28, 2016).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lucy deButts, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building 
Technologies Office, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20585-0121. Email: [email protected].
    Mr. Michael Kido, 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) 586-8145. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR 430.27(g)), DOE gives notice of the 
issuance of an Extension of Waiver as set forth below. The Extension of 
Waiver extends the Decision and Order granted to PAPRSA on May 5, 2017 
(82 FR 21209, ``May 2017 Decision and Order'') to include PAPRSA 
combination cooler-refrigerator basic model PR5181JKBC, as requested by 
PAPRSA on June 26, 2018.\1\ PAPRSA must test and rate the specifically 
identified combination cooler-refrigerator basic model in accordance 
with the alternate test procedure described in the May 2017 Decision 
and Order. PAPRSA's representations concerning the energy consumption 
of the specified basic model must be based on testing according to the 
provisions and restrictions in the alternate test procedure set forth 
in the May 2017 Decision and Order, and the representations must fairly 
disclose the test results. Distributors, retailers, and

[[Page 50908]]

private labelers are held to the same requirements when making 
representations regarding the energy consumption of this product. (42 
U.S.C. 6293(c))
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    \1\ PAPRSA's request is available at http://regulations.gov in 
docket ID EERE-2017-BT-WAV-0038.
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    DOE makes decisions on waiver extensions for only those basic 
models specifically set out in the request, not future models that may 
be manufactured by the petitioner. PAPRSA may submit a new or amended 
petition for waiver and request for grant of interim waiver, as 
appropriate, for additional basic models of combination cooler-
refrigerators. Alternatively, if appropriate, PAPRSA may request that 
DOE extend the scope of a waiver to include additional basic models 
employing the same technology as the basic model(s) set forth in the 
original petition consistent with 10 CFR 430.27(g).

    Signed in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2018.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.

Case Number 2018-008--Extension of Waiver

I. Background and Authority

    The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, as amended 
(``EPCA''),\1\ (42 U.S.C. 6291-6317), among other things, authorizes 
DOE to regulate the energy efficiency of a number of consumer products 
and industrial equipment. Title III, Part B \2\ EPCA established the 
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than 
Automobiles, which sets forth a variety of provisions designed to 
improve energy efficiency for certain types of consumer products. These 
products include consumer refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers, the 
focus of this extension. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(1)).
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    \1\ All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute 
as amended through the EPS Improvement Act of 2017, Public Law 115-
115 (January 12, 2018).
    \2\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, 
Part B was redesignated Part A.
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    Under EPCA, DOE's energy conservation program consists essentially 
of four parts: (1) Testing, (2) labeling, (3) Federal energy 
conservation standards, and (4) certification and enforcement 
procedures. Relevant provisions of EPCA include definitions (42 U.S.C. 
6291), energy conservation standards (42 U.S.C. 6295), test procedures 
(42 U.S.C. 6293), labeling provisions (42 U.S.C. 6294), and the 
authority to require information and reports from manufacturers. (42 
U.S.C. 6296).
    The Federal testing requirements consist of test procedures that 
manufacturers of covered products must use as the basis for: (1) 
Certifying to DOE that their products comply with the applicable energy 
conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6295(s)), 
and (2) making representations about the efficiency of these products 
(42 U.S.C. 6293(c)). Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures to 
determine whether the products comply with relevant standards 
promulgated under EPCA. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s)).
    Under 42 U.S.C. 6293, EPCA sets forth the criteria and procedures 
DOE is required to follow when prescribing or amending test procedures 
for covered products. EPCA requires that test procedures prescribed or 
amended under this section must be reasonably designed to produce test 
results which reflect the energy efficiency, energy use or estimated 
annual operating cost of a covered product during a representative 
average use cycle or period of use and requires that test procedures 
not be unduly burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3) The test 
procedure for refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers is contained in 
10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix A, Uniform Test Method for 
Measuring the Energy Consumption of Refrigerators, Refrigerator-
Freezers, and Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products (``appendix A'').
    Under 10 CFR 430.27, any interested person may submit a petition 
for waiver from DOE's test procedure requirements. DOE will grant a 
waiver from the test procedure requirements if DOE determines either 
that the basic model for which the waiver was requested contains a 
design characteristic that prevents testing of the basic model 
according to the prescribed test procedures, or that the prescribed 
test procedures evaluate the basic model in a manner so 
unrepresentative of its true energy or water 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. Id.
    A petitioner may request that DOE extend the scope of a waiver or 
an interim waiver to include additional basic models employing the same 
technology as the basic model(s) set forth in the original petition. 10 
CFR 430.27(g). DOE will publish any such extension in the Federal 
Register. Id.

II. Request for an Extension of Waiver: Assertions and Determinations

    DOE issued a Decision and Order in Case Number RF-043 granting 
PAPRSA a waiver to test its basic models PR6180WBC, KBCS24RSBS, 
SR6180BC, SR5180JBC, and PR5180JKBC using an alternate test procedure. 
82 FR 21209 (May 5, 2017) (``May 2017 Decision and Order''). PAPRSA 
requested that it be permitted to use a modified version of the test 
procedure that would specify a higher standardized temperature for 
testing wine chiller compartments as opposed to the standardized 
compartment temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit ([deg]F) for 
refrigerators, and use of a correction factor of 0.85 when calculating 
energy consumption. PAPRSA stated that it designed these models to 
provide an average temperature of 55 to 57 [deg]F, which it determined 
is a commonly recommended temperature for wine storage, suggesting that 
this temperature is presumed to be representative of expected consumer 
use. 81 FR 4270, 4271 (February 25, 2016).
    Based on its review of the information provided by PAPRSA, DOE 
determined that appendix A addresses the temperature issue identified 
by PAPRSA based on the amendments incorporated from the miscellaneous 
refrigeration products (``MREF'') test procedure final rule. See 81 FR 
46768 (July 18, 2016) (MREF test procedure final rule) and 81 FR 49868 
(July 29, 2016) (MREF test procedure final rule correction notice). As 
specified in the May 5, 2017 Decision and Order, DOE also identified 
the formulas in appendix A that, for purposes of the waiver, should 
incorporate a 0.85 correction factor (the correction factor accounts 
for the thermal load from loading warm items and from door openings). 
82 FR at 21210. On August 4, 2017, in response to a request from 
PAPRSA, DOE issued a Decision and Order (Case Number RF-047) extending 
the waiver to include basic model PR5181WBC. 82 FR 36386.
    On June 26, 2018, PAPRSA submitted a request under 10 CFR 430.27(g) 
to extend the scope of the waiver in Case Number RF-043 to a new basic 
model, PR5181JKBC. PAPRSA stated that the new basic model employs the 
same technology as the basic models set forth in the original petition 
for waiver. Specifically, PAPRSA stated that basic model PR5181JKBC 
employs the same wine compartment--beverage compartment technology and 
design characteristics as the basic models for which the original 
waiver was granted and that the basic model uses a heater that prevents 
the wine-chiller

[[Page 50909]]

compartment temperature from falling below 42 [deg]F.
    DOE has reviewed PAPRSA's waiver extension request in Case Number 
RF-043. Based on this review, DOE has determined that the basic model 
specified in PAPRSA's current waiver extension request incorporates the 
same design characteristics as those basic models covered under the 
waiver in Case Number RF-043 such that the DOE test procedure evaluates 
that basic model in a manner that is unrepresentative of its actual 
energy use. DOE also determined that applying the alternate procedure 
specified in Case Number RF-043 will allow for the accurate measurement 
of the energy use of the consumer refrigerator basic model identified 
by PAPRSA in its waiver extension request.

III. Order

    After careful consideration of all the material submitted by PAPRSA 
in this matter, it is Ordered that:
    (1) PAPRSA must, as of the date of publication of this Extension of 
Waiver in the Federal Register, test and rate the combination cooler-
refrigerator basic model PR5181JKBC as set forth in paragraph (2).
    (2) The alternate test procedure for the basic model listed in 
paragraph (1) is the test procedure in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, 
appendix A, with the exception that PAPRSA must calculate energy 
consumption using a correction factor (``K-factor'') of 0.85, as 
follows.
    The energy consumption is defined by:
    If compartment temperatures are below their respective standardized 
temperatures for both test settings (according to 10 CFR part 430, 
subpart B, appendix A, sec. 6.2.4.1):

E = (ET1 x 0.85) + IET.

    If compartment temperatures are not below their respective 
standardized temperatures for both test settings, the higher of the two 
values calculated by the following two formulas (according to 10 CFR 
part 430, subpart B, appendix A, sec. 6.2.4.2):

    Energy consumption of the ``cooler compartment'':
    ECooler Compartment = (ET1 + [(ET2-ET1) x (55 [deg]F-TW1)/(TW2-
TW1)]) x 0.85 + IET

    Energy consumption of the ``fresh food compartment'':
    EFreshFood Compartment = (ET1 + [(ET2-ET1) x (39 [deg]F-TBC1)/
(TBC2-TBC1)]) x 0.85 + IET.

    (3) Representations. PAPRSA may not make representations about the 
energy consumption of the combination cooler-refrigerator identified in 
paragraph (1) of this section for compliance, marketing, or other 
purposes unless that basic model has been tested in accordance with the 
provisions set forth above and such representations fairly disclose the 
results of such testing.
    (4) This Extension of Waiver shall remain in effect consistent with 
the provisions of 10 CFR 430.27. This Order will terminate on October 
28, 2019, in conjunction with the compliance date that applies to the 
standards published on October 28, 2016 for miscellaneous refrigeration 
products (``MREFs''). See 81 FR 75194 (Oct. 28, 2016). Testing to 
demonstrate compliance with those standards must be performed in 
accordance with the MREF test procedure final rule. See 81 FR 46768 
(July 18, 2016) (MREF test procedure final rule) and 81 FR 49868 (July 
29, 2016) (MREF test procedure final rule correction notice).
    (5) This Extension of Waiver is issued on the condition that the 
statements, representations, and documents provided by PAPRSA are 
valid. If PAPRSA makes any modifications to the controls or 
configurations of these basic models, the waiver will no longer be 
valid and PAPRSA will either be required to use the current Federal 
test method or submit a new application for a test procedure waiver. 
DOE may rescind or modify this Extension of Waiver at any time if it 
determines the factual basis underlying the petition for extension of 
waiver is incorrect, or the results from the alternate test procedure 
are unrepresentative of the basic models' true energy consumption 
characteristics. 10 CFR 430.27(k)(1). Likewise, PAPRSA may request that 
DOE rescind or modify the Extension of Waiver if the petitioner 
discovers an error in the information provided to DOE as part of its 
petition, determines that the Extension of Waiver is no longer needed, 
or for other appropriate reasons. 10 CFR 430.27(k)(2).
    (6) Granting of this Extension of Waiver does not release PAPRSA 
from the certification requirements set forth at 10 CFR part 429.

Signed in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2018.

Kathleen B. Hogan,

    Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 2018-22003 Filed 10-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P