[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50905-50907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22004]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Case Number 2018-005, EERE-2017-BT-WAV-0043]


Energy Conservation Program: Extension of Waiver to Apple Inc. 
From the Department of Energy External Power Supply Test Procedure

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 No. 2018-005) to Apple Inc. (``Apple'') to waive 
certain requirements of the DOE external power supply test procedure 
for determining the energy efficiency of the Apple brand external power 
supply basic model A1882. Under this extension, Apple is required to 
test and rate this basic model in accordance with the applicable DOE 
test procedure, with the exception that the Nameplate Output Current 
shall be 2A when testing at the lowest achievable output voltage.

DATES: The Extension of Waiver is applicable as of October 10, 2018. 
The Extension of Waiver will terminate upon the compliance date of any 
future amendment to the test procedure for external power supplies 
located in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix Z that addresses the 
issues presented in this waiver. At such time, Apple must use the 
relevant test procedure for this product for any testing to demonstrate 
compliance with standards, and any other representations of energy use.

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 Apple on March 16, 
2018 (83 FR 11738; ``March 2018 Decision and Order'') to include Apple 
basic model A1882, as requested by Apple on May 17, 2018.\1\ Apple must 
test and rate the specifically identified external power supply basic 
model in accordance with the alternate test procedure specified in the 
March 2018 Decision and Order. Apple's representations concerning the 
energy efficiency 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 March 2018 Decision and Order, and the 
representations must fairly disclose the test results. Distributors, 
retailers, and private labelers are held to the same requirements when 
making representations regarding the energy

[[Page 50906]]

efficiency of this product. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c)).
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    \1\ Apple's request is available at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2017-BT-WAV-0043.
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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. Apple may submit a new or amended 
petition for waiver and request for grant of interim waiver, as 
appropriate, for additional basic models of EPSs. Alternatively, if 
appropriate, Apple 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 2018-005

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\ of 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 external power supplies (``EPSs''), the focus of this 
extension. (42 U.S.C. 6291(36); 42 U.S.C. 6295(u)).
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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 as 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 those products 
(42 U.S.C. 6293(c)). Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures to 
determine whether the product complies 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 external power supplies is contained in 10 CFR part 430, 
subpart B, appendix Z, Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy 
Consumption of External Power Supplies (``appendix Z'').
    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 EPS-001 (March 2018 
Decision and Order), granting Apple a waiver to test its Apple brand 
basic models A1718, A1719, and A1540 using an alternate test procedure. 
83 FR 11738 (March 16, 2018). In its petition for waiver, Apple had 
stated that the specified basic models meet the provisions of the 
International Electrotechincal Commission's ``Universal serial bus 
interfaces for data and power--Part 1-2: Common components--USB Power 
Delivery'' (``IEC 62680-1-2:2017'') specification. The IEC 
specification describes the particular architecture, protocols, power 
supply behavior, connectors, and cabling necessary for managing power 
delivery over a universal serial bus (``USB'') connection at power 
levels of up to 100 watts (``W''). The purpose behind this 
specification is to help provide a standardized approach for power 
supply and peripheral developers to ensure backward compatibility while 
retaining product design and marketing flexibility. See generally, IEC 
62680-1-2:2017 (Abstract) (describing the standard's general provisions 
and purpose).
    In Apple's view, applying the DOE test procedure to the adaptive 
EPS basic models identified in its petitions would yield results that 
would be unrepresentative of the active-mode efficiency of those 
products. The DOE test procedure requires that the average active-mode 
efficiency for adaptive EPSs \3\ be measured by testing the unit 
twice--once at the highest achievable output voltage (``V'') and once 
at the lowest. The test procedure requires that active-mode efficiency 
be measured at four loading conditions relative to the nameplate output 
current of the EPS. See generally 10 CFR 430.23(bb) and Appendix Z. The 
lowest achievable output voltage supported by the IEC 62680-1-2:2017 
specification is 5V and the nameplate current at this voltage output is 
3 amps (``A''), resulting in a power output of 15W. Apple contended 
that while the IEC 62680-1-2:2017 specification requires the tested EPS 
to support this power output, the 15W at 5V condition will be rarely 
used and only for brief periods of time. Accordingly, Apple asserted 
that the DOE test procedure's measurement of efficiency at this power 
level is unrepresentative of the true energy consumption of the EPSs 
subject to the initial waiver request.
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    \3\ An adaptive EPS is an EPS that can alter its output voltage 
during active-mode based on an established digital communication 
protocol with the end-use application without user-generated action. 
10 CFR 430.2.
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    Based on the information provided by Apple, DOE determined that the 
current test procedure at Appendix Z would evaluate the adaptive EPS 
basic models specified in the March 2018 Decision and Order in a manner 
so unrepresentative of their true energy consumption characteristics as 
to

[[Page 50907]]

provide materially inaccurate comparative data. 83 FR 11739. The March 
2018 Decision and Order specifies that Apple test and rate the subject 
basic models such that the 100% nameplate loading condition when 
testing at the lowest achievable output voltage is 2A (which 
corresponds to an output power of 10 watts). 83 FR 11740. The 75%, 50%, 
and 25% loading conditions shall be scaled accordingly and the 
nameplate output power of such an EPS, at the lowest output voltage, 
shall be equal to 10 watts. Id.
    On May 17, 2018, Apple requested to extend the scope of the waiver 
it received in Case Number 2018-001, to the Apple brand basic model 
A1882. Apple stated that this basic model employs the same technology 
as the models covered by the existing waiver.
    DOE has reviewed Apple's waiver extension request and determined 
that the adaptive EPS basic model identified in Apple's request 
incorporates the same design characteristics as those basic models 
covered under Apple's existing waiver such that the test procedure 
evaluates that basic model in a manner that is unrepresentative of its 
use when charging a product that is sold or intended to be used with 
the EPS. DOE also determined that the alternate procedure specified in 
Case Number EPS-001 will allow for the accurate measurement of the 
energy use of the basic model identified by Apple in its waiver 
extension request.

III. Order

    After careful consideration of all the material submitted by Apple 
in this matter, it is Ordered that:
    (1) Apple must test and rate the EPS of Apple brand basic model 
A1882, as of the date of publication of this Extension of Waiver in the 
Federal Register, as set forth in paragraph (2).
    (2) The alternate test procedure for the basic model listed in 
paragraph (1) of this section is the test procedure for EPSs prescribed 
by DOE at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix Z, except that under 
section 4(a)(i)(E) and Table 1 of Appendix Z, the adaptive EPSs must be 
tested such that when testing at the lowest achievable output voltage 
(i.e., 5V), the Nameplate Output Current shall be 2A (which corresponds 
to an output power of 10W at the 100% loading condition). The 75%, 50%, 
and 25% loading conditions shall be scaled accordingly and the 
nameplate output power of such an EPS, at the lowest output voltage, 
shall be equal to 10W.
    (3) Representations. Apple may not make representations about the 
energy efficiency of the adaptive external power supply basic model 
identified in paragraph (1) for compliance, marketing, or other 
purposes unless the 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.
    (5) This Extension of Waiver is issued on the condition that the 
statements, representations, and documents provided by Apple are valid. 
If Apple makes any modifications to the controls or configurations of 
this basic model, the waiver will no longer be valid and Apple 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 model's true energy consumption characteristics. 10 CFR 
430.27(k)(1). Likewise, Apple 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 does not release Apple 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. 2018-22004 Filed 10-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P