[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 10, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35382-35383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12436]


 ========================================================================
 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. 85, No. 112 / Wednesday, June 10, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 35382]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430 and 431

[EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032]
RIN 1904-AE77


Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Consumer Water 
Heaters and Residential-Duty Commercial Water Heaters

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

ACTION: Request for information; reopening of the public comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: On April 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 
published a request for information (RFI) pertaining to the test 
procedures for consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial 
water heaters. The RFI provided an opportunity for submission of 
written comments, data, and information to the Department by June 1, 
2020. Prior to the end of the comment period for the RFI, DOE received 
requests from the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute 
(AHRI), as well as from the American Public Gas Association (APGA), 
seeking additional time to consider the issues raised in the RFI and 
possibly to conduct further testing, in order to establish the 
applicability and impact of a different test procedure on water heating 
equipment. In light of these request, DOE is announcing its decision to 
reopen the comment period on the subject RFI for an additional 14 days.

DATES: The comment period for the consumer water heaters and 
residential-duty commercial water heaters test procedures RFI, 
published in the Federal Register on April 16, 2020, which closed on 
June 1, 2020, is hereby reopened and extended. Accordingly, DOE will 
accept written comments, data, and information in response to the RFI 
submitted no later than June 24, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested 
persons may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2019-BT-
TP-0032 and/or RIN 1904-AE77, by 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 EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032 and/or RIN 1904-AE77 in the subject line of 
the message.
    3. Postal Mail: Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, Mailstop EE-5B, 
1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, 
please submit all items on a compact disc (CD), in which case it is not 
necessary to include printed copies.
    4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Appliance and Equipment Standards 
Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 950 
L'Enfant Plaza SW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 
287-1445. If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case 
it is not necessary to include printed copies.
    No telefacsimilies (faxes) will be accepted.
    Docket: The docket for this activity, which includes Federal 
Register notices, comments, and other supporting documents/materials, 
is available for review at http://www.regulations.gov. All documents in 
the docket are listed in the http://www.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.
    The docket web page can be found at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032. The docket web page contains 
instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, 
in the docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Catherine Rivest, 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. Telephone: (202) 586-7335. Email: 
[email protected].
    Mr. Eric Stas, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. 
Telephone: (202) 586-5827. Email: [email protected].
    For further information on how to submit a comment, or review other 
public comments and the docket, contact the Appliance and Equipment 
Standards Program staff at (202) 586-6636 or by email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE published a Request for Information 
(RFI) pertaining to the test procedures for consumer water heaters and 
residential-duty commercial water heaters in the Federal Register on 
April 16, 2020. 85 FR 21104. The RFI initiated a data collection 
process and seeks input from the public to assist DOE in considering 
whether to amend the current test procedures for consumer water heaters 
and residential-duty commercial water heaters. Information received in 
response to the request will help DOE determine whether amending the 
test procedures for consumer water heaters and residential-duty 
commercial water heaters would more accurately or fully comply with the 
requirements for test procedures to not be unduly burdensome to conduct 
and be reasonably designed to produce test results that reflect energy 
efficiency, energy use, and estimated operating costs during a 
representative average use cycle or period of use. In that RFI, DOE 
requested submission of written comment, data, and information 
pertaining to the subject test procedures by June 1, 2020.
    On April 24, 2020, AHRI, an interested party in the matter, 
requested a 60-day extension of the public comment period for the RFI 
that DOE previously published in the Federal Register on April 16, 
2020.\1\ More specifically, AHRI requested additional time to consider 
the issues raised in the RFI and possibly to conduct testing, in order 
to establish the applicability and

[[Page 35383]]

impact of a different test procedure on water heating equipment.
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    \1\ Available at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032-0003.
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    On May 1, 2020, APGA, also requested a 60-day extension of the 
public comment period for the RFI that DOE previously published in the 
Federal Register on April 16, 2020, for similar reasons to those 
expressed in the AHRI request.\2\
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    \2\ Available at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032-0004.
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    On May 27, 2020, AHRI reiterated their request for a comment 
extension for the RFI. However, in this request, AHRI stated that an 
additional 30 days would be needed to review test data to assess 
whether certain modifications to the test procedure would result in a 
change in measured efficiency. AHRI added that waivers that have been 
issued by DOE must be addressed in any new test procedures, and must be 
considered by the industry as a whole so as to convey a unified path 
forward.\3\
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    \3\ Available at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EERE-2019-BT-TP-0032-0006.
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    After carefully considering these requests, DOE has determined that 
a reopening of the comment period for an additional 14 days to allow 
additional time for interested parties to submit comments is 
sufficient. Therefore, DOE is reopening the comment period for the 
consumer water heater and residential-duty commercial water heaters 
test procedures RFI and will accept comments received on and before 
June 24, 2020, in order to provide interested parties additional time 
to prepare and submit comments.
    Accordingly, DOE will consider any comments received by this date 
to be timely submitted.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on June 2, 
2020, by Alexander N. Fitzsimmons, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Energy Efficiency, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary 
of Energy. That document with the original signature and date is 
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance 
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-12436 Filed 6-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P