[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9407-9408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03035]


 ========================================================================
 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. 88 , No. 30 / Tuesday, February 14, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 9407]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 431

[EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015]


Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee: 
Notice of Public Meetings of the Commercial Unitary Air Conditioner and 
Commercial Unitary Heat Pump Working Group

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

ACTION: Notice of public meetings and webinars.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) 
announces public meetings and webinars for the Commercial Unitary Air 
Conditioner and Commercial Unitary Heat Pump (CUAC and CUHP) working 
group.

DATES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for meeting dates.

ADDRESSES: The next several rounds of public meetings will be held at 
the U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Please see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice to find the specific room in the 
Forrestal Building for each date. For additional information the public 
meeting, including webinar registration information, participant 
instructions, and information about the capabilities available to 
webinar participants, please see the Public Participation section of 
this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Lucas Aiden, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Building Technologies, EE-5B, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW, 
Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 287-5904. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 7, 2022, the Appliance Standards and 
Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (ASRAC) met and passed the 
recommendation to form a CUAC and CUHP working group to meet and 
discuss and, if possible, reach a consensus on proposed Federal test 
procedures and energy conservation standards for CUACs and CUHPs. On 
August 2, 2022, DOE published a notice of intent to establish a working 
group for CUACs and CUHPs to negotiate recommended test procedures and 
energy conservations standards for CUACs and CUHP equipment. Once the 
working group reaches consensus on recommended test procedures and 
energy conservation standards, these recommendations are made to ASRAC, 
which may then use such consensus as the basis for making a 
recommendation to the Department. The Department, consistent with its 
legal obligations, may use such consensus as the basis of a rulemaking, 
which then is published in the Federal Register.
    The working group for CUACs and CUHPs held public meetings on 
September 20-21, 2022, October 11-12, 2022, November 9-10, 2022, 
November 29-30, 2022, December 7-8, 2022, and December 14-15, 2022. As 
a result of these meetings, the working group successfully reached 
consensus on an amended test procedure for CUAC and CUHP equipment. 
This notice announces public meetings to begin negotiations in an 
attempt to reach consensus on energy conservation standards for CUACs 
and CUHPs.
    DOE will host a public meeting and webinar on the following dates:
     Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 
p.m. at U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 6E-069.
     Thursday, February 23rd, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 
at U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 6E-069.
     Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 
U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 4A-104.
     Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 
U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 4A-104.
     Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 
U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245.
     Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 
U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245.

Public Participation

Attendance at Public Meeting

    The times, dates, and locations of the public meetings are listed 
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. If you plan 
to attend the public meeting, please notify the ASRAC staff at 
[email protected]. In the email, please indicate your name, organization 
(if appropriate), citizenship, and contact information.
    Please note that foreign nationals participating in the public 
meeting or webinar are subject to advance security screening procedures 
which require advance notice prior to attendance at the public meeting. 
If a foreign national wishes to participate in the public meeting or 
webinar, please inform DOE as soon as possible by contacting Ms. Regina 
Washington at (202) 586-1214 or by email: [email protected] 
so that the necessary procedures can be completed.
    Anyone attending the meetings will be required to present a 
government photo identification, such as a passport, driver's license, 
or government identification. Due to the required security screening 
upon entry, individuals attending should arrive early to allow for the 
extra time needed.
    In addition, you can attend the public meeting via webinar. Webinar 
registration information, participant instructions, and information 
about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be 
published on DOE's website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/appliance-standards-and-rulemaking-federal-advisory-committee. 
Participants are responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible 
with the webinar software.

Public Participation and Submission of Written Comments

    Members of the public will be heard in the order in which they sign 
up for the Public Comment Period. Time allotted per speaker will depend 
on the number of individuals who wish to speak but will not exceed five 
minutes. Reasonable provisions will be made to include the scheduled 
oral statements on the agenda. A third-party neutral facilitator will 
make every effort to allow the presentations of views of all interested 
parties and to facilitate the orderly conduct of business.
    Any person who has plans to present a prepared general statement 
may

[[Page 9408]]

request that copies of his or her statement be made available at the 
public meeting. Such persons may submit requests, along with an advance 
electronic copy of their statement in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word 
or Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format, to the appropriate 
address shown in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 
notice. The request and advance copy of statements must be received at 
least one week before the public meeting and may be emailed, hand-
delivered, or sent by postal mail. DOE prefers to receive requests and 
advance copies via email. Please include a telephone number to enable 
DOE staff to make a follow-up contact, if needed.

Conduct of the Public Meetings

    ASRAC's Designated Federal Officer will preside at the public 
meetings and may also use a professional facilitator to aid discussion. 
The meetings will not be judicial or evidentiary-type public hearings, 
but DOE will conduct them in accordance with section 336 of EPCA (42 
U.S.C. 6306). A court reporter will be present to record the 
proceedings and prepare a transcript. A transcript of each public 
meeting will be included on DOE's website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/appliance-standards-and-rulemaking-federal-advisory-committee. In addition, any person may buy a copy of each transcript 
from the transcribing reporter. Public comment and statements will be 
allowed prior to the close of each meeting.

Docket

    The docket is available for review at: www.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015, including Federal Register notices, public 
meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other supporting 
documents/materials. All documents in the docket are listed in the 
https://www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in 
the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt 
from public disclosure.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February 7, 
2023, by Francisco Alejandro Moreno, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 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 February 8, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-03035 Filed 2-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P