[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]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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