10 CFR Part 431 - ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) make a determination on the impact, if any, on the lessening of competition likely to result from a U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed rule for energy conservation standards and that DOE publish the determination in the Federal Register . DOE published its final rule for energy conservation standards for commercial clothes washers on December 15, 2014, and is publishing the determination that DOJ made on the proposed rule.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial clothes washers (CCWs). EPCA also requires that any new or amended energy conservation standard must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is adopting more stringent energy conservation standards for CCWs because DOE has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for CCWs would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

On February 11, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to amend the test procedures for commercial clothes washers (CCWs). That proposed rulemaking serves as the basis for today's action. DOE is issuing a final rule making a technical correction to the certification reporting requirements for CCWs established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), adopting a new test procedure to be used to determine compliance with any revised energy conservation standards for CCWs, and clarifying the dates for which the current and new test procedures must be used to determine compliance with existing energy conservation standards and any future revised energy conservation standards for CCWs.

The Department of Energy (DOE) received a petition from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), requesting that DOE reconsider its June 3, 2014 final rule setting energy conservation standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. AHRI sought reconsideration of the final rule based on its view that errors purportedly committed by DOE led to the adoption of standards that were neither technologically feasible nor economically justified. DOE is denying the petition.

On November 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to amend its test procedures established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act for residential water heaters and certain commercial water heaters, which serves as the basis for today's action. This rulemaking fulfills DOE's statutory obligation for residential and certain commercial water heaters to review its test procedure for covered products and equipment at least once every seven years. In addition, this rulemaking satisfies DOE's statutory obligation to develop a uniform efficiency descriptor for residential and commercial water heaters. The test method applies the same efficiency descriptor to all residential and certain commercial water heaters, and extends coverage to eliminate certain gaps in the current residential test procedure, updates the simulated-use-test draw pattern, and updates the outlet water temperature requirement.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for some classes of walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer components and has determined that these standards are technologically feasible and economically justified and would result in the significant conservation of energy.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial and industrial electric motors. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE establishes energy conservation standards for a number of different groups of electric motors that DOE has not previously regulated. For those groups of electric motors currently regulated, today's rulemaking would maintain the current energy conservation standards for some electric motor types and amend the energy conservation standards for other electric motor types. DOE has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for this equipment would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is revising its regulations related to the use of methods for certifying compliance and reporting ratings in accordance with energy conservation standards as they apply to walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. These revisions also include a number of clarifications to the relevant test procedure that will serve as the basis for any applicable alternative efficiency determination method that may be used to rate certain walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer components.

In this final rule, DOE amends portions of its regulations governing petitions for waiver and interim waiver from DOE test procedures to restore, with minor amendments, text inadvertently omitted in the March 7, 2011 certification, compliance, and enforcement final rule. Additionally, the rule adopts a process by which other manufacturers of a product employing a specific technology or characteristic, for which DOE has granted a waiver to another manufacturer for a product employing that particular technology, would be required to petition for a waiver. The rule also sets forth a process for manufacturers to request rescission or modification of a waiver if they determine that the waiver is no longer needed, or for other appropriate reasons; adopts other minor modifications to the waiver provisions for both consumer products and industrial equipment; and clarifies certain aspects related to the submission and processing of a waiver petition.

In this final rule, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revises and reorganizes its test procedure for commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE) to clarify certain terms, procedures, and compliance dates to improve the repeatability and remove ambiguity from the CRE test procedure. In this final rule, DOE also addresses a number of test procedure clarifications that arose as a result of the negotiated rulemaking process for certification of commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and water heating equipment.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for some classes of commercial refrigeration equipment. It has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including metal halide lamp fixtures (MHLFs). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for MHLFs. It has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for this equipment would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including automatic commercial icemakers (ACIM). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for some classes of automatic commercial ice makers as well as establishing energy conservation standards for other classes of automatic commercial ice makers. It has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) make a determination on the impact, if any, on the lessening of competition likely to result from a U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed rule for energy conservation standards and that DOE publish the determination in the Federal Register . DOE published its final rule for energy conservation standards for commercial clothes washers on December 15, 2014, and is publishing the determination that DOJ made on the proposed rule.

On December 10, 2014, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a notice of data availability (NODA) which presented a provisional analysis that estimates the potential economic impacts and energy savings that could result from promulgating a regulatory energy conservation standard for commercial and industrial fans and blowers. DOE did not propose any energy conservation standard for commercial and industrial fans and blowers. However, DOE published its analysis and the underlying assumptions and calculations, which may ultimately support a proposed standard, for stakeholder review. In response to requests by stakeholders, the comment period for the NODA is being extended to February 25, 2015.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including several classes of commercial heating, air-conditioning, and water-heating equipment. EPCA also requires that each time the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1 is amended with respect to the standard levels or design requirements applicable to that equipment, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) must adopt amended uniform national standards for this equipment equivalent to those in ASHRAE Standard 90.1, unless DOE determines that there is clear and convincing evidence showing that more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant additional amount of energy. ASHRAE most recently amended Standard 90.1 on October 9, 2013. Based upon its analysis of the energy savings potential of amended energy conservation standards and the lack of clear and convincing evidence to support more-stringent standards, DOE is proposing to adopt the amended standards in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for: Small three-phase commercial air-cooled air conditioners (single package only) and heat pumps (single package and split system) less than 65,000 Btu/h; water-source heat pumps; and commercial oil-fired storage water heaters. DOE is also making a proposed determination that the standards for small three-phase commercial air-cooled air conditioners (split system) do not need to be amended. Finally, DOE is proposing updates to the current Federal test procedures to incorporate by reference the most current version of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z21.47, Gas-fired central furnaces, specified in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 applicable to commercial warm-air furnaces, and to the most current version of ASHRAE 103, Method of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of Residential Central Furnaces and Boilers. This document also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results, as well as the proposed test procedure provisions.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including single package vertical air conditioners and single package vertical heat pumps. EPCA also requires that each time the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1 is amended with respect to the standard levels or design requirements applicable to that equipment, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) must adopt amended uniform national standards for this equipment equivalent to those in ASHRAE Standard 90.1, unless DOE determines that there is clear and convincing evidence showing that more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant additional amount of energy. DOE has tentatively concluded that there is sufficient record evidence to support more-stringent standards for two classes of this equipment. However, for four equipment classes, DOE is proposing to adopt the revised ASHRAE levels, due to the absence of any models on the market in two classes, and absence of any models above the revised ASHRAE level in the remaining two classes. Accordingly, DOE is proposing amended energy conservation standards for all classes of single package vertical air conditioners and single package vertical heat pumps. DOE also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial clothes washers (CCWs). EPCA also requires that any new or amended energy conservation standard must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is adopting more stringent energy conservation standards for CCWs because DOE has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for CCWs would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has completed a provisional analysis that estimates the potential economic impacts and energy savings that could result from promulgating a regulatory energy conservation standard for commercial and industrial fans and blowers. At this time, DOE is not proposing an energy conservation standard for commercial and industrial fans and blowers. DOE is publishing this analysis and the underlining assumptions and calculations, which may be used to ultimately support a proposed energy conservation standard, for stakeholder review. DOE encourages stakeholders to provide any additional data or information that may improve the analysis.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering establishing energy conservation standards for commercial and industrial compressors. To date, DOE has considered energy conservation standards only for compressors intended to compress air, rather than natural gas. As a result, DOE's current efforts have focused on air compressors. However, DOE is also aware that compressors used to compress natural gas may also use a substantial amount of energy. To improve its understanding of both the technology and market of natural gas compressors, DOE will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive further comments and supporting data about the characteristics and energy use of this equipment as described in the request for information (RFI) published by DOE on August 5, 2014 (79 FR 45377). DOE may also opt to publish supplementary information prior to the meeting for stakeholder review. If so, DOE would announce the arrival of that information by publishing a notice of data availability in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments about the preliminary analysis it has conducted for purposes of considering amended energy conservation standards for commercial packaged boilers. The meeting will cover four topics: The analytical framework, models, and tools that DOE is using to evaluate potential standards for this equipment; the results of preliminary analyses performed by DOE for this equipment; potential energy conservation standard levels derived from these analyses that DOE could consider for this equipment; and any other issues relevant to the development of amended energy conservation standards for commercial packaged boilers. In addition, DOE encourages written comments about these subjects.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including small, large, and very large air-cooled commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this document, DOE proposes to amend the energy conservation standards for small, large, and very large air-cooled commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment. This document also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs) and packaged terminal heat pumps (PTHPs). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this document, DOE proposes amended energy conservation standards for PTACs and PTHPs. The document also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including automatic commercial ice makers. EPCA also requires DOE to determine whether more stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. DOE proposed amended energy conservation standards for automatic commercial ice makers in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) published on March 17, 2014. DOE has since updated its proposed rulemaking analysis estimating the potential economic impacts and energy savings that could result from promulgating an amended energy conservation standard for automatic commercial ice makers. This notice announces the availability of this analysis to give stakeholders an opportunity to review the revised proposed rulemaking analysis and its results, and to give stakeholders an opportunity to comment.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to amend its test procedure for refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines (BVM) in order to update the referenced method of test to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 32.1-2010, eliminate the requirement to test at the 90 °F ambient test condition, create a provision for testing at the lowest application product temperature, and incorporate provisions to account for the impact of low power modes on measured daily energy consumption (DEC). This notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) also proposes several amendments and clarifications to the DOE test procedure to improve the repeatability and remove ambiguity from the current BVM test procedure. DOE will hold a public meeting to receive and discuss comments on this NOPR.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments on the preliminary analysis it has conducted for purposes of considering amended energy conservation standards for refrigerated beverage vending machines. The meeting will cover the analytical framework, models, and tools that DOE is using to evaluate potential amended and new standards for this equipment; the results of preliminary analyses performed by DOE for this equipment; the potential energy conservation standard levels derived from these analyses that DOE could consider for this equipment; and any other issues relevant to the development of amended energy conservation standards for refrigerated beverage vending machines. In addition, DOE encourages written comments on these subjects. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has prepared an agenda, a preliminary technical support document (TSD), and briefing materials, which are available on the DOE Web site at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/73.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering establishing energy conservation standards for commercial and industrial compressors. To date, DOE has proposed to consider energy conservation standards only for compressors intended to compress air, rather than gas. As a result, DOE's current efforts have focused solely on air compressors. However, DOE is also aware that compressors used to compress natural gas may also use a substantial amount of energy. To improve its understanding of natural gas compressors and their related markets, DOE requests information, comment, and supporting data about the characteristics and energy use of this equipment.

On November 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to amend its test procedures established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act for residential water heaters and certain commercial water heaters, which serves as the basis for today's action. This rulemaking fulfills DOE's statutory obligation for residential and certain commercial water heaters to review its test procedure for covered products and equipment at least once every seven years. In addition, this rulemaking satisfies DOE's statutory obligation to develop a uniform efficiency descriptor for residential and commercial water heaters. The test method applies the same efficiency descriptor to all residential and certain commercial water heaters, and extends coverage to eliminate certain gaps in the current residential test procedure, updates the simulated-use-test draw pattern, and updates the outlet water temperature requirement.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting to discuss the energy model used in the engineering analysis supporting its energy conservation standard rulemaking for automatic commercial ice makers. During the meeting, DOE will provide detailed description of the Energy Model and demonstrate its use.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for some classes of walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer components and has determined that these standards are technologically feasible and economically justified and would result in the significant conservation of energy.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial and industrial electric motors. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE establishes energy conservation standards for a number of different groups of electric motors that DOE has not previously regulated. For those groups of electric motors currently regulated, today's rulemaking would maintain the current energy conservation standards for some electric motor types and amend the energy conservation standards for other electric motor types. DOE has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for this equipment would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

On December 15, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to establish test procedures (TP) for high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps (herein referred to as the December 2011 TP NOPR). In this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR), DOE updates the industry standards proposed to be incorporated by reference in the December 2011 TP NOPR and proposes to revise or eliminate certain definitions relevant to HID lamps. DOE also provides clarification and additional background information on ambient temperature conditions, and revises proposed ambient air speed requirements. DOE revises its proposed sampling plan as well. In addition, DOE removes the directional lamp requirements and proposed lumen maintenance test method included in the December 2011 TP NOPR. The other provisions of the December 2011 TP NOPR are unaffected by this SNOPR.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has preliminarily determined that the 2013 edition of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 1 Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings would improve energy efficiency in buildings subject to the code compared to the 2010 edition of Standard 90.1. DOE has preliminarily determined that buildings built to Standard 90.1-2013, as compared with buildings built to Standard 90.1-2010, would result in national source energy savings of approximately 8.5 percent and site energy savings of approximately 7.6 percent of commercial building energy consumption. If this determination is finalized, States would be required to certify that they have reviewed the provisions of their commercial building code regarding energy efficiency, and, as necessary, updated their codes to meet or exceed Standard 90.1-2013. Additionally, this notice provides guidance to States on certifications and requests for extensions of deadlines for certification statements. 1 American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society (IES).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is revising its regulations related to the use of methods for certifying compliance and reporting ratings in accordance with energy conservation standards as they apply to walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. These revisions also include a number of clarifications to the relevant test procedure that will serve as the basis for any applicable alternative efficiency determination method that may be used to rate certain walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer components.

In this final rule, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revises and reorganizes its test procedure for commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE) to clarify certain terms, procedures, and compliance dates to improve the repeatability and remove ambiguity from the CRE test procedure. In this final rule, DOE also addresses a number of test procedure clarifications that arose as a result of the negotiated rulemaking process for certification of commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and water heating equipment.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to establish energy conservation standards for certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial heating, air-conditioning, and water-heating equipment. Of particular relevance here, the statute also requires that each time the corresponding consensus standard—the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Standard 90.1—is amended by the industry, DOE must assess whether there is a need to update the uniform national energy conservation standards for the same equipment covered under EPCA. ASHRAE officially released an amended version of this industry standard (ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2013), on October 9, 2013, thereby triggering DOE's related obligations under EPCA. As a first step in meeting this statutory requirement, today's notice of data availability (NODA) discusses the results of DOE's analysis of the energy savings potential of amended energy conservation standards for certain types of commercial equipment covered by ASHRAE Standard 90.1. The energy savings potentials are based upon either the efficiency levels specified in the amended industry standard ( i.e., ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2013) or more-stringent levels that would result in significant additional conservation of energy and are technologically feasible and economically justified. DOE is publishing this NODA to: announce the results and preliminary conclusions of DOE's analysis of potential energy savings associated with amended standards for this equipment, and request public comment on this analysis, as well as the submission of data and other relevant information.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is reopening of the comment period for interested parties to submit comments on the February 20, 2014 supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking for walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer alternative efficiency determination methods and test procedures. The comment period is extended to April 25, 2014.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated a rulemaking and data collection process to consider amendments to DOE's test procedures for commercial packaged boilers, starting with an RFI published in the Federal Register on February 20, 2014. As part of that process, DOE is considering the potential for adoption of part-load efficiency measurement as part of this test procedure rulemaking and welcomes comment on a variety of related issues. Due to technical difficulties with the email address for the RFI, this document announces a new email address to submit comments, data, and information, and reopens the comment period through April 16, 2014.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for some classes of commercial refrigeration equipment. It has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

This document announces a new date for the March 3, 2014, public meeting that was postponed due to inclement weather, and an extension of the time period for submitting comments concerning the February 5, 2014, Framework Document about whether to establish energy conservation standards for commercial and industrial air compressors. The public meeting has been rescheduled for April 1, 2014. The comment period is extended to April 22, 2014.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including automatic commercial ice makers (ACIM). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this notice, DOE proposes amended energy conservation standards for automatic commercial ice makers. The notice of proposed rulemaking also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to revise its test procedures established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) for packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs) and packaged terminal heat pumps (PTHPs). The proposed amendments would specify an optional break-in period, explicitly require that wall sleeves be sealed, allow for the pre-filling of the condensate drain pan, require that ASHRAE Standard 16 be the sole method of test when measuring the cooling capacity for PTACs and PTHPs under ANSI/AHRI Standard 310/380-2004, and require testing with 14-inch deep wall sleeves and the filter option most representative of a typical installation. These updates fulfill DOE's obligation under EPCA to review its test procedures for covered equipment at least once every 7 years and either amend the applicable test procedures or publish a determination in the Federal Register not to amend them. DOE will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments on the issues presented in this notice.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including commercial clothes washers. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this notice, DOE proposes to amend the energy conservation standards for commercial clothes washers. The notice also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

This document announces an extension of the time period for submitting comments on the request for information document regarding whether to amend the current energy conservation standards for residential conventional cooking products. The comment period is extended to April 14, 2014.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating a rulemaking and data collection process to consider amendments to the DOE test procedures for commercial water heaters, unfired hot water storage tanks, and hot water supply boilers (henceforth, “commercial water heating equipment”). To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has identified several issues associated with the current Federal test procedures on which DOE is particularly interested in receiving comment. In overview, the issues outlined in this document mainly concern updating the industry test standards that are currently incorporated by reference to the most recent versions, potential alternative methods for determining the efficiency of unfired storage tanks, potential changes to the method for setting the thermostat, potential clarifications in the thermal efficiency test method, and the potential inclusion of a test method for commercial heat pump water heaters (HPWH). DOE anticipates that these issues (as well as any others which are identified during the course of this rulemaking) may lead to proposed test procedure amendments in a subsequent notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR). DOE welcomes written comments and data from the public on all aspects of this test procedure, including topics not raised in this RFI.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating an effort to determine whether to amend the current energy conservation standards for residential conventional cooking products. According to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act's 6-year review requirement, DOE must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to propose new standards for conventional electric cooking products or amended standards for conventional gas cooking products or a notice of determination that the existing standards do not need to be amended by February 26, 2015. This RFI seeks to solicit information from the public to help DOE determine whether new or amended standards for residential conventional cooking products would result in a significant amount of additional energy savings and whether those standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to revise its test procedures and certification reporting requirements for commercial clothes washers established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The proposed amendments provide numerical equations for translating modified energy factor and water factor values as measured using DOE's new clothes washer test procedure into their equivalent values as measured using the current test procedure. The proposed amendments also clarify the dates for which the current and new test procedures can be used to determine compliance with existing energy conservation standards and any future revised energy conservation standards for commercial clothes washers.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including metal halide lamp fixtures (MHLFs). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this final rule, DOE is adopting more-stringent energy conservation standards for MHLFs. It has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for this equipment would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering establishing energy conservation standards for commercial and industrial air compressors. As part of this effort, DOE is soliciting comment and data from the public on a variety of issues related to the setting of standards for this equipment. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has prepared a Framework Document that details the analytical approach and scope of coverage DOE is considering for this effort. The Framework Document describes the analytical approach that DOE plans to use and identifies a number of issues on which DOE seeks comment. DOE will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments on its planned analytical approach and the issues it plans to address. DOE seeks written comments and relevant data from the public on any subject within the scope of this rulemaking effort. A copy of the Framework Document is available at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/58.

This notice announces open public meetings for the Commercial/Industrial Pumps Working Group negotiated rulemaking under the Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (ASRAC) in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act (NRA) to negotiate proposed Federal standards for the energy efficiency of commercial/industrial pumps. The purpose of the meetings will be to discuss and, if possible, reach consensus on a proposed rule for the energy efficiency of commercial/industrial pumps, as authorized by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975, as amended. The working group consists of representatives of parties having a defined stake in the outcome of the proposed standards, and will consult as appropriate with a range of experts on technical issues.