Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces, 52861-52863 [2022-18589]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 30, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52861-52863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18589]


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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. 87, No. 167 / Tuesday, August 30, 2022 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 52861]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

[EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031]
RIN 1904-AD20


Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for 
Consumer Furnaces

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

ACTION: Notification of data availability (NODA), public meeting, and 
extension of the comment period.

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SUMMARY: On July 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or 
``the Department'') published in the Federal Register a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') for amending the energy conservation 
standards for certain consumer furnaces, specifically non-weatherized 
gas furnaces (``NWGF'') and mobile home gas furnaces (``MHGF''). In 
response to requests by several interested parties, the U.S. Department 
of Energy (``DOE'') is making available a revised version of the life-
cycle-cost (``LCC'') spreadsheet supporting that NOPR and also 
announcing a public meeting webinar to assist stakeholders with 
operation of the LCC spreasheet. In addition, DOE received four 
requests to extend the public comment period for the NOPR (originally 
set to close September 6, 2022), and after considering those requests, 
the Department has decided to extend the public comment period until 
October 6, 2022.

DATES: 
    Comments: The comment period for the NOPR published in the Federal 
Register on July 7, 2022 (87 FR 40590) is extended until October 6, 
2022. Written comments, data, and information are requested and will be 
accepted on and before October 6, 2022. See section II, ``Public 
Participation,'' of this document for details.
    Meeting: DOE will hold a webinar on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 
from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the life-cycle cost model for the 
consumer furnaces rulemaking. See section II, ``Public Participation,'' 
for webinar registration information, participant instructions, and 
information about the capabilities available to webinar participants.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested persons 
may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031 
and/or regulatory information number (``RIN'') 1904-AD20, by any of the 
following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    (2) Email: [email protected]. Include the docket 
number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031 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. Telephone: 
(202) 287-1445. 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. For detailed 
instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the 
rulemaking process, see section II of this document (Public 
Participation).
    Docket: The docket for this activity, which includes Federal 
Register notices, comments, and other supporting documents/materials, 
is available for review at www.regulations.gov. All documents in the 
docket are listed in the 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.
    The docket web page can be found at www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031. The docket web page contains 
instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, 
in the docket. See section II (Public Participation) for information on 
how to submit comments through www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Ms. Julia Hegarty, 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: 
(240) 597-6737. 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, review other 
public comments and the docket, or participate in the public meeting 
webinar, contact the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at 
(202) 287-1445 or by email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background and Summary
II. Public Participation
    A. Attendance at the Public Meeting
    B. Conduct of the Public Meeting
    C. Submission of Comments
III. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

I. Background and Summary

    On July 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published 
in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') for 
amending the energy conservation standards for certain consumer 
furnaces, specifically non-weatherized gas furnaces (``NWGF'') and 
mobile home gas furnaces (``MHGF'') (``July 2022 NOPR''). 87 FR 40590. 
As part of that rulemaking proceeding, DOE also made available a life-
cycle-cost (``LCC'') and payback period (``PBP'') analysis

[[Page 52862]]

spreadsheet,\1\ and a Technical Support Document (``TSD'') \2\ in the 
rulemaking docket. The TSD describes the various analyses, including 
the LCC analysis, performed in support of the NOPR.
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    \1\ Available at: www.regulations.gov/document/EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031-0324 (Last accessed August 12, 2022).
    \2\ Available at: www.regulations.gov/document/EERE-2014-BT-STD-0031-0320 (Last accessed August 12, 2022).
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    The computer model DOE uses to calculate the LCC and PBP relies on 
Monte Carlo simulations to incorporate uncertainty and variability into 
the analysis. The Monte Carlo simulations randomly sample input values 
from probability distributions and NGWF and MHGF user samples. For this 
rulemaking, the Monte Carlo approach is implemented in MS Excel 
together with the Crystal Ball\TM\ add-on.\3\ The model calculated the 
LCC and PBP for products at each efficiency level for 10,000 furnace 
installations per simulation run. The analytical results include a 
distribution of 10,000 data points showing the range of LCC savings for 
a given efficiency level relative to the no-new-standards case 
efficiency distribution.
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    \3\ Crystal Ball\TM\ is a commercially-available software tool 
to facilitate the creation of these types of models by generating 
probability distributions and summarizing results within Excel 
(Available at: www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/crystalball/overview/) (Last accessed August 12, 2022).
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    In the version of the LCC spreadsheet that DOE published in July 
accompanying the NOPR, the specific sequence of random numbers utilized 
by the Monte Carlo simulation was inadvertently changed from the 
version of the analysis presented in the NOPR and the TSD. As a result, 
the published LCC spreadsheet produces similar results to the NOPR and 
TSD that support the same policy outcome, but the currently published 
version of the LCC spreadsheet will not provide exactly the same 
results as the NOPR or technical support document tables. This is 
expected behavior for a Monte Carlo simulation relying on random number 
generation if the sequence of random numbers is allowed to change. The 
relative comparison of the various proposed energy conservation 
standard levels in the published LCC spreadsheet remains similar to the 
comparison presented in the NOPR. DOE notes that the conclusions of the 
analysis, the policy decision, and associated rationale are not 
impacted by this sampling variability.
    In this notice of data availability (``NODA''), DOE is announcing 
that the Department is making available in the docket of the rulemaking 
and on the furnace rulemaking website page to interested persons a 
revised version of the LCC spreadsheet in which the random number 
generation is fixed in place, thereby producing the same results as 
presented in the NOPR and TSD.
    Additionally, DOE held a public meeting webinar on August 3, 2022 
to discuss the analyses and proposals presented in the July 2022 NOPR, 
at which several interested parties requested that DOE hold a separate 
meeting to further explain the LCC spreadsheet. In addition, on August 
11, 2022, the American Gas Association (``AGA''), American Public Gas 
Association (``APGA''), National Propane Gas Association (``NPGA''), 
Spire Inc, Spire Missouri Inc, Spire Alabama Inc, and Atmos Energy 
Corporation (``Atmos Energy'') (collectively, ``Joint Requesters'') 
submitted a joint comment reiterating their request from the August 3, 
2022 webinar that DOE hold a separate workshop on its LCC model. (Joint 
Requesters, No. 345 at p. 1) \4\ DOE notes that the NWGF and MHGF LCC 
spreadsheet has additional complexities beyond those typically found in 
LCC spreadsheets, such as those related to fuel switching, extended 
repair vs. replacement, potential downsizing of furnace capacity, and 
many installation cost factors. Given the increased complexity of the 
LCC spreadsheet for NWGF and MHGF, and after considering the comments 
and requests from interested parties, DOE has determined that an 
additional webinar focused on the LCC spreadsheet is appropriate. 
Accordingly, DOE will hold a public meeting webinar on Tuesday, 
September 6, 2022, to provide instruction on the operation of the LCC 
spreadsheet to interested persons.
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    \4\ This parenthetical reference provides a reference for 
information located in the docket of DOE's rulemaking to develop 
energy conservation standards for NWGF and MHGF. (Docket No. EERE-
2014-BT-STD-0031, which is maintained at www.regulations.gov). The 
references are arranged as follows: (commenter name, comment docket 
ID number, page of that document).
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    Lastly, the in the July 2022 NOPR, DOE stated it would accept 
written comments, data, and information on the proposal until September 
6, 2022. 87 FR 40590, 40590 (July 7, 2022). DOE received four requests 
for an extension of the NOPR public comment period. On July 25, 2022, 
DOE received a joint request from the Joint Requesters \5\ to extend 
the public comment period by 60 days. (Joint Requesters, No. 330 at p. 
1) On August 3, 2022, DOE received a request from the Natural Gas 
Supply Association (NGSA), supporting the Joint Requestors' submission 
requesting a 60-day extension of the comment period. (NGSA, No. 343 at 
p. 1) On August 9, 2022, DOE received a submission from the 
Manufactured Housing Institute (``MHI'') supporting the Joint 
Requestors' submission and requesting an extension of the comment 
period. (MHI, No. 344 at p. 1)
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    \5\ In this submission, the Joint Requestors consisted of AGA, 
APGA, NPGA, Spire Inc, Spire Missouri Inc, and Spire Alabama Inc, 
but did not include Atmos Energy.
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    On August 11, 2022, DOE received a second submission from the Joint 
Requestors, which, as discussed previously, requested that DOE hold a 
workshop on the LCC model. The Joint Requestors also urged that the 
comment period be extended by 45 days after the receipt of the results 
of the workshop. (Joint Requesters, No. 345 at p. 1)
    DOE has reviewed these requests. Based on these requests, this 
NODA, and the newly scheduled webinar, DOE is extending the comment 
period to allow additional time for interested parties to review the 
revised LCC spreadsheet, participate in the webinar, and provide 
comments on the NOPR and associated docketed materials. DOE believes 
that allowing 30 days after the workshop is sufficient and is 
responsive to the requestors. Therefore, DOE is extending the NOPR 
comment period until October 6, 2022.

II. Public Participation

A. Attendance at the Public Meeting

    The time and date of the webinar meeting are listed in the DATES 
section at the beginning of this document. Webinar registration 
information, participant instructions, and information about the 
capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on 
DOE's website: www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/standards.aspx?productid=59&action=viewlive. Participants are 
responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible with the webinar 
software.

B. Conduct of the Public Meeting

    DOE will designate a DOE official to preside at the webinar/public 
meeting and may also use a professional facilitator to aid discussion. 
The meeting will not be a judicial or evidentiary-type public hearing, 
but DOE will conduct it 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. DOE reserves the right to schedule the order 
of presentations and to establish the procedures governing

[[Page 52863]]

the conduct of the webinar/public meeting. There shall not be 
discussion of proprietary information, costs or prices, market share, 
or other commercial matters regulated by U.S. anti-trust laws. After 
the webinar/public meeting and until the end of the comment period, 
interested parties may submit further comments on the proceedings and 
on any aspect of the rulemaking.
    The public meeting webinar will be conducted in an informal, 
conference style. DOE will present an overview on the operation of the 
analytical tools. DOE encourages all interested parties to ask 
clarifying questions. The official conducting the public meeting 
webinar will accept additional comments or questions from those 
attending, as time permits. The presiding official will announce any 
further procedural rules or modification of the above procedures that 
may be needed for the proper conduct of the public meeting webinar.
    A transcript of the public meeting webinar will be included in the 
docket, which can be viewed as described in the Docket section at the 
beginning of this NODA. In addition, any person may buy a copy of the 
transcript from the transcribing reporter.

C. Submission of Comments

    DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this 
proposed rule before or after the public meeting webinar, but no later 
than the date provided in the DATES section at the beginning of this 
document. Interested parties may submit comments, data, and other 
information using any of the methods described in the ADDRESSES section 
at the beginning of this document.
    Submitting comments via www.regulations.gov. The 
www.regulations.gov web page will require you to provide your name and 
contact information. Your contact information will be viewable to DOE 
Building Technologies staff only. Your contact information will not be 
publicly viewable except for your first and last names, organization 
name (if any), and submitter representative name (if any). If your 
comment is not processed properly because of technical difficulties, 
DOE will use this information to contact you. If DOE cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, DOE may not be able to consider your comment.
    However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you 
include it in the comment itself or in any documents attached to your 
comment. Any information that you do not want to be publicly viewable 
should not be included in your comment, nor in any document attached to 
your comment. If this instruction is followed, persons viewing comments 
will see only first and last names, organization names, correspondence 
containing comments, and any documents submitted with the comments.
    Do not submit to www.regulations.gov information for which 
disclosure is restricted by statute, such as trade secrets and 
commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as 
Confidential Business Information (``CBI'')). Comments submitted 
through www.regulations.gov cannot be claimed as CBI. Comments received 
through the website will waive any CBI claims for the information 
submitted. For information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential 
Business Information section.
    DOE processes submissions made through www.regulations.gov before 
posting. Normally, comments will be posted within a few days of being 
submitted. However, if large volumes of comments are being processed 
simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to several 
weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that www.regulations.gov 
provides after you have successfully uploaded your comment.
    Submitting comments via email. Comments and documents submitted via 
email also will be posted to www.regulations.gov. If you do not want 
your personal contact information to be publicly viewable, do not 
include it in your comment or any accompanying documents. Instead, 
provide your contact information in a cover letter. Include your first 
and last names, email address, telephone number, and optional mailing 
address. The cover letter will not be publicly viewable as long as it 
does not include any comments.
    Include contact information each time you submit comments, data, 
documents, and other information to DOE. No telefacsimiles (``faxes'') 
will be accepted.
    Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE 
electronically should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or 
Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that 
are not secured, that are written in English, and that are free of any 
defects or viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or 
any form of encryption and, if possible, they should carry the 
electronic signature of the author.
    Campaign form letters. Please submit campaign form letters by the 
originating organization in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters 
per PDF or as one form letter with a list of supporters' names compiled 
into one or more PDFs. This reduces comment processing and posting 
time.
    Confidential Business Information. Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 
person submitting information that he or she believes to be 
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via 
email two well-marked copies: one copy of the document marked 
``confidential'' including all the information believed to be 
confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-confidential'' 
with the information believed to be confidential deleted. DOE will make 
its own determination about the confidential status of the information 
and treat it according to its determination.
    It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public 
docket, without change and as received, including any personal 
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be 
exempt from public disclosure).

III. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

    The Secretary of Energy has approved publication of this 
notification of data availability, public meeting, and extension of the 
comment period.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on August 24, 
2022, by Dr. Geraldine L. Richmond, Undersecretary for Science and 
Innovation, 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 August 24, 2022.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2022-18589 Filed 8-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P