Department of Energy June 13, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the requirements and burden\1\ of the information collections described below.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, sets forth various provisions designed to improve energy efficiency for consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment. In addition to specifying a list of covered residential products and commercial equipment, EPCA contains provisions that enable the Secretary of Energy to classify additional types of consumer products as covered products. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has previously published a proposed determination of coverage to classify portable air conditioners (ACs) as covered consumer products under the applicable provisions in EPCA. In this document, DOE proposes energy conservation standards for portable ACs following its notice of final determination of coverage. 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, as amended (``EPCA'' or in context, ``the Act''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including battery chargers. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or, in context, ``the Department'') to determine whether Federal energy conservation standards for a particular type of product or equipment would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. On March 27, 2012, DOE published a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') to establish energy conservation standards for battery chargers. Responding to stakeholder comments, DOE updated its analysis and revised its proposed approach, resulting in a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (``SNOPR'') published on September 1, 2015. After considering all the stakeholder comments responding to the SNOPR, DOE is adopting the proposed energy conservation standards for battery chargers in this final rule. DOE has determined that these standards will result in the significant conservation of energy and are technologically feasible and economically justified.