Department of Energy March 30, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment, of which air cooled, three-phase, small commercial air conditioners and heat pumps with a cooling capacity of less than 65,000 Btu/h and air-cooled, three-phase, variable refrigerant flow air conditioners and heat pumps with a cooling capacity of less than 65,000 Btu/h are categories. EPCA requires the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or ``the Department'') to consider the need for amended standards each time the relevant industry standard is amended with respect to the standard levels or design requirements applicable to that equipment, or periodically under a six-year-lookback review provision. For the three-phase equipment that is the subject of this notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR''), DOE is proposing amended energy conservation standards that rely on new efficiency metrics and align with amended efficiency levels in the industry standard. DOE has preliminarily determined that it lacks clear and convincing evidence required by the statute to adopt standards more stringent than the levels specified in the industry standard. This NOPR also announces a webinar to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.