Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a ``scoping workshop'' (i.e., an informal public meeting) to discuss and receive comments on its plans for developing energy conservation standards for battery chargers and external power supplies. DOE encourages written comments on these subjects. To inform stakeholders and facilitate this process, DOE has prepared two documents, available at: https://www.eere.energy.gov/ buildings/appliancestandards/residential/batteryexternal.html .

This notice announces a teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92- 463; 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these teleconferences be announced in the Federal Register.

The Department of Energy (the Department or DOE) Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program, is requesting position papers or other technical documentation regarding hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for on-board vehicular hydrogen storage applications by April 30, 2007. Information regarding regeneration of the spent fuel resulting from hydrolysis of sodium borohydride may also be submitted. This information will be used as part of DOE's go/no-go process in determining the future of DOE's program for applied research and development of hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for on-board hydrogen storage, including regeneration of the spent fuel.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing this interim final rule to implement provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that require DOE to establish revised energy efficiency performance standards for the construction of all new Federal buildings, including both commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings and low-rise residential buildings.

On March 24, 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published in the Federal Register a Petition for Waiver and notice granting an Application for Interim Waiver to Mitsubishi Electric and Electronics USA, Inc., (MEUS) from energy efficiency test procedure requirements that are applicable to residential and commercial air conditioners and heat pumps. (71 FR 14858) The date of issuance of the Interim Waiver was March 15, 2006, and it terminated 180 days after issuance on September 11, 2006. In today's action, DOE is extending the Interim Waiver for 180 days, or until March 10, 2007.

This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee under the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that agencies publish these notices in the Federal Register to allow for public participation. This notice announces the meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. Dates and Times: November 28, 2006 from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. November 29, 2006 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

This notice announces a teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 92-463; 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these teleconferences be announced in the Federal Register.

A notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), to amend the Department of Energy (DOE) test procedures for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps, was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2006. The Department has identified two errors in that proposed rulemaking and this notice corrects those errors and reopens the comment period.

The Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to adopt test procedures for measuring energy efficiency and related definitions for various consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment on July 25, 2006, including refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines and commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator- freezers. For refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines, the Department proposed to adopt the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air- Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) Standard 32.1-2004 test procedure for measuring equipment energy consumption and for determining equipment capacity. For commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers, the Department proposed to adopt the ANSI/ Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) Standard HRF1-1979 for determining equipment capacity. The Department now proposes an additional method as an alternative means for measuring the capacity of refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines, namely the method to measure refrigerated volume that is set forth in an updated version of ANSI/AHAM HRF1. The Department also proposes to adopt this updated standard for measuring the volume of commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator- freezers. The Department will receive written comments in response to the July 25, 2006 NOPR or to this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR).

This notice announces an open meeting of the Federal Energy Management Advisory Committee (FEMAC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that these meetings be announced in the Federal Register to allow for public participation. This notice announces the fourteenth FEMAC public meeting, an advisory committee established under Executive Order 13123``Greening the Government through Efficient Energy Management.''

This notice announces a meeting of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463; 86 Stat. 770), requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.

This notice announces a teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 92-463; 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these teleconferences be announced in the Federal Register.

Today's notice publishes a Petition for Waiver from Whirlpool Corporation. This Petition for Waiver (hereafter ``Whirlpool Petition'') requests the Department to modify the clothes washer test procedure for the Whirlpool High Impeller line of clothes washers with basket volumes greater than 3.8 cubic feet and less than 3.9 cubic feet. The Department of Energy (hereafter ``Department'' or ``DOE'') is soliciting comments, data and information with respect to the Whirlpool Petition. Today's notice also grants an Interim Waiver to Whirlpool from the existing DOE automatic and semi-automatic clothes washer test procedure for the company's High Impeller line of clothes washers with basket volumes greater than 3.8 cubic feet and less than 3.9 cubic feet.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is publishing amendments to its regulations for the Renewable Energy Production Incentives (REPI) program to incorporate changes made by section 202 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005). The REPI program provides for production incentive payments to owners or operators of qualified renewable energy facilities, subject to the availability of appropriations. The statutory changes in these amendments to part 451 relate to allocation of available funds between owners or operators of two categories of qualified facilities, incorporation of additional ownership categories, extension of the eligibility window and program termination date, and expansion of applicable renewable energy technologies. In addition to the changes specified by EPACT 2005, this final rule modifies the method for accrued energy accounting. Other minor changes are made to update the regulations.

Today's notice corrects five minor errors in the list of model numbers for which Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc. (``MEUS'') requested a waiver and interim waiver of the test procedures applicable to residential and commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA or the Act) authorizes the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) to establish energy conservation standards for various consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment, including those distribution transformers for which DOE determines that energy conservation standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant energy savings. In this notice, the Department is proposing energy conservation standards for distribution transformers and is announcing a public meeting.

The Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is proposing to amend its test procedure for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. The proposal implements test procedure changes for small-duct, high-velocity systems, multiple-split systems, two-capacity units, and updates references to the current American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. The proposal also clarifies issues associated with sampling and rating both tested and untested systems. The Department will hold a public meeting to discuss and receive comments on the proposal.

This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee under the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that agencies publish these notices in the Federal Register to allow for public participation.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) will hold an informal public meeting to present its proposed methodologies for conducting this rulemaking, discuss issues relevant to this rulemaking proceeding, and initiate stakeholder interaction in this rulemaking proceeding. The Department is also interested in information that will assist it in establishing energy conservation standards for refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines. (These types of equipment are referred to collectively hereafter as ``beverage vending machines.'') The Department encourages written comments on these subjects. This effort is the result of the directive in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to DOE to establish energy conservation standards for such equipment by August 8, 2009. To inform stakeholders and facilitate this process, DOE has prepared a Framework Document, a draft of which is available at https:// www.eere. energy.gov/buildings/ appliancestandards.

The Department of Energy (DOE) today publishes a proposed rule to implement section 514 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, as amended by section 703 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which allows States and alternative fuel providers to petition for a waiver of the alternative fueled vehicle (AFV) acquisition requirements in 10 CFR part 490. The new law requires a State entity or alternative fuel provider requesting a waiver to show that in lieu of complying with the applicable AFV acquisition requirement for a model year, it will take other actions to reduce its annual petroleum motor fuel consumption by an amount equal to 100 percent alternative fuel use in all of the fleet's AFVs, including AFVs that the State entity or alternative fuel provider would have been required to acquire if there was no waiver.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to amend the regulations for the Weatherization Assistance Program for Low-Income Persons to incorporate statutory changes resulting from the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Specifically, DOE proposes to: define renewable energy systems eligible for funding in the Weatherization Assistance Program, establish criteria for performance and quality standards for eligible renewable energy systems, establish procedures for submission of and action on manufacturer petitions for Secretarial determinations of eligibility of renewable energy technologies and systems, and establish a ceiling for funding of renewable energy systems in the Weatherization Assistance Program.

This notice announces a teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB)Executive Working Group. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463; 86 Stat. 770), requires that public notice of these teleconferences be announced in the Federal Register. No official business will be conductedthis is for information sharing only.

This notice announces an open meeting of the Federal Energy Management Advisory Committee (FEMAC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that these meetings be announced in the Federal Register to allow for public participation. This notice announces the eleventh FEMAC public meeting, an advisory committee established under Executive Order 13123``Greening the Government through Efficient Energy Management.''

In a notice of proposed rulemaking published December 13, 1999, (NOPR) the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) proposed to adopt (1) energy conservation requirements that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, (EPCA or the Act) specifically mandated for commercial warm air furnaces, and (2) provisions applying generally to covered commercial heating, air conditioning and water heating equipment, including furnaces, (collectively referred to as ``commercial HVAC & WH equipment'') to assure their compliance with EPCA requirements. On October 21, 2004, DOE adopted a final rule incorporating the requirements for furnaces but only certain of the general provisions proposed for commercial HVAC & WH equipment. As to the latter, the Department did not adopt the NOPR's proposals for manufacturers to use to determine and certify compliance, and or most of its enforcement proposals, which remain under consideration. These include proposals about manufacturers' use of testing and calculation methods to rate the efficiency of their equipment, the role of voluntary independent certification programs in assuring the accuracy of the ratings, and the testing regimen and criteria that DOE would use in enforcement proceedings, which are the subjects of today's notice. The Department is now soliciting comments on several additional proposed options that DOE is now considering for the rule. In addition, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, (EPACT 2005) created a new category of covered equipment and set forth definitions, test procedures, and energy conservation standards for very large commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment. The Department has codified the definitions and energy conservation standards in Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 431. 70 FR 60407 (October 18, 2005). The Department is applying to that equipment the proposed compliance and enforcement requirements that are the subject of this supplemental notice. (The Department notes that the recent amendments to EPCA set forth in EPACT 2005 do not otherwise affect the issues raised in today's notice.)

The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a proposed collection of information that DOE is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed collection of information is in a final rule pertaining to test procedures for distribution transformers that DOE is publishing in the ``Rules'' section of today's Federal Register.