Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy February 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection request to OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection requests a three-year extension on the reports and data collected and recorded in support of DOE's Appliance Standards Program. Specifically, DOE is submitting for approval paperwork requirements associated with the three following aspects of the appliance standards program: (1) Gathering data and submitting the certification and compliance reports for each basic model distributed in commerce in the US; (2) maintaining records underlying the certified ratings for each basic model including test data and the associated calculations; and (3) applications for a test procedure waiver for which manufacturers may elect to submit if they manufacturer a basic model that cannot be tested pursuant to the DOE test procedure. This collection includes all covered products and equipment subject to DOE's regulatory requirements described in 10 CFR Parts 429, 430, and 431. More specifically, DOE's certification and compliance requirements are described in 10 CFR Part 429. DOE's records retention requirements are described in 10 CFR 429.71. DOE's application for a test procedure waiver process is described in 10 CFR 430.27 and 431.401.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of its decision and order in Case No. RF-034 that grants to Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung) a waiver from the DOE electric refrigerator and refrigerator-freezer test procedures for specific basic models set forth in its petition for waiver. In its petition, Samsung provides an alternate test procedure that is identical to the test procedure DOE published in a final rule dated January 25, 2012 (77 FR 3559) that manufacturers will be required to use starting in 2014. Under today's decision and order, Samsung shall be required to test and rate these refrigerator-freezers using an alternate test procedure as adopted in that January 2012 final rule, which accounts for multiple defrost cycles when measuring energy consumption.

The Water Power Program within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy intends to hold an External Merit Review in Arlington, VA, on February 24-28, 2014. The External Review Panel will review current projects and provide feedback on technical/scientific/business merit, the actual or anticipated results, and the productivity and management effectiveness of projects. The review panel will also assess projects potential impact on the water power industry and identify additional research initiatives and resources that might be required in the future.

The Department of Energy (DOE) today gives notice of a workshop hosted by the Bioenergy Technologies Office's (BETO's) Demonstration and Deployment Program to discuss the current state of technology and efforts needed to achieve affordable, scalable, and sustainable drop-in hydrocarbon biofuels.