Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``Appliance Labeling Rule'')

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 305

Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and

Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under

the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``Appliance Labeling Rule'')

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Final rule revision.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission's Appliance Labeling Rule

requires that Table 1, in Sec. 305.9, which sets forth the

representative average unit energy costs for five residential energy

sources, be revised periodically on the basis of updated information

provided by the Department of Energy (``DOE'').

This document revises the table to incorporate the latest figures

for average unit energy costs as published by DOE in the Federal

Register on January 19, 1996.\1\

\1\ 61 FR 1366.

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DATES: The revisions to Sec. 305.9(a) and Table 1 are effective March

15, 1996. The mandatory dates for using these revised DOE cost figures

in connection with the Appliance Labeling Rule are detailed in the

Supplementary Information Section, below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Mills, Attorney, 202-326-3035 Division of Enforcement, Federal

Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 19, 1979, the Federal Trade

Commission issued a final rule in response to a directive in section

324 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``EPCA''), 42 U.S.C.

6201.\2\ The rule requires the disclosure of energy efficiency,

consumption, or cost information on labels and in retail sales catalogs

for eight categories of appliances, and mandates that the energy costs,

consumption, or efficiency ratings be based on standardized test

procedures developed by DOE. The cost information obtained by following

the test procedures is derived by using the representative average unit

energy costs provided by DOE. Table 1 in Sec. 305.9(a) of the rule sets

forth the representative average unit energy costs to be used for all

cost-related requirements of the rule. As stated in Sec. 305.9(b), the

Table is to be revised periodically on the basis of updated information

provided by DOE.

\2\ 44 FR 66466. since its promulgation, the rule has been

amended four times to include new product categories--central air

conditioners (52 FR 46888, Dec. 10, 1987), fluorescent lamp ballasts

(54 FR 1182, Jan. 12, 1989), certain plumbing products (58 FR 54955,

Oct. 25, 1993), and certain lamp products (59 FR 25176, May 13,

1994). Obligations under the rule concerning fluorescent lamp

ballasts, lighting products, and plumbing products are not affected

by the cost figures in this notice.

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On January 19, 1996, DOE published the most recent figures for

representative average unit energy costs. Accordingly, Table 1 is

revised to reflect these latest cost figures as set forth below.

The dates when use of the figures in revised Table 1 becomes

mandatory in calculating cost disclosures for use in labeling and

catalog sales of products covered by the Commission's rule and/or EPCA

are as follows:

For 1996 Submissions of Data Under Section 305.8 of the

Commission's Rule: Manufacturers no longer need to use the DOE cost

figures in complying with the data submission requirements of section

305.8 of the rule. Pursuant to amendments to the rule published on July

1, 1994 \3\ (with extended compliance dates published on December 8,

1994),\4\ the estimated annual operating cost is no longer the primary

energy usage descriptor for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers,

freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, and water heaters. Under the

amendments, the energy usage and the ranges of comparability for those

product categories must be expressed in terms of estimated annual

energy consumption (kilowatt-hour use per year for electricity, therms

per year for natural gas, or gallons per year for propane and oil).

Thus, the 1996 (and all subsequent) data submissions under section

305.8 for these product categories (which are to enable the Commission

to publish ranges of comparability) must be made in terms of estimated

annual energy consumption, for the determination of which the DOE cost

figures are unnecessary. The 1996 (and all subsequent) submissions also

must be made in terms of the new product sub-categories created by the

above-mentioned amendments. The energy efficiency energy usage

descriptors for the other products covered by the rule (room air

conditioners, furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, heat pumps,

and pool heaters) are unaffected by the amendments mentioned above. The

annual data submission requirements for those products, which are not

based on the DOE cost figures, will continue to be in terms of energy

efficiency (although submissions for room air conditioners, furnaces,

and boilers must be made in terms of the new product sub-categories

created by the amendments). For convenience, the annual dates for data

submission are repeated here:

\3\ 59 FR 34014.

\4\ 59 FR 63688.

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Fluorescent lamp ballasts: March 1

Clothes washers: March 1

Water heaters: May 1

Furnaces: May 1

Room air conditioners: May 1

Pool Heaters: May 1

Dishwashers: June 1

Central air conditioners: July 1

Heat pumps: July 1

Refrigerators: August 1

Refrigerator-freezers: August 1

Freezers: August 1

For Labeling and Catalog Sales of Products Covered by the

Commission's Rule: The July 1, 1994, amendments require that labels for

refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers, clothes washers,

dishwashers, water heaters, and room air conditioners contain a

secondary energy usage disclosure in terms of an estimated annual

operating cost (labels for clothes washers and dishwashers will show

two such secondary disclosures--one based on operation with water

heated by natural gas, and one on operation with water heated by

electricity). The labels must also disclose, below the secondary

estimated annual operating cost disclosure, the fact that the estimated

annual operating cost is based on the appropriate DOE energy cost

figure and identify the year in which the cost figure was published.\5\

Manufacturers of refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers,

clothes washers, dishwashers, and room air conditioners began making

these disclosures on the labels required by the amendments and in

catalogs beginning ninety days after the Commission published new

energy consumption ranges of comparability based on the 1995

submissions required by Sec. 305.8. They must continue to use the 1995

DOE cost figures until the Commission publishes new ranges of

comparability based on future annual submissions of estimated annual

energy consumption data. At that time, these manufacturers must use the

then-current DOE energy cost figures when they prepare new labels in

response to the new energy consumption ranges of comparability. When

such new ranges are published, the effective date for

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labeling new products will be ninety days after the publication of the

ranges in the Federal Register. Similarly, manufacturers of storage-

type water heaters, who began to comply with the amendments in 1994,

used the 1994 DOE cost figures in determining the secondary energy use

disclosures on the labels on their products. They must continue to use

1994 cost figures to calculate these estimated annual operating cost

figures on their labels until the Commission publishes new ranges of

comparability for those products. As in the past, products that have

been properly labeled prior to the effective date of any range

modification need not be relabeled.

\5\ The secondary estimated annual operating cost disclosures on

the initial group of revised labels for storage-type water heaters

are based on the 1994 DOE cost figures that were published by the

Commission on February 8, 1994 (59 FR 5699). The secondary estimated

annual operating cost disclosures on the initial group of revised

labels for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, clothes washers,

dishwashers, and room air conditioners are (or will be) based on the

1995 DOE cost figures that were published by the Commission on

February 17, 1995 (60 FR 9295).

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For Energy Cost Representations Respecting Products Covered by EPCA

but not by the Commission's Rule: Manufacturers of products covered by

section 323(c) of EPCA, 42 U.S.C. 6293(c), but not by the Appliance

Labeling Rule (clothes dryers, television sets, kitchen ranges and

ovens, and space heaters) must use the 1996 representative average unit

costs for energy in all operating cost representations beginning May

14, 1996.

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305

Advertising, Energy conservation, Household appliances, Labeling,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

PART 305--[AMENDED]

Accordingly, 16 CFR Part 305 is amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for Part 305 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.

Section 305.9(a) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 305.9 Representative average unit energy costs.

(a) Table 1, below, contains the representative unit energy costs

to be utilized for all requirements of this part.

Table 1.--Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for Five Residential Energy Sources (1996)

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Dollars per

Type of energy In commonly used terms As required by DOE test million Btu

procedure \1\

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Electricity.............................. 8.6 cents/kWh2 3........... $0.086/kWh................. $25.21

Natural Gas.............................. 62.6 cents/therm \4\ or 0.000006626/Btu............ 6.26

$6.43/MCF 5 6.

No. 2 heating oil........................ .92/gallon \7\............. 0.00000663/Btu............. 6.63

Propane.................................. 0.90/gallon \8\............ 0.00000984/Btu............. 9.84

Kerosene................................. 1.00/gallon \9\............ 0.00000739/Btu............. 7.39

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\1\ Btu stands for British thermal unit.

\2\ kWh stands for kilowatt hour.

\3\ 1 kWh=3,412 Btu.

\4\ 1 therm=100,000 Btu. Natural gas prices include taxes.

\5\ MCF stands for 1,000 cubic feet.

\6\ For the purposes of this table, 1 cubic foot of natural gas has an energy equivalence of 1,027 Btu.

\7\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of No. 2 heating oil has an energy equivalence of 138,690 Btu.

\8\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of liquid propane has an energy equivalence of 91,333 Btu.

\9\ For the purposes of this table, 1 gallon of kerosene has an energy equivalence of 135,000 Btu.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96-3263 Filed 2-13-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750-01-M