Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Program for Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts, Clothes Washers, and Water Heaters

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy

Conservation Program for Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts, Clothes Washers,

and Water Heaters

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION: Notice of public workshops.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (EPCA or

Act), requires the Department of Energy (DOE or Department) to consider

amending the energy conservation standards for certain major household

appliances. This notice announces three public workshops as steps in

the appliance standards rulemaking procedures. These public workshops

will be conducted for the rulemakings on revised energy efficiency

standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts, clothes washers, and water

heaters.

DATES: The following table lists the respective analyses release dates,

workshop dates, and comment period dates.

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Fluorescent lamp bal-

lasts Clothes washers Water heaters

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Release Analyses............ April 27, 1999............ June 14, 1999............. June 14, 1999.

Comments Due................ May 18, 1999.............. July 6, 1999.............. July 6, 1999.

Workshops................... June 1, 1999.............. July 22, 1999............. July 23, 1999.

Comments Due................ June 15, 1999............. August 3, 1999............ August 3, 1999.

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ADDRESSES: The Department will hold the public workshops between the

hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Energy,

Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 1E-245,

Washington, DC 20585. Written comments are welcome, especially

following the workshops. Please submit one signed copy and a computer

diskette (WordPerfect 6.1) or 10 copies (no telefacsimiles) to: U.S.

Department of Energy, Attn: Brenda Edwards-Jones, Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EE-43, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-2945, e-mail: Brenda.Edwards-

J[email protected].

The Department will also accept electronically-mailed comments, but

you must supplement such comments with a signed hard copy.

You should identify all comments on both the envelope and document

with the name of the product and the appropriate docket number:

Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts, EE-RM-97-500; Clothes Washers, EE-RM-94-403;

or Water Heaters, EE-RM-97-900.

If you submit information or data that you believe is confidential,

and should not be publicly disclosed, you should submit one complete

copy of your document and ten (10) copies or one electronic copy from

which the information believed to be confidential has been deleted. We

will make our own determination regarding the confidentiality of the

information or data according to our regulations at 10 CFR 1004.11.

Copies of the completed analyses may also be obtained from: U.S.

Department of Energy, Office of Codes and Standards, 1000 Independence

Avenue, SW, Room 1J-018, Washington, DC 20585.

Public information: The public may access the Freedom of

Information Reading room, located at the U.S. Department of Energy,

Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 1E-190,

Washington, DC 20585, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, (except Federal holidays). Call (202) 586-3142

for information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward Pollock, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Forrestal

Building, Mail Station EE-43, 1000 Independence

[[Page 24635]]

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-5778, e-mail:

Edward.P[email protected], or Michael J. McCabe, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Forrestal

Building, Mail Station EE-40, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,

DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-9155, e-mail: Michael.McC[email protected];

Eugene Margolis, Esq. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General

Counsel, Forrestal Building, Mail Station GC-72, 1000 Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0103, (202) 586-9507, e-mail:

Eugene.M[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its administration of the Appliance

Standards Program, DOE has published procedures to make the rulemaking

process more accessible to the public. (Procedures for Consideration of

New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Products, 61

FR 36974, July 15, 1996). As part of the revised procedures, the

Department pledged to provide ``early opportunities for public input to

and comment on the analyses.'' (61 FR 36976).

This notice announces three public workshops by which the

Department plans to obtain public comment on the analyses being

prepared for Notices of Proposed Rulemakings on revised energy

efficiency standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts, clothes washers,

and water heaters. In addition to providing interested parties the

opportunity to comment on the analyses, the workshops will also provide

interested parties with the opportunity to comment on what levels of

revised energy efficiency standards proposals they could support from

the analyses.

Prior to the public workshops, the Department will make publicly

available the analytical results that it presently plans to use in its

formal decision process. The material to be presented will be the bases

for the Technical Support Documents for the Notices of Proposed

Rulemakings. DOE staff and contractors will prepare the material.

These analytical results will be available from the Office of Codes

and Standards (OCS) Internet site (http:www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/

codes__standards/index.htm), and the DOE Freedom of Information Reading

Room. The analyses that the Department plans to provide for review for

each product are the results of the engineering cost-efficiency curves,

life-cycle costs, paybacks, national energy savings, net national

employment impacts, manufacturer impact analyses, and environmental

effects. The complete set of analyses will be available according to

the schedule in the Dates section of this Notice.

Once the analytical results are publicly available for each

product, the Department will provide periods during which it will

receive comments on both the analyses as well as on the policy

implications drawn from the analyses. The Department will review and

analyze the comments it receives on the policy recommendations and

analyses.

Following receipt and review of comments for each product, the

Department will conduct a workshop. The workshops will all have similar

formats, wherein there will be a summary of the analytical results that

will have been publicly available prior to each respective workshop,

followed by a summary discussion of the comments received prior to the

workshop. Lastly, a senior DOE official will facilitate a discussion on

which standard levels participants at the workshop believe can be

supported by the analyses.

The Department will conduct these workshops prior to our selection

of proposed revisions to the energy efficiency standards for

fluorescent lamp ballasts, clothes washers, and water heaters, and the

Department will consider output from the workshops in the development

of those proposals.

Following the respective workshops, the Department will provide an

additional comment period, during which interested parties will have an

opportunity to comment on the proceedings at the workshops, as well as

on any aspect of the rulemaking proceedings, including what policy

implications the commenters might draw from the analyses.

The Department will also consider all comments provided after the

respective workshops in its determination of the appropriate revised

energy-efficiency standards to propose.

If you would like to participate in the workshops, receive workshop

material, or be added to the DOE mailing list to receive future notices

and information regarding these workshops, please contact Ms. Brenda

Edwards-Jones, (202) 586-2945.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 1999.

Dan W. Reicher,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 99-11566 Filed 5-6-99; 8:45 am]

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