Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Air-Cooled Commercial Package Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 431</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1904-AF34</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Air-Cooled Commercial Package Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (“EPCA”), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including air-cooled commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps with a rated cooling capacity greater than or equal to 65,000 Btu/h. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (“NOPR”), the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) proposes amended energy conservation standards, based on clear and convincing evidence, identical to those set forth in a direct final rule (“DFR”) published elsewhere in this issue of the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . If DOE receives adverse comment and determines that such comment may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawal of the direct final rule, DOE will publish a notification of withdrawal and will proceed with this proposed rule. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NOPR no later than September 9, 2024. Comments regarding the likely competitive impact of the proposed standard should be sent to the Department of Justice contact listed in the <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> section on or before June 20, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> See section IV of this document, “Public Participation,” for details. If DOE withdraws the direct final rule published elsewhere in this issue of the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> <E T="03">,</E> DOE will hold a public meeting to allow for additional comment on this proposed rule. DOE will publish notice of any meeting in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> under docket number EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested persons may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015, by any of the following methods: <E T="03">Email: ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> Include the docket number EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015 in the subject line of the message. <E T="03">Postal Mail:</E> Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, Mailstop EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on a compact disc (“CD”), in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies. <E T="03">Hand Delivery/Courier:</E> Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 287-1445. If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies. No telefacsimiles (“faxes”) will be accepted. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on this process, see section IV of this document (Public Participation). <E T="03">Docket:</E> The docket for this activity, which includes <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notices, comments, and other supporting documents/materials, is available for review at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> All documents in the docket are listed in the <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure. The docket web page can be found at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015.</E> The docket web page contains instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. See section IV of this document for information on how to submit comments through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> EPCA requires the Attorney General to provide DOE a written determination of whether the proposed standard is likely to lessen competition. The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division invites input from market participants and other interested persons with views on the likely competitive impact of the proposed standard. Interested persons may contact the Antitrust Division at <E T="03">energy.standards@usdoj.gov</E> on or before the date specified in the <E T="02">DATES</E> section. Please indicate in the “Subject” line of your email the title and Docket Number of this proposed rulemaking. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Mr. Lucas Adin, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-5904. Email: <E T="03">ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> Mr. Eric Stas, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-4798. Email: <E T="03">Eric.Stas@hq.doe.gov.</E> For further information on how to submit a comment, review other public comments and the docket, or participate in the public meeting (if one is held), contact the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at (202) 287-1445 or by email: <E T="03">ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Synopsis of the Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Introduction</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Current Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. History of Standards Rulemaking for ACUACs and ACUHPs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. 2022-2023 ASRAC ACUAC/HP Working Group Recommended Standard Levels</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Proposed Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Benefits and Burdens of TSLs Considered for ACUAC and ACUHP Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Annualized Benefits and Costs of the Proposed Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Public Participation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Submission of Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> B. Public Meeting </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Approval of the Office of the Secretary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Synopsis of the Proposed Rule</HD> The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Public Law 94-163, as amended (“EPCA”), <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> authorizes the DOE to regulate the energy efficiency of a number of consumer products and certain industrial equipment. (42 U.S.C. 6291-6317, as codified) Title III, Part C  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> of EPCA established the Energy Conservation Program for Certain Industrial Equipment. (42 U.S.C. 6311-6317) This covered equipment includes small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment. (42 U.S.C. 6311(1)(B)-(D)) Such equipment includes as equipment categories air-cooled commercial unitary air conditioners with a rated cooling capacity greater than or equal to 65,000 Btu/h (“ACUACs”) and air-cooled commercial unitary heat pumps with a rated cooling capacity greater than or equal to 65,000 Btu/h (“ACUHPs”), which are the subject of this proposed rulemaking. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The current energy conservation standards for the subject equipment are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”) at 10 CFR 431.97(b). <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute as amended through the Energy Act of 2020, Public Law 116-260 (Dec. 27, 2020), which reflect the last statutory amendments that impact Parts A and A-1 of EPCA. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, Part C was re-designated Part A-1. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  While ACUACs and ACUHPs with rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/h are included in the broader category of commercial unitary air conditioners and heat pumps (“CUACs and CUHPs”), they are not addressed in this NOPR. The standards for ACUACs and ACUHPs with rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/h have been addressed in a separate rulemaking ( <E T="03">see</E> Docket No. EERE-2022-BT-STD-0008). Accordingly, all references within this NOPR to ACUACs and ACUHPs exclude equipment with rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/h. </FTNT> In accordance with the authority provided by 42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4) and 42 U.S.C. 6316(b)(1), DOE is proposing this rule establishing and amending the energy conservation standards for ACUACs and ACUHPs and is concurrently issuing a direct final rule published elsewhere in this issue of the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> DOE will proceed with this notice of proposed rulemaking only if it determines it must withdraw the direct final rule pursuant to the criteria provided in 42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4). The amended standards levels in both this NOPR and that DFR reflect the culmination of a negotiated rulemaking that included the following document and stakeholder comments thereon: May 2020 energy conservation standards request for information (“May 2020 ECS RFI”) (85 FR 27941 (May 12, 2020)); May 2022 test procedure (“TP”)/ECS RFI (87 FR 31743 (May 25, 2022)); and the 2022 Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (“ASRAC”) commercial unitary a ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 118k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━