Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 430</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EERE-2017-BT-STD-0003]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1904-AF56</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Direct final rule; confirmation of effective and compliance dates; technical correction. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published a direct final rule to establish new energy conservation standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on January 17, 2024. DOE has determined that the comments received in response to the direct final rule do not provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule. Therefore, DOE provides this document confirming the effective and compliance dates of those standards. This document also corrects an error in the amended regulatory text as it appeared in the direct final rule published on January 17, 2024. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The technical correction in this document is effective June 13, 2024. The effective date of May 16, 2024, for the direct final rule published January 17, 2024 (89 FR 3026) is confirmed. Compliance with the standards established in the direct final rule will be required on either January 31, 2029, or January 31, 2030, depending on product class. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The docket for this rulemaking, which includes <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts, 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-2017-BT-STD-0003.</E> The docket web page contains instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. For further information on how to submit a comment or review other public comments and the docket, contact the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at (202) 287-1445 or by email: <E T="03">ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> <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. Matthew Schneider, 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">matthew.schneider@hq.doe.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Authority</HD> The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Public Law 94-163, as amended (“EPCA”), <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> authorizes DOE to issue a direct final rule establishing an energy conservation standard for a product on receipt of a statement submitted jointly by interested persons that are fairly representative of relevant points of view (including representatives of manufacturers of covered products, States, and efficiency advocates), as determined by the Secretary, that contains recommendations with respect to an energy or water conservation standard that are in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(o) or 42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B), as applicable. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)) <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> The direct final rule must be published simultaneously with a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NOPR”) that proposes an energy or water conservation standard that is identical to the standard established in the direct final rule, and DOE must provide a public comment period of at least 110 days on this proposal. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(A)-(B)) Not later than 120 days after issuance of the direct final rule, DOE shall withdraw the direct final rule if (1) DOE receives one or more adverse public comments relating to the direct final rule or any alternative joint recommendation; and (2) based on the rulemaking record relating to the direct final rule, DOE determines that such adverse public comments or alternative joint recommendation may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(C)) If DOE makes such a determination, DOE must proceed with the NOPR published simultaneously with the direct final rule and publish in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> the reasons why the direct final rule was withdrawn. ( <E T="03">Id.</E> ) After review of comments received, DOE has determined that it did receive adverse comments on the direct final rule. However, based on the rulemaking record, the comments did not provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule under the provisions in 42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(C). As such, DOE did not withdraw this direct final rule and allowed it to become effective. Although not required under EPCA, where DOE does not withdraw a direct final rule, DOE publishes a summary of the comments received during the 110-day comment period and its responses to those comments. This document contains such a summary, as well as DOE's responses to the comments. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers Direct Final Rule</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Background</HD> In a final rule published on September 15, 2011 (“September 2011 Final Rule”), DOE prescribed the current energy conservation standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers manufactured on and after September 15, 2014. 76 FR 57516. These standards are set forth in DOE's regulations at 10 CFR 430.32(a). On November 15, 2019, DOE published a request for information (“RFI”) to collect data and information to help DOE determine whether any new or amended standards for consumer refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers would result in a significant amount of additional energy savings and whether those standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified. 84 FR 62470 (“November 2019 RFI”). DOE then published a notice of public meeting and availability of the preliminary technical support document (“TSD”) on October 15, 2021 (“October 2021 Preliminary Analysis”). 86 FR 57378. DOE held a public meeting on December 1, 2021, to discuss and receive comments on the preliminary TSD. The preliminary TSD that presented the methodology and results of the preliminary analysis is available at: <E T="03">www.regulations.gov/document/EERE-2017-BT-STD-0003-0021.</E> On February 27, 2023, DOE published a NOPR and announced a public webinar to respond to initial comments (“February 2023 NOPR”). 88 FR 12452. In the February 2023 NOPR, DOE updated its analysis and proposed standards based on comments received following the publication of the October 2021 Preliminary Analysis. DOE held a public webinar on April 11, 2023, to discuss and receive comments on the February 2023 NOPR and February 2023 NOPR TSD. The February 2023 NOPR TSD is available at: <E T="03">www.regulations.gov/document/EERE-2017-BT-STD-0003-0045.</E> On September 25, 2023, DOE received a joint statement ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> the Joint Agreement) recommending standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers that was submitted by groups representing manufacturers, energy and environmental advocates, consumer groups, and a utility. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> In addition to the recommended standards for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers, the Joint Agreement also included separate recommendations for several other covered products. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The Joint Agreement recommended amended standard levels for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers as presented in Table II.1 as follows. Details of the Joint Agreement recommendations for other products are provided in the Joint Agreement posted in the docket. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  The signatories to the Joint Agreement include Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Alliance for Water Efficiency, Appliance Standards Awareness Project, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Earthjustice, National Consumer Law Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Members of AHAM's Major Appliance Division that manufacture the affected products include: Alliance Laundry Systems, LLC; Asko Appliances AB; Beko US Inc.; Brown Stove Works, Inc.; BSH; Danby Products, Ltd.; Electrolux Home Products, Inc.; Elicamex S.A. de C.V.; Faber; Fotile America; GEA, a Haier Company; L'Atelier Paris Haute Design LLG; LG Electronics USA ; Liebherr USA, Co.; Midea America Corp.; Miele, Inc.; Panasonic Appliances Refrigeration Systems (PAPRSA) Corporation of America; Perlick Corporation; Samsung; Sharp Electronics Corporation; Smeg S.p.A; Sub-Zero Group, Inc.; The Middle by Corporation; U-Line Corporation; Viking Range, LLC; and Whirlpool. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  The Joint Agreement contained recommendations for 6 covered products: refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers; clot ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 97k characters. 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