Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes Washers

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 430</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EERE-2017-BT-STD-0014]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1904-AF58</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes Washers</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 amended energy conservation standards for residential clothes washers in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on March 15, 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 clarifies the introductory notes to the appendices for the residential clothes washer test procedure to conform with the amended standards promulgated by direct final rule published on March 15, 2024. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The technical correction in this document is effective October 21, 2024. The effective date of July 15, 2024, for the direct final rule published on March 15, 2024 (89 FR 19026) is confirmed. Compliance with the standards established in the direct final rule will be required on March 1, 2028. </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-0014.</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> Dr. Carl Shapiro, 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) 287-5649. Email: <E T="03">ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> Ms. Kiana Daw, 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">kiana.daw@hq.doe.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Residential Clothes Washers Direct Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Comments on the Direct Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. General Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Authority To Regulate Water Use</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Anti-Backsliding</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Economic Justification</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Unavailability of Performance Characteristics</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Stakeholder Representation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Responses to Previous Stakeholder Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Formal Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Conforming Updates To Test Procedure Introductory Notes</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Conclusion</FP> </EXTRACT> <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 of Energy (“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 the direct final rule remains effective. Although not required under EPCA, where DOE does not withdraw a direct final rule, DOE typically 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. Residential Clothes Washers Direct Final Rule</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Background</HD> In a direct final rule published on May 31, 2012 (“May 2012 Direct Final Rule”), DOE prescribed the current energy conservation standards for residential clothes washers (“RCWs”) manufactured on or after January 1, 2018. 77 FR 32308. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> These standards are set forth in DOE's regulations at 10 CFR 430.32(g)(1). The current standards are defined in terms of a minimum allowable integrated modified energy factor (“IMEF”), measured in cubic feet per kilowatt-hour per cycle (“ft <SU>3</SU> /kWh/cycle”), and maximum allowable integrated water factor (“IWF”), measured in gallons per cycle per cubic foot (“gal/cycle/ft <SU>3</SU> ”), as measured according to the test procedure at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix J2 (“appendix J2”). <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  DOE published a confirmation of effective date and compliance date for the direct final rule on October 1, 2012. 77 FR 59719. </FTNT> In a final rule published on June 1, 2022 (“June 2022 TP Final Rule”), DOE finalized a new test procedure at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix J (“appendix J”), which defines new energy efficiency metrics: an energy efficiency ratio (“EER”) and a water efficiency ratio (“WER”). <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> 87 FR 33316, 33319. For both EER and WER, a higher value indicates more efficient performance. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  EER is defined as the quotient of the weighted-average load size divided by the total clothes washer energy consumption per cycle, with such energy consumption expressed as the sum of (1) the machine electrical energy consumption, (2) the hot water energy consumption, (3) the energy required for removal of the remaining moisture in the wash load, and (4) the combined low-power mode energy consumption. 10 CFR part 430 subpart B, appendix J section 1. WER is defined as the quotient of the weighted-average load size divided by the total weighted per-cycle water consumption for all wash cycles in gallons. <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> On March 3, 2023, DOE published a NOPR (“March 2023 NOPR”) proposing to establish amended standards for RCWs, defined in terms of the EER and WER metrics as measured according to appendix J. 88 FR 13520. On September 25, 2023, DOE received a joint statement (“Joint Agreement”) recommending standards for RCWs that was submitted by groups representing manufacturers, energy and environmental advocates, consumer groups, and a utility. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> In addition to the recommended standards for RCWs, the Joint Agreement also included separate recommendations for several other covered products. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> The amended standard levels recommended in the Joint Agreement for RCWs are presented in Table II.1, expressed in terms of the EER and WER metrics as measured according to the newly established test procedure contained in appendix J. Details of the Joint Agreement recommendations for other products are provided in the Joint Agreement posted in the docket for thi ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 89k characters. 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