Energy Conservation Program: Rescinding in Part the Amended Energy Conservation Standards for Dehumidifiers

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 430</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EERE-2025-BT-STD-0013]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1904-AF83</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Conservation Program: Rescinding in Part the Amended Energy Conservation Standards for Dehumidifiers</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy (DOE). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> DOE is proposing to rescind the amended energy conservation standards for all dehumidifiers (excluding whole-home dehumidifiers) hereinafter (“dehumidifiers” or “non-whole-home dehumidifiers”), which constitute a distinct class of dehumidifier for which energy conservation standards are not statutorily prescribed. This will return the energy conservation standards for dehumidifiers manufactured on or after October 1, 2012, to 1.35 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of up to 35.00 pints/day; 1.50 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 35.01-45.00 pints/day; 1.60 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 45.01-54.00 pints/day; 1.70 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 54.01-75.00 pints/day; and 2.5 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of greater than 75.00 pints/day. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before July 15, 2025. <E T="03">Meeting:</E> DOE will hold a webinar on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. See section III, “Public Participation,” for webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> under docket number EERE-2025-BT-STD-0013. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested persons may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2025-BT-STD-0013, by any of the following methods: (1) <E T="03">Email: Dehumidifiers2025STD0013@ee.doe.gov.</E> Include the docket number EERE-2025-BT-STD-0013 in the subject line of the message. Submit electronic comments in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or ASCII file format, and avoid the use of special characters or any form of encryption. (2) <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. Telephone: (202) 287-1445. If possible, please submit all items on a compact disc (“CD”), in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies. (3) <E T="03">Hand Delivery/Courier:</E> Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. 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 III of this document. <E T="03">Docket:</E> The docket for this proposed rulemaking, which includes <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts (if one is held), comments, and other supporting documents and 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-2025-BT-STD-0013.</E> The docket web page contains instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket, as well as a summary of the proposed rulemaking. See section III, “Public Participation,” for further information on how to submit comments through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a summary of this proposed rule may be found at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> under the docket number. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Mr. David Taggart, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC-1, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-5281. Email: <E T="03">DOEGeneralCounsel@hq.doe.gov.</E> 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> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. General Discussion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Review Under Executive Orders 12866</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Review Under Executive Order 13132</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Review Under Executive Order 12988</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Review Under Executive Order 12630</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Review Under Executive Order 13211</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Review Under the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Review Under Additional Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Public Participation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Participation in the Webinar</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Procedure for Submitting Prepared General Statements for Distribution</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Conduct of the Webinar</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Submission of Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Approval of the Office of the Secretary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. General Discussion</HD> DOE is proposing to rescind, in part, the amended energy conservation standards for dehumidifiers, codified in 10 CFR 430.32(v). For dehumidifiers “manufactured on or after October 1, 2012,” Congress has set the energy conservation standards for dehumidifiers at 1.35 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of up to 35.00 pints/day; 1.50 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 35.01-45.00 pints/day; 1.60 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 45.01-54.00 pints/day; 1.70 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of 54.01-75.00 pints/day; and 2.5 liters/kWh for dehumidifiers with a capacity of greater than 75.00 pints/day. DOE, by regulation, has set more stringent requirements. For “Dehumidifiers manufactured on or after June 13, 2019,” DOE has set the conservation standards at 1.30 liters/kWh for portable dehumidifier products with a capacity of 25.00 pints/day or less; 1.60 liters/kWh for portable dehumidifier products with a capacity of 25.01-50.00 pints/day; and 2.80 liters/kWh for portable dehumidifier products with a capacity of 50.01 or more pints/day. DOE proposes to rescind the regulatory energy conservation standards for dehumidifier products manufactured on or after June 13, 2019, and seeks comment on all aspects of that proposal. The rescission will return the energy conservation standards to those in 42 U.S.C. 6295(cc)(2). DOE is proposing to rescind these regulations for multiple independent reasons, including but not limited to the following. The Secretary has tentatively determined that the current regulatory standard is not economically justifiable. Additionally, the Secretary is proposing a new policy to reduce regulatory burden wherever possible. Unless a regulatory standard is required by statute, the Secretary proposes eliminating that requirement. The standard for whole-home dehumidifiers is required by 42 U.S.C. 6295(q), which provides for different levels of energy use for products that are within a class but have a different capacity or other-performance-related feature justifying a deviation from the standard applicable to other products in the class. Here, for non-whole-home dehumidifiers, the regulatory standard is not required. DOE's new policy would support energy abundance, allowing Americans to produce and consume as much energy as they desire. The Secretary has also tentatively determined that the anti-backsliding provision in section 6295(o)(1) does not prohibit a reconsideration of the regulatory standard. That section only applies to “covered products.” See 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(1). Covered products are explicitly defined in the statute as “a consumer product of a type specified in section 6292 of this title.” 42 U.S.C. 6291(2). Section 6292 then lists 19 specific products and a catchall provision for any product the Secretary determines coverage is necessary. Dehumidifiers are not among the first 19 products explicitly listed in that definition. And the Secretary has not determined that coverage is necessary. Therefore, section 6295(o)(1) does not apply. These proposed rescissions are not designed to achieve a maximum reduction in energy efficiency or use because the Secretary has tentatively determined that the portions of the current regulations that deviate from section 6295 are unlawful, that they are not economically justified, and that they are inconsistent with t ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 35k characters. 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