Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Central Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 429</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EERE-2022-BT-TP-0028]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1904-AF49</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Central 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 and request for comment. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to delay the applicability of certain product-specific enforcement provisions related to the controls verification procedure established in a recently published final rule amending the test procedures for central air conditioners and heat pumps. DOE is seeking comment from interested parties on the proposal. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this proposal no later than June 30, 2025. <E T="03">See</E> section IV of this document, “Submission of Comments,” for details. </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-2022-BT-TP-0028. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested persons may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2022-BT-TP-0028, by any of the following methods: (1) <E T="03">Email: CACandHeatPump2022TP0028@ee.doe.gov.</E> Include the docket number EERE-2022-BT-TP-0028 in the subject line of the message. (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, <E T="03">see</E> section IV of this document. <E T="03">Docket:</E> The docket for this activity, which includes <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts (if a public meeting is held), 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-TP-0028.</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> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Ms. Julia Hegarty, 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: (240) 255-0630. Email: <E T="03">ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov.</E> Mr. Pete Cochran, 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">peter.cochran@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 and Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Discussion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Summary of Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Conclusion and Proposal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Submission of Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Approval of the Office of the Secretary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Authority and Background</HD> The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Public Law 94-163, as amended (EPCA), <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> authorizes 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 B of EPCA  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles, which sets forth a variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. Central air conditioners (CACs) and central air conditioning heat pumps (HPs) (collectively, CAC/HPs) are included in the list of “covered products” for which DOE is authorized to establish and amend energy conservation standards and test procedures. (42 U.S.C. 6292 (a)(3)) DOE's currently applicable test procedure for CAC/HPs is prescribed at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix M1 (appendix M1). <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 B was redesignated Part A. </FTNT> On January 7, 2025, DOE published a final rule amending the Federal test procedure for CAC/HPs (January 2025 Final Rule). 90 FR 1224. The January 2025 Final Rule amended the currently applicable test procedure at appendix M1 and also established a new test procedure at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix M2 (“appendix M2”), the use of which would be required beginning on the compliance date of any future amended standards for CAC/HPs based on the new efficiency metrics established in appendix M2. <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1284. Additionally, the January 2025 Final Rule established enforcement provisions related to the use of a controls verification procedure (CVP), to be conducted per industry standards AHRI 210/240-2024 and AHRI 1600-2024, for the purposes of assessment and enforcement testing of CAC/HPs. <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1255-1265. On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued the “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” memorandum, which was published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on January 25, 2025. 90 FR 8249. This presidential action ordered all executive departments and agencies to consider postponing for 60 days from the date of the Presidential Memorandum the effective date of certain rules published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise. Additionally, executive departments and agencies were to consider opening a comment period to allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law, and policy raised by the rules postponed under the memorandum. Consistent with the “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025, DOE delayed the effective date of the January 2025 Final Rule to March 21, 2025 (February 2025 delay of effective date). 90 FR 9001 (Feb. 5, 2025). DOE also requested comments on the impacts of a further delay of the test procedures as well as legal, factual, or policy issues raised by the rule. DOE received comments in response to the February 2025 delay of effective date from the interested parties listed in Table I.1. <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s150,r50,12,r50"> <TTITLE>Table I.1—List of Commenters With Written Submissions in Response to the February 2025 Delay of Effective Date Notice</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Commenter(s)</CHED> <CHED H="1">Reference in this NOPR</CHED> <CHED H="1">Comment No. in the docket</CHED> <CHED H="1">Commenter type</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute</ENT> <ENT>AHRI</ENT> <ENT>48</ENT> <ENT>Trade Association.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Bosch Home Comfort</ENT> <ENT>Bosch</ENT> <ENT>51</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison; collectively, the California Investor-Owned Utilities</ENT> <ENT>CA IOUs</ENT> <ENT>56</ENT> <ENT>Utilities.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Carrier Global Corporation</ENT> <ENT>Carrier</ENT> <ENT>45</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Daikin Comfort Technologies North America Inc</ENT> <ENT>Daikin</ENT> <ENT>57</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Fujitsu General America, Inc</ENT> <ENT>FGAI</ENT> <ENT>59</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">GE Appliances</ENT> <ENT>GE Appliances</ENT> <ENT>50</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Johnson Controls</ENT> <ENT>JCI</ENT> <ENT>52</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Appliance Standards Awareness Project, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and National Consumer Law Center</ENT> <ENT>Joint Advocates</ENT> <ENT>55</ENT> <ENT>Advocacy Organizations.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Lennox International Inc</ENT> <ENT>Lennox</ENT> <ENT>46</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc</ENT> <ENT>LG</ENT> <ENT>54</ENT> <ENT>Manufacturer.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc</ENT> <ENT>Mitsubishi</ENT> <ENT>47</ENT> <ENT>Manufa ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 26k characters. 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