[Federal Register: August 22, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 162)]
[Notices]
[Page 48913-48916]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22au06-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
[Docket No. EERE-BT-2006-WAV-0139]
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Publication of
the Petition for Waiver and Granting of the Application for Interim
Waiver of Whirlpool Corporation From the DOE Residential Automatic and
Semi-Automatic Clothes Washer Test Procedures
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Petition for Waiver, granting of application for
interim waiver, and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Today's notice publishes a Petition for Waiver from Whirlpool
Corporation. This Petition for Waiver (hereafter ``Whirlpool
Petition'') requests the Department to modify the clothes washer test
procedure for the Whirlpool High Impeller line of clothes washers with
basket volumes greater than 3.8 cubic feet and less than 3.9 cubic
feet. The Department of Energy (hereafter ``Department'' or ``DOE'') is
soliciting comments, data and information with respect to the Whirlpool
Petition.
Today's notice also grants an Interim Waiver to Whirlpool from the
existing DOE automatic and semi-automatic clothes washer test procedure
for the company's High Impeller line of clothes washers with basket
volumes greater than 3.8 cubic feet and less than 3.9 cubic feet.
DATES: The Department will accept comments, data and information
regarding this Petition for Waiver until, but no later September 21,
2006.
ADDRESSES: Please submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-BT-
2006-WAV-0139, by any of the following methods:
Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of Energy,
Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202)
586-2945. Please submit one signed original paper copy.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S.
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Room 1J-018,
Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585.
E-mail: bryan.berringer@ee.doe.gov. Include either the
docket number EERE-
[[Page 48914]]
BT-2006-WAV-0139 and/or ``Whirlpool Petition'' in the subject line of
the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this proceeding. Submit electronic comments in
WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or text (ASCII) file format and avoid
the use of special characters or any form of encryption. Wherever
possible, include the electronic signature of the author. Absent an
electronic signature, comments submitted electronically must be
followed and authenticated by submitting the signed original paper
document. The Department does not accept telefacsimiles (faxes). Any
person submitting written comments must also send a copy of such
comments to the petitioner. (10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
430.27(d)) The name and address of the petitioner of today's notice is:
Heather O. West, Director, Government Relations, Whirlpool Corporation,
1200 G Street NW., Suite 828, Washington, DC 20005-3820.
According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that
he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public
disclosure should submit two copies: one copy of the document including
all the information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the
document with the information believed to be confidential deleted. The
Department will make its own determination about the confidential
status of the information and treat it according to its determination.
Docket: For access to the docket to read the background documents
relevant to this matter, go to the U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal
Building, Room 1J-018 (Resource Room of the Building Technologies
Program), 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, (202) 586-
2945, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. Available documents include the following items: this notice;
public comments received; the Petition for Waiver and Application for
Interim Waiver; prior Department rulemakings regarding residential
clothes washer; prior Petitions for Waiver; and prior Decisions and
Orders. Please call Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones at the above telephone
number for additional information regarding visiting the Resource Room.
Please note: The Department's Freedom of Information Reading Room
(formerly Room 1E-190 at the Forrestal Building) is no longer housing
rulemaking materials.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Berringer, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building
Technologies Program, Mail Stop EE-2J, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-0371; e-
mail: bryan.berringer@ee.doe.gov; or Francine B. Pinto, U.S. Department
of Energy, Office of General Counsel, Mail Stop GC-72, Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121,
(202) 586-9507; e-mail: Francine.Pinto@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Authority
II. Application for Interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver
III. Alternate Test Procedure
IV. Summary and Request for Comments
I. Background and Authority
Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) sets
forth a variety of provisions concerning energy efficiency. Part B of
Title III (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309) provides for the ''Energy Conservation
Program for Consumer Products other than Automobiles.'' Today's notice
involves residential products under Part B that provide definitions,
test procedures, labeling provisions, energy conservation standards,
and the authority to require information and reports from
manufacturers. With respect to test procedures, Part B generally
authorizes the Secretary of Energy to prescribe test procedures that
are reasonably designed to produce results which reflect energy
efficiency, energy use and estimated operating costs, and that are not
unduly burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3))
The test procedures for residential products appear at 10 CFR Part
430, Subpart B, Appendix J1. EPCA provides that the Secretary of Energy
may amend test procedures for consumer products if the Secretary
determines that amended test procedures would more accurately reflect
energy efficiency, energy use and estimated operating costs, and are
not unduly burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3))
The Department's regulations contain provisions allowing a person
to seek a waiver from the test procedure requirements for covered
consumer products. These provisions are set forth in 10 CFR 430.27.
The waiver provisions allow the Assistant Secretary for Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (hereafter ``Assistant Secretary'') to
temporarily waive test procedures for a particular basic model when a
petitioner shows that the basic model contains one or more design
characteristics that prevent testing according to the prescribed test
procedures, or when the prescribed test procedures may evaluate the
basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true energy
consumption as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. (10
CFR 430.27 (a)(1)) The Assistant Secretary may grant the waiver subject
to conditions, including adherence to alternate test procedures.
Petitioners are to include in their petition any alternate test
procedures known to evaluate the basic model in a manner representative
of its energy consumption. (10 CFR 430.27(b)(1)(iii)) Waivers generally
remain in effect until final test procedure amendments become
effective, thereby resolving the problem that is the subject of the
waiver.
The waiver process also allows the Assistant Secretary to grant an
Interim Waiver from test procedure requirements to manufacturers that
have petitioned the Department for a waiver of such prescribed test
procedures. (10 CFR 430.27(a)(2)) An Interim Waiver remains in effect
for a period of 180 days or until the Department issues its
determination on the Petition for Waiver, whichever is sooner, and may
be extended for an additional 180 days, if necessary. (10 CFR
430.27(h))
II. Application for Interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver
On November 21, 2005, Whirlpool filed an Application for Interim
Waiver and a Petition for Waiver from the Department of Energy's test
procedures applicable to its residential automatic and semi-automatic
clothes washers. In particular, Whirlpool requested a waiver to test
its High Impeller clothes washers on the basis of the residential test
procedures contained in 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix J1, with
the following values appended to Table 5.1:
[[Page 48915]]
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Container volume Minimum load Maximum load Average load
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(ft3) (liter) (lb) (kg) (lb) (kg) (lb) (kg)
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3.8-3.9 107.6-110.4 3.00 1.36 15.8 7.17 9.4 4.26
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Whirlpool's petition seeks a waiver from the Department's test
procedure because a test load is used within the procedure, and the
mass of this test load is based on the basket volume of the test
specimen, which is currently not defined for the size units cited in
their waiver application. At the time this test procedure was written,
the relation between basket volume and test load mass was defined for
basket volumes between 0 and 3.8 cubic feet. Current market trends have
lead Whirlpool to design a series of clothes washers that contain a
basket volume greater than 3.8 cubic feet, but less than 3.9 cubic
feet.
Table 5.1 of Appendix J1 defines the test load sizes used during
the procedure as linear functions of the basket volume. Whirlpool has
submitted a proposed modification to this table which extends the table
one incremental unit to define a load for clothes washers with a basket
volume between 3.8 cubic feet and 3.9 cubic feet. The minimum, maximum,
and average load factors proposed by Whirlpool in this request are
merely extrapolations of the linear relationships between the load
factors and the basket volume, by one incremental unit.
The Department agrees that the current test procedure does not
define a load level for clothes washers with a basket volume greater
than 3.8 cubic feet. The Department further agrees that since the load
levels are currently defined in a linear manner for basket volumes
between 0.8 cubic feet and 3.8 cubic feet that extrapolating these
linear functions to a basket volume of 3.9 cubic feet is fair and
logical. Thus, it appears likely that the Petition for Waiver will be
granted.
Based on the statements above, the Department of Energy is granting
an Interim Waiver to Whirlpool for its High Impeller line of clothes
washers, pursuant to 10 CFR of Sec. 430.27(g).
Pursuant to 10 CFR Part 430.27(b)(1)(iv), the Department is hereby
publishing the ``Petition for Waiver.'' The Petition contains no
confidential company information. Whirlpool will send a copy of the
Petition for Waiver and a copy of the Application for Interim Waiver to
all known manufacturers of domestically marketed units of the same
product type.
III. Alternate Test Procedure
Manufacturers face restrictions with respect to making
representations about the energy consumption and energy consumption
costs of products covered by EPCA. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c)) Consistent
representations are important for manufacturers to make claims about
the energy efficiency of their products. For example, they are
necessary to determine compliance with state and local energy codes and
regulatory requirements, and can provide valuable consumer purchasing
information. To provide a test procedure from which manufacturers can
make valid representations, the Department is considering setting an
alternate test procedure for Whirlpool in the subsequent Decision and
Order based on the appended values to Table 5.1 of Appendix J1.
Furthermore, if DOE specifies an alternate test procedure for
Whirlpool, DOE may consider applying the alternate test procedure to
similar waivers for residential clothes washers.
IV. Summary and Request for Comments
Today's notice announces a Whirlpool Petition for Waiver and grants
Whirlpool an Interim Waiver from the test procedures applicable to
Whirlpool's High Impeller line of clothes washers with basket volumes
greater than 3.8 cubic feet and less than 3.9 cubic feet. The
Department is publishing the Whirlpool Petition for Waiver in its
entirety. The Petition contains no confidential information.
Furthermore, today's notice includes an alternate test procedure that
the Department is considering including in the subsequent Decision and
Order. This alternate test procedure includes a proposed modification
to Table 5.1 of Appendix J1 adding one incremental unit to define a
load for clothes washers with a basket volume between 3.8 cubic feet
and 3.9 cubic feet.
The Department is interested in receiving comments, data
and information on all aspects of this notice. The Department is
particularly interested in receiving comments and views of interested
parties concerning the proposed alternate test procedure under
consideration for the upcoming Decision and Order for the Whirlpool
Petition.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 14, 2006.
Alexander A. Karsner,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Whirlpool
Administrative Center--2000 M63--Mail Drop 3005--Benton Harbor, MI
49022
November 21, 2005.
Douglas Faulker,
Acting Assistant Secretary,
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
U.S. Department of Energy, EE-2J,
1000 Independence Ave., SW,
Washington, DC 20585-0121.
RE: Waiver of Test Procedure for 10CFR430, Subpart B, Appendix J1.
Dear Assistant Secretary Faulkner: Whirlpool Corporation
requests a waiver of the test procedure for a basket volume greater
than 3.8 cubic feet. Currently, the test procedure provides
allowable load levels for basket volumes less than 3.8 cubic feet.
Whirlpool (and most likely other manufacturers as well) is designing
clothes washers with larger basket volumes. Whirlpool Corporation
requests that, for the models specified below, it be allowed to use
the corresponding load levels shown in the table below. These load
levels were obtained by extrapolating from the existing volumes and
load levels in Table 5.1 of Appendix J1.
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Basket Basket
Model No. Description volume volume AVG load Min load Max load
(=>) (<) (lbs) (lbs) (lbs)
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27082600 PC 580 KEN D = Test High Impeller 3.8 3.9 9.4 3.0 15.8
Sell Model. White.
27086600 PC 580 KEN D........... High Impeller 3.8 3.9 9.4 3.0 15.8
Graphite.
27087600 PC 580 KEN D........... High Impeller 3.8 3.9 9.4 3.0 15.8
Pacific Blue.
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[[Page 48916]]
Please contact me at 202-434-8990 with your opinion on this
waiver request. Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
CC: Bryan Berringer--DOE
Mike McCabe--DOE
Ron Lewis--DOE
David Rodgers--DOE
Heather O. West, Director, Government Relations, 1200 G Street, NW.,
Suite 828, Washington, DC 20005-3820, Phone: (202) 434-8990, Fax:
(202) 434-8991.
[FR Doc. E6-13853 Filed 8-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P