[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 84 (Friday, April 30, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23699-23700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9830]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
10 CFR Part 430
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products and Commercial
and Industrial Equipment
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE or Department) will hold an
informal public meeting to discuss the priorities of the existing
program and any possible expansion of the scope of the program to
include additional consumer products and commercial and industrial
equipment for either standards or voluntary programs. The Department is
interested in receiving suggestions on the criteria, data, and analysis
methods it should use to reach decisions on these issues, and comments
on the FY 2005 Preliminary Priority-Setting Summary Report and Actions
Proposed which includes data sheets for potential new products, revised
data sheets for existing products, the FY 2005 Technical Support
Document (TSD), and actions proposed.
DATES: The Department will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, June 9,
2004, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please submit written comments by Friday,
July 9, 2004.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Energy,
Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. (Please note that foreign nationals visiting DOE
headquarters are subject to advance security screening procedures. If
you are a foreign national and wish to participate in the meeting,
please inform DOE of this fact as soon as possible by contacting Ms.
Brenda Edwards-Jones at (202) 586-2945 to complete the necessary
procedures.)
The Department placed on the DOE Web site at http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/ the FY 2005
Preliminary Priority-Setting Summary Report and Actions Proposed
containing the new data sheets, the FY 2005 TSD, and a letter
discussing the proposed prioritization for FY 2005 which lists the
priority for standards and test procedure rulemakings for products that
are currently mandated by statute and possible new products that have
been identified by various stakeholders or included in proposed
legislation.
Written comments are welcome, especially following the meeting. The
Department will accept comments, data, and information regarding this
priority-setting no later than the date provided in the DATES section.
You may submit comments, identified for the FY 2005 Appliance
Standards Prioritization, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]. Include
FY 2005 Appliance Standards Prioritization in the subject line of the
message.
Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department
of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, FY 2005
Appliance Standards Prioritization, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-2945. Please submit
one signed paper original.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones,
U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Room 1J-018,
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20585.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and reference the FY 2005 Appliance Standards Prioritization. Submit
electronic comments in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or text
(ASCII) format file; avoid the use of special characters or any form of
encryption; and, wherever possible, include the electronic signature of
the author. If you don't include an electronic signature, you must
authenticate comments by thereafter submitting the signed original
paper document. No telefacsimiles (telefaxes) will be accepted.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, 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-
9127, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. 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: Barbara Twigg, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EE-2J, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-9611, e-
mail: [email protected]; or Francine Pinto, Esq., or Thomas
DePriest, Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel,
GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-
9507, e-mail: [email protected], or [email protected],
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In May 2001, the National Energy Policy
Development Group reported a National
[[Page 23700]]
Energy Policy (NEP) to the President. One of the NEP's recommendations
called for the President to direct the Secretary of Energy to take
steps to improve the energy efficiency of appliances. The
recommendation included supporting the existing appliance standards
program, setting higher standards where technologically feasible and
economically justified, and expanding the scope of the program to
include additional consumer products and commercial and industrial
equipment where technologically feasible and economically justified.
The Department reevaluates program priorities on an annual basis.
On October 1, 2003, DOE completed and distributed the Fiscal Year 2004
priorities based on stakeholder comments regarding priorities drawn
from appliance energy data sheets updated from the original FY 2003
Priority-Setting Summary Report and Actions Proposed, dated August 22,
2002. This year, the Department has conducted a more comprehensive
updating of the FY 2003 report and has posted the new report, FY 2005
Preliminary Priority-Setting Summary Report and Actions Proposed, on
its website for stakeholder comment. This includes draft data sheets on
potential new covered products. The Department requests comments on
these new products.
The June 9, 2004, public meeting will provide an opportunity to
discuss the Department's draft priorities for FY 2005, the new and
revised data sheets which support those draft priorities, potential new
covered products, and the factors, data, and analysis methods that DOE
uses, or might use in its decision-making process. The Department will
consider these comments as it determines which products do not merit
further consideration at this time for either a standard or a voluntary
program, and as DOE assigns existing and new products a priority
ranking. Prioritization will by necessity reflect funding and staffing
constraints which limit how many rulemakings DOE can pursue.
The meeting will be conducted in an informal, conference style.
There will not be any discussion of proprietary information, costs or
prices, market shares, or other commercial matters regulated by the
U.S. antitrust laws.
After the meeting and expiration of the period for submitting
written statements, the Department will consider the comments received.
If you would like to participate in the meeting or be added to the
DOE mailing list to receive future notices and information regarding
the energy conservation program for consumer products and commercial
and industrial equipment, please contact Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones at
(202) 586-2945.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2004.
Douglas L. Faulkner,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy.
[FR Doc. 04-9830 Filed 4-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P