G/TBT/N/USA/974/Add.4  
 
28 September 2016  
(16-5161) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
Addendum  
The following communication, dated 27 September 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation  of the United States of America . 
 
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TITLE: Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Resid ential Furnaces  
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.  
ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR) and announcement of public 
meeting.  
SUMMARY: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), a s amended, prescribes 
energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and 
industrial equipment, including residential furnaces. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) to periodically determine whether more -stringent, amended standards would be 
technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. 
On 12 March 2015, DOE published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NOPR), in which DOE proposed  amendments to the energy conservation standards for residential 
non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces. In response to the NOPR, DOE 
received comment expressing concern regarding DOE's proposed approach and encouraging the 
Department to  examine establishing a separate product class for small furnaces. In response, DOE 
published a notice of data availability (NODA) in the Federal Register on 14 September 2015 that 
contained an analysis of a potential product class for small non -weatherize d gas furnaces. In this 
supplemental notice of rulemaking (SNOPR), DOE responds to comments received on the NOPR 
and NODA and is making a modified proposal regarding amended energy conservation standards 
for the subject residential furnaces (including a se parate small furnaces product class), which 
supersedes DOE's earlier proposal, as set forth in the 12 March 2015 NOPR. The notice also 
requests comment on the SNOPR's proposed standards and associated analyses and results. The 
SNOPR also proposes clarifica tions to the certification and reporting requirements of standby mode 
and off mode values for non -weatherized oil furnaces (including mobile home oil furnaces) and 
electric furnaces, to provide direction on the rounding of standby mode and off mode values,  
generally, and to clarify the level of precision for the furnace and boiler standards.  
Comments: DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this supplemental notice 
of proposed rulemaking before and after the public meeting, but no later th an 22 November 2016. 
See section VII, "Public Participation," for details.  
Comments regarding the likely competitive impact of the proposed standards should be sent to the 
Department of Justice contact listed in the ADDRESSES section before 22 November 20 16.  
Meeting: DOE will hold a public meeting on 17 October 2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., in 
Washington, DC. The meeting will also be broadcast as a webinar. See section VII, "Public 
Participation," for webinar registration information, participant ins tructions, and information about 
the capabilities available to webinar participants . 
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2016/TBT/USA/16_4029_00_e.pdf   
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