. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/USA/708 
12 June 2012  
 (12-3096) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Office of Energy Efficiency  and Renewable Energy (OEERE), 
Department of  Energy (DOE) (725) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :    
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Showerheads, faucets, 
water closets, urinals and comm ercial prerinse spray valves  (ICS 13.020, 23.060, 91.140) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Energy Conservation 
Program for Consumer Products  and Certain Commercial and Industrial Equipment: Test 
Procedures for Showerheads, Faucets, Water Closets, Urinals, and Commercial Prerinse Spray Valves (15 pages,  in English).     
6. Description of content:  In this notice of proposed rulema king (NOPR), the U.S. Department 
of Energy (DOE) proposes to update its test procedures for showerheads, faucets, water 
closets, and urinals. Specific ally, DOE proposes to incorporat e by reference the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers/American  National Standards Institute (ASME/ANSI) 
Standard A112.18.1-2011 test procedure for fa ucets and showerheads,  which would replace 
the 1996 version currently referenced by DOE in  its test procedure. DOE also proposes to 
incorporate by reference ASME/ANSI Standard  A112.19.2-2008 procedure for water closets 
and urinals, which would replace the 1995 versio n currently referenced by DOE in its test 
procedure. These updates fulf ill DOE's obligation under the Energy Policy and Conservation 
Act (EPCA) to review its test procedures for covered products at least once every 7 years and 
either amend the applicable test  procedures or publish a determin ation in the Federal Register 
not to amend them. DOE also expects that inco rporation of the updated procedures will bring 
DOE's testing requirements more closely in lin e with current industry practices, reduce the 
burden associated with testing and reporting test results for these products, and improve the 
accuracy of test results. 
For commercial prerinse spray valves, DOE has pr eliminarily determined that no changes are 
needed to the existing DOE test procedure in order to accurately measure the water 
consumption of these products, a nd proposes to retain the exis ting procedure without change.  G/TBT/N/USA/708 
Page 2  
 
  However, since the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) reapproved this 
standard in 2009 as F2324-03 (2009), DOE is propo sing to incorporate by reference this most 
recent version. This action would also satisf y the EPCA requirement for DOE to review the 
test procedures for these products at least once every 7 years. 
This notice also announces a public meeting to receive comments on these proposed 
amendments to the test procedures. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of the environment and consumers.  
8. Relevant documents:   77 Federal Register (FR) 31742, 30 May 2012; Title 10 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 429, 430 and 431. Will appear in the Federal Register when 
adopted.   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   } To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:  13 August 2012 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addres ses, if available of the other body:    
Internet URLs: 
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ FR-2012-05-30/html/2012-12919.htm  
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-30/pdf/2012-12919.pdf