Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 13 / Wednesday, January 21, 1998 / Proposed Rules 3053

(DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

!Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy

10 CFR Part 430

Energy Efficiency Test Procedures for

Distribution Transformers

[Docket Number EE-DET-97-550]

RIN 1904-AA85

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION : Notice of public workshop.

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy

(DOE) will hold an informal public

workshop to discuss issues and gather

information related to test procedures

for electric distribution transformers.

All persons are hereby given notice of

the opportunity to attend this public

workshop and to submit written

comments.

DATES: The public workshop will be

held on Tuesday, February 10, 1998,

from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held

at the U.S. Department of Energy,

Forrestal Building, Room 1E-245, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585.

Written comments are welcome,

especially following the workshop.

Please submit 10 copies (no faxes) to:

Ms. Kathi Epping, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, "Energy

Conservation Program for Consumer

Products: Test Procedures for

Distribution Transformers, Docket No.

EE-DET-97-550," EE-43, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585-0121.

Telephone: (202) 586-7425; Telefax:

(202) 586-4617.

Copies of the transcript of the public

workshop, public comments received,

and this notice may be read (or copied)

at the Freedom of Information Reading

Room, U.S. Department of Energy,

Forrestal Building, Room 1E-190, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-7574,

between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathi Epping, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, EE-43, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-

7425, email: Kathi.Epping@hq.doe.gov,

or Edward Levy, Esq., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-

9507, email: Edward.Levy@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 22, 1997, the Secretary

determined, based on the best

information currently available, that

energy conservation standards for

electric distribution transformers are

technologically feasible, economically

justified, and would result in a

significant energy savings. This

determination initiated the process of

establishing, by notice and comment

rulemaking, test procedures and energy

conservation standards for this product.

The Department of Energy is drafting

a proposed rule to implement the

provisions of the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, 42 U.S.C. 6317, for

test procedures for distribution

transformers. However, several issues

have been raised. The purpose of the

public workshop is to discuss the

following issues for developing the

notice of proposed rulemaking:

a. Adoption of national and

international consensus standards in the

test procedures for determining energy

efficiency of distribution transformers;

b. Burden imposed on industry,

especially on manufacturers, by

additional testing and data processing;

c. The definition of "basic model" for

distribution transformers;

d. Sampling plan for units to be

tested;

e. Selection of a measure of energy

consumption for distribution

transformers;

f. Selecting reference temperaturesthe reference temperatures in the

consensus standards lack uniformity;

g. Requirement for applying

corrections to measurement data of both

liquid-immersed and dry-types of

transformers; and

h. Requirement for quality assurance

in testing.

The Department has prepared a paper

entitled "Issues Paper for the

Distribution Transformers Test

Procedures Workshop on February 10,

1998" that explains and discusses- these

EE-DET-97-550 COMMENT 01B
3054 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 13 / Wednesday, January 21, 1998 / Proposed Rules

issues in greater detail. For many of the

issues, the paper sets forth approaches

that the Department is considering and

may propose in the notice of proposed

rulemaking (NOPR). In addition, the

National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST) has prepared a draft

set of test procedures for transformers,

and the Department is considering these

as well in preparing the NOPR. Copies

of the issues paper and the NIST draft

are available upon request.

The Department is particularly

interested in receiving at the workshop

comments and views of interested

parties concerning (1) the above-listed

issues, (2) the approaches the

Department is considering for

addressing these issues, (3) the NIST

draft of test procedures, and (4) possible

alternatives to the approaches the

Department is considering and to the

provisions in NIST's draft test

procedures. The Department encourages

those who wish to participate in the

workshop to obtain the issue paper and

the NIST draft, and to make

presentations that address their

contents. Workshop participants need

not limit their statements to those

topics, however. The Department is

interested in receiving views concerning

other issues that participants believe

would affect the content of distribution

transformer test procedures.

The meeting will be conducted in an

informal, conference style. A court

reporter will be present to record the

minutes of the meeting. There shall be

no discussion of proprietary

information, costs or prices, market

shares, or other commercial matters

regulated by antitrust law. After the

meeting and a period for written

statements, the Department will

consider the views presented in

formulating a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking regarding energy efficiency

test procedures for distribution

transformers.

If you would like to participate in the

workshop, to receive workshop

materials, or to be added to the DOE

mailing list to receive future notices and

information regarding distribution

transformers, please contact Ms. Brenda

EdwardsJones at (202) 586-2945.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 14,

1998.

Dan W. Reicher,

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 98-1370 Filed 1-20-98; 8:45 am]

BIU.IN CODE 6450-01-P

EE-DET-97-550 COMMENT 01B