CE-CP-SPRM-NY001-STD-0023 COMMENT 16

CONSERVATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY 

Opening Remarks 

STATE PETITIONS FOR EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR 

CLOTHES DRYERS AND KITCHEN RANGES AND OVENS 

Docket Number CE-CP-SPRM 

Washington, D.C. 

September 30, 1983 

Good morning and welcome. I am Michael McCabe, Acting 

Chief of the Test and Evaluation Branch, and I would like to 

take this opportunity to extend, on behalf of the Department of 

Energy, our thanks to you for taking time to participate in this 

public hearing. 

As you know, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as 

amended by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, requires 

that the Department of Energy prescribe energy efficiency standards 

for thirteen (13) types of appliances, including clothes dryers 

and kitchen ranges and ovens. 

On December 22, 1982 a Final Rule was published in the 

Federal ister with respect to clothes dryers and kitchen 

ranges and ovens in which DOE determined that a Federal energy 

efficiency standard was not justified for either of these products. 

In that notice, DOE also set forth procedures by which 

States may obtain exemption for State, or local efficiency 

standards that are statutorily preempted as a result of a final 

rule with respect to appliance energy efficiency standards. 

Following the December 22, 1982 Final Rule, DOE received petitions 

from five (5) states, California, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin 

and Oregon, requesting that their State Energy Efficiency Standards 
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requiring intermittent ignitlon devices for clothes dryers 

and/or kitchen ranges and ovens be exempted from Federal preemption. 

On August 1, 1983, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was 

published in the Federal ister in which DOE proposed to grant 

each State's petition. 

In that notice, it was announced that public hearings would 

be held in each of the five (5) states and Washington, D.C. in 

accordance with Section 336(A) of the Act which pertains to 

administrative procedures for the Energy Conservation Program 

for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles. The hearings 

scheduled for Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland and New York 

City were cancelled due to the few requests to speak that were 

received. A representative of the State of Minnesota presented 

a statement at the Wisconsin hearing. 

The purpose of today's hearing is to receive oral testimony 

from the public on the proposed rule to grant the State petitions 

for exemption from Federal preemption. The Department of Energy 

is particularly interested in comments relating to the need for 

the State standard and the impact of the State standard on 

interstate competition. 

A complete transcript of this hearing will be available for 

inspection at the Department of Energy's Freedom of Information 

Office, and anyone wishing to purchase a copy of the transcript 

may make arrangements with the court reporter. 

Joining me today is Eugene Margolis, Counsel for the program. 
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Before we turn to our first speaker this morning, I, as the 

presiding official of this hearing, would like to set forth the 

guidelines for conducting this hearing. 

This will not be an "evidentiary" or "judicial" type of 

hearing. It will be conducted in accordance with Section 335 of 

Title 5, United States Code. 

Initially, questions may be asked only by the members of 

the panel conducting the hearing. 

However, any person wishing to direct a question to a 

speaker in regard to his testimony at this hearing may submit 

the question in writing at the Registration desk. 

The presiding official will determine whether the question 

is relevant and whether time limitations permit it to be presented 

to the person to whom it is addressed for an answer. 

If the question is allowed, it will be asked by the presiding 

official. 

To provide the Department of Energy with as much pertinent 

information and as many views as can reasonably be obtained, and 

to provide interested persons with equitable opportunities to 

express their views, the hearing will be conducted in accordance 

with the following procedures: 

First, speakers will be called to testify based upon a list 

of those people who, in response to this notice of this hearing, 

have been scheduled to present oral statements. 

Second, the speakers have been allotted 20 minutes for 

their oral statements. 
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Third, if time allows, after all scheduled speakers have 

delivered their statements, time will be provided for anyone who 

wishes to make a three-minute unscheduled oral statement. 

Fourth, at the conclusion of all oral presentations, each 

speaker will be given the opportunity to make a rebuttal statement. 

Rebuttal statements may be as long as five minutes each, time 

permitting, and will be called for in the order in which the 

initial statements were made. 

Fifth, as stated earlier, a transcript of the hearing will 

be retained by the Department of Energy and made available for 

inspection at the Freedom of Information Reading Room. 

In addition, any speakers or any other interested person 

may submit written data or statements. Ten (10) copies should 

be addressed to the Office of Hearings and Dockets, Conservation 

and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy, Mail Stop 6B-070, 

Room 6B-025, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 

20585. Labeled on the envelope: "Energy Efficiency Standards 

for Consumer Products, Docket Number CE-CP-SPRM and the appropriate 

State Code. 

Any person submitting information which he or she believes 

to be confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure 

should submit to that same address one complete copy and 10 

copies from which information claimed to be confidential has 

been deleted. 

In accordance with the procedures established at 10 CFR 

1004.11, the Department of Energy shall make its own determination 
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as to whether or not the information shall be exempt from public 

disclosure. 

The close of the written comment period is 4:00 p.m., 

Monday, October 17, 1983. All comments received prior to that 

time on the proposal will be considered to the fullest possible 

extent in developing the final rule. All comments received will 

be available for public inspection at the DOE Freedom of Information 

Reading Room at Room lE-190 of the Forrestal Building in Washington, 

DC. 

We appreciate the time and effort you have contributed in 

these presentations and are pleased to have your comments and 

opinions. 

At this time, I would like to call the first speaker to 

make his oral presentation.