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and interest under the terms and 

conditions of the Loan Guarantee 

Agreement. 

X. Default/Audit 

As required by sections 1702(g)(1)(A) 

and 1702(i)(1) of the Act, DOE in the 

near future will issue regulations 

pertaining to default and audit 

requirements that will apply to any loan 

guarantee issued, and Loan Agreement 

executed, by DOE. 

[FR Doc. E6–13268 Filed 8–11–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

[Docket ID: ERRE–BT–2006–WAV–0140] 

Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer Products: Publication of the 

Petition for Waiver of Peerless Boilers 

Heat, LLC From the Department of 

Energy Residential Furnace and Boiler 

Test Procedures 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of Petition for Waiver 

and request for comments. 

SUMMARY: Today’s notice publishes a 

Petition for Waiver from Peerless Boilers 

Heat, LLC (PB). This petition (hereafter 

‘‘PB Petition’’) request a waiver from the 

Department of Energy’s (hereafter 

‘‘Department’’ or ‘‘DOE’’) test 

procedures for residential furnaces and 

boilers. Today’s notice also includes an 

alternate test procedure PB has 

requested DOE to include in the 

Decision and Order, should the 

Department grant PB a waiver. The 

Department is soliciting comments, 

data, and information with respect to 

the PB Petition and the proposed 

alternate test procedure. 

DATES: The Department will accept 

comments, data, and information 

regarding this Petition for Waiver until, 

but no later than September 13, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit comments, 

identified by Docket ID number: EERE–

BT–2006–WAV–0140, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, Building Technologies Program, 

Mailstop EE–2J, Forrestal Building, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–2945. Please 

submit one signed original paper copy. 

• Hand Deliver/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Room 1J–018, 

Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585–

0121. 

• E-mail: PBPetitiion@ee.doe.gov. 

Include either the Docket ID number: 

EERE–BT–2006–WAV–0140, and/or 

‘‘PB Petition’’ in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and case 

number for this proceeding. Submit 

electronic comments in Microsoft Word, 

WordPerfect, PDF, or text (ASCII) file 

format and avoid the use of special 

characters or any form of encryption. 

Wherever possible, include the 

electronic signature of the author. 

Absent an electronic signature, 

comments should electronically must be 

followed and authenticated by 

submitting the signed original paper 

document. The Department does not 

accept telefacsimiles (faxes). Any person 

submitting written comments must also 

send a copy of such comments to the 

petitioner. (10 CFR 430.27(b)(1)(iv)). 

The contact information for the 

petitioner in today’s notice is: Mr. 

Jeffrey K. Alexander, Vice President, PB 

Heat, LLC, 9th & Rothermel Drive, P.O. 

Box 447, New Berlinville, PA 19545–

0477. 

According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 

person submitting information that he 

or she believes to be confidential and 

exempt by law from public disclosure 

should submit two copies: One copy of 

the document including all the 

information believed to be confidential, 

and one copy of the document with the 

information believed to be confidential 

deleted. The Department will make its 

own determination about the 

confidential status of the information 

and treat it according to its 

determination. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read the background comments relevant 

to this matter, 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 20585–0121, (202) 586–

2945, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. Available documents include 

the following items: This notice, public 

comments received, the PB Petition, and 

prior Department rulemakings regarding 

residential furnace and boilers. Please 

call Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones at the 

above telephone number for additional 

information regarding visiting the 

Resource Room. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mohammed Khan, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mail Stop EE–2J, 

Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585–

0121, (202) 586–9611; E-mail: 

Mohammed.Khan@ee.doe.gov; or 

Thomas DePriest, Esq., U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of General Counsel, 

Mail Stop GC–72, Forrestal Building, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121, 

(202) 586–9507; E-mail: 

Thomas.DePriest@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Authority 

II. Petition for Waiver 

III. Alternate Test Procedure 

IV. Summary and Request for Comments 

I. Background and Authority 

Title III of the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (EPCA) sets forth a 

variety of provisions concerning energy 

efficiency. Part B of Title III (42 U.S.C. 

6291–6309) provides for the ‘‘Energy 

Conservation Program for Consumer 

Products other than Automobiles.’’ It 

specifically provides for definitions, test 

procedures, labeling provisions, energy 

conservation standards, and the 

authority to require information and 

reports from manufacturers. With 

respect to test procedures, Part B 

generally authorizes the Secretary of 

Energy to prescribe test procedures that 

are reasonably designed to produce 

results which reflect energy efficiency, 

energy use and estimated operating 

costs, and that are not unduly 

burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 

6293(b)(3)) EPCA provides that the 

Secretary of Energy may amend test 

procedures for consumer products if the 

Secretary determines that amended test 

procedures would more accurately 

reflect energy efficiency, energy use and 

estimated operating costs, and that they 

are not unduly burdensome to conduct. 

(42 U.S.C. 6293(b)) 

Today’s notice involves residential 

products covered under Part B. The PB 

Petition requests a waiver from the 

residential furnace and boiler test 

procedures for PB’s PO–50, PO–60, PO–

63 and PO–73 models of oil-fired 

boilers. The test procedures for 

residential furnaces and boilers appear 

at 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, 

Appendix N. 

The Department’s regulations contain 

provisions allowing a person to seek a 


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waiver from the test procedure 

requirements for covered consumer 

products (10 CFR 430.27). The waiver 

provisions allow the Assistant Secretary 

for Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (hereafter ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) 

to temporarily waive test procedures for 

a particular basic model when a 

petitioner shows that the basic model 

contains one or more design 

characteristics that prevent testing 

according to the prescribed test 

procedures, or when the prescribed test 

procedures may evaluate the basic 

model in a manner so unrepresentative 

of its true energy consumption as to 

provide materially inaccurate 

comparative data. (10 CFR 430.27(a)(1)) 

The Assistant Secretary may grant the 

waiver subject to conditions, including 

adherence to alternate test procedures. 

Petitioners are to include in their 

petition any alternate test procedures 

known to evaluate the basic model in a 

manner representative of its energy 

consumption. (10 CFR 430.27(b)(1)(iii)) 

Waivers generally remain in effect until 

final test procedure amendments 

become effective, thereby resolving the 

problem that is the subject of the 

waiver. 

The waiver process also allows the 

Assistant Secretary to grant an Interim 

Waiver from test procedure 

requirements to manufacturers that have 

petitioned the Department for a waiver 

of such prescribed test procedures. (10 

CFR 430.27(a)(2)) An Interim Waiver 

remains in effect for a period of 180 

days or until the Department issues its 

determination on the Petition for 

Waiver, whichever is sooner, and may 

be extended for an additional 180 days, 

if necessary. (10 CFR 430.27(h)) 

II. Petition for Waiver 

On March 27, 2006, PB filed a Petition 

for Waiver from the test procedures 

applicable to its residential oil-fired 

boilers. PB seeks a waiver from the 

applicable test procedures for its PO–50, 

PO–60, PO–63 and PO–73 models of oilfired boilers on the grounds that the 

prescribed test procedures may result in 

an evaluation of the basic model that is 

unrepresentative of its true energy 

consumption characteristics. 

Modern residential boilers are 

typically used with either baseboard 

convector or radiant floor heating 

systems, and these heating systems 

circulate water in a closed-loop fashion. 

Originating at the boiler, headed water 

is pumped to the convectors or radiant 

floor coils. As the water passes through 

the convectors or floor coils, heat is 

extracted and the water is cooled. The 

heated water from the boiler is termed 

‘‘supply water’’ and the cooled water is 

termed ‘‘return water’’. With any given 

system, the return water temperature is 

directly proportional to the supply 

water temperature which can be set at 

the boiler. The return water temperature 

is also a function of a home’s heating 

load and the effectiveness of convector 

or floor coil system. Different water 

temperatures are also seen with 

different systems (and control features); 

the return and supply water 

temperatures are lower for radiant floor 

heating systems compared to convector 

systems. The DOE test procedures 

specifies certain supply and return 

temperatures for boiler efficiency 

testing. These temperature 

specifications, according to PB, do not 

suitably match the expected 

performance characteristics of the 

subject boiler units. 

In particular, PB claims that one of 

the test conditions (i.e., return water 

temperature) in the DOE test procedures 

is not representative of what would 

occur with radiant floor heating systems 

and for boilers equipped with outdoor 

reset controls. The PB Petition requests 

that DOE grant a waiver from existing 

test procedures and allow the use of an 

alternate test procedure. In its petition, 

PB requests use of the American Society 

of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 

Standard 103–2003 Public Review Draft, 

‘‘Determination of Boiler Performance 

for Low Water Temperature 

Applications’’ (hereafter ‘‘draft ASHRAE 

Standard 103–2003’’). 

Pending public comment, it is not 

clear if DOE would grant PB a waiver in 

the Decision and Order. PB seeks a 

waiver of the temperature requirements 

for return water in the applicable test 

procedure on the grounds that the 

prescribed test procedures may result in 

an evaluation of the basic model that is 

unrepresentative of its true energy 

consumption characteristics. PB also 

requests permission to use an alternate 

test procedure, draft ASHRAE Standard 

103–2003, which specifies lower test 

temperatures that the DOE test 

procedure requires. PB claims boilers 

for which it seeks a test procedure 

waiver are capable of achieving 

condensing operating conditions with 

return water temperatures that are lower 

than those specified in the DOE test 

procedure. In particular, PB states that 

if a boiler is used with radiant floor 

heating systems, the return and supply 

water temperatures are far lower than 

those seen with baseboard convector 

systems. Similarly, PB states that if a 

boiler is used with baseboard convector 

heating systems, in combination with 

outdoor reset controls, the supply water 

temperatures can be lower than the DOE 

test procedure for some fraction of the 

heating season. In its petition, PB also 

asserts that because its boilers are 

supplied with an outdoor reset control, 

the boilers installed with either radiant 

floor heating systems or baseboard 

convector heating systems are capable of 

achieving condensing conditions and 

increased efficiency and reduced energy 

use, during warmer periods of the 

heating season. 

DOE finds, however, that the 

reliability of this approach depends 

upon different parameters, which can 

vary from home to home. It depends, for 

example, on the home’s heating load 

profile, which is a function of the 

geographic location, the temperature of 

the return water necessary for 

condensation, and the performance 

characteristics of the home’s baseboard 

convectors. The draft ASHRAE Standard 

103–2003 does not estimate, or take into 

account, how often the boiler will 

function in the condensing mode with 

a baseboard convector system and may 

not accurately reflect an ‘‘annualized’’

efficiency rating and may confuse 

consumers who purchase boilers for use 

with baseboard heating systems. 

Furthermore, there are no guarantees the 

boiler would be installed with outdoor 

reset controls. Finally, DOE is 

concerned that granting PB a waiver 

could result in energy efficiency ratings 

for its PO–50, PO–60, PO–63 and PO–

73 models of oil-fired boilers that are 

not comparable to the ratings of other 

models of oil-fired boilers. 

III. Alternate Test Procedure 

The Department will make a judgment 

on the PB Petition after the period for 

public comment. The Department is 

publishing the proposed alternate test 

procedure in this notice, though it has 

not yet made a determination on the 

petition, to account for the potential 

need for an alternate test procedure and 

to allow the public to comment on a 

proposed alternate test procedure. PB 

proposed the use of draft ASHRAE 

standard 103–2003 as an alternate test 

procedure in its petition. DOE is 

considering including in the Decision 

and Order an alternate test procedure 

that is based on draft ASHRAE Standard 

103–2003 for residential furnaces and 

boilers. 

The Department proposes for 

comment the following language: 10 

CFR Parts 430 Subpart B, Appendix N—

‘‘Uniform Test Method for Measuring 

the Energy Consumption of Furnaces 

and Boilers,’’ as amended by adding: 


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Section 8.4.1 

Determination of Boiler Performance for 

Low-Water-Temperature Applications 

This section contains procedures for 

determining the seasonal performance 

of a hot water boiler used in a lowwater-temperature application, 

specifically, for radiant floor heating 

systems. This performance is expressed 

as Low-Water-Temperature Seasonal 

Efficiency (LWTSE). 

Note: When applying this criteria to 

noncondensing boilers, it should be 

recognized that such boilers used for lowwater-temperature applications need to 

address the potential for the formation of 

condensation within the boiler’s heat 

exchanger, in addition to the boiler’s venting 

system. This can be addressed either by the 

design of the boiler and its venting system, 

or by the boiler’s return/supply water piping, 

or both. 

For Noncondensing Hot Water Boilers 

The water flow rate shall be adjusted 

to produce a water temperature rise 

between 19.5 °F and 20.5 °F during the 

steady-state test described under 

Section 8.0, Test Procedure. During the 

steady-state and heat-up tests, the hot 

water boiler shall be supplied with 

water having a temperature of a least 90 

°F, but not more than 94 °F. 

For Condensing Hot Water Boilers 

The water flow rate shall be adjusted 

to produce a water temperature rise 

between 19.5 °F and 20.5 °F during the 

steady-state test described under 

Section 8.0, Test Procedure. During the 

steady-state and heat-up tests, the 

condensing boiler shall be supplied 

with return water having a temperature 

of at least 90 °F, but not more than 94 

°F. The maximum permissible variation 

of the return water temperature from the 

required value during the steady-state 

and heat-up tests shall not exceed ± 2 

°F, except during the first 30 seconds 

after start-up, when it shall not exceed 

± 10 °F, and between 30 and 60 seconds 

after start-up, when it shall not exceed 

± 5 °F. 

Calculations 

The boiler’s LWTSE shall be 

determined by using the applicable 

calculations to determine AFUE 

specified under Section 10.0, 

Calculation of derived results from test 

measurement. 

V. Summary and Request for Comments 

Today’s notice announces PB’s 

Petition for Waiver from the test 

procedures applicable to PB’s PO–50, 

PO–60, PO–63 and PO–73 models of oilfired boilers. The Department is 

publishing the PB Petition for Waiver in 

its entirety. The Petition contains no 

confidential information. Furthermore, 

PB requests the use of draft ASHRAE 

Standard 103–2003 as an alternate test 

procedure. In this alternate test 

procedure, the Department would 

replace the supply water temperature 

requirements in the DOE test procedure 

with the requirements in draft ASHRAE 

Standard 103–2003. 

The Department is interested in 

receiving comments on all aspects of 

this notice. The Department is 

particularly interested in receiving 

comments and views of interested 

parties concerning whether to grant the 

PB Petition and regarding the proposed 

alternate test procedure. Specifically, 

the Department would like to receive 

comment on the following questions: 

• Does the DOE test procedure 

provide results that are unrepresentative 

of the PB PO–50, PO–60, PO–63 and 

PO–73 models of oil-fired boilers’

energy consumption so as to provide 

materially inaccurate comparative data 

in all installations? 

• Were PB to be granted a waiver, 

would it lead to a proliferation of 

petitions for waiver for other oil-fired 

boilers? 

• Is the DOE test procedure 

appropriate for boilers used with 

baseboard convector heating systems? 

• Are there other metrics that can be 

used to assess the performance of lowwater-temperature boilers used with 

baseboard heating systems? 

• Is it appropriate for PB to use the 

proposed alternate test procedure for 

ratings and representations, and 

compliance with energy efficiency 

standards, building codes and 

regulatory requirements? 

• Should the Department prescribe 

for manufacturers the LWTSE for lowwater-temperature boilers? 

In addition, the Department is 

interested in receiving comments on 

possible modifications to any test 

procedures or alternative rating methods 

which the Department could use to 

fairly represent the energy efficiency of 

PB’s PO–50, PO–60, PO–63 and PO–73 

models of oil-fired boilers. Any person 

submitting written comments must also 

send a copy of such comments to the 

petitioner, whose contact information is 

cited above. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 4, 

2006. 

Alexander A. Karsner, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy. 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 


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[FR Doc. 06–6897 Filed 8–11–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–C 


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