This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

67825 

Vol. 71, No. 226 

Friday, November 24, 2006 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EE–2006–STD–0129] 

RIN 1904–AA90 

Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer Products: Energy 

Conservation Standards for 

Residential Water Heaters, Direct 

Heating Equipment, and Pool Heaters 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and 

availability of the Framework 

Document. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) is commencing a rulemaking to 

amend the existing energy conservation 

standards for residential water heaters, 

direct heating equipment, and pool 

heaters. DOE will hold an informal 

public meeting to present its proposed 

methodologies for conducting this 

rulemaking, discuss issues relevant to 

the rulemaking proceeding, and initiate 

stakeholder interaction and the data 

collection process. DOE is also 

interested in identifying information 

that will assist it in establishing 

amended standards for these products. 

DOE encourages written comments on 

these subjects. This effort is the result of 

provisions in the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (EPCA) directing the 

Secretary of Energy (‘‘Secretary’’) to 

publish rules to determine whether the 

energy conservation standards for such 

products should be amended. To inform 

stakeholders and to facilitate this 

process, DOE has prepared a Framework 

Document, a draft of which is available 

at http://www.eere.doe.gov/building/ 

appliance_standards. 

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting 

on January 16, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 5 

p.m. EDT in Washington, DC. Any 

person requesting to speak at the public 

meeting should submit a request to 

speak before 4 p.m., January 5, 2007. 

DOE must receive a signed original and 

an electronic copy of statements to be 

given at the public meeting before 4 

p.m., January 5, 2007. Written 

comments on the Framework Document 

are welcome and encouraged and 

should be submitted by January 30, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: DOE will hold the public 

meeting at the U.S. Department of 

Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 1E– 

245, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. (Please 

note that foreign nationals participating 

in the public meeting are subject to 

advance security screening procedures. 

If a foreign national wishes to 

participate in the public meeting, please 

inform DOE of this fact as soon as 

possible by contacting Ms. Brenda 

Edwards-Jones at (202) 586–2945, so 

that the necessary procedures can be 

completed.) 

Stakeholders may submit comments, 

identified by docket number EE–2006– 

STD–0129 and/or RIN number 1904– 

AA90, by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: 

ResWaterDirectPoolHtrs@ee.doe.gov. 

Include EE–2006–STD–0129 and/or RIN 

1904–AA90 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–2J, 

Framework Document for Residential 

Water Heaters, Direct Heating 

Equipment, and Pool Heaters, EE–2006– 

STD–0129 and/or 1904–AA90, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Please 

submit one signed paper original. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards-Jones, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Building Technologies Program, 

Room 1J–018, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585– 

0121. Telephone: (202) 586–2945. 

Please submit one signed paper original. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, 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, (202) 586–9127, 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Please call Ms. Brenda Edwards-Jones at 

the above telephone number for 

additional information regarding the 

Resource Room. Please note that DOE’s 

Freedom of Information Reading Room 

(formerly Room 1E–190 at the Forrestal 

Building) is no longer housing 

rulemaking materials. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mohammed Khan, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121 (202) 586– 

7892. E-mail: 

Mohammed.Khan@ee.doe.gov. Francine 

Pinto, U.S. Department of Energy, Office 

of General Counsel, GC–72, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

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

9507. E-mail: 

Francine.Pinto@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Part B of 

Title III of EPCA, 42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq., 

establishes an energy conservation 

program for consumer products and 

authorizes DOE to adopt test procedures 

and energy conservation standards for 

certain of these products. Amendments 

to EPCA in the National Appliance 

Energy Conservation Act of 1987 

(NAECA) (Pub. L. 100–12 (1987)) added 

several products to this program, 

including pool heaters. These 

amendments also established energy 

conservation standards for residential 

water heaters, direct heating equipment, 

and pool heaters—the products that are 

the focus of this document—as well as 

requirements for determining whether 

these standards should be amended. (42 

U.S.C. 6295(e)) 

Specifically, EPCA requires that DOE 

conduct two cycles of rulemakings to 

determine whether to amend the 

standards for these products. (42 U.S.C. 

6295 (e)(1)–(4)) EPCA directs the 

Secretary of Energy to publish a final 

rule by January 1, 1992 to determine 

whether the standards applicable to 

products manufactured on or after 

January 1, 1995 should be amended (42 

U.S.C. 6295(e)(4)(A)), and to publish a 

second such rule by January 1, 2000 for 


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67826 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 226 / Friday, November 24, 2006 / Proposed Rules 

products manufactured on or after 

January 1, 2005. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(e)(4)(B)) On February 7, 1989 and 

October 17, 1990, DOE published in the 

Federal Register final rules codifying 

the minimum efficiency levels 

prescribed by NAECA, and thereby 

established the first set of energy 

conservation standards for residential 

water heaters, direct water heating 

equipment, and pool heaters. 54 FR 

6097 and 55 FR 42163. 

The energy conservation standards 

established by NAECA for residential 

water heaters require that each gas, oil, 

and electric water heater manufactured 

on or after January 1, 1990, meet a 

minimum energy factor based on the 

water heater’s rated storage volume in 

gallons. (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)(1)) On 

January 17, 2001, DOE published a final 

rule (the January 2001 final rule) in 

which it increased the required 

minimum efficiency levels for gas and 

electric storage water heaters (except for 

tabletop models), but declined to amend 

the energy conservation standards for 

oil storage water heaters. 66 FR 4474. 

DOE also established separate product 

classes for tabletop water heaters, 

instantaneous gas-fired water heaters, 

and instantaneous electric water 

heaters, but let the existing EPCA 

efficiency levels in place for these types 

of equipment. 66 FR 4474. Pursuant to 

42 U.S.C. 6295(e)(4)(A), the January 

2001 final rule amended the DOE 

regulations to specify a minimum 

energy factor for gas-fired storage-type, 

oil-fired storage-type, electric storagetype, gas-fired instantaneous, electric 

instantaneous, and tabletop water 

heaters, based on rated storage volume 

and became effective on January 20, 

2004. 66 FR 4474. 

Furthermore, EPCA requires that pool 

heaters manufactured on or after 

January 1, 1990, meet a thermal 

efficiency standard of not less than 78 

percent. (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)(2)) In 

addition, the energy conservation 

standards established by EPCA at 42 

U.S.C. 6295(e)(3) specify a minimum 

annual fuel utilization efficiency 

(AFUE) for sixteen product classes of 

direct heating equipment, as shown in 

Section 430.32(i) of Part 430, Title 10, 

Code of Federal Regulations. 

DOE initially considered amending 

the energy conservation standards for 

pool heaters and direct heating 

equipment as part of an eight-product 

standards rulemaking. DOE issued a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 

on March 4, 1994 to amend the energy 

conservation standards for pool heaters 

and direct heating equipment, as well as 

other consumer products. 59 FR 10464. 

The Department of Interior and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal 

Year 1996 (Pub. L. 104–134) included a 

moratorium on proposing or issuing 

final rules for appliance standards 

rulemakings for the remainder of Fiscal 

Year 1996, which caused DOE to 

suspend action on the 1994 proposed 

standards. Currently, the first set of 

EPCA efficiency levels for pool heaters 

and direct heating equipment remain in 

place. 

To begin today’s rulemaking process, 

DOE has prepared a Rulemaking 

Framework Document for Residential 

Water Heaters, Direct Heating 

Equipment, and Pool Heaters 

(Framework Document) to present the 

issues and explain the analyses and 

process it anticipates using to amend 

the energy conservation standards for 

residential water heaters, direct heating 

equipment, and pool heaters. The focus 

of the public meeting will be to discuss 

the analyses and issues identified in the 

Framework Document. During DOE’s 

presentation to stakeholders, DOE will 

discuss each item listed in the 

Framework Document as an issue for 

comment. DOE will also make a brief 

presentation on the rulemaking process 

for these products. DOE encourages 

interested persons who wish to 

participate in the public meeting to 

obtain the Framework Document and be 

prepared to discuss its contents. A copy 

of the draft Framework Document is 

available at http://www.eere.doe.gov/ 

buildings/appliance_standards. 

However, public meeting participants 

need not limit their discussion to the 

topics in the Framework Document. 

DOE is also interested in receiving 

comments concerning other relevant 

issues that participants believe would 

affect energy conservation standards for 

residential water heaters, direct heating 

equipment, and pool heaters. DOE also 

welcomes all interested parties, whether 

or not they participate in the public 

meeting, to submit in writing by January 

30, 2007, comments and information on 

the matters addressed in the Framework 

Document and on other matters relevant 

to consideration of standards for 

residential water heaters, direct heating 

equipment, and pool heaters. 

The public meeting will be conducted 

in an informal, conference style. A court 

reporter will be present to prepare a 

transcript of the meeting. There shall be 

no discussion of proprietary 

information, costs or prices, market 

shares, or other commercial matters 

regulated by the U.S. antitrust laws. 

The public meeting will be conducted 

in an informal, conference style. A court 

reporter will be present to prepare a 

transcript of the meeting. There shall be 

no discussion of proprietary 

information, costs or prices, market 

shares, or other commercial matters 

regulated by the U.S. antitrust laws. 

After the public meeting and the 

expiration of the period for submitting 

written statements, DOE will begin 

collecting data, conducting the analyses 

as discussed in the Framework 

Document and at the public meeting, 

and reviewing the comments received. 

Anyone who would like to participate 

in the public meeting, receive meeting 

materials, or be added to the DOE 

mailing list to receive future notices and 

information regarding residential water 

heaters, direct heating equipment, and 

pool heaters, should contact Ms. Brenda 

Edwards-Jones at (202) 586–2945. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

13, 2006. 

Alexander A. Karsner, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy. 

[FR Doc. 06–9372 Filed 11–22–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Part 563e 

[No. 2006–44] 

RIN 1550–AC08 

Community Reinvestment Act—

Interagency Uniformity 

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision, 

Treasury (OTS). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: In this notice of proposed 

rulemaking (proposal), OTS is 

proposing changes to its Community 

Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations in 

four areas to reestablish uniformity 

between its regulations and those of the 

other Federal banking agencies. OTS is 

proposing revisions to its CRA rule to 

promote consistency and help facilitate 

objective evaluations of CRA 

performance across the banking and 

thrift industries. Consistent standards 

could allow the public to make more 

effective comparisons of bank and thrift 

CRA performance. 

To advance these objectives OTS is 

proposing to align its CRA rule with the 

rule adopted by the banking agencies 

by: (1) Eliminating the option of 

alternative weights for lending, 

investment, and service under the large, 

retail savings association test; (2) 

defining small savings associations with 

between $250 million and $1 billion in 

assets as ‘‘intermediate small savings 

associations’’ and establishing a new 


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