-----Original Message----- 

From: MicroOven-2008-TP-0011 [mailto:MicroOven.2008-TP-0011@hq.doe.gov] 

Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 12:13 PM 

To: undisclosed-recipients 

Subject: Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: TP for Microwave Ovens Meeting 

Dear Stakeholder, 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a Microwave Oven Test Procedure NOPR Public 

Meeting at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC on November 14, 2008. The 

meeting will be in Room 8E-089 of the Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, from 9:00 a.m. - 

4:00 p.m. EDT. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and receive comments on issues to be addressed 

in the NOPR for establishing test procedures for microwave ovens. The details of the meeting were 

published in the Federal Register on October 17, 2008. DOE is attaching a copy of the NOPR and 

preliminary meeting announcement for your review. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions. 

Foreign nationals, including those with green cards, wishing to attend the public meeting must inform the 

Department as soon as possible. To obtain security clearances, foreign nationals are required to submit a 

Foreign Visitors form to the Department of Energy. The "Foreign Visitor Form - Microwave Oven 

TP.doc" is attached. Please complete the form and send it to Brenda Edwards 

(Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov). For your convenience, questions #20-32 of the form relating to the public 

meeting have already been filled out (please answer #1-19). 

The Department requires the Foreign Visitors form with different amounts of advanced notice based on 

your country of citizenship: 

- For non-sensitive countries: A 3-day notice is required. 

- For sensitive countries: Up to a 30-day notice is required. 

- For terrorist-supporting countries: A 30-day notice and approval from the Secretary of Energy is 

required. 

SENSITIVE COUNTRIES: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Iran, 

Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Moldova, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, 

Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. 

TERRORIST-SUPPORTING COUNTRIES: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria 

Sincerely, 

Stephen L. Witkowski 

Project Manager, Appliance Standards 

Building Technologies Program 

Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy 

U. S. Department of Energy 

1000 Independence Ave., SW 

Washington, DC 20585 

Tel: (202) 586-7463 

Fax: (202) 586-4617 

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
62134 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 202 / Friday, October 17, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

PART 430—ENERGY CONSERVATION 

PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER 

PRODUCTS 

1. The authority citation for part 430 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291–6309; 28 U.S.C. 

2461 note. 

2. Section 430.23 of subpart B is 

amended by revising paragraph (i)(3) to 

read as follows: 

§ 430.23 Test procedures for the 

measurement of energy and water 

consumption. 

* * * * * 

(i) * * * 

(3) The standby power for microwave 

ovens shall be determined according to 

3.2.4 of appendix I to this subpart. The 

standby power shall be rounded off to 

the nearest 0.1 watt. 

* * * * * 

3. Section 430.32 of subpart C is 

amended by revising paragraph (j) to 

read as follows: 

§ 430.32 Energy and water conservation 

standards and effective dates. 

* * * * * 

(j) Cooking Products. (1) Gas cooking 

products with an electrical supply cord 

shall not be equipped with a constant 

burning pilot light. This standard is 

effective on January 1, 1990. 

(2) Gas cooking products without an 

electrical supply cord shall not be 

equipped with a constant burning pilot 

light. This standard is effective on 

[DATE 3 YEARS AFTER FINAL RULE 

Federal Register PUBLICATION]. 

(3) Microwave ovens shall have an 

average standby power not more than 

1.0 watt. This standard is effective on 

[DATE 3 YEARS AFTER FINAL RULE 

Federal Register PUBLICATION]. 

* * * * * 

4. Section 430.62(a)(4) of subpart F is 

amended by redesignating paragraphs 

(a)(4)(xi) through (xvii) as (a)(4)(xii) 

through (xviii) respectively, and by 

adding new paragraph (a)(4)(xi) to read 

as follows: 

§ 430.62 Submission of data. 

(a) * * * 

(4) * * * 

(xi) Microwave ovens, the average 

standby power in watts. 

* * * * * 

PART 431—ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN 

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL 

EQUIPMENT 

5. The authority citation for part 431 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291–6317. 

6. Section 431.156 of subpart I is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 431.156 Energy and water conservation 

standards and effective dates. 

Each commercial clothes washer 

manufactured on or after [DATE 3 

YEARS AFTER FINAL RULE Federal 

Register PUBLICATION], shall have a 

modified energy factor no less than and 

a water factor no greater than: 

Product class 

Modified 

energy factor 

(cu. ft./kWh/ 

cycle) 

Water factor 

(gal./cu. ft./ 

cycle) 

i. Top-Loading .................................................................................................................................................................. 1.76 8.3 

ii. Front-Loading ............................................................................................................................................................... 2.00 5.5 

[FR Doc. E8–23405 Filed 10–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2008–BT–TP–0011] 

RIN: 1904—AB78 

Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer Products: Test Procedure 

for Microwave Ovens 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

and public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) proposes to amend its test 

procedures for microwave ovens under 

the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

to provide for the measurement of 

standby mode and off mode power use 

by microwave ovens. The proposed 

amendments would incorporate into the 

DOE test procedure provisions from the 

International Electrotechnical 

Commission’s Standard 62301, 

Household electrical appliances— 

Measurement of standby power, First 

Edition 2005–06, as well as language to 

clarify application of these provisions 

for measuring standby mode and off 

mode power in microwave ovens. The 

proposed amendments would also 

correct a technical error in the 

calculation of microwave test cooking 

energy output. DOE will hold a public 

meeting to discuss and receive 

comments on the issues presented in 

this notice. 

DATES: DOE will accept comments, data, 

and information regarding the notice of 

proposed rulemaking (NOPR) before and 

after the public meeting, but no later 

than December 31, 2008. For details, see 

section V, ‘‘Public Participation’’, of this 

NOPR. 

DOE will hold a public meeting on 

Friday, November 14, 2008, from 9 a.m. 

to 4 p.m., in Washington, DC. DOE must 

receive requests to speak at the public 

meeting before 4 p.m., Friday, October 

31, 2008. DOE must receive a signed 

original and an electronic copy of 

statements to be given at the public 

meeting before 4 p.m., Friday, 

November 7, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held at the U.S. Department of Energy, 

Forrestal Building, Room 8E–089, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. To attend 

the public meeting, please notify Ms. 

Brenda Edwards at (202) 586–2945. 

Please note that foreign nationals 

visiting DOE Headquarters are subject to 

advance security screening procedures. 

Any foreign national wishing to 

participate in the meeting should advise 

DOE as soon as possible by contacting 

Ms. Edwards to initiate the necessary 

procedures. 

Any comments submitted must 

identify the NOPR on Test Procedures 

for Microwave Ovens, and provide the 

docket number EERE–2008–BT–TP– 

0011 and/or regulatory information 

number (RIN) 1904–AB78. Comments 

may be submitted using any of the 

following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

2. E-mail: MicroOven–2008–TP– 

0011@ee.doe.gov. Include docket 

number EERE–2008–BT–TP–0011 

and/or RIN 1904–AB78 in the subject 

line of the message. 

3. Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–2J, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSALS3

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 202 / Friday, October 17, 2008 / Proposed Rules 62135 

1A copy of the Framework Document, 

‘‘Rulemaking Framework for Commercial Clothes 

Washers and Residential Dishwashers, 

Dehumidifiers, and Cooking Products,’’ can be 

found on DOE’s website at http:// 

www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ 

appliance_standards/pdfs/ 

home_appl_framework_31506.pdf . This 

rulemaking originally included residential 

dishwashers and dehumidifiers, but they are no 

longer part of the rulemaking, because Congress 

subsequently set prescriptive standards for those 

products. 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Please 

submit one signed original paper copy. 

4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, 6th 

Floor, 950 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: 

(202) 586–2945. Please submit one 

signed original paper copy. 

For detailed instructions on 

submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, 

see section V (Public Participation) of 

this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, visit the U.S. 

Department of Energy, 6th Floor, 950 

L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC, 

20024, (202) 586–2945, between 9 a.m. 

and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. Please call Ms. 

Brenda Edwards at the above telephone 

number for additional information about 

visiting the Resource Room. Please note: 

DOE’s Freedom of Information Reading 

Room no longer houses rulemaking 

materials. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Stephen Witkowski, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Tel.: (202) 

586–7463. E-mail: 

Stephen.Witkowski@ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Francine Pinto or Mr. Eric Stas, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the 

General Counsel, GC–72, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Tel.: (202) 

586–9507. E-mail: Francine.Pinto@hq.

doe.gov or Eric.Stas@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Background and Legal Authority 

II. Summary of the Proposal 

III. Discussion 

A. Products Covered by This Test 

Procedure Rulemaking 

B. Effective Date for the Test Procedure 

C. Measures of Energy Consumption 

D. Incorporating by Reference IEC Standard 

62301 First Edition 2005–06 for 

Measuring Standby Mode and Off Mode 

Power in Microwave Ovens 

E. Definitions of ‘‘Active Mode’’, ‘‘Standby 

Mode’’, and ‘‘Off Mode’’ 

F. Specifications for the Test Methods and 

Measurements for Microwave Oven 

Standby Mode and Off Mode Testing 

G. Technical Correction for the Microwave 

Oven Test Cooking Energy Output 

H. Compliance With Other EPCA 

Requirements 

IV. Procedural Requirements 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act 

C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 

D. Review Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 

H. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999 

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630 

J. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

L. Review Under Section 32 of the Federal 

Energy Administration (FEA) Act of 1974 

V. Public Participation 

A. Attendance at Public Meeting 

B. Procedure for Submitting Requests to 

Speak 

C. Conduct of Public Meeting 

D. Submission of Comments 

E. Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment 

1. Energy Descriptor 

2. Incorporation of IEC Standard 62301 

3. Test Cycle 

4. Technical Correction 

VI. Approval of the Office of the Secretary 

I. Background and Legal Authority 

Title III of the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6291 et 

seq.; EPCA or the Act) sets forth a 

variety of provisions designed to 

improve energy efficiency. Part A of 

Title III (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309) 

establishes the ‘‘Energy Conservation 

Program for Consumer Products Other 

Than Automobiles’’ for consumer 

products, including microwave ovens, 

the subject of today’s notice. (42 U.S.C. 

6291(1)–(2) and 6292(a)(10)) 

Under the Act, this program consists 

essentially of three parts: testing, 

labeling, and establishing Federal 

energy conservation standards. The 

testing requirements consist of test 

procedures that manufacturers of 

covered products must use to certify to 

DOE that their products comply with 

energy conservation standards adopted 

under EPCA and for representing the 

efficiency of their products, and that 

DOE must use to determine whether the 

products comply with EPCA standards. 

Section 323 of EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6293) 

sets forth criteria and procedures for 

DOE’s adoption and amendment of such 

test procedures. It states, for example, 

that ‘‘[a]ny test procedures prescribed or 

amended under this section shall be 

reasonably designed to produce test 

results which measure energy 

efficiency, energy use, * * * or 

estimated annual operating cost of a 

covered product during a representative 

average use cycle or period of use, as 

determined by the Secretary [of Energy], 

and shall not be unduly burdensome to 

conduct.’’ (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) In 

addition, if DOE determines that a test 

procedure amendment is warranted, it 

must publish proposed test procedures 

and offer the public an opportunity to 

present oral and written comments on 

them, with a comment period no less 

than 60 or more than 270 days. (42 

U.S.C. 6293(b)(2)) Finally, in any 

rulemaking to amend a test procedure, 

DOE must determine ‘‘to what extent, if 

any, the proposed test procedure would 

alter the measured energy efficiency 

* * * of any covered product as 

determined under the existing test 

procedure.’’ (42 U.S.C. 6293(e)(1)) If 

DOE determines that the amended test 

procedure would alter the measured 

efficiency of a covered product, DOE 

must amend the applicable energy 

conservation standard accordingly. (42 

U.S.C. 6293(e)(2)) 

DOE’s test procedure for microwave 

ovens appears at appendix I to subpart 

B of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR). That test procedure, 

the only one DOE has promulgated for 

microwave ovens, was part of an 

October 3, 1997, final rule that also 

revised the test procedures for other 

cooking products to measure their 

efficiency and energy use more 

accurately. 62 FR 51976. The microwave 

oven test procedure incorporates 

portions of the International 

Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 

Standard 705–1998 and Amendment 2– 

1993, Methods for Measuring the 

Performance of Microwave Ovens for 

Households and Similar Purposes, and 

measures microwave oven cooking 

efficiency, but does not address energy 

use in the standby or off modes. Id. 

As part of DOE’s current rulemaking 

concerning energy conservation 

standards for commercial clothes 

washers and residential cooking 

products, including microwave ovens 

(hereafter referred to as the appliance 

standards rulemaking), DOE held a 

public meeting on April 27, 2006, to 

present its Framework Document for 

that rulemaking 1 and to receive 

comments from stakeholders. 71 FR 

15059 (March 27, 2006). Participants at 

the April 2006 public meeting included 

energy and environmental groups, as 

well as appliance manufacturers and 

trade groups. In the Framework 

Document, DOE stated that it did not 


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2A notation in this form provides a reference for 

information that is in the docket of DOE’s 

rulemaking to develop standards for appliance 

products (Docket No. EE–2006–STD–0127), 

maintained in the Resource Room of the Building 

Technologies Program. This notation indicates that 

the statement preceding the reference was made in 

DOE’s Framework Document, which is document 

number 4.3 in the docket, and appears at page 4 of 

that document. 

3This notation identifies an oral comment (1) 

made by American Council for an Energy-Efficient 

Economy (ACEEE) during the April 27, 2006, 

Framework public meeting in the standards 

rulemaking, (2) recorded in document number 5, 

which is the public meeting transcript that is filed 

in the docket of that rulemaking, and (3) which 

appears on page 91 of document number 5. 

intend to amend the cooking products 

test procedure, which includes testing 

procedures for microwave ovens. 

(Framework Document, No. 4.3 at p. 4) 2

The American Council for an EnergyEfficient Economy (ACEEE) commented 

that the use of standby power needs to 

be considered for all cooking products. 

(ACEEE, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 

5 at p. 91) 3 The Association of Home 

Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) 

recognized that standby power 

consumption is essentially already 

included in the test procedure for ovens 

and cooktops; however, for microwave 

ovens, a test procedure revision to 

include standby power would be 

required. (AHAM, Public Meeting 

Transcript, No. 5 at p. 92) 

AHAM provided test data on 

microwave standby power for a sample 

of 21 microwave ovens available on the 

U.S. market. For the AHAM submission, 

standby power was tested in accordance 

with IEC Standard 62301, Household 

electrical appliances—Measurement of 

standby power, First Edition 2005–06 

(IEC Standard 62301). DOE 

supplemented the data provided by 

AHAM by purchasing a representative 

sample of 32 microwave ovens and 

measuring the standby power 

consumption, also according to IEC 

Standard 62301. Both sets of data 

showed a wide range of standby power 

use. Based on an average annual useful 

cooking energy output of 79.8 kilowatthours (kWh) (according to the DOE test 

procedure) and a baseline microwave 

oven cooking efficiency of 55.7 percent, 

each watt of standby power represents 

an additional 8.76 kWh per year, or 6 

percent of the annual cooking energy 

consumption. 72 FR 64432, 64441 (Nov. 

15, 2007). 

In the November 15, 2007, advance 

notice of proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) 

(hereafter referred to as the November 

2007 ANOPR) regarding energy 

conservation standards for kitchen 

ranges and ovens and commercial 

clothes washers, DOE concluded that 

energy consumption by microwave 

ovens in the standby mode represents a 

significant portion of microwave ovens’ 

energy use, and that a standard 

regulating such energy consumption 

would likely have significant energy 

savings. 72 FR 64432, 64441–42. DOE 

further stated that to include standby 

power in an efficiency standard for 

microwave ovens’, it needed to modify 

its test procedure for this product. Id. 

On December 13, 2007, DOE held a 

public meeting to receive and discuss 

comments on the November 2007 

ANOPR (hereafter referred to as the 

December 2007 public meeting). At the 

December 2007 public meeting, DOE 

presented for discussion the possibility 

that test standard IEC Standard 62301 

could be incorporated by reference into 

DOE’s microwave oven test procedure to 

measure standby power. DOE also 

discussed clarifications to the IEC 

Standard 62301 test conditions at the 

December 2007 public meeting, 

including a requirement that if the 

measured power is not stable, the 

standby mode power test would be run 

for a period of 12 hours, with an initial 

clock setting of 12 a.m. DOE stated that 

this would permit more accurate 

measurement of average standby power 

consumption. DOE sought comment on 

these points from stakeholders. As 

discussed below, several stakeholders 

provided comments. 

On December 19, 2007, the Energy 

Independence and Security Act of 2007 

(EISA 2007; Pub. L. 110–140) was 

enacted. The EISA 2007 amendments to 

EPCA (section 310) require DOE to 

amend the test procedures for covered 

products to address standby mode and 

off mode energy consumption. The EISA 

2007 amendments direct DOE to amend 

the test procedures to integrate such 

energy consumption into the energy 

descriptor for that product. If that is 

technically infeasible, DOE must instead 

prescribe a separate standby mode and 

off mode energy use test procedure if 

technically feasible. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(gg)(2)(A)) Any such amendment 

must consider the most current versions 

of IEC Standards 62301 and 62087. Id. 

For microwave ovens, DOE must 

prescribe any such amendment by 

March 31, 2011. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(gg)(2)(B)(vi)) 

The amended test procedure proposed 

in today’s notice is expected to be used 

in future microwave oven energy 

conservation standards that are the 

subject of a concurrent rulemaking. The 

National Appliance Energy 

Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA; Pub. 

L. 100–12), which amended EPCA, 

established prescriptive standards for 

cooking products, although no 

standards were established for 

microwave ovens. The NAECA 

amendments also required DOE to 

conduct two cycles of rulemakings to 

determine whether to revise the 

standard. DOE undertook the first cycle 

of these rulemakings and issued a final 

rule on September 8, 1998 (63 FR 

48038), which found that no standards 

were justified for electric cooking 

products, including microwave ovens. 

DOE is currently in the second cycle of 

rulemakings required by the NAECA 

amendments to EPCA. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(h)(2)) 

The EISA 2007 amendments to EPCA 

also direct DOE to incorporate standby 

and off mode energy use into any final 

rule establishing or revising a standard 

for a covered product adopted after July 

1, 2010. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)) 

Although DOE anticipates publishing 

the final rule revising energy 

conservation standards for microwave 

ovens by March 31, 2009, and is, thus, 

not required under EPCA to include 

standby and off mode power in 

amended standards, DOE intends to 

propose microwave oven standards 

addressing standby and off mode power 

for the reasons discussed above. 

II. Summary of the Proposed Rule 

In today’s notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NOPR), DOE proposes 

amending its test procedures for 

microwave ovens to: (1) provide a 

foundation for DOE to develop and 

implement energy conservation 

standards that address use of standby 

mode and off mode power by this 

product; and (2) address the statutory 

requirement to expand test procedures 

to incorporate a measure of standby 

mode and off mode power consumption. 

The following section summarizes these 

proposed changes. 

In this NOPR, DOE proposes to 

incorporate by reference into the 

microwave oven test procedure specific 

clauses from IEC Standard 62301 

regarding test conditions and testing 

procedures for measuring the average 

standby mode and average off mode 

power consumption. DOE also proposes 

to incorporate into the microwave oven 

test procedure the definitions of ‘‘active 

mode,’’ ‘‘standby mode,’’ and ‘‘off 

mode’’ that are set forth in the EISA 

2007 amendments to EPCA. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(gg)(1)(A)) DOE is further proposing 

language that would clarify the 

application of clauses from IEC 

Standard 62301 for measuring standby 

mode and off mode power. Specifically, 

DOE is proposing to define the test 

duration for cases in which the 

measured power is not stable (i.e., varies 

over a cycle), recognizing that the power 

consumption of microwave oven 


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4According to the DOE test procedure, 

microwave oven EF is defined as the ratio of 

(Annual Useful Cooking Energy Output / Annual 

Total Energy Consumption) (10 CFR 430, subpart B, 

appendix I), which is equivalent to microwave 

cooking efficiency (Test Energy Output / Test 

Energy Consumption) (10 CFR 430.23 (i)(2)). 

displays can vary based on the clock 

time being displayed. Finally, DOE is 

proposing a technical correction to the 

equation for calculating the microwave 

oven test cooking energy output which, 

as currently stated in the test procedure, 

produces a value with incorrect units. 

The EISA 2007 amendments to EPCA 

direct DOE to amend the microwave 

oven test procedure to integrate energy 

consumption in standby mode and off 

mode into the overall energy descriptor. 

(42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A)) If that is 

technically infeasible, DOE must instead 

prescribe a separate standby mode and 

off mode energy use test procedure, if 

technically feasible. Id. DOE believes 

that it is not technically feasible to 

integrate standby mode and off mode 

power consumption into the existing 

microwave oven efficiency metric for 

the reasons outlined in section III.C. 

Therefore, DOE is proposing in today’s 

notice to provide separate descriptors 

for standby mode and off mode power 

for microwave ovens. 

As noted above, EPCA requires that 

DOE determine whether a proposed test 

procedure amendment would alter the 

measured efficiency of a product, and 

thereby require adjustment of existing 

standards. (42 U.S.C. 6293(e)) Since 

there are no Federal energy conservation 

standards for microwave ovens 

(including energy use in the standby 

and off modes), such requirement does 

not apply to this rulemaking. 

Finally, DOE recognizes that the EISA 

2007 amendments to EPCA also require 

the test procedure for ‘‘kitchen ranges 

and ovens’’ (i.e., conventional cooking 

products) be amended by March 31, 

2011, to include standby mode and off 

mode energy consumption. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(gg)(2)(B)(vi)) However, DOE is not 

proposing to amend the test procedures 

at this time for any other class of 

kitchen ranges and ovens (i.e., 

conventional cooking products) as part 

of this rulemaking. DOE does not have 

standby mode or off mode power data 

for conventional cooking products to 

enable it to determine what changes 

would be required in the test procedures 

for those products. DOE intends to 

conduct a subsequent, separate 

rulemaking to amend the test 

procedures for these other classes of 

kitchen ranges and ovens, for which a 

final rule would be published by March 

2011. 

III. Discussion 

A. Products Covered by This Test 

Procedure Rulemaking 

The purpose of this proposal is to 

amend the test procedures for kitchen 

ranges and ovens to include test 

procedures for the measurement of 

standby mode and off mode power use 

for microwave ovens. DOE defines 

‘‘microwave oven’’ as ‘‘a class of kitchen 

ranges and ovens which is a household 

cooking appliance consisting of a 

compartment designed to cook or heat 

food by means of microwave energy.’’ 

10 CFR 430.2 The proposed 

amendments cover all microwave ovens 

for which the primary source of heating 

energy is electromagnetic (microwave) 

energy, including microwave ovens 

with or without thermal elements 

designed for surface browning of food. 

The proposal does not address 

combination ovens (i.e., ovens 

consisting of a single compartment in 

which microwave energy and one or 

more other technologies, such as 

thermal or halogen cooking elements or 

convection systems, contribute to 

cooking the food). The proposal also 

does not cover the type of cooking 

appliance classified by DOE regulations 

as a microwave/conventional range, 

which has separate compartments or 

components consisting of a microwave 

oven, a conventional oven, and a 

conventional cooking top. Id. DOE 

requested data on the efficiency 

characteristics of combination ovens in 

the November 2007 ANOPR, but did not 

receive any information. If this 

information is made available at a later 

date, DOE may include these products 

in future proceedings. 

DOE plans to address only the 

microwave oven test procedure at this 

time, for two reasons. First, DOE does 

not have standby mode or off mode 

power data for conventional cooking 

products to enable it to determine what 

changes would be required in the test 

procedures for those products. Second, 

DOE intends to determine whether a 

standby power standard level for 

microwave ovens is technologically 

feasible and economically justified in 

the appliance standards rulemaking. If 

so, the test procedure must be amended 

to include standby power well in 

advance of the March 31, 2011, deadline 

specified by EISA 2007. DOE will 

conduct a subsequent separate 

rulemaking to amend the conventional 

cooking products test procedure in 

order to meet the March 31, 2011, 

deadline specified by EISA 2007. 

B. Effective Date for the Test Procedure 

As indicated above, EPCA requires 

that the microwave oven test procedure 

be amended to incorporate 

measurement of standby mode and off 

mode power by March 31, 2011. To the 

extent possible, when conducting a 

rulemaking to amend its test 

procedures, DOE strives to finalize an 

amended test procedure before issuing a 

NOPR for energy conservation standards 

for that product. In this instance, DOE 

is accelerating the schedule for 

amending its microwave oven test 

procedure to allow the amended test 

procedure to be used in the concurrent 

appliance standards rulemaking, which 

would address standby mode and off 

mode power standards for microwave 

ovens. DOE expects to publish the 

microwave oven test procedure final 

rule before publishing a final rule in the 

appliance standards rulemaking. The 

effective date of the modified 

microwave oven test procedure would 

be three years after the test procedure 

final rule is published, which is 

expected to be before the effective date 

of the appliance standards rulemaking. 

C. Measures of Energy Consumption 

Although there are no current energy 

conservation standards for microwave 

ovens, the DOE microwave oven test 

procedure provides for the calculation 

of several measures of energy 

consumption, including cooking 

efficiency, energy factor (EF), and 

annual energy consumption. 

Historically, DOE’s rulemaking analyses 

have used EF as the energy conservation 

metric for microwave ovens.4 (10 CFR 

430.23(i)(4)) 

Section 325(gg)(2)(A) of EPCA directs 

that the ‘‘[t]est procedures for all 

covered products shall be amended 

pursuant to section 323 to include 

standby mode and off mode energy 

consumption, taking into consideration 

the most current versions of Standards 

62301 and 62087 of the International 

Electrotechnical Commission, with such 

energy consumption integrated into the 

overall energy efficiency, energy 

consumption, or other energy descriptor 

for each covered product, unless the 

Secretary determines that—(i) the 

current test procedures for a covered 

product already fully account for and 

incorporate the standby mode and off 

mode energy consumption of the 

covered product; or (ii) such an 

integrated test procedure is technically 

infeasible for a particular covered 

product, in which case the Secretary 

shall prescribe a separate standby mode 

and off mode energy use test procedure 

for the covered product, if technically 

feasible.’’ (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A)) 

DOE’s microwave oven test procedure 

does not currently account for standby 


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5For example, two units among the microwave 

ovens tested by AHAM, each with 1000 W of input 

power, will be designated Unit A and Unit B for the 

purposes of this illustration. The EF of Unit A was 

measured by AHAM according to the current DOE 

test procedure as 55.7 percent, while the EF of Unit 

B was measured as 57.3 percent. The standby power 

of Unit A, however, was measured as 1.7 W, 

compared to the 4.4 W of standby power for Unit 

B. If a combined EF (‘‘CEF’’) were to be calculated 

by adding the annual standby energy use to the 

annual cooking energy consumption, this CEF for 

Unit A would be 50.5 percent, while the CEF for 

Unit B would be 45.0 percent, thereby reversing the 

rankings of the two microwave ovens according to 

their energy descriptor. 

6A microwave oven is considered to be in ‘‘off 

mode’’ if it is plugged in to a main power source, 

is not being used for an active function such as 

cooking or defrosting, and is consuming power for 

features other than a display, cooking sensor, 

controls (including a remote control), or sensors 

required to reactivate it from a low power state. For 

example, a microwave oven with mechanical 

controls and no display or cooking sensor that 

consumed power for components such as a power 

supply when the unit was not activated would be 

considered to be in off mode. Note that DOE 

believes there are no longer any such microwave 

ovens with mechanical controls on the market, and, 

in fact, is not aware of any microwave ovens 

currently available that can operate in off mode. 

mode and off mode energy 

consumption. Therefore, DOE evaluated 

the overall energy efficiency 

descriptor—EF—to determine whether 

it could be modified to include standby 

mode and off mode energy 

consumption. 

The current test procedure measures 

the amount of energy required to raise 

the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 

by 10 degrees Celsius under controlled 

conditions. The ratio of usable output 

power over input power describes the 

EF, which is also a measure of the 

cooking efficiency. As discussed above, 

DOE sampled 32 microwave ovens, and 

AHAM independently tested 21 

additional units, for a total of 53 

microwave ovens. The data from 

cooking tests on these units show a 

cooking efficiency range from 55 

percent to 62 percent. Reverse 

engineering conducted by DOE as part 

of the appliance standards rulemaking 

attempted to identify design options 

associated with this variation in cooking 

efficiency. Although design options 

among various microwave ovens were 

found to be highly standardized, DOE 

was unable to correlate specific design 

options or other features such as cavity 

size or output power with cooking 

efficiency. 

DOE also observed significant 

variability in the cooking efficiency 

measurements obtained using the DOE 

microwave oven test procedure for the 

53 units tested by DOE and AHAM. The 

data show test-to-test variability of 

several EF percentage points for a given 

microwave oven (i.e., where a given 

combination of design options could be 

assigned to a number of trial standard 

levels (TSLs), depending upon the test 

results). DOE was also unable to 

ascertain why similarly designed, 

equipped, and constructed microwave 

ovens showed varying EFs and, hence, 

annual energy consumption. DOE 

further notes that manufacturers stated 

during interviews that the water used in 

the test procedure is not representative 

of an actual food load. One 

manufacturer stated, for example, that 

this could result in different microwave 

ovens being rated at the same energy 

efficiency even though true cooking 

performance is different. DOE believes 

that it is infeasible to specify a food load 

in the test procedure at this time, 

because it will require significant 

revisions and comments from 

stakeholders to understand what a 

representative food load is and how to 

ensure consistency in food properties 

from test to test. 

DOE explored whether it would be 

technically feasible to combine the 

energy efficiency during the cooking 

cycle (per-use) with standby mode and 

off mode energy use (over time) to form 

a single metric, as required by EISA 

2007. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A)) The 

existing measure of microwave overall 

energy efficiency measures the 

efficiency of heating a sample of water 

over a period of seconds. In contrast, 

standby mode and off mode energy 

consumption is a measure of the amount 

of energy used over a period of multiple 

hours while not performing the function 

of heating a load. DOE finds that an 

overall energy efficiency that combines 

the two values is representative of 

neither the energy efficiency of the 

microwave oven for a very short period 

of use (as is the case with the EF) nor 

the efficiency of the microwave oven 

over an extended period of time. 

DOE notes that certain test procedures 

do combine a measure of cycle 

efficiency and standby energy use to 

derive an overall energy efficiency 

measure (e.g., gas kitchen ranges and 

ovens incorporate pilot gas 

consumption in EF, electric ovens 

include clock power in EF, and gas 

dryers include pilot gas consumption in 

EF). However, DOE believes that the 

combined measure of energy efficiency 

is a meaningful measure when the 

difference in energy use between the 

primary function of those products and 

the standby power is so large that the 

standby power has little impact on the 

overall measure of energy efficiency, or 

the combined efficiency is based on 

energy use of the primary energy 

function and standby power over the 

same period (e.g., annual or seasonal). 

In the case of microwave ovens, the 

energy consumption associated with 

standby mode is a significant fraction of 

the overall energy use. DOE notes, for 

example, that depending on the cooking 

efficiency and standby power, the rank 

ordering of two microwave ovens based 

on EF alone could reverse if standby 

power were factored in, depending on 

the values of cooking energy use and 

standby power.5 Therefore, given the 

similar magnitudes of microwave oven 

annual energy consumption associated 

with these two disparate and largely 

incompatible metrics that are measured 

over very different time periods, DOE 

questioned whether it would be 

technically feasible to incorporate EF 

and standby power into a combined 

energy efficiency metric that produces a 

meaningful result. 

To explore standby mode and off 

mode power, DOE tested 32 sample 

units using the current IEC Standard 

62301 standby test procedure and 

recorded a standby power range of about 

1.2 W to 5.8 W (with less than 0.5 

percent test-to-test deviation). DOE 

observed no off mode power 

consumption for the microwave ovens 

in its test sample, and DOE’s research 

suggests that no other microwave ovens 

available in the United States consume 

energy in an off mode.6 Thus, DOE 

focused its investigations on standby 

mode. Data suggested correlations 

between specific features and standby 

power, thereby providing the basis for a 

cost-efficiency curve. However, for the 

reasons stated above about combining a 

per-cycle efficiency with standby power 

over a long period of time, as well as 

due to the observed test variability in 

the cooking efficiency results, DOE is 

concerned that an overall measure of 

cooking efficiency that combines 

cooking and standby energy cannot 

produce test results that measure energy 

efficiency or energy use of microwave 

ovens in a reasonable and repeatable 

manner. An ‘‘average’’ microwave runs 

8,689 hours in standby mode per year. 

Based on the standby power range 

measured by DOE and AHAM, standby 

power consumption represents a 

relatively large component of total 

annual energy consumption. At the 

efficiency baseline from the analysis 

conducted for the previous cooking 

products rulemaking, as discussed in 

the 1996 Technical Support Document 

for Residential Cooking Products, 

(which was also observed in the test 

sample), the observed range of annual 

energy consumption due to cooking 

(14.2 kWh) is equivalent to 

approximately 2 W of standby power. 

DOE also explored whether the 

existing test procedure’s measure of 


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7 DOE notes that if a microwave oven standard is 

established based on standby power alone, 

measurable energy savings would certainly be 

achieved. If, however, standby power were to be 

combined with cooking efficiency, it is conceivable 

that many microwave ovens could already comply 

with the standard without reducing standby power, 

since the annual energy consumption due to 

standby power is on the same order as that 

associated with the variability in EF. 

8 Japan’s Energy Conservation Act uses a ‘‘top 

runner’’ method to set energy efficiency targets for 

residential, commercial, and transportation sector 

equipment. Target values for future products are set 

based on the level of the most energy efficient 

products on the market at the time of the value 

setting process (i.e., the ‘‘top runners’’). For more 

information, visit http://www.eccj.or.jp/ 

index_e.html. 

9 Korea’s e-Standby Program is a voluntary 

labeling program designed to promote the reduction 

of standby power consumption in home and office 

products. For more information, visit http:// 

www.kemco.or.kr/. (English translation not 

available yet at the time the notice was written.) 

10 KEMCO publication, ‘‘e-Standby Program 

Application Regulation,’’ February 2007, pp. 48–49. 

Available online at http://www.apec-esis.org/ 

library/Korea_eStandby_Program_20070209.pdf. 

annual energy consumption could be 

modified to be a combined energy 

efficiency descriptor for microwave 

ovens, despite the fact that EF has 

historically been used in energy 

conservation rulemakings as the energy 

efficiency descriptor. For the reasons 

articulated here, DOE has tentatively 

concluded that neither approach meets 

the statutory standard for a combined 

metric. 

In light of the above, DOE believes 

that, although it may be mathematically 

possible to combine energy 

consumption into a single metric 

encompassing active (cooking), standby, 

and off modes, it is not technically 

feasible to do so at this time, because of 

the high variability in the current 

cooking efficiency measurement from 

which the active mode EF and annual 

energy consumption are derived and 

because of the significant contribution 

of standby power to overall microwave 

oven energy use. Given DOE’s recent 

research, there is concern that cooking 

efficiency results for microwave ovens 

would not be meaningful, so 

incorporation of such results in a 

combined metric similarly would not be 

expected to be meaningful. Inherent in 

a determination of technical feasibility 

under EISA 2007 for a combined metric 

for active, standby, and off mode energy 

consumption is an expectation that the 

results would be meaningful. 

Accordingly, for the purposes of this 

notice, DOE is not proposing to 

incorporate standby and off modes with 

active mode into a combined metric, but 

is instead proposing a separate metric to 

measure standby power, as provided for 

by EISA 2007 in cases where it is 

technically infeasible to incorporate 

standby and off modes into a combined 

energy conservation metric.7 (42 U.S.C. 

6295(gg)(3)(B)) 

Although it may not be technically 

feasible to develop a combined metric 

for microwave ovens today, it may be 

possible to do so in the future, provided 

that each is measured on a consistent 

basis (i.e., kWh per year apportioned to 

each mode) so that the results are 

meaningful and comparable. In this 

vein, DOE notes the need to develop a 

test procedure that addresses the highvariability concerns with its current 

cooking efficiency measure. DOE 

understands that IEC, AHAM, 

manufacturers, and others are exploring 

whether a test procedure can be 

developed that responds to the concerns 

DOE has raised. DOE expects to evaluate 

potential future test procedures to 

determine whether any address the 

concerns discussed above and meet the 

requirements of section 325(gg) of the 

Act, thereby making them suitable 

candidates for use in amending the DOE 

test procedure. If such test procedures 

are developed, DOE will consider a 

combined measure of microwave oven 

energy efficiency in a future rulemaking. 

D. Incorporating by Reference IEC 

Standard 62301 First Edition 2005–06 

for Measuring Standby Mode and Off 

Mode Power in Microwave Ovens 

As discussed in section I of this 

notice, DOE received comments in 

response to the Framework Document 

that it should revise the microwave 

oven test procedure to address standby 

power. In response to these comments, 

DOE investigated existing test methods 

that could be incorporated by reference 

for measuring standby power in 

microwave ovens. DOE also investigated 

test methods for measuring off mode 

power in microwave ovens. 

As noted previously, EPCA, as 

amended by EISA 2007, requires that 

test procedures ‘‘shall be amended 

pursuant to section 323 to include 

standby mode and off mode energy 

consumption, taking into consideration 

the most current versions of Standards 

62301 and 62087 of the International 

Electrotechnical Commission.* * *’’ 

(42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A)) DOE noted 

that IEC Standard 62301 provides for 

the measurement of standby power in 

electrical appliances, including 

microwave ovens, and, thus, is 

applicable to the proposed amendments 

to the test procedure. DOE also 

reviewed IEC Standard 62087, which 

specifies methods of measurement for 

the power consumption of TV receivers, 

VCRs, set top boxes, audio equipment, 

and multi-function equipment for 

consumer use. IEC Standard 62087 does 

not, however, include measurement for 

the power consumption of electrical 

appliances such as microwave ovens. 

Therefore, DOE determined that IEC 

Standard 62087 was not suitable for the 

proposed amendments to the microwave 

oven test procedure for this rulemaking. 

The microwave oven standby power 

data that AHAM provided to DOE were 

based on measurements of standby 

power in accordance with IEC Standard 

62301, as were the data DOE gathered in 

response to stakeholder comments on 

the Framework Document. DOE 

conducted a test program to analyze the 

suitability of IEC Standard 62301 for 

incorporation into the DOE microwave 

oven test procedure. Specifically, DOE 

sought to determine whether the IEC 

Standard 62301 test conditions and 

procedures would be suitable for 

incorporation into the DOE test 

procedure for microwave ovens to 

measure standby mode power use. Test 

data suggest that, with additional 

specifications added for test cycle 

duration and starting clock time, IEC 

Standard 62301 is indeed suitable for 

inclusion in the DOE test procedure for 

that purpose. 

In reviewing alternative standby 

power test procedures for potential 

amendments to the DOE test procedure, 

DOE investigated both testing 

conditions and testing methods 

specified in the test procedures used by 

countries considered to be international 

leaders in reducing standby power 

consumption. The Japanese Electrical 

Manufacturers’ Association (JEMA), 

which has been involved with Japan’s 

Top Runner program,8 indicated that 

the test procedure it uses resembles IEC 

Standard 62301 for standby testing of 

microwave ovens. In a March 2008 

conversation with DOE, JEMA stated 

that the test procedure involves 

connecting the microwave oven to the 

power supply (without cooking), 

confirming that there is no change in the 

power supply (stable state), then 

measuring power consumption for one 

hour. Korea’s e-Standby Program 9 uses 

a microwave oven test procedure in 

which a water load is heated for two 

minutes, and then the water load is 

removed, and the door is closed. After 

30 minutes, the average standby power 

is measured over a 1-hour period. Thirty 

minutes later, the test is repeated, and 

the two standby power measurements 

are averaged.10

Although DOE recognizes the merits 

of these alternative standby power test 

procedures, DOE believes that IEC 

Standard 62301 still provides a more 

representative average standby power 

measurement than the versions Japan 


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11For information on Australia’s Standby 

Program, visit http://www.energyrating.gov.au/ 

standby-background.html. 

12For more information on IEA’s ‘‘1-Watt Plan,’’ 

visit http://www.iea.org/textbase/subjectqueries/ 

standby.asp. 

13 IEA, ‘‘Fact Sheet: Standby Power Use and the 

IEA ‘1-Watt Plan’,’’ April 2007, p. 1. Available 

online at http://www.iea.org/textbase/papers/2007/ 

standby_fact.pdf. 

14A notation in the form ‘‘Joint Comment, No. 29 

at p. 6’’ identifies a written comment that DOE has 

received and has included in the docket of the 

standards rulemaking. This particular notation 

refers to a comment (1) Submitted jointly by the 

ASAP, NRDC, Northwest Power and Conservation 

Council, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, 

and ACEEE, (Joint Comment) (2) in document 

number 29 in the docket of that rulemaking, and (3) 

appearing on page 6 of document number 29. 

and Korea use because of the variations 

in power consumption associated with 

clock time display. DOE is unaware of 

any other test procedures applicable to 

the measurement of standby power in 

electrical appliances such as microwave 

ovens. Australia has indicated that it 

has supported the development of and 

currently uses IEC Standard 62301 for 

standby power testing.11

DOE also considered harmonization 

of test procedures with international 

standby programs, recognizing that 

microwave oven manufacturers 

typically supply a global market and, 

thus, will be subject to standby power 

standards in multiple countries. The 

International Energy Agency (IEA) has 

raised awareness of standby power 

through publications, international 

conferences, and policy advice to 

governments. In 1999, the IEA 

developed the ‘‘1-Watt Plan,’’ which 

proposed reducing standby power 

internationally in electronic devices and 

which advocates that all countries 

harmonize energy policies and adopt 

the same definition and test 

procedure.12 In addressing 

harmonization, IEA stated that IEC 

Standard 62301 provides an 

internationally-sanctioned definition 

and test procedure for standby power, 

and this is now widely specified and 

used.13 DOE believes that incorporating 

IEC Standard 62301 into the DOE test 

procedure will provide harmonization 

with most international standards for 

standby power in microwave ovens. 

Considering these factors, DOE 

suggested at the December 2007 public 

meeting that clauses from IEC Standard 

62301 could be incorporated by 

reference into the DOE test procedure to 

measure microwave oven standby 

power. DOE sought input from 

stakeholders on this suggestion. At that 

time, DOE did not suggest amendments 

to measure off mode power because the 

December 2007 public meeting predated 

the requirements promulgated by EISA 

2007. 

In response to DOE’s presentation, the 

Appliance Standards Awareness Project 

(ASAP), Natural Resources Defense 

Council (NRDC), Northwest Power and 

Conservation Council, Northeast Energy 

Efficiency Partnerships, and ACEEE 

(hereafter ‘‘Joint Comment’’) stated in 

jointly filed comments that DOE should 

modify the oven, cooktop, and 

microwave oven test procedures as 

necessary to measure not only the clock 

face standby energy use, but any other 

standby energy use, such as control 

electronics and power supply losses. 

(Joint Comment, No. 29 at p. 6) 14 In 

addition, the Joint Comment 

recommended that DOE should use IEC 

Standard 62301 to test standby power, 

with the instruction to start the test with 

a clock setting of 12 a.m. and to run the 

test for 12 hours or a shorter period of 

time demonstrated mathematically to be 

representative of a 12-hour period. (Joint 

Comment, No. 29 at p. 9) ASAP 

commented that it supports a test 

procedure change to address microwave 

oven standby power, and that this 

change should not be a hurdle to 

implementing a standard that addresses 

standby power consumption. (ASAP, 

Public Meeting Transcript, No. 23.7 at p. 

72) General Electric (GE) commented 

that it does not believe there is 

justification for the development of 

‘‘necessarily complex’’ new test 

procedures for cooking products. (GE, 

No. 30 at p. 2) 

DOE believes that the amendments to 

the microwave oven test procedure 

proposed in today’s notice are not 

‘‘necessarily complex,’’ and that the test 

procedure would provide a uniform and 

widely accepted test method for 

measuring standby mode and off mode 

power consumption. DOE also believes 

that the proposed amendments to the 

microwave oven test procedure would 

provide a method to measure the 

standby energy use of not just the clock 

display, but all microwave oven 

components, such as control electronics 

and power supply losses. The Joint 

Comment’s concerns regarding 

modifying the oven and cooking top test 

procedures and about the starting clock 

time and test duration are addressed in 

sections III.A and III.F, respectively. 

For the reasons presented above, DOE 

proposes in today’s notice to 

incorporate by reference into the DOE 

test procedure for microwave ovens 

specific clauses from IEC Standard 

62301 for the measurement of standby 

mode power. DOE believes that these 

clauses also can be applied to the 

measurement of off mode power for 

microwave ovens. Thus, DOE proposes 

to incorporate the same clauses from 

IEC Standard 62301 for measuring both 

standby mode and off mode power 

consumption. Specifically, these clauses 

provide test conditions and testing 

procedures for measuring the average 

standby mode and average off mode 

power consumption. With respect to 

testing conditions, section 4 of IEC 

Standard 62301 provides conditions for 

the supply voltage waveform, ambient 

room air temperature, and power 

measurement meter tolerances to 

provide for repeatable and precise 

measurements of standby mode and off 

mode power consumption. Section 5 of 

IEC Standard 62301 regarding testing 

procedures clarifies the measurement of 

standby mode for units with a shortduration higher power state before a 

lower power state, and it also provides 

methods for measuring standby mode 

and off mode power when the power 

measurement is stable and unstable (i.e., 

varies over a representative cycle). 

However, after careful review, DOE 

has determined that not all provisions of 

IEC Standard 62301 are appropriate for 

incorporation into DOE’s microwave 

oven test procedure. IEC Standard 

62301 also contains provisions in 

addition to those applicable to standby 

mode and off mode power testing of 

microwave ovens. For example, IEC 

Standard 62301 provides general 

conditions for the power supply, which 

the current DOE test procedure already 

addresses. IEC Standard 62301 also 

provides requirements for information 

to be recorded in a test report, which are 

beyond the scope of DOE’s test 

procedure. Hence, only the applicable 

sections and clauses (as stated above) 

that are relevant to measurement of 

microwave oven standby mode and off 

mode power are incorporated by 

reference in today’s proposed rule. 

Finally, DOE recognizes that the IEC 

is developing an updated test procedure 

(IEC Standard 62301 Ed. 2.0). DOE 

understands that IEC projects 

publication of the new test procedure in 

July 2009, although the projected 

publication date could be subject to 

changes that would push the date back 

further. While DOE plans to follow 

development of the revised IEC 

Standard, the Department intends to 

determine whether a standby power 

standard level for microwave ovens is 

technologically feasible and 

economically justified in the appliance 

standards rulemaking, and to publish a 

final rule by March 2009. Thus, DOE 

plans to use the current version of IEC 

Standard 62301 in today’s proposed test 

procedure, because the new version will 

be published after the final rule in the 

appliance standards rulemaking is 


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scheduled to be published. After the 

final rule is published, subsequent 

amendments to the referenced IEC 

Standard by standard-setting 

organizations would become part of the 

DOE test procedure only if DOE amends 

its test procedure to incorporate them. 

E. Definitions of ‘‘Active Mode,’’ 

‘‘Standby Mode,’’ and ‘‘Off Mode’’ 

Whirlpool commented on the 

November 2007 ANOPR that it is 

imperative to give separate 

consideration to a standby mode where 

the product is providing a consumer 

benefit (e.g., clock display, delay start, 

instant-on capability) as compared to a 

true off mode. Whirlpool further 

commented that the provisions in the 

proposed IEC Standard 62301 Ed. 2.0 do 

just that. (Whirlpool, No. 28, pp. 1–2) 

DOE recognizes that there are 

consumer utility features, including 

those listed by Whirlpool, associated 

with standby mode but not off mode. 

EPCA defines ‘‘standby mode’’ as ‘‘the 

condition in which an energy-using 

product— 

(I) Is connected to a main power 

source; and 

(II) Offers 1 or more of the following 

user-oriented or protective functions: 

(aa) To facilitate the activation or 

deactivation of other functions 

(including active mode) by remote 

switch (including remote control), 

internal sensor, or timer. 

(bb) Continuous functions, including 

information or status displays 

(including clocks) or sensor-based 

functions.’’ 

(42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(1)(A)(iii)) 

EPCA defines ‘‘off mode’’ as ‘‘the 

condition in which an energy-using 

product— 

(I) Is connected to a main power 

source; and 

(II) Is not providing any standby mode 

or active mode function.’’ 

(42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(1)(A)(ii)) 

EPCA defines ‘‘active mode,’’ which 

is referenced in the definition of ‘‘off 

mode,’’ as ‘‘the condition in which an 

energy-using product— 

(I) Is connected to a main power 

source; 

(II) Has been activated; and 

(III) Provides 1 or more main 

functions.’’ 

(42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(1)(A)(i)) 

DOE considers ‘‘main functions’’ for a 

microwave oven to be those operations 

in which the magnetron and/or thermal 

element is energized for at least a 

portion of the time for purposes of 

heating, cooking, and/or defrosting the 

load. 

For the reasons discussed in section 

III.D, DOE plans to use the EPCA 

definitions of ‘‘active mode,’’ ‘‘standby 

mode,’’ and ‘‘off mode.’’ Under these 

definitions, the modes described by 

Whirlpool would be classified as 

standby modes. A microwave oven with 

a continously energized display or 

cooking sensor, or a microwave oven 

that automatically powers down certain 

energy-consuming components after a 

cooking cycle and waits to detect an 

event triggering re-energization of these 

components, would be considered 

capable of operation in standby mode 

but not off mode. DOE additionally 

notes that if the microwave oven is 

equipped with a manual power on-off 

switch, which completely cuts off 

power to the appliance (i.e., removes or 

interrupts all connections to the main 

power source, in the same manner as 

unplugging the appliance), the 

microwave oven would not be in the 

‘‘off mode’’ when the switch is in the 

‘‘off ’’ position. 

F. Specifications for the Test Methods 

and Measurements for Microwave Oven 

Standby Mode and Off Mode Testing 

Because IEC Standard 62301 is 

written to provide a certain degree of 

flexibility so that the test standard can 

be used to measure standby mode and 

off mode power for most household 

electrical appliances (including 

microwave ovens), it does not specify 

closely the test method for measuring 

the power consumption in cases in 

which the measured power is not stable. 

Section 5.3.2 of IEC Standard 62301 

states that ‘‘[i]f the power varies over a 

cycle (i.e., a regular sequence of power 

states that occur over several minutes or 

hours), the period selected to average 

power or accumulate energy shall be 

one or more complete cycles in order to 

get a representative average value.’’ 

DOE investigated the possible regular 

sequences of power states for 

microwave ovens in order to propose 

clarifying language to IEC Standard 

62301 that would provide accurate and 

repeatable test measurements. DOE’s 

testing of standby power indicates that 

a given unit or model of a microwave 

oven with a clock display may use 

varying amounts of standby power 

depending on the clock time being 

displayed. According to DOE testing of 

a microwave oven equipped with a 12- 

hour clock display, standby power use 

at different times during a 12-hour cycle 

could vary by as much as 25 percent. 

DOE believes that the lack of specificity 

in IEC Standard 62301 about the test 

period could produce test results that 

are not comparable to those obtained 

using other time periods, and that 

would not represent the true standby 

power consumption of its microwave 

ovens. In addition, different testing 

laboratories could take different 

approaches in selecting cycles for 

testing. To assess possible alternatives 

to the test cycle specified in IEC 

Standard 62301, DOE investigated 

alternative time periods and averaging 

methods for calculating representative 

standby power use. Based on this 

testing, and to assure comparable and 

valid results, DOE proposes, as 

presented at the December 2007 public 

meeting, to include in the microwave 

oven test procedure a specification of 

the test period in cases in which the 

power is not stable as ‘‘a 12-hour ± 30- 

second period.’’ 

DOE also observed during tests that 

the standby power measurement for 

certain displays can be affected by the 

starting clock time, because for these 

displays, standby power is a function of 

the time being displayed. At the 

December 2007 public meeting, DOE 

discussed adding a requirement to the 

microwave oven test procedure that the 

initial clock time of any display be set 

at 12 a.m. at the start of the operating 

cycle. However, subsequent DOE 

analysis of approaches that are used to 

achieve very low microwave oven 

standby levels (i.e., less than 1 W) led 

DOE to believe that this initial clock 

time requirement would fail to account 

for the strategy of an automatic 

transition to a low standby power state 

after a certain period of user inactivity. 

Because such a strategy could effect 

significant real-world energy savings, 

DOE no longer proposes to specify a 

clock time at the start of the test cycle. 

DOE determined that specifying a 12- 

hour test period alone would provide 

for a representative average use cycle for 

microwave ovens for which the 

measured power is not stable (i.e., a 

microwave oven equipped with a 12- 

hour clock display). 

In summary, DOE proposes measuring 

standby mode and off mode power 

consumption according to IEC Standard 

62301, with a test duration of 12 hours, 

± 30 seconds for cases in which power 

is not stable. 

G. Technical Correction for the 

Microwave Oven Test Cooking Energy 

Output 

The equation provided under section 

4.4.1 (‘‘Microwave Oven Test Cooking 

Energy Output’’) of the DOE microwave 

oven test procedure contains a technical 

error in the equation for calculation of 

the microwave oven test cooking energy 

output, ET, in watt-hours (Wh). The 

equation, using the variables and factors 

provided in the test procedure, 

currently calculates ET in kWh instead 

of Wh. The test cooking energy output 


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15Categorical Exclusion A6 provides, 

‘‘Rulemakings that are strictly procedural, such as 

rulemaking (under 48 CFR part 9) establishing 

procedures for technical and pricing proposals and 

establishing contract clauses and contracting 

practices for the purchase of goods and services, 

and rulemaking (under 10 CFR part 600) 

establishing application and review procedures for, 

and administration, audit, and closeout of, grants 

and cooperative agreements.’’ 

is used to calculate annual energy 

consumption in section 4.4.3, in which 

the units for ET are required to be Wh. 

Therefore, DOE proposes in today’s 

notice to change the value of the 

conversion factor, Ke, in section 4.4.1 of 

3,412 British thermal units (Btu) per 

kWh to a value of 3.412 Btu per Wh, so 

that ET is calculated in the specified 

units of Wh. The proposed amended 

value for Ke in section 4.4.1 is the same 

as the value defined in section 1.11 

(‘‘Symbol Usage’’). 

H. Compliance With Other EPCA 

Requirements 

Section 323(b)(3) of EPCA requires 

that ‘‘[a]ny test procedures prescribed or 

amended under this section shall be 

reasonably designed to produce test 

results which measure energy 

efficiency, energy use * * * or 

estimated annual operating cost of a 

covered product during a representative 

average use cycle or period of use * * * 

and shall not be unduly burdensome to 

conduct.’’ (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) DOE 

believes that the incorporation of 

clauses regarding test conditions and 

methods in IEC Standard 62301, along 

with the modifications described above, 

would satisfy this requirement. The 

proposed amendments to the DOE test 

procedure incorporate a test standard 

that is widely used and accepted 

internationally to measure standby 

power in standby mode and off mode. 

Based on DOE testing and analysis of 

IEC Standard 62301, DOE has 

determined that the proposed 

amendments to the microwave oven test 

procedure produce standby mode and 

off mode average power consumption 

measurements that represent an average 

use cycle both for cases in which the 

measured power is stable and when the 

measured power is unstable (i.e., varies 

over a cycle). Also, the test methods and 

equipment that the amendment would 

require for measuring standby power in 

microwave ovens do not differ 

substantially from the test methods and 

equipment in the current DOE test 

procedure for measuring microwave 

oven cooking efficiency. Therefore, 

manufacturers would not be required to 

make a major investment in test 

facilities and new equipment. For these 

reasons, DOE has concluded that the 

amended test procedure would produce 

test results that measure the power 

consumption of a covered product 

during a representative average use 

cycle as well as annual energy 

consumption, and that the test 

procedure would not be unduly 

burdensome to conduct. 

IV. Procedural Requirements 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

Today’s regulatory action is not a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under 

section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, 

Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 FR 

51735 (Oct. 4, 1993). Accordingly, this 

action was not subject to review under 

the Executive Order by the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

(OIRA) in the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB). 

B. Review Under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires preparation 

of an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis for any rule that by law must 

be proposed for public comment, unless 

the agency certifies that the rule, if 

promulgated, will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. As required by 

Executive Order 13272, ‘‘Proper 

Consideration of Small Entities in 

Agency Rulemaking,’’ 67 FR 53461 

(August 16, 2002), DOE published 

procedures and policies on February 19, 

2003, to ensure that the potential 

impacts of its rules on small entities are 

properly considered during the 

rulemaking process. 68 FR 7990. DOE’s 

procedures and policies may be viewed 

on the Office of the General Counsel’s 

Web site (http://www.gc.doe.gov). 

DOE reviewed today’s proposed rule 

under the provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act and the procedures and 

policies published on February 19, 

2003. This rule proposes to prescribe 

test procedures that would be used to 

test compliance with energy 

conservation standards. The proposed 

rule affects microwave oven test 

procedures and would not have a 

significant economic impact, but would 

provide common testing methods. In 

addition, the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) considers an 

entity to be a small business if, together 

with its affiliates, it employs fewer than 

a threshold number of workers specified 

in 13 CFR part 121 according to the 

North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) codes. The threshold 

number for NAICS classification 

335221, Household cooking appliance 

manufacturers, which includes 

microwave oven manufacturers, is 750 

employees. DOE understands that only 

multinational companies with more 

than 750 employees, and their wholly 

owned subsidiaries, exist in this 

industry. 

For these reasons, DOE tentatively 

concludes and certifies that the 

proposed rule would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Accordingly, DOE has not prepared a 

regulatory flexibility analysis for this 

rulemaking. DOE will transmit the 

certification and supporting statement 

of factual basis to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the SBA for review under 

5 U.S.C. 605(b). 

C. Review Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 

This rulemaking would not impose 

any new information collection or 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Accordingly, OMB clearance is not 

required under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 

D. Review Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

In this proposed rule, DOE proposes 

test procedure amendments that it 

expects will be used to develop and 

implement future energy conservation 

standards for microwave ovens. DOE 

has determined that this rule falls into 

a class of actions that are categorically 

excluded from review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and DOE’s 

implementing regulations at 10 CFR part 

1021. Specifically, this rule amends an 

existing rule without changing its 

environmental effect, and, therefore, is 

covered by the Categorical Exclusion in 

paragraph A6 to Appendix A to subpart 

D, 10 CFR part 1021, which applies 

because this rule would establish 

revisions to existing test procedures that 

will not affect the amount, quality, or 

distribution of energy usage, and, 

therefore, will not result in any 

environmental impacts.15 Accordingly, 

neither an environmental assessment 

nor an environmental impact statement 

is required. 

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

Executive Order 13132, ‘‘Federalism,’’ 

imposes certain requirements on 

agencies formulating and implementing 

policies or regulations that preempt 

State law or that have Federalism 

implications. 64 FR 43255 (August 4, 

1999). The Executive Order requires 

agencies to examine the constitutional 

and statutory authority supporting any 

action that would limit the 

policymaking discretion of the States, 


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and to carefully assess the necessity for 

such actions. The Executive Order also 

requires agencies to have an accountable 

process to ensure meaningful and timely 

input by State and local officials in the 

development of regulatory policies that 

have Federalism implications. On 

March 14, 2000, DOE published a 

statement of policy describing the 

intergovernmental consultation process 

that it will follow in developing such 

regulations. 65 FR 13735. DOE 

examined this proposed rule and 

determined that it would not preempt 

State law and would not have a 

substantial direct effect on the States, on 

the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. Executive Order 

13132 requires no further action. 

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

Regarding the review of existing 

regulations and the promulgation of 

new regulations, section 3(a) of 

Executive Order 12988, ‘‘Civil Justice 

Reform,’’ 61 FR 4729 (Feb. 7, 1996), 

imposes on Federal agencies the general 

duty to adhere to the following 

requirements: (1) Eliminate drafting 

errors and ambiguity; (2) write 

regulations to minimize litigation; (3) 

provide a clear legal standard for 

affected conduct rather than a general 

standard; and (4) promote simplification 

and burden reduction. Section 3(b) of 

Executive Order 12988 specifically 

requires that Executive agencies make 

every reasonable effort to ensure that the 

regulation specifies the following: (1) 

The preemptive effect, if any; (2) any 

effect on existing Federal law or 

regulation; (3) a clear legal standard for 

affected conduct while promoting 

simplification and burden reduction; (4) 

the retroactive effect, if any; (5) 

definitions of key terms; and (6) other 

important issues affecting clarity and 

general draftsmanship under any 

guidelines issued by the Attorney 

General. Section 3(c) of Executive Order 

12988 requires Executive agencies to 

review regulations in light of applicable 

standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b) to 

determine whether they are met or it is 

unreasonable to meet one or more of 

them. DOE has completed the required 

review and determined that, to the 

extent permitted by law, this rule meets 

the relevant standards of Executive 

Order 12988. 

G. Review Under the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Pub. L. 

104–4) requires each Federal agency to 

assess the effects of Federal regulatory 

actions on State, local, and Tribal 

governments and the private sector. For 

a proposed regulatory action likely to 

result in a rule that may cause the 

expenditure by State, local, and Tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector of $100 million or more 

in any one year (adjusted annually for 

inflation), section 202 of UMRA requires 

a Federal agency to publish estimates of 

the resulting costs, benefits, and other 

effects on the national economy. (2 

U.S.C. 1532(a), (b)) UMRA also requires 

a Federal agency to develop an effective 

process to permit timely input by 

elected officers of State, local, and 

Tribal governments on a proposed 

‘‘significant intergovernmental 

mandate.’’ UMRA requires an agency 

plan for giving notice and opportunity 

for timely input to potentially affected 

small governments before establishing 

any requirements that might 

significantly or uniquely affect such 

governments. On March 18, 1997, DOE 

published a statement of policy on its 

process for intergovernmental 

consultation under UMRA. 62 FR 

12820. (The policy is also available at 

http://www.gc.doe.gov.) Today’s 

proposed rule contains neither an 

intergovernmental mandate nor a 

mandate that may result in an 

expenditure of $100 million or more in 

any year, so these requirements do not 

apply. 

H. Review Under the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 1999 

Section 654 of the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105–277) requires 

Federal agencies to issue a Family 

Policymaking Assessment for any rule 

that may affect family well-being. 

Today’s proposed rule would have no 

impact on the autonomy or integrity of 

the family as an institution. 

Accordingly, DOE has concluded that it 

is not necessary to prepare a Family 

Policymaking Assessment. 

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630 

DOE has determined, under Executive 

Order 12630, ‘‘Governmental Actions 

and Interference with Constitutionally 

Protected Property Rights,’’ 53 FR 8859 

(March 18, 1988), that this regulation 

would not result in any takings that 

might require compensation under the 

Fifth Amendment to the U.S. 

Constitution. 

J. Review Under the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 2001 

Section 515 of the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note) provides 

for agencies to review most 

disseminations of information to the 

public under guidelines established by 

each agency pursuant to general 

guidelines issued by OMB. OMB’s 

guidelines were published at 67 FR 

8452 (Feb. 22, 2002), and DOE’s 

guidelines were published at 67 FR 

62446 (Oct. 7, 2002). DOE has reviewed 

today’s notice and concluded that it is 

consistent with applicable policies in 

the OMB and DOE guidelines. 

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

Executive Order 13211, ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use,’’ 66 FR 28355 (May 

22, 2001), requires Federal agencies to 

prepare and submit to OIRA a Statement 

of Energy Effects for any proposed 

significant energy action. The definition 

of a ‘‘significant energy action’’ is any 

action by an agency that promulgated or 

is expected to lead to promulgation of 

a final rule, and that: (1) Is a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866, or any successor order; and (2) 

is likely to have a significant adverse 

effect on the supply, distribution, or use 

of energy; or (3) is designated by the 

Administrator of OIRA as a significant 

energy action. For any proposed 

significant energy action, the agency 

must give a detailed statement of any 

adverse effects on energy supply, 

distribution, or use if the proposal were 

to be implemented, and of reasonable 

alternatives to the action and their 

expected benefits on energy supply, 

distribution, and use. Today’s regulatory 

action is not a significant regulatory 

action under Executive Order 12866. 

Moreover, it would not have a 

significant adverse effect on the supply, 

distribution, or use of energy. Therefore, 

it is not a significant energy action. 

Accordingly, DOE has not prepared a 

Statement of Energy Effects. 

L. Review Under Section 32 of the 

Federal Energy Administration Act of 

1974 

Under section 301 of the DOE 

Organization Act (Pub. L. 95–91), DOE 

must comply with section 32 of the 

Federal Energy Administration Act of 

1974 (Pub. L. 93–275), as amended by 

the Federal Energy Administration 

Authorization Act of 1977 (FEAA; Pub. 

L. 95–70) (15 U.S.C. 788). Section 32 

essentially provides that, where a 


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proposed rule authorizes or requires use 

of commercial standards, the 

rulemaking must inform the public of 

the use and background of such 

standards. In addition, section 32(c) 

requires DOE to consult with the 

Attorney General and the Chairman of 

the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 

concerning the impact of the 

commercial or industry standards on 

competition. 

The proposed rule incorporates 

testing methods contained in sections 4 

and 5 of the commercial standard, IEC 

Standard 62301. DOE has evaluated this 

standard and is unable to conclude 

whether it fully complies with the 

requirements of section 32(b) of the 

FEAA, i.e., whether it was developed in 

a manner that fully provides for public 

participation, comment, and review. 

DOE will consult with the Attorney 

General and the Chairman of the FTC 

about the impact on competition of 

using the methods contained in this 

standard before prescribing a final rule. 

V. Public Participation 

A. Attendance at Public Meeting 

The time, date, and location of the 

public meeting are listed in the DATES

and ADDRESSES sections at the beginning 

of this NOPR. To attend the public 

meeting, please notify Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945. As 

explained in the ADDRESSES section, 

foreign nationals visiting DOE 

Headquarters are subject to advance 

security screening procedures. 

B. Procedure for Submitting Requests to 

Speak 

Anyone who has an interest in today’s 

notice, or who represents a group or 

class of persons with an interest in these 

issues, may request an opportunity to 

make an oral presentation at the public 

meeting. Such persons may handdeliver requests to speak to the address 

shown in the ADDRESSES section at the 

beginning of this notice between 9 a.m. 

and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. Requests may 

also be sent by mail or e-mail to: Ms. 

Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Building Technologies Program, 

Mailstop EE–2J, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585– 

0121, or Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

Persons who wish to speak should 

include in their request a computer 

diskette or CD in WordPerfect, Microsoft 

Word, PDF, or text (ASCII) file format 

that briefly describes the nature of their 

interest in this rulemaking and the 

topics they wish to discuss. Such 

persons should also provide a daytime 

telephone number where they can be 

reached. 

DOE requests persons selected to be 

heard to submit an advance copy of 

their statements at least one week before 

the public meeting. DOE may permit 

persons who cannot supply an advance 

copy of their statement to participate, if 

those persons have made advance 

alternative arrangements with the 

Building Technologies Program. 

Requests to give an oral presentation 

should ask for such alternative 

arrangements. 

C. Conduct of Public Meeting 

DOE will designate a DOE official to 

preside at the public meeting and may 

also use a professional facilitator to aid 

discussion. The meeting will not be a 

judicial or evidentiary-type public 

hearing, but DOE will conduct it in 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553 and 

section 336 of EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6306). A 

court reporter will be present to record 

the proceedings and prepare a 

transcript. DOE reserves the right to 

schedule the order of presentations and 

to establish the procedures governing 

the conduct of the public meeting. After 

the public meeting, interested parties 

may submit further comments on the 

proceedings as well as on any aspect of 

the rulemaking until the end of the 

comment period. 

DOE will conduct the public meeting 

in an informal conference style. DOE 

will present summaries of comments 

received before the public meeting, 

allow time for presentations by 

participants, and encourage all 

interested parties to share their views on 

issues affecting this rulemaking. Each 

participant will be allowed to make a 

prepared general statement (within time 

limits determined by DOE), before the 

discussion of specific topics. DOE will 

permit other participants to comment 

briefly on any general statements. At the 

end of all prepared statements on each 

specific topic, DOE will permit 

participants to clarify their statements 

briefly and comment on statements 

made by others. 

Participants should be prepared to 

answer DOE’s and other participants’ 

questions. DOE representatives may also 

ask participants about other matters 

relevant to this rulemaking. The official 

conducting the public meeting will 

accept additional comments or 

questions from those attending if time 

permits. The presiding official will 

announce any further procedural rules 

or modification of the above procedures 

that may be needed for the proper 

conduct of the public meeting. 

DOE will make the entire record of 

this proposed rulemaking, including the 

transcript from the public meeting, 

available for inspection at the U.S. 

Department of Energy, 950 L’Enfant 

Plaza, SW., Suite 600, Washington, DC 

20024, (202) 586–9127, between 9 a.m. 

and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. Copies of the 

transcript are available for purchase 

from the transcribing reporter. 

D. Submission of Comments 

DOE will accept comments, data, and 

information regarding the proposed rule 

before or after the public meeting, but 

no later than the date provided at the 

beginning of this notice. Comments, 

data, and information submitted to 

DOE’s e-mail address for this 

rulemaking should be provided in 

WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or 

text (ASCII) file format. Stakeholders 

should avoid the use of special 

characters or any form of encryption, 

and wherever possible comments 

should include the electronic signature 

of the author. Comments, data, and 

information submitted to DOE via mail 

or hand delivery should include one 

signed original paper copy. No 

telefacsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. 

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 that includes all of the 

information believed to be confidential, 

and one copy of the document with that 

information deleted. DOE will make its 

own determination as to the 

confidential status of the information 

and treat it accordingly. 

Factors of interest to DOE when 

evaluating requests to treat submitted 

information as confidential include the 

following: (1) A description of the items; 

(2) whether and why such items are 

customarily treated as confidential 

within the industry; (3) whether the 

information is generally known by or 

available from other sources; (4) 

whether the information was previously 

made available to others without 

obligation concerning its 

confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 

competitive injury to the submitting 

person that would result from public 

disclosure; (6) when such information 

might lose its confidential character due 

to the passage of time; and (7) why 

disclosure of the information would be 

contrary to the public interest. 

E. Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment 

Although comments are welcome on 

all aspects of this rulemaking, DOE is 

particularly interested in receiving 

comments and views of interested 

parties on the following issues: 


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1. Energy Descriptor 

DOE seeks comment on the 

determination of the technical 

infeasibility of incorporating energy 

factor and standby mode and off mode 

power into a single energy descriptor. 

(See section III.C.) 

2. Incorporation of IEC Standard 62301 

DOE invites comment on the 

adequacy of IEC Standard 62301 to 

measure standby mode and off mode 

power for microwave ovens in general, 

and on the suitability of incorporating 

into DOE regulations the specific 

provisions described in section III. D. 

3. Test Cycle 

DOE seeks comment on its proposed 

clarification to IEC Standard 62301, in 

which DOE would specify a test period 

of 12 hours ± 30 seconds for power 

measurements for microwave ovens for 

which the measured power is not stable. 

(See section III.F.) 

4. Technical Correction 

DOE seeks comment on its proposed 

change to the conversion factor used in 

the calculation of microwave oven test 

cooking energy output in order to 

produce a value in units of Wh rather 

than kWh. (See section III.G.) 

VI. Approval of the Office of the 

Secretary 

The Secretary of Energy has approved 

publication of today’s Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking. 

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 430 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Confidential business 

information, Energy conservation, 

Household appliances, Imports, 

Intergovernmental Relations, Small 

businesses. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 1, 

2008. 

John F. Mizroch, 

Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, DOE proposes to amend 10 

CFR part 430 to read as set forth below: 

PART 430—ENERGY CONSERVATION 

PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER 

PRODUCTS 

1. The authority citation for part 430 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291–6309; 28 U.S.C. 

2461 note. 

2. Section 430.22 is amended by 

adding paragraph (b)(4)3., to read as 

follows: 

§ 430.22 Reference Sources. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(4) * * * 

3. IEC 62301, ‘‘Household electrical 

appliances—Measurement of standby 

power,’’ Section 4, General conditions 

for measurements, Paragraph 4.2, ‘‘Test 

room,’’ Paragraph 4.4, ‘‘Supply voltage 

waveform,’’ and Paragraph 4.5, ‘‘Power 

measurement accuracy;’’ and Section 5 

Measurements, Paragraph 5.1, 

‘‘General,’’ Note 1, and Paragraph 5.3, 

‘‘Procedure’’ (2005–06). 

* * * * * 

3. Appendix I to Subpart B of Part 430 

is amended as follows: 

a. In section 1. Definitions, by: 

A. Redesignating section 1.11 as 1.15; 

and adding a new section 1.14; 

B. Redesignating sections 1.7 through 

1.10 as sections 1.10 through 1.13 

respectively; and adding a new section 

1.9; 

C. Redesignating sections 1.5 through 

1.6 as sections 1.7 through 1.8 

respectively; and adding a new section 

1.6; 

D. Redesignating sections 1.1 through 

1.4 as sections 1.2 through 1.5, 

respectively; and adding a new section 

1.1; 

b. In section 2. Test Conditions, by: 

1. Revising sections 2.1.3; 2.2.1 and 

2.5; and 

2. Adding new sections 2.2.1.1, 

2.2.1.2 and 2.9.1.3; 

c. In section 3. Test Methods and 

Measurements, by adding new sections 

3.1.3.2; 3.2.4 and 3.3.14. 

d. In section 4. Calculation of Derived 

Results From Test Measurements, by: 

1. Revising sections 4.4.1; 

The additions and revisions read as 

follows: 

Appendix I to Subpart B of Part 430– 

Uniform Test Method for Measuring the 

Energy Consumption of Conventional 

Ranges, Conventional Cooking Tops, 

Conventional Ovens, and Microwave 

Ovens 

* * * * * 

1. Definitions 

* * * * * 

1.1 Active mode means the condition in 

which a microwave oven is connected to a 

main power source, has been activated, and 

provides one or more main functions. 

* * * * * 

1.6. IEC 62301 refers to the test standard 

published by the International 

Electrotechnical Commission, titled 

‘‘Household electrical appliances— 

Measurement of standby power,’’ Publication 

62301 First Edition 2005–06. (See 10 CFR 

430.22) 

* * * * * 

1.9 Off mode means the condition in 

which a microwave oven is connected to a 

main power source and is not providing any 

standby mode or active mode function. 

* * * * * 

1.14 Standby mode the condition in 

which a microwave oven is connected to the 

main power source and offers one or more of 

the following user-oriented or protective 

functions: (1) to facilitate the activation or 

deactivation of other functions (including 

active mode) by remote switch (including 

remote control), internal sensor, or timer; (2) 

continuous functions, including information 

or status displays (including clocks) or 

sensor-based functions. 

* * * * * 

2. Test Conditions 

* * * * * 

2.1.3 Microwave ovens. Install the 

microwave oven in accordance with the 

manufacturer’s instructions and connect to 

an electrical supply circuit with voltage as 

specified in Section 2.2.1. A watt–hour meter 

and watt meters shall be installed in the 

circuit and shall be as described in Section 

2.9.1. If trial runs are needed to set the ‘‘on’’ 

time for the test, the test measurements are 

to be separated according to Section 4, 

Paragraph 12.6 of IEC 705 Amendment 2. 

(See 10 CFR 430.22) 

* * * * * 

2.2.1 Electrical supply. 

2.2.1.1 Voltage. Maintain the electrical 

supply to the conventional range, 

conventional cooking top, and conventional 

oven being tested at 240/120 volts except that 

basic models rated only at 208/120 volts shall 

be tested at that rating. Maintain the voltage 

within 2 percent of the above specified 

voltages. For microwave oven testing, 

however, maintain the electrical supply to a 

microwave oven at 120 volts ±1 volt and at 

60 hertz. 

2.2.1.2 Supply voltage waveform. For the 

microwave oven testing, maintain the 

electrical supply voltage waveform as 

indicated in Section 4, Paragraph 4.4 of IEC 

62301. 

* * * * * 

2.5 Ambient room air temperature. 

During the test, maintain an ambient room air 

temperature, TR, of 77°±9 °F (25°±5 °C) for 

conventional ovens and cooking tops, or as 

indicated in Section 4, Paragraph 12.4 of IEC 

705 Amendment 2 for microwave ovens for 

power output measurement or as indicated in 

Section 4, Paragraph 4.2 of IEC 62301 for 

standby mode and off mode power 

consumption measurement, as measured at 

least 5 feet (1.5 m) and not more than 8 feet 

(2.4 m) from the nearest surface of the unit 

under test and approximately 3 feet (0.9 m) 

above the floor. The temperature shall be 

measured with a thermometer or temperature 

indicating system with an accuracy as 

specified in Section 2.9.3.1. 

* * * * * 

2.9.1.3 Standby mode and off mode watt 

meter. The watt meter used to measure 

standby mode and off mode shall have a 

resolution as specified in Section 4, 

Paragraph 4.5 of IEC 62301. The watt meter 

shall also be able to record a ‘‘true’’ average 


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EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
62146 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 202 / Friday, October 17, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

power as specified in Section 5, Paragraph 

5.3.2(a) of IEC 62301. 

* * * * * 

3. Test Methods and Measurements 

* * * * * 

3.1.3.2 Microwave oven test standby 

mode and off mode power. Establish the 

testing conditions set forth in Section 2, 

‘‘TEST CONDITIONS,’’ of this Appendix, 

omitting the microwave oven test load 

specified in Section 2.8. For microwave 

ovens that drop from a higher power state to 

a lower power state as discussed in Section 

5, Paragraph 5.1, Note 1 of IEC 62301, allow 

sufficient time for the microwave oven to 

reach the lower power state before 

proceeding with the test measurement. 

Follow the test procedure as specified in 

Section 5, Paragraph 5.3 of IEC 62301. For 

units in which power varies over a cycle, as 

described in Section 5, Paragraph 5.3.2 of IEC 

Standard 62301, use the average power 

approach in Paragraph 5.3.2(a), but with a 

single test period of 12 hours ± 30 sec. If a 

microwave oven is capable of operation in 

either standby mode or off mode, or both, as 

defined in Sections 1.9 and 1.14, 

respectively, test the microwave oven in each 

mode in which it can operate. 

* * * * * 

3.2.4 Microwave oven test standby mode 

and off mode power. Make measurements as 

specified in Section 5, Paragraph 5.3 of IEC 

62301. If the microwave oven is capable of 

operating in standby mode, measure the 

average standby mode power of the 

microwave oven, PSB, in watts as specified in 

Section 3.1.3.2. If the microwave oven is 

capable of operating in off mode, measure the 

average off mode power of the microwave 

oven, POFF, as specified in Section 3.1.3.2. 

* * * * * 

3.3.14 Record the average standby mode 

power, PSB, for the microwave oven standby 

mode, as determined in Section 3.2.4 for a 

microwave oven capable of operating in 

standby mode. Record the average off mode 

power, POFF, for the microwave oven off 

mode power test, as determined in Section 

3.2.4 for a microwave oven capable of 

operating in off mode. 

* * * * * 

4. Calculation of Derived Results From Test 

Measurements 

* * * 

4.4 Microwave oven. 

4.4.1 Microwave oven test energy output. 

Calculate the microwave oven test energy 

output, ET, in watt–hour’s (kJ). The 

calculation is repeated two or three times as 

required in Section 3.2.3. The average of the 

ET’s is used for a calculation in Section 4.4.3. 

For calculations specified in units of energy 

[watt–hours (kJ)], use the equation below: 

E

CM T T CM T T

K T

p w c c = ( ) 2 1 − + − ( ) 2 0

e

Where: 

Mw=the measured mass of the test water load, 

in pounds (g). 

Mc=the measured mass of the test container 

before filling with test water load, in 

pounds (g). 

T1=the initial test water load temperature, in 

°F (°C). 

T2=the final test water load temperature, in 

°F (°C). 

T0=the measured ambient room temperature, 

in °F (°C). 

Cc=0.210 Btu/1b-°F (0.88 kJ/kg · °C), specific 

heat of test container. 

Cp=1.0 Btu/lb-°F (4.187 kJ/kg · °C), specific 

heat of water. 

Ke=3.412 Btu/Wh (3,600 kJ/kWh) conversion 

factor of watt–hours to Btus. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E8–23857 Filed 10–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSALS3EP17OC08.038</MATH>

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
1.) FULL NAME OF VISITOR: 

2.) GENDER: 

3.) BIRTH DATE: 

4.) ARE YOU A PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIEN? 

5.) S VISITOR CURRENTLY IN THE U.S.? 

6.) COUNTRY OF BIRTH: 

7.) CITY OF BIRTH: 

8.) PRESENT CITIZENSHIP (name all countries if dual citizenship): 

9.) VISA NUMBER: 

10.) VISA TYPE: 

11.) EXPIRATION DATE: 

12.) PASSPORT NUMBER: 

13.) COUNTRY OF ISSUE: 

14.) EXPIRATION DATE: 

15.) NAME OF EMPLOYER/INSTITUTION: 

16.) COUNTRY OF EMPLOYER: 

17.) VISITOR=s TITLE OR POSITION & DUTIES: 

18.) DATE & TIME OF VISIT: 

19.) WILL YOU BE MEETING IN A SECURITY AREA ?: No 

20.) PURPOSE OF VISIT: To attend Microwave Ovens Test Procedure Public 

Meeting. 

21.) SUBJECT OF MEETING: Discuss and receive comments on issues to be 

addressed in the NOPR for establishing test procedures for Microwave Ovens. 

22.) BUILDING & ROOM NUMBER: Forrestal, 8E-089. 

23.) FULL NAME & ROUTING SYMBOL OF HOST: Stephen L. Witkowski, EE-2J 

24.) HOST=S TITLE: Project Manager 

25.) HOST=S CITIZENSHIP: USA 

26.) PHONE NUMBER OF HOST: 202-586-7463 

 

27.) JUSTIFICATION OF VISIT/ASSIGNMENT INCLUDING SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES OR 

INVOLVEMENT: Stakeholder in Rulemaking – input required. 

28.) WHICH DOE MISSION WILL BE ADVANCED BY THIS VISIT/ASSIGNMENT? 

Appliance Standards Program. 

29.) ANTICIPATED BENEFITS TO DOE PROGRAMS: Input from important 

stakeholders. 

30.) WILL SENSITIVE SUBJECTS BE DISCUSSED? No. 

31.) WILL VISIT/ASSIGNMENT INCLUDE TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY? No. 

32.) WILL VISITOR/ASSIGNEE HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER: No. 

COST TO DOE: None 

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

PUBLIC MEETING ON ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR 

CONSUMER PRODUCTS: TEST PROCEDURE FOR MICROWAVE OVENS 

U.S. Department of Energy 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW. 

Washington, DC 20585 

Friday, November 14, 2008 

9 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET, Room 8E-089 

Purpose 

During this meeting the Department of Energy (DOE) will present the notice of proposed 

rulemaking on test procedures for microwave ovens in standby mode and off mode. This 

meeting is intended to familiarize interested stakeholders with DOE’s statutory 

requirements and proposed test procedures. 

Agenda 

 9:00-9:05 am Welcome 

 

 9:05-9:15 am Opening Remarks, Introductions, and Agenda Review

 Doug Brookman 

 9:15-9:45 am Stakeholder Opening Statements 

 Doug Brookman 

 

 9:45-10:00 am Introduction, Background and Legal Authority 

Stephen Witkowski 

Overview of past and current microwave oven rulemakings, 

including statutory authority, schedules, and associated 

documents. 

 

 10:00-10:45 am Test Procedure: Covered Products, Effective Date, and 

Measures of Energy Consumption 

Judith Reich 

Definition of covered products, effective date of the 

amended test procedure, and discussion of the technical 

feasibility of incorporating standby and off mode power 

into the energy descriptor. 

 10:45-11:00 am Test Procedure: Incorporation by Reference of IEC 

Standard 62301 

Judith Reich 

Proposed incorporation of the methodology of IEC 

Standard 62301 for measuring standby and off mode power 

consumption. 

 11:00-11:15 am Break 

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03
 

 

 11:15-11:30 am Test Procedure: Definitions of “Active Mode”, 

“Standby Mode”, and “Off Mode” 

Judith Reich 

Proposed mode definitions under EPCA, as amended by the 

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 

 11:30-12:00 am Test Procedure: Specifications for Test Methods and 

Measurements for Standby and Off Mode Testing 

Judith Reich 

Proposed amendments to add specificity to test 

methodology in IEC Standard 62301 for measuring 

microwave oven standby and off mode power. 

 12:00-1:00 pm Break for Lunch (on your own) 

 1:00-1:15 pm Test Procedure: Technical Correction 

Judith Reich 

Proposed correction to the conversion factor used in the 

calculation of microwave oven test cooking energy output. 

 1:15-1:30 pm Compliance with Other EPCA Requirements 

Judith Reich 

Summary presentation of the test burden requirements 

under EPCA. 

 1:30-1:45 pm Conclusions and Closing Remarks 

Stephen Witkowski 

Discuss outstanding issues and make concluding remarks. 

 1:45 pm Adjourn 

EERE-2008-BT-TP-0011 COMMENT 03