This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

42719 

Vol. 78, No. 137 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 

1For editorial reasons, upon codification in the 

U.S. Code, Part B was re-designated Part A. 

2EPCA also mandates that the test procedure for 

water closets and urinals shall be ASME Standard 

A112.19.6–1990, ‘‘Hydraulic Requirements for 

Water Closets and Urinals.’’ 

3 DOE also incorporated by reference ASME 

Standard A112.19.6–1995, ‘‘Hydraulic Performance 

Requirements for Water Closets and Urinals,’’ for 

water closets and urinals in this final rule. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2011–BT–TP–0061] 

RIN 1904–AC65 

Test Procedures for Showerheads, 

Faucets, Water Closets, Urinals, and 

Commercial Prerinse Spray Valves: 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and 

request for public comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting 

to discuss methodologies and gather 

comments on DOE’s proposed test 

method for verifying the amount of force 

required to remove the flow control 

insert of showerheads for purposes of 

amending DOE test procedures. In 

addition, DOE encourages written 

comments on these subjects. 

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting 

on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, from 1 p.m. 

to 3 p.m. in Washington, DC. DOE will 

accept comments, data, and information 

regarding the subjects of this notice 

before or after the public meeting, but 

no later than August 9, 2013. 

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, 

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 public 

meeting should advise DOE as soon as 

possible by contacting Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945 to initiate 

the necessary procedures. 

Interested parties may submit 

comments, identified by docket number 

EERE–2011–BT–TP–0061 or Regulation 

Identifier Number (RIN) 1904–AC65, by 

any of the following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

2. Email: PlumbingPrds-2011-TP0061@ee.doe.gov. Include the docket 

number and/or RIN 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., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. If 

possible, please submit all items on a 

CD. It is not necessary to include 

printed copies. 

4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, 950 

L’Enfant Plaza SW., Suite 600, 

Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: 

(202) 586–2945. If possible, please 

submit all items on a CD. It is not 

necessary to include printed copies. 

Docket: The docket is available for 

review at www.regulations.gov. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the www.regulations.gov index. 

However, not all documents in the 

index may be publicly available, such as 

information that is exempt from public 

disclosure. A link to the docket Web 

page can be found at 

www.regulations.gov. The 

www.regulations.gov Web page contains 

a link to the docket for this notice, along 

with simple instructions on how to 

access all documents in the docket, 

including public comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mr. Lucas Adin, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Phone: 

(202) 287–1317. Email: 

Lucas.Adin@ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Jennifer Tiedeman, U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of the General 

Counsel, GC–71, 1000 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585– 

0121. Phone: (202) 287–6111. Email: 

Jennifer.Tiedeman@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of 

the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.; 

‘‘EPCA’’) sets forth a variety of 

provisions designed to improve energy 

efficiency. (All references to EPCA refer 

to the statute as amended through the 

American Energy Manufacturing 

Technical Corrections Act (AEMTCA), 

Pub. L. 112–210 (Dec. 18, 2012)). Part B 

of title III (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309, as 

codified) establishes the Energy 

Conservation Program for Consumer 

Products Other Than Automobiles, 

which includes the showerheads that 

are the subjects of today’s notice.1

Under EPCA, the program consists of 

four activities: (1) Testing; (2) labeling; 

and (3) Federal energy and water 

conservation standards; and (4) 

certification, and enforcement 

procedures. The testing requirements 

consist of test procedures that 

manufacturers of covered products must 

use as the basis for (1) certifying to DOE 

that their products comply with 

applicable water conservation standards 

adopted pursuant to EPCA and (2) 

making representations about the water 

consumption of those products. 

Similarly, DOE must use these test 

procedures to determine whether the 

products comply with any relevant 

standards promulgated under EPCA. 

EPCA states that the procedures for 

testing and measuring the water use of 

faucets and showerheads shall be 

American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers (ASME) Standard 

A112.18.1M–1989, ‘‘Plumbing Fixture 

Fittings.’’ 2 EPCA further specifies that if 

ASME revises these requirements, the 

Secretary of Energy (Secretary) shall 

adopt such revisions if they conform to 

the basic statutory requirements for test 

procedures. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(7)) DOE 

last amended test procedures for these 

products in a final rule published in 

March 1998 (March 1998 final rule), 

which incorporated by reference ASME 

Standard A112.18.1M–1996, ‘‘Plumbing 

Fixture Fittings,’’ for showerheads and 

faucets.3 63 FR 13308 (March 18, 1998). 

The current test procedures for faucets 

and showerheads, as adopted in the 

March 1998 final rule, are located in 

appendix S to subpart B of 10 CFR part 

430, ‘‘Uniform Test Method for 

Measuring the Water Consumption of 

Faucets and Showerheads.’’ 

On May 30, 2012, DOE issued a notice 

of proposed rulemaking, proposing to 


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42720 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 137 / Wednesday, July 17, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

4This requirement is also found in 10 CFR 

430.32(p) and section 4.11.1 of ASME A112.18.1– 

2011. 

amend, among other items, the test 

procedures for showerheads by 

incorporating by reference, with the 

exception of certain provisions 

regarding rounding of measured values, 

ASME Standard A112.18.1–2011. 77 FR 

31742, 31744. DOE requested comments 

and information on prospective 

methods for verifying compliance with 

the requirement in section 42 U.S.C. 

6295(j)(1) of EPCA that a showerhead 

must be manufactured such that a 

pushing or pulling force of 8 lbf or more 

is required to remove the insert.4 DOE 

also requested comments and 

information on showerhead designs that 

may complicate verification of the force 

requirement or, alternatively, make 

verification unnecessary. 77 FR at 

31746–31748. 

Several comments submitted in 

response to the NOPR recommended 

that DOE not adopt a standardized test 

method (Docket No. EERE–2011–BT– 

TP–0061, Moen, No. 4 at p. 2; PMI, No. 

8 at p. 2; Kohler, No. 9 at p. 3; Kohler, 

Public Meeting Transcript, No. 11 at p. 

47; ICC, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 

11 at pp. 48–49; Sloan Valve, No. 12 at 

p. 2); on the other hand, some 

comments suggested that such a test 

would be valuable (NRDC/ASAP, No. 14 

at p. 5). DOE did not receive any 

comments indicating that a 

standardized method currently exists, 

however. DOE subsequently conducted 

testing on a selection of showerhead 

models to evaluate flow insert designs 

and developed a pull-force verification 

test. In an April 8, 2013 supplemental 

notice of proposed rulemaking 

(SNOPR), DOE proposed to adopt this 

test method, which would not be 

required for certifying compliance with 

the DOE standards at 10 CFR 430.32(p), 

but rather, would only be used by DOE 

for verification or enforcement testing. 

78 FR at 20835–20837. 

In response to the SNOPR, DOE 

received several comments opposing 

adoption of a standardized test, 

generally indicating that the proposed 

pull-style test represented a duplication 

of the requirements in the ASME 

Standard A112.18.1 test method or that 

it would conflict with other established 

industry test methods (NSF, No. 22 at p. 

2, PMI, No. 23 at p. 3, Kohler, No. 27 

at p. 2, Chicago Faucet, No. 28 at p. 2, 

and Moen, No. 30 at p. 2). However, 

DOE notes that A112.18.1 states only 

that the flow-restricting insert in a 

showerhead must be mechanically 

retained at the point of manufacture 

such that a pulling or pushing force of 

8 lbf or more is required to remove the 

insert, but does not specify a method for 

verifying that this requirement has been 

met for a given model. DOE did not 

receive any comments describing a test 

method currently in use by 

manufacturers, test laboratories, or 

others for verifying compliance with 

this requirement. 

To ensure that all aspects of DOE’s 

proposal for a standardized method of 

verifying compliance with the 

requirements for the flow-restricting 

insert have been considered and to 

consider whether DOE’s proposed 

method should be adopted in the 

absence of an industry test method, DOE 

has scheduled a public meeting to 

receive additional information, 

comments, and proposals from 

manufacturers, testing organizations, 

and other interested stakeholders. DOE 

encourages stakeholders to bring 

examples of products subject to these 

requirements that may aid in 

discussions of prospective test 

methodologies or that illustrate points 

raised in comments. DOE does not 

intend to discuss any other aspect of the 

plumbing products test procedure 

proposals as part of this meeting. 

DOE will conduct the public meeting 

in an informal, facilitated, conference 

style. There shall be no discussion of 

proprietary information, costs or prices, 

market shares, or other commercial 

matters regulated by U.S. antitrust laws. 

A court reporter will record the minutes 

of the meeting, after which a transcript 

will be available for purchase from the 

court reporter and placed on the DOE 

Web site. 

Anyone who wishes to participate in 

the public meeting, receive meeting 

materials, or be added to the DOE 

mailing list to receive future notices and 

information about showerheads should 

contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 

586–2945. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on July 11, 

2013. 

Kathleen B. Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–17157 Filed 7–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0546; Directorate 

Identifier 2013–NM–050–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain 

The Boeing Company Model 727 

airplanes. This proposed AD is intended 

to complete certain mandated programs 

intended to support the airplane 

reaching its limit of validity (LOV) of 

the engineering data that support the 

established structural maintenance 

program. For certain airplanes, this 

proposed AD would require 

modification of the web of the 

horizontal stabilizer center section rear 

spar. For the other airplanes, this 

proposed AD would require an 

inspection for cracks in the web, and 

repair or modification as applicable. We 

are proposing this AD to prevent 

cracking at the upper fastener holes in 

the riveted web in the horizontal 

stabilizer center section rear spar, which 

could result in failure of the spar forging 

and lead to horizontal stabilizer 

separation and loss of control of the 

airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by September 3, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact Boeing 

Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Data 

& Services Management, P.O. Box 3707, 

MC 2H–65, Seattle, WA 98124–2207; 

telephone 206–544–5000, extension 1; 

fax 206–766–5680; Internet https:// 


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