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

42611 

Vol. 75, No. 140 

Thursday, July 22, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2010–BT–TP–0023] 

RIN 1904–AC26 

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 public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U. S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) determined that the 

current active mode provisions in its 

test procedure for microwave ovens do 

not produce accurate and repeatable test 

results, and is also unaware of any test 

procedures that have been developed 

that address the concerns with the DOE 

microwave oven cooking efficiency test 

procedure. Elsewhere in today’s Federal 

Register, DOE published a final rule to 

repeal the active mode test procedures 

for microwave ovens established 

pursuant to the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (EPCA). DOE is 

convening this public meeting to 

discuss and receive comments on 

several issues related to active mode test 

procedures for microwave ovens to 

consider in developing a new active 

mode microwave oven test procedure. 

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting 

on Thursday, September 16, 2010, 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., 

Thursday, September 2, 2010. DOE must 

receive a signed original and an 

electronic copy of statements to be given 

at the public meeting before 4 p.m., 

Thursday, September 9, 2010. 

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 notice of public meeting 

(NOPM) on the Test Procedure for 

Microwave Ovens, and provide the 

docket number EERE–2010–BT–TP– 

0023 and/or regulatory information 

number (RIN) 1904–AC26, 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: MWO–2010–TP– 

0023@ee.doe.gov. Include docket 

number EERE–2010–BT–TP–0023 and/ 

or RIN 1904–AC26 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. 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. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, visit the U.S. 

Department of Energy, Resource Room 

of the Building Technologies Program, 

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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Wes Anderson, 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) 

586–7335. E-mail: 

Wes.Anderson@ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Elizabeth Kohl, U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

GC–71, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. Tel.: 

(202) 586–7796. E-mail: 

Elizabeth.Kohl@hq.doe.gov. 

For information on how to submit or 

review public comments and on how to 

participate in the public meeting, 

contact Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, EE–2J, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–2945. E-mail: 

Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. 

(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. 

Manufacturers of covered products 

must use DOE test procedures to certify 

that their products comply with energy 

conservation standards adopted under 

EPCA and to represent the efficiency of 

their products. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s); 42 

U.S.C. 6293(c)) DOE must also use DOE 

test procedures in any action to 

determine whether covered products 

comply with EPCA standards. (42 U.SC. 

6295(s)) Criteria and procedures for 

DOE’s adoption and amendment of such 

test procedures, as set forth in EPCA, 

require that test procedures 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. Test 

procedures must also not be unduly 

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

6293(b)(3)) 

DOE’s test procedure for microwave 

ovens was established as 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 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
42612 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 140 / Thursday, July 22, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

1 DOE’s active mode test procedure was formerly 

codified at appendix I to subpart B of Title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 

2 IEC standards are available online at: http:// 

www.iec.ch. 

3Both DOE’s and AHAM’s microwave oven 

samples contained units with manufacturer-rated 

output powers ranging from 700 to 1,300 W. 

4For more details of the cooking efficiency testing 

conducted as part of the appliance standards 

rulemaking, see the 2009 Technical Support 

Document for Residential Dishwashers, 

Dehumidifiers, and Cooking Products and 

Commercial Clothes Washers. Available online at 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ 

appliance_standards/residential/ 

cooking_products.html. 

accurately. 62 FR 51976.1 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,’’ (IEC Standard 705) 2

and measures microwave oven cooking 

efficiency and energy factor (EF). Id. 

However, IEC Standard 705 has been 

declared obsolete by IEC, and the 

current IEC test procedure is IEC 

Standard 60705–2006, ‘‘Household 

microwave ovens—Methods of 

measuring performance’’ (IEC Standard 

60705). 

As part of the appliance standards 

analysis leading to a final rule 

published on April 8, 2009 (74 FR 

16040), DOE tested 32 microwave 

ovens, and the Association of Home 

Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) 

tested 21 additional units, for a total of 

53 microwave ovens, according to the 

DOE microwave oven test procedure, 

using provisions from both IEC 

Standard 705 and IEC Standard 60705.3

DOE observed significant variability in 

the cooking efficiency measurements 

from both methods, and was unable to 

ascertain why similarly designed, 

equipped, and constructed microwave 

ovens showed varying efficiencies.4

Because DOE is not aware of other 

existing test procedures that produce 

representative and repeatable cooking 

efficiency measurements for microwave 

ovens, and because of the issues with 

using the existing DOE microwave oven 

test procedure, DOE has published a 

final rule elsewhere in today’s Federal 

Register to repeal the existing active 

mode provisions in the microwave oven 

test procedure. 

The public meeting announced in 

today’s notice is the first step in 

considering the development of a new 

active mode test procedure for 

microwave ovens. DOE will work with 

industry and interested parties to 

discuss the various issues associated 

with the current microwave oven test 

procedure, and to determine if any test 

methods are currently available to 

address these concerns. 

DOE will make a presentation 

summarizing the current status and will 

initiate a discussion regarding any test 

procedures that could help address each 

issue. DOE encourages those who wish 

to participate in the meeting to make 

presentations that address these issues. 

If you would like to make a presentation 

during the meeting, please inform Ms. 

Edwards at least two weeks before the 

date of the meeting and provide her 

with a copy of your written material at 

least one week before the date of the 

meeting. 

The meeting will be conducted in an 

informal, conference style. A court 

reporter will be present to record the 

minutes of the meeting. There shall be 

no discussion of proprietary 

information, costs or prices, market 

shares, or other commercial matters 

regulated by antitrust law. After the 

meeting and a period for written 

statements, DOE will begin collecting 

data and developing a notice of 

proposed rulemaking for the microwave 

oven test procedure. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2010. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–17774 Filed 7–21–10; 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: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: On October 17, 2008, the U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE) issued a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 

in which DOE proposed test procedures 

for microwave ovens under the Energy 

Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to 

measure standby mode and off mode 

power use by microwave ovens. To 

address issues raised in comments 

responding to the NOPR, DOE 

conducted additional research and 

analysis. In today’s supplemental notice 

of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR), DOE 

proposes adopting definitions of modes 

based on the relevant provisions from 

the IEC Standard 62301, Household 

electrical appliances—Measurement of 

standby power, Second Edition, 

Committee Draft for Vote (IEC Standard 

62301 CDV), as well as language to 

clarify application of these provisions 

for measuring standby mode and off 

mode power consumption in microwave 

ovens. DOE will hold a public meeting 

to discuss and receive comments on the 

issues presented in this SNOPR. 

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting 

on Thursday, September 16, 2010, 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., 

Thursday, September 2, 2010. DOE must 

receive a signed original and an 

electronic copy of statements to be given 

at the public meeting before 4 p.m., 

Thursday, September 9, 2010. 

DOE will accept comments, data, and 

information regarding this SNOPR 

before and after the public meeting, but 

no later than October 4, 2010. For 

details, see section V, ‘‘Public 

Participation’’, of this SNOPR. 

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 SNOPR 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: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

2. E-mail: MicroOven-2008-TP0011@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., 

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 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS