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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11233-11236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4486]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

[Case No. CW-016]

Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and 
Order Granting a Waiver to LG From the Department of Energy Residential 
Clothes Washer Test Procedure

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Decision and Order.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of the 
decision and order (Case No. CW-016) that grants to LG Electronics 
U.S.A., Inc. (LG) a waiver from the DOE clothes washer test procedure 
for determining the energy consumption of clothes washers. Under 
today's decision and order, LG shall be required to test and rate its 
clothes washers with larger clothes containers using an alternate test 
procedure that takes the larger capacities into account when measuring 
energy consumption.

DATES: This Decision and Order is effective March 1, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Michael G. Raymond, U.S. Department of Energy, Building 
Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-9611, E-mail: mail to: 
Michael.Raymond@ee.doe.gov.
Jennifer Tiedeman, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, Mail Stop GC-71, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585-0103. Telephone: (202) 287-6111, E-mail: mail to: 
Jennifer.Tiedeman@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR 430.27(l)), DOE gives notice of the 
issuance of its decision and order as set forth below. The decision and 
order grants LG a waiver from the applicable clothes washer test 
procedure in 10 CFR part

[[Page 11234]]

430, subpart B, appendix J1 for certain basic models of clothes washers 
with capacities greater than 3.8 cubic feet, provided that LG tests and 
rates such products using the alternate test procedure described in 
this notice. Today's decision prohibits LG from making representations 
concerning the energy efficiency of these products unless the product 
has been tested consistent with the provisions of the alternate test 
procedure set forth in the decision and order below, and the 
representations fairly disclose the test results. Distributors, 
retailers, and private labelers are held to the same standard when 
making representations regarding the energy efficiency of these 
products. 42 U.S.C. 6293(c).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 23, 2011.
Cathy Zoi,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order

    In the Matter of: LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc. (Case No. CW-016)

I. Background and Authority

    Title III, Part B of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 
(EPCA), Public Law 94-163 (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309, as codified) 
established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other 
Than Automobiles, a program covering most major household appliances, 
which includes the residential clothes washers that are the focus of 
this notice.\1\ Part B includes definitions, test procedures, labeling 
provisions, energy conservation standards, and the authority to require 
information and reports from manufacturers. Further, Part B authorizes 
the Secretary of Energy to prescribe test procedures that are 
reasonably designed to produce results which measure energy efficiency, 
energy use, or estimated operating costs, and that are not unduly 
burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) The test procedure for 
automatic and semi-automatic clothes washers is contained in 10 CFR 
part 430, subpart B, appendix J1.
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    \1\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, 
Part B was re-designated Part A.
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    DOE's regulations for covered products contain provisions allowing 
a person to seek a waiver for a particular basic model from the test 
procedure requirements for covered consumer products when (1) the 
petitioner's basic model for which the petition for waiver was 
submitted contains one or more design characteristics that prevent 
testing according to the prescribed test procedure, or (2) when 
prescribed test procedures may evaluate the basic model in a manner so 
unrepresentative of its true energy consumption characteristics as to 
provide materially inaccurate comparative data. 10 CFR 430.27(a)(1). 
Petitioners must include in their petition any alternate test 
procedures known to the petitioner to evaluate the basic model in a 
manner representative of its energy consumption characteristics. 10 CFR 
430.27(b)(1)(iii).
    The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 
(the Assistant Secretary) may grant a waiver subject to conditions, 
including adherence to alternate test procedures. 10 CFR 430.27(l). 
Waivers remain in effect pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 
430.27(m).
    Any interested person who has submitted a petition for waiver may 
also file an application for interim waiver of the applicable test 
procedure requirements. 10 CFR 430.27(a)(2). The Assistant Secretary 
will grant an interim waiver request if it is determined that the 
applicant will experience economic hardship if the interim waiver is 
denied, if it appears likely that the petition for waiver will be 
granted, and/or the Assistant Secretary determines that it would be 
desirable for public policy reasons to grant immediate relief pending a 
determination on the petition for waiver. 10 CFR 430.27(g).
    On December 23, 2010, DOE issued enforcement guidance on the 
application of recently granted waivers for large-capacity clothes 
washers and announced steps to improve the waiver process and refrain 
from certain enforcement actions. This guidance can be found on DOE's 
Web site at http://www.gc.energy.gov/1661.htm.

II. LG's Petition for Waiver: Assertions and Determinations

    On September 24, 2010, LG filed a petition for waiver from the test 
procedure applicable to automatic and semi-automatic clothes washers 
set forth in 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix J1. In particular, LG 
requested a waiver to test its clothes washers on the basis of the test 
procedure contained in 10 CFR part 430, Subpart B, Appendix J1, with a 
revised Table 5.1 extended to larger container volumes. LG's petition 
was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2010. 75 FR 
71680. There was one comment on the LG petition, from Whirlpool 
Corporation. Whirlpool urged that DOE process the LG waiver 
expeditiously, so that clothes washers with larger clothes containers 
can be tested and rated on a comparable basis.
    LG's petition seeks a waiver from the DOE test procedure because 
the mass of the test load used in the procedure, which is based on the 
basket volume of the test unit, is currently not defined for basket 
sizes greater than 3.8 cubic feet. LG manufactures basic models with 
capacities greater than 3.8 cubic feet, and it is for these basic 
models that LG seeks a waiver from DOE's test procedure. In addition, 
if the current maximum test load mass is used to test these products, 
the tested energy use would be less than the actual energy usage, and 
could evaluate the basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its 
true energy consumption characteristics as to provide materially 
inaccurate comparative data.
    Table 5.1 of Appendix J1 defines the test load sizes used in the 
test procedure as linear functions of the basket volume. LG has 
submitted a proposed revised table to extend the maximum basket volume 
from 3.8 cubic feet to 5.1 cubic feet, a table similar to one developed 
by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) and provided 
to DOE in comments on a recently published proposed DOE residential 
clothes washer test procedure Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR). 75 
FR 57556 (September 21, 2010). When this rulemaking process is 
complete, any amended test procedure will supersede the alternate test 
procedure approved in this waiver. AHAM provided calculations to 
extrapolate Table 5.1 of the current DOE test procedure to larger 
container volumes. DOE believes that this is a reasonable procedure 
because the DOE test procedure defines test load sizes as linear 
functions of the basket volume. AHAM's extrapolation was performed on 
the load weight in pounds, and AHAM appears to have used the conversion 
formula of \1/2.2\ (or 0.45454545) to convert pounds to kilograms. LG 
and Samsung submitted a table similar to the table proposed by AHAM, 
rounding the results in kilograms to two decimal places, but with a 
more accurate conversion factor of 0.45359237. However, Samsung and 
LG's table does contain small rounding errors which were corrected in 
the table proposed in DOE's clothes washer test procedure NOPR. The 
Table 5.1 values presented below in the alternate test procedure 
approved today are taken from DOE's NOPR.
    As DOE has stated in the past, it is in the public interest to have 
similar products tested and rated for energy consumption on a 
comparable basis. Previously, DOE granted a test procedure waiver to 
Whirlpool for three of Whirlpool's clothes washer models with container 
capacities greater than

[[Page 11235]]

3.8 cubic feet. 75 FR 69653 (November 15, 2010). This notice contained 
an alternate test procedure, which extended the linear relationship 
between maximum test load size and clothes washer container volume in 
Table 5.1 to include a maximum test load size of 15.4 pounds (lbs) for 
clothes washer container volumes of 3.8 to 3.9 cubic feet. DOE has also 
granted interim waivers to the General Electric Company (GE) (75 FR 
57915 (September 23, 2010)) and to Samsung (75 FR 57937 (September 23, 
2010)) for similar products. GE subsequently was granted a waiver in a 
decision and order published on December 10, 2010. 75 FR 76968. All 
decision and orders for this type of product use the Table 5.1 values 
taken from DOE's NOPR.

III. Consultations With Other Agencies

    DOE consulted with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff 
concerning the LG petition for waiver. The FTC staff did not have any 
objections to granting a waiver to LG.

IV. Conclusion

    After careful consideration of all the material that was submitted 
by LG, the waivers granted to Whirlpool, GE and Samsung, the clothes 
washer test procedure rulemaking, and consultation with the FTC staff, 
it is ordered that:
    (1) The petition for waiver submitted by the LG Corporation (Case 
No. CW-016) is hereby granted as set forth in the paragraphs below.
    (2) LG shall not be required to test or rate the following LG 
models on the basis of the current test procedure contained in 10 CFR 
part 430, subpart B, appendix J1. Instead, it shall be required to test 
and rate such products according to the alternate test procedure as set 
forth in paragraph (3) below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Model                                Brand
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WT5001C*..................................  LG.
WT5101H*..................................  LG.
LSWF388H**................................  LG.
WM3875H***................................  LG.
WM3885H***................................  LG.
WM2701H*..................................  LG.
WM2801H***................................  LG.
WM3001H***................................  LG.
421990..................  Kenmore.
410290..................  Kenmore.
405190..................  Kenmore.
417200..................  Kenmore.
292700..................  Kenmore.
290000..................  Kenmore.
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    (3) LG shall be required to test the products listed in paragraph 
(2) above according to the test procedures for clothes washers 
prescribed by DOE at 10 CFR part 430, appendix J1, except that, for the 
LG products listed in paragraph (2) only, the expanded Table 5.1 below 
shall be substituted for Table 5.1 of appendix J1.

                                           Table 5.1--Test Load Sizes
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               Container volume                     Minimum load          Maximum load          Average load
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            cu. ft                   liter
-----------------------------------------------     lb         kg         lb         kg         lb         kg
             >= = 0.10 lbs (0.05 kg).

    (4) Representations. LG may make representations about the energy 
use of its clothes washer products for compliance, marketing, or other 
purposes only to the extent that such products have been tested in 
accordance with the provisions outlined above and such representations 
fairly disclose the results of such testing.
    (5) This waiver shall remain in effect consistent with the 
provisions of 10 CFR 430.27(m).
    (6) This waiver is issued on the condition that the statements, 
representations, and documentary materials provided by the petitioner 
are valid. DOE may revoke or modify this waiver at any time if it 
determines the factual basis underlying the petition for waiver is 
incorrect, or the results from the alternate test procedure are 
unrepresentative of the basic models' true energy consumption 
characteristics.
    (7) Grant of this waiver does not release a petitioner from the 
certification requirements set forth at 10 CFR 430.62.

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 23, 2011.

Cathy Zoi,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
[FR Doc. 2011-4486 Filed 2-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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