# GAO U.S. GOVERNMENTACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548
B-325562 February 25, 2014 The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu Chair The Honorable Lisa Murkowski Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate The Honorable Fred Upton Chairman · The Honorable HenryWaxman Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives ............

Subject: DepartmentofEnergy: Energy

## Cons~rvation Prograt;n: Energy Conservation Standards forExternalPowerSupplies Pursuant to section 801(aJ(2.)(A) of.tiile 5, United States,

## Cqd~, this is our report on a major rule promulgated bythe Department of Energy (Energy) entitled :'Energy Conserva.tion Program: Energy Conservation Standards for External PowerSupplies'' (RIN: 1904-AB57). We received

. the rule on February 10, 2014, It was published in theFederalRegisteras afinal rule on February 10,.2014, with an effective date ofApril 11, 2014. 79 Fed. Reg. 7846. Thefinal rule, pursuantto the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, amends the energy conservation standards that currently apply to·certain external power supplies (EPS) and establishes newenergy conservation standards for otherexternal power supplies that are currently not required to meet such standards. Through its analysis, Energy has determined that these changes satisfy EPCA's requirements that any new and amended energy conservation standards forthese productsresult in the s)gnificant conservation ofenergy and be both technologically feasible and economicallyjustified. , · · ' ' Compliancewith the new and amended standards established for EP$s in the final rule is February 10, 2016. The incorporation by reference ofa ceJiain,pLJblication listed in this rule will be approved by the Director ofthe FederalRegisteron April 11, 2014: · · Enclosed is ourassessment of Energy's compliancewi.th the.procedural steps required by section 801 (a)(1)(B)(i) through (iv) oftitle 5with respect iothe rule. Our review ofthe procedural steps taken indicates that Energy complied with the applicable requirements.

r ··, GA0-14-391RIfyou have any questions aboutthis report orwish to contact GAO officials responsible forthe evaluation work relating to the subject matterofthe rule, please contact Shirley

### A Jones, Assistant General Counsel, at (202) 512-8156.

Robert J. Cramer Managing Associate General Counsel

cc: Daniel Cohen Assistant General Counsel for.Legislation,·.·

Regulation, and Energy**Efficien~Y** Department of Energy ·

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GA0-14-391RL
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.· .. REPORT UNDER 5 U.S.C. 

### § 801(a)(2)(A) 'ON A MAJOR RULE ISSUED BY THE

(i) Cost-benefit analysis DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENTITLED "ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM: ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS FOR EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES" (RIN: 1904-AB57}

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### -. ..**~.** ENCLOSURE

Based oil the analyses culminating in the final rule, Energ'y found the benefits to the nation of the standards (energy savings, consumer life-cycle cost (LCC) savings, positive net economic savings (NPV) of consumer benefit, and emission reductions) outweigh the burdens (loss of industry net present value (INPV) and LCC increases for some users ofthese products). Energy has concluded that the standards in the final rule represent the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economicallyjustified and would result in significant conservation of energy. (ii) Agency actions relevant to the Regulatory FlexibilityAct (RFAl, 5 U.S.C. 

### §§ 603-605, 607, and 609 As discussed in the March 2012 notice of proposed rulemakirig (NOPR), Energy notes that it was unable to identify any EPS original design manufacturer (ODMs) with domestic manufacturing. According to Energy, information obtained from manufacturer interviews and Energy's research indicatethat all EPS manufacturing takes place abroad. Energy notes that it also sought comment on this issue. While Energy received comments from small businesses application manufacturers who import EPSs, Energy states that it did not receive any comments from any small business EPS ODMs orany comments challenging the viewthat all EPS manufacturing is conducted abroad. Since Energy was not able to find any small EPS ODMs,

. Energy certifies thatthe final rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial numberof small entities and that a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required. (iii) Agency actions relevant to sections 202-205 ofthe Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRAl, 2 U.S.C. 

### §§ 1532-1535 Energy has concluded that thefinal rule would likely require expenditures of $100 million or more on the private sector. Section 202 of UMRA authorizes afederal agencyto respond to the content requirements of UMRA in any otherstatement or analysis that accompanies the final rule. 2 U.S.C. 

### § 1532(c). Energy states thatthe content requirements ofsection 202(b) of UMRA relevant to a private sector mandate substantially overlap with the economic analysis requirements that apply undersection 325(0) of EPCA and Executive Order 12,866. According to Energy, the Supplementary Information section ofthe notice offinal rulemaking and the "Regulatory ImpactAnalysis" section ofthe technical support document (TSO) forthe final rule respond to those requirements. Additionally, Energy has included a full discussion ofthe considered alternatives in the "Regulatory ImpactAnalysis" section ofthe TSO, pursuantto section 205 of UMRA.

GA0-14-391R(iv) Other relevant information or requirements underacts and executive orders.



## . ' Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

### §§ 551**e~** seq.. on March 27, 2012, E;nergy published a notice ofproposed rulemaking. 77 Fed. Reg. 18,478. Shortlyafter, Energy also published on its website the complete TSD f6rthe proppsed rule, which incorporated the complete

### analyse~ Energy conclucted and technical docume.ntation for each analysis. The NOPR.. TSD included the LCC spreadsheet, the natignal impactanalysis spreadsheet, and the manufacturer impad analysis (MIA) spreadsheet-all ofwhich are available in the docket forthis rulemaking. In the March 2012 NOPR, in addition to proposing potential standards for battery chargers, Energy proposed amended energy conservation 

## e"'"""''o" forJ:OF!Ss. 

### On.Ma;-. 2. 20_1]_,**~nergy** held a public meeting to solicit comment and information from the public relevant to-the-proposed rule. Energy received manywritten comments in response to the March 2012 NOPR. Energy summarizes and addresses the issues these commenters raised that relate to the EPSs in the final rule. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 

### §§ 3501-3520 Energy statesthat manufacturers of EPSs must certify to Energythattheir products comply with any applicable energy conservation standards. In certifying compliance, manufacturers must
· testtheir products according to the Energy test procedures for EPSs, including any

amendments adopted forthose test procedures. 76 Fed. Reg. 12,422. Energy has established regulationsforthe certification and recordkeeping requirements for all covered consumer products and commercial equipment, including Class-A EPSs. Energy states that itwill modify the certification requirements specificto non-class A EPSs (multiple-voltage and high-voltage) in a separate certification rulemaking priorto the effective date forthe standards prescribed in the final rule. Energy indicates that the collection-of-information requirement forthe certification and · recordkeeping is subjectto review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under PRA. Energy states that this requirement has beenapproved by OMB under OMB control number 1910-1400. According to Energy, public reporting burden forthe certification is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Statutory authorization forthe rule Energystates that the final rule is authorized underthe authority in Title Ill, Part B ofthe Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended by the Energy Independence and SecurityAct of2007 (EISA2007). Executive Order No. 12,866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) Energy has determined that this regulafory action is an "economically significant regulatory action." Accordingly, section 6(a)(3) ofthe Executive Order requires that Energy prepare a regulatory impact analysis (RIA) on the final rule and that the Office of Information and RegulatoryAffairs (OIRA) in OMB review this rule. Energy states that it presented to OIRA for reviewthe draft rule and other documents prepared fofthis ruleinaking, ineluding theRIA, and has included these documents in the rulemaking record.

Page 2 GA0-14-391 RExecutive Order No. 

### 13,132 (Federalism) ' · On March 14, 2000, Energy published a statement ofpolicy describing the intergovernmental consultation process itwill follow in the development of regulations that have federalism implications. 

### 65 Fed. Reg. 

### 13,735. Energy notes that EPCA governs and prescribesfederal preemption ofstaie regulations as 

## to energy conservationforthe equipmentthat is the subject ofthefinal rule

..States can petitidn Energyfor exemption from such preemption to the extent, and based on criteria, set forth in EPCA. 

### 42 U.S.G. 

### § 6297. Energy'states that no further action is required by the Order.. · · ·



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