GAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 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 Henry Waxman 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

House of Representatives 

............ 

Subject: Department of Energy: Energy Cons~rvation Prograt;n: Energy Conservation Standards 

for External Power Supplies 

Pursuant to section 801 (aJ(2.)(A) of.tiile 5, United States, Cqd~, this is our report on a major rule 

promulgated by the Department of Energy (Energy) entitled :'Energy Conserva.tion Program: 

Energy Conservation Standards for External Power Supplies'' (RIN: 1904-AB57). We received . 

the rule on February 10, 2014, It was published in the Federal Register as a final rule on 

February 10,.2014, with an effective date of April 11, 2014. 79 Fed. Reg. 7846. 

The final rule, pursuant to 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 new energy conservation standards for other external 

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 for these products result in the s)gnificant conservation 

of energy and be both technologically feasible and economically justified. , · · 

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Compliance with the new and amended standards established for EP$s in the final rule is 

February 10, 2016. The incorporation by reference of a ceJiain,pLJblication listed in this rule will 

be approved by the Director of the Federal Register on April 11, 2014: · · 

Enclosed is our assessment of Energy's compliance wi.th the.procedural steps required by 

section 801 (a)(1 )(B)(i) through (iv) of title 5 with respect io the rule. Our review of the 

procedural steps taken indicates that Energy complied with the applicable requirements. 

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If you have any questions about this report or wish to contact GAO officials responsible for the 

evaluation work relating to the subject matter of the 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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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} 

·.; -. . . ~. 

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 of these products). 

Energy has concluded that the standards in the final rule represent the maximum improvement 

in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified and would result in 

significant conservation of energy. 

(ii) Agency actions relevant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (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 indicate that 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 or any comments challenging the view that all EPS 

manufacturing is conducted abroad. Since Energy was not able to find any small EPS ODMs, . 

Energy certifies that the final rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of 

small entities and that a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required. 

(iii) Agency actions relevant to sections 202-205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(UMRAl, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1532-1535 

Energy has concluded that the final rule would likely require expenditures of $100 million or 

more on the private sector. Section 202 of UMRA authorizes a federal agency to respond to the 

content requirements of UMRA in any other statement or analysis that accompanies the final 

rule. 2 U.S.C. § 1532(c). Energy states that the content requirements of section 202(b) of 

UMRA relevant to a private sector mandate substantially overlap with the economic analysis 

requirements that apply under section 325(0) of EPCA and Executive Order 12,866. According 

to Energy, the Supplementary Information section of the notice of final rulemaking and the 

"Regulatory Impact Analysis" section of the technical support document (TSO) for the final rule 

respond to those requirements. Additionally, Energy has included a full discussion of the 

considered alternatives in the "Regulatory Impact Analysis" section of the TSO, pursuant to 

section 205 of UMRA. 

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(iv) Other relevant information or requirements under acts and executive orders. . ' 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 e~ seq .. 

on March 27, 2012, E;nergy published a notice of proposed rulemaking. 77 Fed. Reg. 18,478. 

Shortly after, Energy also published on its website the complete TSD f6r the 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 impact analysis 

spreadsheet, and the manufacturer impad analysis (MIA) spreadsheet-all of which are 

available in the docket for this 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 many written 

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 states that manufacturers of EPSs must certify to Energy that their products comply with 

any applicable energy conservation standards. In certifying compliance, manufacturers must 

· test their products according to the Energy test procedures for EPSs, including any 

amendments adopted for those test procedures. 76 Fed. Reg. 12,422. Energy has established 

regulationsfor the certification and recordkeeping requirements for all covered consumer 

products and commercial equipment, including Class-A EPSs. Energy states that it will modify 

the certification requirements specific to non-class A EPSs (multiple-voltage and high-voltage) in 

a separate certification rulemaking prior to the effective date for the standards prescribed in the 

final rule. Energy indicates that the collection-of-information requirement for the certification and · 

recordkeeping is subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under PRA. Energy states that this requirement has been approved 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 for the rule 

Energy states that the final rule is authorized under the authority in Title Ill, Part B of the Energy 

Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended by the Energy Independence and 

Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007). 

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) of the Executive Order requires that Energy prepare a 

regulatory impact analysis (RIA) on the final rule and that the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in OMB review this rule. Energy states that it presented to OIRA for 

review the draft rule and other documents prepared fofthis ruleinaking, ineluding the RIA, and 

has included these documents in the rulemaking record. 

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Executive Order No. 13, 132 (Federalism) ' · 

On March 14, 2000, Energy published a statement of policy describing the intergovernmental 

consultation process it will follow in the development of regulations that have federalism 

implications. 65 Fed. Reg. 13, 735. Energy notes that EPCA governs and prescribes federal 

preemption of staie regulations as to energy conservation for the equipment that is the subject 

of the final rule .. States can petitidn Energy for 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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