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

14717 

Vol. 78, No. 45 

Thursday, March 7, 2013 

1For editorial reasons, upon codification in the 

U.S. Code, Part B was redesignated Part A. 

2All references to EPCA in this document refer 

to the statute as amended through the American 

Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act 

(AEMTCA), Public Law 112–210 (Dec. 18, 2012). 

3This document is available at: http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2011- 

BT-NOA-0067. 4Supporting documents from this public meeting, 

including presentation slides and meeting 

transcript, are available at: http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2011- 

BT-NOA-0067. 5Ex Parte communication between DOE and 

stakeholders available at: http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EERE2011-BT-NOA-0067-0037. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2010–BT–NOA–0067] 

RIN 1904–AC52 

Energy Conservation Standards for 

Set-Top Boxes: Availability of Initial 

Analysis 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of data availability 

(NODA). 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) has completed an initial 

analysis that estimates the potential 

economic impacts and energy savings 

that could result from promulgating a 

regulatory energy conservation standard 

for set-top boxes. At this time, DOE is 

not proposing any energy conservation 

standard for set-top boxes. However, it 

is publishing this initial analysis so 

stakeholders can review the analysis’s 

output and the underlining assumptions 

and calculations that might ultimately 

support a proposed standard. DOE 

encourages stakeholders to provide any 

additional data or information that may 

improve the analysis. The analysis is 

now publically available at: http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ 

appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ 

ruleid/33. 

ADDRESSES: The docket, EERE–20111– 

BT–NOA–0067, is available for review 

at www.regulations.gov, including 

Federal Register notices, comments, 

and other supporting documents/ 

materials. All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. However, not all documents 

listed 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: http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2011-BT-NOA0067. The regulations.gov web page 

contains instructions on how to access 

all documents in the docket, including 

public comments. 

For further information on how to 

review the docket, contact Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945 or by email: 

Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jeremy Dommu, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–9870. Email: settop@ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Celia Sher, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

GC–71, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 287–6122. Email: 

Celia.Sher@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. History of Energy Conservation Standards 

Rulemaking for Set-Top Boxes 

II. Current Status 

III. Summary of the Analyses Performed by 

DOE 

A. Engineering Analysis 

B. Manufacturer Impact Analysis 

C. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period 

Analyses 

D. National Impact Analysis 

I. History of Energy Conservation 

Standards Rulemaking for Set-Top 

Boxes 

Under the authority established in 

Title III, Part B1 of the Energy Policy 

and Conservation Act of 1975, as 

amended, (EPCA or the Act),2 Public 

Law 94–163 (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309, as 

codified), DOE published a notice of 

proposed determination that tentatively 

determined that set-top boxes and 

network equipment qualify as a covered 

product because classifying products of 

such type as a covered product is 

necessary or appropriate to carry out the 

purposes of EPCA, and the average U.S. 

household energy use for set-top boxes 

and network equipment is likely to 

exceed 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per 

year. 76 FR 34914 (June 15, 2011). 

DOE then prepared a document titled 

‘‘Rulemaking Overview and Preliminary 

Market and Technical Assessment: 

Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer 

Products: Set-Top Boxes and Network 

Equipment’’ (Rulemaking Overview), 

which describes an initial market and 

technical analysis as well as the 

procedural and analytical approaches 

DOE anticipates using to evaluate 

potential energy conservation standards 

for set-top boxes.3

DOE also published a Request for 

Information (RFI) on December 16, 

2011, requesting feedback from 

interested parties on several topics 

related to test procedures and potential 

energy conservation standards for settop boxes. 76 FR 78174. 

DOE held a public meeting on January 

26, 2012, at which it described the 

various analyses DOE would conduct as 

part of the rulemaking, such as the 

engineering analysis, the manufacturer 

impact analysis (MIA), the life-cycle 

cost (LCC) and payback period (PBP) 

analyses, and the national impact 

analysis (NIA). DOE also discussed 

questions raised in the RFI and solicited 

feedback from stakeholders. 

Representatives for manufacturers, trade 

associations, environmental and energy 

efficiency advocates, and other 

interested parties attended the meeting.4

Comments received since publication of 

the Rulemaking Overview and RFI have 

helped DOE identify and resolve issues 

related to the initial analyses. 

In May 2012, DOE received a request 

from set-top box manufacturers, video 

programming distributors, and energy 

efficiency advocates to suspend its 

rulemaking activities to allow these 

stakeholders time to negotiate a nonregulatory agreement to improve the 

efficiency of set-top boxes in lieu of a 

federal regulatory standard.5 These 

stakeholders cited several reasons why 

a non-regulatory agreement is preferable 

to a federal standard, including the 

ability to have an agreement come into 

effect sooner, the additional savings 

born of updating set-top boxes already 

in the field via software downloads, and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
14718 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 45 / Thursday, March 7, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

6See Joint Letter to Secretary Chu, signed 

November 1, 2012, available at: http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EERE2011-BT-NOA-0067-0041. 

7Full text of the industry voluntary agreement is 

available at: http://www.ce.org/CorporateSite/ 

media/ce_news/FINAL-PUBLIC-VOLUNTARYAGREEMENT-%2812-6-2012%29.pdf. 

8These spreadsheets are also available on the 

rulemaking docket at http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2011-BT-NOA-0067. 

the flexibility this industry requires 

given the rapid cycles of innovation and 

the complexity of networks. Following 

this meeting, DOE suspended the 

issuance of a proposed rule for an 

energy conservation standard or test 

procedure until after October 1, 2012 to 

allow industry representatives and 

energy efficiency advocates time to 

negotiate a non-regulatory agreement to 

improve the energy efficiency of set-top 

boxes. 

During this time, DOE continued 

testing and evaluating the energy 

efficiency of set-top boxes in support of 

developing a DOE test procedure. 

Though DOE suspended the issuance of 

any new proposal, DOE continued 

developing an analysis in preparation 

for a regulatory standard in the event a 

non-regulatory agreement could not be 

reached or to cover any class of set-top 

boxes not covered by a non-regulatory 

agreement. 

Despite the participants’ best efforts to 

negotiate a non-regulatory agreement, 

these talks ultimately did not produce 

an agreement that was supported by all 

parties, and the negotiations were 

terminated.6 Following the negotiations 

with energy efficiency advocacy groups, 

industry representatives signed and 

announced an agreement amongst 

themselves to improve the efficiency of 

set-top boxes. The five-year industry 

agreement, signed on December 6, 2012 

between 15 video programming 

distributors and set-top box 

manufacturers, went into effect on 

January 1, 2013.7 DOE has since moved 

forward with the regulatory process. On 

January 23, 2013, DOE published a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 

for a set-top box test procedure. 78 FR 

5075. 

II. Current Status 

The analysis tools described in this 

NODA were developed to support a 

potential energy conservation standard 

for set-top boxes. DOE’s primary goal is 

to improve the efficiency of consumer 

products, which result in significant 

national energy savings, consumer 

utility bill savings, and greenhouse gas 

emission reductions. DOE recognizes 

that there are multiple paths forward to 

reach this goal. At this time, DOE 

intends to move forward with its 

traditional regulatory rulemaking 

activities to develop an energy 

conservation standard for set-top boxes. 

The initial analysis presented in today’s 

notice is a step in this process. 

However, as part of the regulatory 

impact analysis performed for a NOPR 

proposing an energy conservation 

standard, DOE will consider any nonregulatory agreement reached between 

all stakeholders as an alternative to a 

regulatory standard. 

At this time, DOE is not proposing 

any energy conservation standards for 

set-top boxes, and is therefore not 

requesting comments on any proposal at 

this time. If DOE issues a NOPR 

proposing new energy conservation 

standards, stakeholders will have an 

opportunity to provide statements on 

the record at a public meeting and to 

also submit written comments. DOE 

may revise the analysis presented in 

today’s NODA based on any new or 

updated information or data it obtains 

between now and the publication of any 

future NOPR proposing energy 

conservation standards for set-top 

boxes. DOE encourages stakeholders to 

provide any additional data or 

information that may improve the 

analysis. 

III. Summary of the Analyses 

Performed by DOE 

DOE conducted initial analyses of settop boxes in the following areas: (1) 

Engineering; (2) manufacturer impacts; 

(3) life-cycle cost and payback period; 

and (4) national impacts. The tools used 

in preparing these analyses 

(engineering, life-cycle cost, national 

impacts, and manufacturer impacts 

spreadsheets) and their respective 

results are available at: http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ 

appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ 

ruleid/33 8. Each individual spreadsheet 

includes an introduction describing the 

various inputs and outputs to the 

analysis, as well as operation 

instructions. A brief description of each 

of these 4 analysis tools is provided 

below. If DOE proposes an energy 

conservation standard for set-top boxes, 

then DOE will also publish a Technical 

Support Document (TSD), which will 

contain a detailed written account of the 

analyses performed. 

A. Engineering Analysis 

The engineering analysis establishes 

the relationship between the cost and 

efficiency levels of set-top boxes. This 

relationship serves as the basis for costbenefit calculations performed in the 

other three analysis tools for individual 

consumers, manufacturers, and the 

Nation. 

As a first step in the engineering 

analysis, DOE established 17 potential 

set-top box groupings based on a 

characterization of the relevant set-top 

box markets. For each of these 

groupings, DOE identified existing 

technology options, including prototype 

designs that could improve the energy 

efficiency of set-top boxes. DOE then 

reviewed each technology option to 

decide whether it is technologically 

feasible; is practicable to manufacture, 

install, and service; would adversely 

affect product utility or product 

availability; or would have adverse 

impacts on health and safety. The 

engineering analysis identifies 

representative baseline products, which 

is the starting point for analyzing 

technologies that provide energy 

efficiency improvements. ‘‘Baseline 

product’’ refers to a model or models 

having features and technologies 

typically found in minimally-efficient 

products currently available on the 

market. DOE modeled the power 

consumption of baseline products in on 

and sleep modes of operation by system 

level components (e.g., tuners, hard 

disk, processor, power supply, etc.). 

DOE then identified design options to 

improve the efficiency of STBs and 

considered these options in the analysis 

as candidate standard levels (CSLs). 

DOE estimated the manufacturer 

production costs for the baseline and 

each of the three CSLs. The 

manufacturer production costs were 

derived from product teardowns, using 

more efficient components and 

modeling efficiency savings from power 

scaling when components are not in 

use. The main outputs of the 

engineering analysis are the 

manufacturer production costs 

(including material, labor, and 

overhead) and power consumption in 

each mode of operation at the baseline 

and each of 3 CSLs for all 17 possible 

groupings of set-top boxes. 

B. Manufacturer Impact Analysis 

For the MIA, DOE used the 

Government Regulatory Impact Model 

(GRIM) to assess the economic impact of 

potential standards on set-top box 

manufacturers and multichannel video 

programming distributors. DOE 

developed key industry average 

financial parameters for the GRIM using 

publicly available data from corporate 

annual reports along with information 

received through confidential 

interviews with manufacturers and 

industry representatives. Additionally, 

DOE used this and other publicly 

available information to estimate and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 45 / Thursday, March 7, 2013 / Proposed Rules 14719 

account for the aggregate industry 

investment in research and 

development required to produce 

compliant products at each efficiency 

level. 

The GRIM uses this information in 

conjunction with inputs from other 

analyses including manufacturer 

production costs from the engineering 

analysis, and shipments and price 

trends from the NIA to model industry 

annual cash flows from the base year 

through the end of the analysis period. 

The primary quantitative output of this 

model is the industry net present value 

(INPV), which DOE calculates as the 

sum of industry cash flows, discounted 

to the present day using industry 

specific weighted average costs of 

capital. 

Standards can affect INPV in several 

ways including increasing the cost of 

production and impacting manufacturer 

markups, as well as requiring upfront 

investments in manufacturing capital 

and product development. Under 

potential standards for set-top boxes, 

DOE expects that manufacturers and 

video programming distributors may 

lose a portion of the INPV, which is 

calculated as the difference between 

INPV in the base-case (absent new 

energy conservation standards) and in 

the standards-case (with new energy 

conservation standards in effect). DOE 

examines a range of possible impacts on 

industry by modeling scenarios with 

various standard levels and pricing 

strategies. 

In addition to INPV, the MIA also 

calculates the manufacturer markups, 

which are applied to the engineering 

cost estimates to arrive at the 

manufacturer selling price. For 

efficiency levels that require extensive 

software development, DOE calibrated 

the manufacturer markups to allow for 

the recovery of this upfront cost by 

amortizing the investment over the units 

shipped in the first three years of the 

analysis period. Due to the complexities 

of video programming distributor 

pricing models, DOE simplified its 

assumption regarding markups from the 

video programming distributor to the 

consumer by assuming that the 

incremental cost of a more efficient settop box is directly passed on to the 

consumer. The resulting selling prices 

are then used in the LCC and PBP 

analyses, as well as in the NIA. 

C. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period 

Analyses 

The LCC and PBP analyses determine 

the economic impact of potential 

standards on individual consumers. The 

LCC is the total cost of purchasing, 

installing and operating a set-top box 

over the course of its lifetime. The LCC 

analysis compares the LCC of a set-top 

box designed to meet possible energy 

conservation standards with the LCC of 

a set-top box likely to be installed in the 

absence of standards. DOE determines 

LCCs by considering: (1) Total installed 

cost to the consumer (which consists of 

manufacturer selling price, distribution 

chain markups, and sales taxes); (2) the 

range of annual energy consumption of 

set-top boxes that meet each of the 

efficiency levels considered as they are 

used in the field; (3) the operating cost 

of set-top boxes (e.g., energy cost); (4) 

set-top box lifetime; and (5) a discount 

rate that reflects the real consumer cost 

of capital and puts the LCC in presentvalue terms. The PBP represents the 

number of years needed to recover the 

increase in purchase price of higherefficiency set-top boxes through savings 

in the operating cost. PBP is calculated 

by dividing the incremental increase in 

installed cost of the higher efficiency 

product, compared to the baseline 

product, by the annual savings in 

operating costs. 

For set-top boxes, DOE determined 

the range in annual energy consumption 

using outputs from the engineering 

analysis (power consumption at each 

efficiency level) and from a 

representative field-metered sample of 

television usage (both live broadcast and 

DVR viewing). Total installed costs at 

each CSL are outputs from the MIA. 

Recognizing that several inputs to the 

determination of consumer LCC and 

PBP are either variable or uncertain 

(e.g., annual energy consumption, 

product lifetime, electricity price, 

discount rate), DOE conducts the LCC 

and PBP analysis by modeling both the 

uncertainty and variability in the inputs 

using Monte Carlo simulation and 

probability distributions. 

The primary outputs of the LCC and 

PBP analyses are: (1) Average LCCs; (2) 

median PBPs; and (3) the percentage of 

households that experience a net 

benefit, have no impact, or have a net 

cost for each potential set-top box 

grouping and efficiency level. The 

average annual energy consumption 

derived in the LCC analysis is used as 

an input in the NIA. 

D. National Impact Analysis 

The NIA estimates the national energy 

savings (NES) and the net present value 

(NPV) of total consumer costs and 

savings expected to result from potential 

new standards at each CSL. DOE 

calculated NES and NPV for each CSL 

as the difference between a base-case 

forecast (without new standards) and 

the standards-case forecast (with 

standards). Cumulative energy savings 

are the sum of the annual NES 

determined for the lifetime of set-top 

boxes shipped during the analysis 

period. Energy savings include the fullfuel cycle energy savings (i.e., the 

energy needed to extract, process, and 

deliver primary fuel sources such as 

coal and natural gas, and the conversion 

and distribution losses of generating 

electricity from those fuel sources). The 

NPV is the sum over time of the 

discounted net savings each year, which 

consists of the difference between total 

operating cost savings and increases in 

total installed costs. NPV results are 

reported for discount rates of 3%, 5%, 

and 7%. 

To calculate the NES and NPV, DOE 

projected future shipments and 

efficiency distributions (for each CSL) 

for each potential set-top box grouping. 

DOE recognizes the uncertainty in 

projecting shipments and efficiency 

distributions, and as a result the NIA 

includes several different scenarios for 

each. Other inputs to the NIA include 

the estimated set-top box lifetime used 

in the LCC analysis, manufacturer 

selling prices from the MIA, and average 

annual energy consumption from the 

LCC. 

The purpose of this NODA is to notify 

industry, manufacturers, consumer 

groups, efficiency advocates, 

government agencies, and other 

stakeholders of the publication of the 

initial analysis of potential energy 

conservation standards for set-top 

boxes. Stakeholders should contact DOE 

for any additional information 

pertaining to the analyses performed for 

this NODA. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 28, 

2013. 

Kathleen B. Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–05344 Filed 3–6–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0205; Directorate 

Identifier 2012–NM–226–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS