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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 121 (Thursday, June 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36908-36909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15693]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Draft Competition Rules for a Global Appliance Efficiency Award 
for Televisions

AGENCY: Office of Policy and International Affairs, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is working with partner 
governments within the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance 
Deployment (SEAD) Initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial to conduct 
an international competition to identify the most efficient televisions 
(TVs) available on the market. Ultimately, the international 
competition will allow consumers to differentiate and choose the most 
efficient product in their region within a given size category. Pursued 
alongside direct outreach to appliance and consumer electronics 
industry associations, this notice is intended to announce the 
publication of the first draft program rules for the 2012 SEAD Global 
Appliance Efficiency Award for Televisions and to offer an opportunity 
for interested parties to offer input on the proposed structure of the 
competition. Regional winners of the competition will gain the right to 
use the award logo and branding (currently under development) in their 
marketing, and the best of the regional winners will be named the 
global winner, recognized at the subsequent Clean Energy Ministerial 
meeting of energy ministers from major economies.

DATES: Comments on the draft competition rules must be submitted no 
later than July 8, 2011. Final versions of the SEAD Awards Terms and 
Conditions and the 2012 Television Awards Rules will be completed by 
the end of 2011. It is anticipated that product nominations will be 
accepted from February 1, 2012 to May 1, 2012. The SEAD Initiative 
plans to announce its first international award winners by October 1, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: The draft program rules are posted for public download and 
review on the SEAD program Web site at: http://www.superefficient.org/awards.php. A comment form is available at:  http://www.superefficient.org/awards.php. Comments may also be submitted via 
email to awards@superefficient.org. Interested parties may subscribe to 
future Awards program updates at: http://www.superefficient.org/awards.php#signup.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the television awards 
competition should be directed to: Mr. Stephen Pantano, SEAD Program 
Manager, Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards (CLASP), 
spantano@clasponline.org, or (202) 662-7440. (CLASP is the SEAD 
operating agent and will host the awards competition.) General 
questions about the awards program can be directed to: Mr. Arne 
Jacobson, Senior Advisor, DOE Office of Policy and International 
Affairs, at arne.jacobson@hq.doe.gov or (202) 586-2402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SEAD Initiative was launched in July 
2010 as part of the Clean Energy Ministerial's Global Energy Efficiency 
Challenge (http://www.cleanenergyministerial.org). The Clean Energy 
Ministerial is a global forum for accelerating the transition to clean 
energy technologies. SEAD's purpose is to leverage high-level political 
dialogue to advance on-the-ground appliance and equipment efficiency 
efforts. SEAD activities are conducted by five working groups, covering 
standards and test procedures, awards, procurement, incentives, and 
cross-cutting technical analysis.
    Fourteen SEAD member governments announced plans for an 
international awards competition for super-efficient appliances at the 
second Clean Energy Ministerial in April 2011. DOE leads the 
multilateral Working Group that is developing the SEAD Awards 
competition together with SEAD initiative counterparts from Australia, 
Canada, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Awards Working Group 
has selected televisions as the product for this first annual awards 
competition, since TVs contribute about 6-8 percent of global 
residential electricity consumption. Subsequent rounds of the awards 
competition will focus on other major energy-using appliances that are 
internationally traded and can be evaluated using established, 
internationally-recognized test methods. The awards competition will 
address product categories on a rotating basis, with a given product 
type being featured every few years.
    The 2012 SEAD Global Appliance Efficiency Awards for Televisions 
will allow consumers to differentiate and choose the most efficient 
product in their markets within a given size

[[Page 36909]]

category. A total of 20 awards are planned: One per size category 
(small/medium/large) for commercially-available products in each of 
four locations \1\ (Australia, Europe, India, and the United States); 
one international award per size category from among the winners of 
each region--a ``best of the best'' in each of the three size 
categories; and five ``emerging technology'' awards (one emerging 
technology award per market with no differentiation by size, and a 
fifth award for the ``best of the best'' of these models). Efficiency 
will be evaluated via internationally-recognized test methods,\2\ and 
all potential winning products will be subject to verification testing 
to ensure the integrity of the awards.
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    \1\ Future rounds of the awards may include a broader set of 
locations.
    \2\ The test procedures that will be used are those established 
by the International Electrotechnical Commission: IEC 62087, 
``Methods of measurement for the power consumption of audio, video, 
and related equipment'' (Second Edition 2008-09) and IEC 62301, 
``Household electrical appliances--Measurement of standby power'' 
(Edition 2.0 2011-01).
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    Requested Input: The Awards Working Group is interested in comments 
and feedback from interested stakeholders on all aspects of the draft 
program rules. However, comments addressing the following issues would 
be particularly valuable:
     Proposed nomination period, testing, dispute resolution, 
and award timing, particularly with regard to typical product 
production cycles and marketing/promotional needs;
     Proposed emerging technology award requirements, including 
use of the proposed evaluation methodology for Automatic Brightness 
Control (ABC) at 10, 100, 150, and 300 lux from the forthcoming 
revision of the ENERGY STAR Televisions test method;\3\ and
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    \3\ See: http://www.energystar.gov/revisedspecs.
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     Proposed size boundaries for small/medium/large product 
categorization.
    More information on DOE's participation in the SEAD Initiative and 
the Clean Energy Ministerial can be found at: http://www.cleanenergyministerial.org.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 16, 2011.
Rick Duke,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2011-15693 Filed 6-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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