### 28519 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules

1 For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, Part B was re-designated Part A. submitter provide, in as much detail as possible, an explanation why a regulation or reporting requirement should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed, as well as specific suggestions of ways the Department can better achieve its regulatory objectives.

(1) How can the Department best promote meaningful periodic reviews of its existing rules and how can it best identify those rules that might be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed?

(2) What factors should the agency consider in selecting and prioritizing rules and reporting requirements for

review?

(3) Are there regulations that are or have become unnecessary, ineffective, or ill advised and, if so, what are they? Are there rules that can simply be repealed without impairing the Department’s regulatory programs and, if so, what are they?

(4) Are there rules or reporting requirements that have become outdated and, if so, how can they be modernized to accomplish their regulatory objectives
better?

(5) Are there rules that are still necessary, but have not operated as well as expected such that a modified, stronger, or slightly different approach is justified?

(6) Does the Department currently
collect information that it does not need or use effectively to achieve regulatory objectives?

(7) Are there regulations, reporting requirements, or regulatory processes that are unnecessarily complicated or
could be streamlined to achieve regulatory objectives in more efficient ways?

(8) Are there rules or reporting requirements that have been overtaken by technological developments? Can new technologies be leveraged to modify, streamline, or do away with existing regulatory or reporting requirements?

(9) How can the Department best obtain and consider accurate, objective information and data about the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing regulations? Are there existing sources of data the Department can use to evaluate the post-promulgation effects of regulations over time? We invite interested parties to provide data that may be in their possession that documents the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing requirements.

(10) Are there regulations that are working well that can be expanded or used as a model to fill gaps in other DOE regulatory programs? The Department notes that this RFI is issued solely for information and program-planning purposes. Responses to this RFI do not bind DOE to any further actions related to the response. All submissions will be made publically
available on. http:// www.regulations.gov

.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2012.
Gregory H. Woods,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 2012–11450 Filed 5–14–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6450–01–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY**

**10 CFR Parts 429 and 430**

**[Docket No. EERE–2012–BT–TP–0017]**

**Test Procedure Guidance for Room Air Conditioners, Residential**  **Dishwashers, and Residential Clothes Washers: Public Meeting** 

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

**ACTION :**  Notice of public meeting.

**SUMMARY :**  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is holding a public meeting to provide a forum for
manufacturers and test laboratories to discuss their respective interpretations of existing DOE test procedures, where they believe that the test procedures lack clarity, and to provide information for DOE to consider prior to publishing any proposed guidance to clarify the current test procedures for room air conditioners, residential dishwashers,
and residential clothes washers.

**DATES :**  DOE will hold a public meeting on June 1, 2012, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Washington, DC.

**ADDRESSES :**  The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 8E–089, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. To attend, please notify Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586–2945. Please note that foreign nationals visiting DOE Headquarters are subject to advance security screening procedures. Any foreign national wishing to participate in the public meeting should advise DOE as soon as possible by contacting Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586–2945 to initiate the necessary procedures.

Additionally, DOE plans to conduct the public meeting via webinar. To participate via webinar, participants must sign up by following the

instructions at https://www1.goto meeting.com/register/350255376

. Participants are responsible for ensuring that their systems are compatible with
the webinar software.

Docket: The docket is available for

review at www.regulations.gov. All
documents in the docket are listed in
the www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents 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 www.regulations.gov. The www.regulations.gov web page contains a link to the docket for this notice, along with simple instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Ashley Armstrong, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies, EE–2J, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. Phone: (202) 586–6590. Email: Ashley.Armstrong@ee.doe.gov or Abigail Chingos, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, GC–32, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585–0121. Phone: (202) 586–5060.
Email: Abigail.Chingos@hq.doe.gov

. **SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  Title III, Part B of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the Act), 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, including the residential room air conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential
clothes washers that are the focus of this

notice. 1 (42 U.S.C. 6292(2), (6) and (8))

Under EPCA, the program consists of four activities: (1) Testing; (2) labeling; (3) Federal energy conservation standards, and (4) certification, compliance, and enforcement. The testing requirements consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered products must use as the basis for certifying to DOE that their products comply with applicable energy conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA and for representing the efficiency of those products. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c); 42 U.S.C. 6295(s)) Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures in any enforcement action to determine whether covered products comply with these energy conservation standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s))

DOE’s existing test procedures for residential room air conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential


### 28520 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules

clothes washers adopted pursuant to these provisions appear under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B, appendices F (‘‘Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Room Air Conditioners’’), C (‘‘Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Dishwashers’’), and J1 (‘‘Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Automatic and Semi-Automatic Clothes Washers’’). DOE also recently published a new test procedure for residential clothes washers (Appendix J2—‘‘Uniform Test Method for Measuring the EnergyConsumption of Automatic and SemiAutomatic Clothes Washers’’), the use of which is not required until compliance with any amended standards is required. These procedures establish the currently permitted means for determining energy efficiency and annual energy consumption of these products.

DOE has received inquiries regarding the appropriate interpretation of various provisions of the current DOE test procedures. DOE has issued guidance documents on certain aspects of testing room air conditioners, residential dishwashers, and residential clothes
washers. See http:// www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/ default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1 for
additional information.

The Department is holding this public meeting and webinar to gather information regarding the current practices of manufacturer-run and private testing facilities. The Department seeks to understand how interested parties have interpreted test procedures provisions that they believe to be ambiguous absent DOE guidance. DOE plans to issue guidance, as needed and appropriate, to provide better consistency in the application of the test procedures and better clarity regarding how DOE conducts testing.

Discussion at the public meeting should focus on current test procedures (Appendices C, F, J1 and J2). Furthermore, while DOE seeks the views of all interested parties, this public meeting is not an appropriate forum for consensus building. The Department will take the information provided in the course of the public meeting into consideration when drafting DOE interpretive guidance.

In 2011, DOE launched a new Web site dedicated to DOE guidance: http:// www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/ default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1 . All test procedure guidance is now published through a public process. DOE publishes guidance in draft form on the guidance Web site. DOE accepts public comment on the draft guidance. After considering comments, DOE may take one of three courses: Publishing final guidance, publishing revised draft guidance, or withdrawing the guidance. If the Department publishes revised draft guidance, interested parties have another opportunity to provide

comments.

DOE will conduct the public meeting in an informal, conference style. There shall be no discussion of proprietary information, costs or prices, market shares, or other commercial matters regulated by U.S. antitrust laws. A court reporter will record the meeting, after which a transcript will be placed on the
DOE Web site and made available for purchase from the court reporter.

Anyone who wishes to participate in the public meeting, receive meeting materials, or be added to the DOE mailing list to receive future notices and
information about room air conditioners, residential dishwashers,
or residential clothes washers should contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202)

586–2945.

Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on May

9, 2012. Kathleen B. Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 2012–11732 Filed 5–14–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6450–01–P**

**SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION**

**13 CFR Part 121**

**RIN 3245–AG46**

**Small Business Size Regulations,**
**Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business**  **Technology Transfer (STTR) Program**

**AGENCY :**  Small Business Administration.

**ACTION :**  Proposed rule.

**SUMMARY :**  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to amend its regulations governing size and eligibility for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. This proposed rule would implement provisions of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The proposed rule addresses ownership, control and affiliation for participants in the SBIR and STTR Programs. This includes participants that are majority owned by multiple venture capital operating companies, private equity firms or hedge funds.

**DATES :**  You must submit your comments on or before July 16, 2012. **ADDRESSES :**  You may submit comments, identified by RIN: 3245–AG46, by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

• Mail, Hand Delivery/Courier: Carl Jordan, Office of Size Standards, or Edsel Brown, Assistant Director, Office of Technology, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416.

SBA will post all comments to this proposed rule on www.regulations.gov

. If you wish to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in
the User Notice at www.regulations.gov, you must submit such information to Carl Jordan or Edsel Brown, or send an
email to sizestandards@sba.gov

. Highlight the information that you consider to be CBI and explain why you
believe SBA should hold this
information as confidential. SBA will review your information and determine
whether it will make the information public.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Carl Jordan, Office of Size Standards, at (202) 205–6618, or Edsel Brown, Assistant Director, Office of Technology, at (202) 401–6365. You may also email questions to sizestandards@SBA.gov.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :** 
I. Background

On July 22, 1982, Congress enacted and the President signed into law the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982, Public Law 97–219 (codified at 15 U.S.C. 638), which
established the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The statutory purpose of the SBIR Program is to stimulate technological innovation by strengthening the role of
innovative small business concerns in Federally-funded research and research and development (R/R&D).

In 1992, Congress enacted the Small Business Technology Transfer Act of 1992 (STTR Act), Public Law 102–564 (codified at 15 U.S.C. 638). The STTR Act initially established the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program as a pilot program that requires Federal agencies with extramural budgets for R/R&D in excess of $1 billion per fiscal year to enter into funding agreements with small business concerns that engage in a collaborative relationship with a research institution. The purpose of the STTR program is to stimulate a partnership of ideas and technologies between innovative small
business concerns and research institutions. Congress amended the Small Business Act (Act) in 2001 and