The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) will present schedules for all appliance rulemaking activities no later than Jan. 31, 2006. The schedules will be developed following a public meeting recently held to invite comment on standards scheduling issues. The DoE will finalize its standards scheduling plan after consideration of comments received during and following the public meeting.
“The Department of Energy’s aggressive commitment to present schedules by Jan. 31, 2006, is driven by our desire to speed up the process and strengthen public involvement in our rulemaking,” said Douglas L. Faulkner, acting assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Our strategy will result in firm schedules for all appliance standard requirements, and strike the appropriate balance between existing requirements and new requirements mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.”
On Oct. 18, 2005, the DoE issued a final rule to codify 15 new appliance standards prescribed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005). Currently, the DoE is working on another “en masse” rulemaking to clarify and codify the test procedures specified by EPACT 2005. The DoE also is continuing progress on previous priority rulemakings, including distribution transformers, residential furnaces and boilers.
The DOE’s plan and rulemaking schedules will be provided to Congress in a report required under Section 141 of EPACT 2005. In Section 141, Congress directed the DoE to submit an initial report regarding each new or revised energy conservation standard that the DoE is to prescribe in conformance with Energy Policy and Conservation Act deadlines, as well as a plan for expeditiously prescribing the new or revised standard.