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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations consumption calculation previously located in 10 CFR 430.23. Id.
AHAM understood DOEs proposal to be that rounding would take place on both the tested and reported values and opposed such an approach. AHAM
stated that rounding both the tested and reported values would add too much variation; for example, it could add 1
percent error just due to rounding for an 8,000 Btu/h unit. AHAM further commented that there is a significant difference in results if only the mean is rounded versus both the individual test measurements and the mean being rounded. Accordingly, AHAM instead proposed rounding should take place only on the rated values i.e., the cooling capacity and that rounding should be to the hundreds of Btu/h because it is clearer to communicate round numbers to retailers and consumers. AHAM, No.
13 at p. 9
DOE agrees with AHAM that rounding both the tested and reported values may introduce too much variance in the rated values. In the June 2020
NOPR, DOE proposed to include rounding instructions to provide consistency in room AC capacity, electrical input power, and efficiency representations when conducting the test. 85 FR 35700, 35731 Jun. 11, 2020.
While consistency in rounding between reported values and tested values is important, the accuracy of reported values outweighs concerns about consistency with the rounding for tested values. The proposed rounding instructions at 10 CFR 429.15 will ensure that there is consistency in reported results, while not affecting the accuracy of those reported values.
Therefore, DOE is removing the proposed rounding instructions from 10
CFR 430.23f but maintaining the rounding instructions proposed in for 10 CFR 429.15.
L. Effective Date, Compliance Date and Waivers The effective date for the adopted test procedure amendment will be 30 days after publication of this final rule in the Federal Register. EPCA prescribes that all representations of energy efficiency and energy use, including those made on marketing materials and product labels, must be made in accordance with that amended test procedure, beginning 180 days after publication of the test procedure final rule in the Federal Register. 42 U.S.C. 6293c2 EPCA
provides an allowance for individual manufacturers to petition DOE for an extension of the 180-day period if the manufacturer would experience undue hardship in meeting the 180-day deadline. 42 U.S.C. 6293c3 To
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receive such an extension, a manufacturer must file a petition with DOE no later than 60 days before the end of the 180-day period and detail how the manufacturer will experience undue hardship. Id.
Upon the compliance date of test procedure provisions in this final rule any waivers that had been previously issued and are in effect that pertain to issues addressed by such provisions are terminated. 10 CFR 430.27h2 2020.
Recipients of any such waivers are required to test products subject to the waiver according to the amended test procedure as of the compliance date of the amended test procedure. The amendments adopted in this document pertain to issues addressed by waivers and interim waivers granted to LG Case No. 2020011, Midea Case No. 2020
017, and GEA Case No. 2020004.
This final rule also addresses issues identified in pending waivers for Danby Case No. 2020019,43 Electrolux Case No. 2020016,44 MARS Case No.
2020021,45 and Perfect Aire Case No.
2020018.46 Per 10 CFR 430.27l, the publication of this final rule eliminates the need for the continuation of granted waivers. Publication of this final rule also eliminates the need for the pending petitions for waivers which have been requested for certain room AC models with variable-speed capabilities, as this final test procedure incorporates testing and certification requirements for variable-speed room ACs. However, these petitions are in pending status until DOE communicates a denial to the petitioners.
M. Test Procedure Costs, Impacts, and Other Topics 1. Test Procedure Costs and Impacts In this document, DOE amends the existing test procedure for room ACs by:
1 Referencing current versions of industry standards, as appropriate; 2
including test provisions to reflect the relative performance improvements for variable-speed room ACs compared to single-speed room ACs, including tests at multiple temperature conditions, based on the alternate test procedure from recent waivers; 3 updating definitions in support of the provisions 43 The Danby waiver docket can be found at https beta.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2020-BTWAV-0036/document.
44 The Electrolux waiver docket can be found at https beta.regulations.gov/document/EERE-2020BT-WAV-0033-0001.
45 The MARS waiver docket can be found at https beta.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2020-BTWAV-0038/document.
46 The Perfect Aire waiver docket can be found at https beta.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2020-BTWAV-0034.

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for testing variable-speed room ACs, to ensure the test procedure is selfcontained, reflects existing test procedure terminology, and distinguishes between variable-speed and single-speed units; and 4
incorporating specifications and minor corrections to improve the test procedure repeatability, reproducibility, and overall readability. DOE has determined that the test procedure as amended by this final rule will not be unduly burdensome for manufacturers to conduct.
Further discussion of the cost impacts of the test procedure amendments are presented in the following paragraphs.
Appendix F
This final rule generally adopts the latest industry standard test procedure, AHAM RAC12020, for determining the CEER for variable-speed room ACs, consistent with the procedure prescribed in the test procedure waivers. There are 10 basic models four from LG and six from Midea currently on the market subject to the test procedure waivers for variable-speed room ACs. 84 FR 20111 May 8, 2019;
85 FR 31481 May 26, 2020. DOE
expects that as many as 18 additional basic models will soon be introduced to the market subject to the GEA interim waiver for their variable-speed room ACs. 85 FR 59770 Sep. 23, 2020.
However, the final rule differs from those waivers in that it requires the use of fixed temperature conditions with a unit setpoint of 75 F when testing at the 92 F and 95 F outdoor conditions, and therefore, the 28 variable-speed room AC basic models identified by DOE
would need to be re-tested and recertified according to this final rule.
DOE did not identify any other manufacturers currently producing variable-speed room ACs that are sold in the United States.
DOE estimates that it would require approximately 8 hours for manufacturers to conduct a variablespeed test for a room AC unit, as specified in this final rule. Additionally, DOE requires that at least two units must be tested per basic model.
Therefore, a manufacturer would spend approximately 16 hours to test one variable-speed room AC basic model.
DOE used the wage rate of a mechanical engineering technician from the Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS to estimate the wage rate of an employee performing these tests.47 Additionally, 47 Based on data from BLSs May 2019
publication of the Occupational Employment and Wages, the mean hourly wage for mechanical
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