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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules to conduct. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has identified several issues associated with the currently applicable test procedures on which DOE is interested in receiving comment. Based on the information received in response to the RFI and DOEs own analysis, DOE will determine whether to proceed with a rulemaking for an amended test procedure.
If DOE makes an initial determination that an amended test procedure would more accurately or fully comply with statutory requirements, or DOEs analysis is inconclusive, DOE will undertake a rulemaking to issue an amended test procedure. If DOE makes an initial determination based upon available evidence that an amended test procedure would not meet the applicable statutory criteria, DOE will engage in notice and comment rulemaking before issuing a final determination that an amended test procedure is not warranted.

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A. Authority EPCA, among other things, authorizes DOE to regulate the energy efficiency of a number of consumer products and certain industrial equipment. 42 U.S.C.
62916317 Title III, Part B 1 of EPCA
established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles. These products include consumer furnace fans, the subject of this document. 42 U.S.C.
6295f4D
Under EPCA, DOEs energy conservation program consists essentially of four parts: 1 Testing, 2
labeling, 3 Federal energy conservation standards, and 4 certification and enforcement procedures. Relevant provisions of EPCA include definitions 42 U.S.C. 6291, test procedures 42
U.S.C. 6293, labeling provisions 42
U.S.C. 6294, energy conservation standards 42 U.S.C. 6295, and the authority to require information and reports from manufacturers 42 U.S.C.
6296.
Federal energy efficiency requirements for covered products established under EPCA generally supersede State laws and regulations concerning energy conservation testing, labeling, and standards. 42 U.S.C. 6297
DOE may, however, grant waivers of Federal preemption in limited instances for particular State laws or regulations, in accordance with the procedures and other provisions set forth under 42
U.S.C. 6297d.
1 For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, Part B was redesignated Part A.

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The Federal testing requirements consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered products must use as the basis for: 1 Certifying to DOE that their products comply with the applicable energy conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA 42
U.S.C. 6295s, and 2 making representations about the efficiency of those consumer products 42 U.S.C.
6293c. Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures to determine whether the products comply with relevant standards promulgated under EPCA. 42
U.S.C. 6295s EPCA also requires that, at least once every 7 years, DOE
evaluate test procedures for each type of covered product, including consumer furnace fans, to determine whether amended test procedures would more accurately or fully comply with the requirements for the test procedures to not be unduly burdensome to conduct and be reasonably designed to produce test results that reflect energy efficiency, energy use, and estimated operating costs during a representative average use cycle. 42 U.S.C. 6293b1A DOE
is publishing this RFI to collect data and information to inform its decision to satisfy the 7-year-lookback review requirement.
B. Rulemaking History DOE published a final rule on January 3, 2014, establishing the test procedure for consumer furnace fans at title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations CFR
part 430, subpart B, Appendix AA, Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Furnace Fans Appendix AA. 79 FR 499 January 2014 Final Rule. The test procedure is applicable to air circulation fans used by weatherized and non-weatherized gas furnaces, oil furnaces, electric furnaces, and modular blowers.2 Section 1, Appendix AA. For each of these categories, the test procedure covers both mobile home and non-mobile home models. The test procedure is not applicable to non-ducted products, such as whole-house ventilation systems without ductwork, central airconditioning condensing unit fans, room fans, and furnace draft inducer fans.
As established in the January 2014
Final Rule, Appendix AA incorporates by reference the definitions, test setup 2 DOE defines the term modular blower in section 2.9 of Appendix AA as a product which only uses single-phase electric current, and which:
a Is designed to be the principal air circulation source for the living space of a residence; b Is not contained within the same cabinet as a furnace or central air conditioner; and c Is designed to be paired with HVAC products that have a heat input rate of less than 225,000 Btu per hour and cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu per hour.

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and equipment, and procedures for measuring steady-state combustion efficiency from the 2007 version of American National Standards Institute ANSI/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers ASHRAE Standard 103, Method of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of Residential Central Furnaces and Boilers ANSI/
ASHRAE 1032007. In addition to these provisions, Appendix AA
includes provisions for apparatuses and procedures for measuring temperature rise, external static pressure, and furnace fan electrical input power.
Appendix AA also incorporates by reference provisions for measuring temperature and external static pressure from ANSI/ASHRAE 372009, Methods of Testing for Rating Electrically Driven Unitary Air-Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment ASHRAE 37
2009.
In the January 2014 Final Rule, DOE
determined that there is no need to address standby and off mode energy use in the test procedure for furnace fans, as the standby mode and off mode energy use associated with furnace fans is measured by test procedures for the products in which furnace fans are used i.e., residential furnaces and residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. 79 FR 499, 504505.
On October 12, 2018, DOE received a petition AHRI Petition from the AirConditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute AHRI requesting that DOE
consider adopting a new test procedure and associated performance metric, AFUE2, that would combine and replace the DOE test methods and associated performance metrics currently required for furnace fans i.e., Fan Energy Rating FER and consumer furnaces i.e., annual fuel utilization efficiency AFUE, standby mode energy consumption PW,SB, and off mode energy consumption PW,OFF.
On November 14, 2018, DOE published a notice of petition for rulemaking and requested comments to assist DOE in its determination of whether to proceed with the petition. 83 FR 56746. DOE
received numerous comments on the petition, which are available for review in the docket at https
www.regulations.gov/document/EERE2018-BT-PET-0017-0004. Accordingly, and consistent with the separate docket maintained for this matter, DOE will publish its final decision in the Federal Register on whether to grant or deny this petition in a separate notice. As DOE has already requested comments on the AFUE2 performance metric through the petition for rulemaking process, DOE is not requesting
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