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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 110 / Thursday, June 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules contained in ASHRAE Standard 90.1
1989. On January 12, 2001, DOE
amended the standards for UFHWSTs to be equivalent to the efficiency level in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 as revised in October 1999. 66 FR 3336 January 2001
final rule. The January 2001 final rule established an insulation design requirement of a minimum R-value of R12.5 for all UFHWSTs. 66 FR 3336, 3356 Jan. 12, 2001. This remains the current Federal standard and the standard level specified in the most recent version of ASHRAE Standard
90.1. The current standard is located at 10 CFR 431.110.
2. History of Standards Rulemakings for UFHWSTs As noted previously, the standards for UFHWSTs were most recently amended in the January 2001 final rule. EPCA
requires DOE to evaluate the applicable energy conservation standard for UFHWSTs every 6 years to determine whether it needs to be amended. 42
U.S.C. 6313a6Ci Thus, DOE
published a request for information RFI on August 9, 2019, which
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identified various issues and sought to collect data and information to inform its determination, consistent with its obligations under EPCA, as to whether the UFHWST standards need to be amended the August 2019 RFI. 84 FR
39220.
DOE received five comments in response to the August 2019 RFI from the interested parties listed in Table II.1.
Discussion of the relevant comments provided by these organizations and DOEs responses are provided in the appropriate sections of this document.

TABLE II.1INTERESTED PARTIES PROVIDING WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE AUGUST 2019 RFI
Name
Abbreviation
Appliance Standards Awareness Project and Natural Resources Defense Council.
Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute
Pacific Gas and Electric Company PG&E, Sand Diego Gas and Electric SDG&E, Southern California Edison SCE.
A.O. Smith Corporation
Bradford White Corporation

ASAP and NRDC

Efficiency Organizations.

AHRI
CA IOUs

Trade Association.
Investor-Owned Utilities.

A.O. Smith
BWC

Manufacturer.
Manufacturer.

A parenthetical reference at the end of a comment quotation or paraphrase provides the location of the item in the public record.3

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III. General Discussion DOE developed this proposed determination after a review of the UFHWST market, including product literature and product listings in the DOE Compliance Certification Management System CCMS database.
DOE also considered written comments, data, and information from interested parties that represent a variety of interests. This notice addresses issues raised by these commenters.
A. Product Classes and Scope of Coverage When evaluating and establishing new or amended energy conservation standards, DOE typically divides covered equipment into equipment classes by the type of energy used or by capacity or other performance-related features that justify differing standards.
For UFHWSTs, the current standard at 10 CFR 431.110 is applicable to a single equipment class covering all UFHWSTs, which is consistent with the standard and structure in ASHRAE Standard 90.1. DOEs regulations define unfired hot water storage tank as a tank used 3 The parenthetical reference provides a reference for information located in the docket. Docket No.
EERE2017BTSTD0021, which is maintained at https www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2017BTSTD0021. The references are arranged as follows: commenter name, comment docket ID
number, page of that document.

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to store water that is heated externally, and that is industrial equipment. 10
CFR 431.102. The scope of coverage is discussed in further detail in section IV.A.1 of this NOPD.
B. Test Procedure EPCA sets forth generally applicable criteria and procedures for DOEs adoption and amendment of test procedures. 42 U.S.C. 6314a As a general matter, manufacturers of covered ASHRAE equipment must use these test procedures to certify to DOE
that their equipment complies with energy conservation standards and to quantify the efficiency of their equipment. 42 U.S.C. 6316b; 42 U.S.C.
6296 DOEs current energy conservation standards for UFHWSTs are expressed in terms of a minimum Rvalue for tank insulation. See 10 CFR
431.110.
DOE does not prescribe a test procedure for UFHWSTs; however, DOEs regulations define R-value as the thermal resistance of insulating material as determined using either ASTM International ASTM C17713, Standard Test Method for Steady-State Heat Flux Measurements and Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Guarded-Hot-Plate Apparatus, or ASTM C51815, Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Heat Flow Meter Apparatus and expressed in F
ft2 h/Btu. 10 CFR 431.102.
In response to the August 2019 RFI, DOE received several comments encouraging DOE to consider a
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Commenter type
performance-based test procedure for UFHWSTs. ASAP and NRDC referenced a test procedure notice of proposed rulemaking NOPR published in the Federal Register on May 9, 2016 81 FR
28588 May 2016 CWH TP NOPR in which DOE proposed, among other things, a standby loss test for UFHWSTs, and a final rule for the test procedure for commercial water heating CWH equipment published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2016
81 FR 79261, in which DOE suggested that it would address comments received in response to the May 2016
CWH TP NOPR in a separate rulemaking notice. These commenters encouraged DOE to review and finalize the performance-based test procedure for UFHWSTs before proceeding with a UFHWST standards rulemaking, in order to not forgo potential additional energy savings that could come from incorporating standby losses and/or other changes to the UFHWST test procedure. ASAP and NRDC, No. 7 at pp. 12 Similarly, the CA IOUs stated that they believe the current R12.5
insulation requirement limits consumer choice and does not encourage design innovation. They likewise encouraged DOE to adopt a performance-based metric, which they believe would lead to additional energy savings. The CA
IOUs analyzed standby losses for commercial storage water heaters in the AHRI Directory of Certified Product Performance and noted a wide range of performance. They stated that this suggests the potential for energy savings
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