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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 10, 2021 / Notices Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE
electronically should be provided in PDF preferred, Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or text ASCII file format. Provide documents that are not secured, written in English and free of any defects or viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or any form of encryption and, if possible, they should carry the electronic signature of the author.
Campaign form letters. Please submit campaign form letters by the originating organization in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters per PDF or as one form letter with a list of supporters names compiled into one or more PDFs. This reduces comment processing and posting time.
Confidential Business Information.
According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via email two wellmarked copies: One copy of the document marked confidential including all the information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked non-confidential with the information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these documents via email. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential status of the information and treat it according to its determination.
It is DOEs policy that all comments may be included in the public docket, without change and as received, including any personal information provided in the comments except information deemed to be exempt from public disclosure.
Case Number 2021006

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Interim Waiver Order I. Background and Authority The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended EPCA,2 authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy DOE
to regulate the energy efficiency of a number of consumer products and certain industrial equipment. 42 U.S.C.
62916317. Title III, Part C 3 of EPCA, Public Law 94163 42 U.S.C. 6291
6309, as codified, added by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, Public Law 95619, sec. 441 Nov.
9, 1978, established the Energy Conservation Program for Certain Industrial Equipment, which sets forth a 2 All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute as amended through the Energy Act of 2020, Public Law 116260 Dec. 27, 2020.
3 For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, Part C was redesignated as Part A1.

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variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency for certain types of industrial equipment. Through amendments brought about by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Public Law 110140, sec. 312
Dec. 19, 2007, this equipment includes walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers collectively walk-ins, the subject of this Interim Waiver Order. 42 U.S.C.
63111G.
The energy conservation program under EPCA 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.
6311, energy conservation standards 42 U.S.C. 6313, test procedures 42
U.S.C. 6314, labeling provisions 42
U.S.C. 6315, and the authority to require information and reports from manufacturers 42 U.S.C. 6316.
The Federal testing requirements consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered equipment must use as the basis for: 1 Certifying to DOE that their equipment complies with the applicable energy conservation standards adopted pursuant to EPCA 42
U.S.C. 6316a; 42 U.S.C. 6295s, and 2 making representations about the efficiency of that equipment 42 U.S.C.
6314d. Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures to determine whether the covered equipment complies with relevant standards promulgated under EPCA. 42 U.S.C. 6316a; 42 U.S.C.
6295s.
Under 42 U.S.C. 6314, EPCA sets forth the criteria and procedures DOE is required to follow when prescribing or amending test procedures for covered equipment. EPCA requires that any test procedures prescribed or amended under this section must be reasonably designed to produce test results which reflect the energy efficiency, energy use or estimated annual operating cost of covered equipment during a representative average use cycle and requires that test procedures not be unduly burdensome to conduct. 42
U.S.C.6314a2 The test procedure for walk-in refrigeration systems is contained in the Code of Federal Regulations CFR at 10 CFR part 431, subpart R, appendix C, Uniform Test Method for the Measurement of Net Capacity and AWEF of Walk-In Cooler and Walk-In Freezer Refrigeration Systems Appendix C.
Under 10 CFR 431.401, any interested person may submit a petition for waiver from DOEs test procedure requirements. DOE will grant a waiver from the test procedure requirements if DOE determines either that the basic
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model for which the waiver was requested contains a design characteristic that prevents testing of the basic model according to the prescribed test procedures, or that the prescribed test procedures evaluate the basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true energy consumption characteristics as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. 10 CFR 431.401f2.
A petitioner must include in its petition any alternate test procedures known to the petitioner to evaluate the performance of the product type in a manner representative of the energy consumption characteristics of the basic model. 10 CFR 431.401b1iii. DOE
may grant the waiver subject to conditions, including adherence to alternate test procedures. 10 CFR
431.401f2.
As soon as practicable after the granting of any waiver, DOE will publish in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations so as to eliminate any need for the continuation of such waiver. 10
CFR 431.401l. As soon thereafter as practicable, DOE will publish in the Federal Register a final rule to that effect. Id.
The waiver process also provides that DOE may grant an interim waiver if it appears likely that the underlying petition for waiver will be granted and/
or if DOE determines that it would be desirable for public policy reasons to grant immediate relief pending a determination on the underlying petition for waiver. 10 CFR
431.401e2. Within one year of issuance of an interim waiver, DOE will either: i Publish in the Federal Register a determination on the petition for waiver; or ii publish in the Federal Register a new or amended test procedure that addresses the issues presented in the waiver. 10 CFR
431.401h1.
If DOE ultimately denies the petition for waiver, or if the alternate test procedure specified in the interim waiver differs from the alternate test procedure specified by DOE in a subsequent Decision and Order, DOE
will provide a period of 180 days before the manufacturer is required to use the DOE test procedure or the alternate test procedure specified in the Decision and Order to make representations of energy efficiency. 10 CFR 431.401i.4 When 4 In proposing an amendment to 10 CFR
431.401i, DOE stated thatThe 180 day duration was proposed because that time frame is consistent with the EPCA provision that provides manufacturers 180 days from issuance of a new or amended test procedure to begin using that test procedure for representation of energy efficiency.

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