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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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currently specified in sections 5 and 6
of Appendix J3.
DOE is proposing to renumber section 7 to section 9 in Appendix J3 and to update any applicable cross references.
Finally, given the broader scope of Appendix J3 as proposed by these amendments, DOE is proposing to rename Appendix J3 from Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Moisture Absorption and Retention Characteristics of New Energy Test Cloth Lots to Energy Test Cloth Specifications and Procedures for Determining Correction Coefficients of New Energy Test Cloth Lots.
DOE requests comment on its proposed edits to Appendix J3 to codify the uniformity check procedure and to restructure Appendix J3 to improve the overall logical flow of the procedure.
J. Product-Specific RMC Enforcement Provisions DOE provides product-specific enforcement provisions for all clothes washers at 10 CFR 429.134c, which specify provisions for determining RMC.
10 CFR 429.134c1i specifies that the measured RMC value of a tested unit will be considered the tested units final RMC value if the measured RMC value is within two RMC percentage points of the certified RMC value of the basic model expressed as a percentage, or is lower than the certified RMC value. 10
CFR 429.134c1ii specifies that if the measured RMC value of a tested unit is more than two RMC percentage points higher than the certified RMC value of the basic model, DOE will perform two additional replications of the RMC
measurement procedure, each pursuant to the provisions of section 3.8.5 of Appendix J2, for a total of three independent RMC measurements of the tested unit. The average of the three RMC measurements will be the tested units final RMC value and will be used as the basis for the calculation of percycle energy consumption for removal of moisture from the test load for that unit.
As described in sections I.B and III.I
of this document, DOE uses the procedures specified in Appendix J3 to evaluate the moisture absorption and retention characteristics of each new lot of test cloth. The results are used to develop a unique correction curve for each new lot of test cloth, which helps ensure that a consistent RMC
measurement is obtained for any test cloth lot used during testing. The correction factors developed for each new cloth lot are used to adjust the uncorrected RMC measurements obtained when performing an Appendix J2 test on an individual clothes washer
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model.74 Without the application of correction factors, the uncorrected RMC
values for a given spin setting can vary by more than 10 RMC percentage points.
The application of correction factors is intended to significantly reduce this lotto-lot variation in RMC results.
Multiple interested parties have presented confidential data to DOE
suggesting that despite the application of correction factors, the corrected RMC values can vary by up to three RMC percentage points among different test cloth lots. A variation of three RMC
percentage points can lead to over a 5percent variation in IMEF rating.75 DOE
conducted an internal analysis of the confidential data, in which DOE
investigated three potential sources of the observed variation in corrected RMC
values: 1 Test-to-test variation masking as lot-to-lot variation; 2 spin cycle anomalies masking as lot-to-lot variation; and 3 choice of Lot 3 as the reference lot.76 Based on DOEs investigations, none of these three hypotheses explained the observed lotto-lot variation in corrected RMC values in the data presented by the interested parties.
Based on these investigations, DOE
preliminarily concludes that although the application of correction factors for each test cloth lot significantly reduces the lot-to-lot variation in RMC from over 10 percentage points uncorrected, the current methodology may be limited to reducing lot-to-lot variation in corrected RMC to around three RMC
percentage points.
Recognizing this potential for lot-tolot variation of up to three RMC
percentage points corrected, DOE
proposes to extend its product-specific enforcement provisions for clothes washers to accommodate up to a 3percentage point variation in the corrected RMC measurement based on the test cloth lot used for testing. The following paragraphs describe DOEs proposed approach for implementation of these provisions.
DOE proposes to modify the text of 10
CFR 429.134c1 to state that its 74 DOE maintains an historical record of the standard extractor test data and final correction curve coefficients for each approved lot of energy test cloth. These are available through DOEs web page for standards and test procedures for residential clothes washers at www.energy.gov/eere/
buildings/downloads/clothes-washer-test-clothcorrection-factor-information.
75 See discussion in the August 2015 Final Rule in which DOE described that limiting RMC
variation to 2 RMC percentage points would limit the variation in the overall MEF or IMEF
calculation to roughly 5 percent. 80 FR 46730, 46756.
76 The RMC characteristics of historical Lot 3
represent the standard RMC values defined in Table 6.1 of Appendix J3.

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provisions address anomalous RMC
results that are not representative of a basic models performance, as well as differences in RMC values that may result from DOE using a different test cloth lot than was used by the manufacturer for testing and certifying the basic model.
DOE proposes to specify the enforcement provisions when testing according to the proposed new Appendix J at 10 CFR 429.134c1i, and when testing according to Appendix J2 at 10 CFR 429.134c1ii.
Under the provisions for Appendix J2, DOE proposes new subsection iiA, which would specify that the procedure for determining RMC will be performed once in its entirety, pursuant to the test requirements of section 3.8 of Appendix J2, for each unit tested as currently specified at 10 CFR 429.134c1.
DOE proposes new subsection iiB, which would specify that if the measured RMC value of a tested unit is equal to or lower than the certified RMC
value of the basic model expressed as a percentage, the measured RMC value will be considered the tested units final RMC value and will be used as the basis for the calculation of per-cycle energy consumption for removal of moisture from the test load for that unit consistent with the current specifications at 10 CFR
429.134c1i.
DOE proposes new subsection 10 CFR
429.134iiC, which would specify that if the difference between the measured RMC value and the certified RMC value of the basic model is less than or equal to two RMC percentage points, the measured RMC value of a tested unit will be considered the tested units final RMC value unless DOE used a different test cloth lot than was used by the manufacturer for testing and certifying the basic model; in which case, DOE
may 77 apply the proposed new paragraph c1iiE of the same section if the difference between the measured and certified RMC values would affect the units compliance with the applicable standards.
DOE proposes new subsection 10 CFR
429.134 iiDwhich would address anomalous RMC results that are not representative of a basic models performancespecifying that if the measured RMC value of a tested unit is more than two RMC percentage points 77 DOE is proposing to use the phrase may apply, as opposed to shall apply, to allow for appropriate discretion by DOE. If shall were to be used instead, DOE would be required to seek the test cloth lot information from the manufacturer in every such case, since lot number is not a reported value. Alternatively, DOE could require reporting of the lot number used to certify each basic model.

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