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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations outweighed the consumer benefits. 75
FR 20112, 2021820219 April 16, 2010; 81 FR 71325, 71327 Oct. 17, 2016 DOEs full determination in the April 2010 final rule was also based on the impact to manufacturers as discussed in section III.B.3.i. and section III.C.2.d. of this document. DOE
has determined that the LCC and PBP
analyses conducted for the April 2010
final rule remain generally applicable.

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c. Energy Savings As discussed in section III.B.3.e. of this document, DOE has determined it appropriate to base its energy savings analysis on the estimates developed during the April 2010 final rule and October 2016 final determination. Based on its analysis, DOE estimated that for gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters, potential site energy savings from more-stringent standards at the max-tech level would be 0.13 quads.
d. Further Considerations As previously discussed, DOE is required to publish either a notification of a determination that standards for vented heaters do not need to be amended, or a NOPR including new proposed standards. 42 U.S.C.
6295m1 and 42 U.S.C. 6295m3B
If DOE publishes a NOPR including new proposed standards, the proposed standards must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency, which DOE determines is technologically feasible and economically justified. 42 U.S.C.
6295m1B; 42 U.S.C. 6295o2A.
In determining whether new proposed standards would be economically justified, DOE must determine whether the benefits of the standards exceed their burdens by considering, to the greatest extent practicable, the seven statutory criteria previously discussed.
42 U.S.C. 6295o2Bi For gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters, DOE
considered the findings of the April 2010 final rule and the October 2016
final determination, in addition to comments received in response to the February 2019 RFI and December 2020
NOPD. As discussed in section III.B.3.g.
of this document, the number of vented heater shipments were projected to decline in the April 2010 final rule, and comments received during the rulemaking that resulted in the October 2016 final determination indicated that shipments have indeed continued to decline since the previous analysis was conducted. Further, DOE stated in the
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April 2016 NOPD which preceded the October 2016 final determination that shipments were in fact lower than projected in the April 2010 final rule, indicating that the decline has been faster than expected. 81 FR 21276, 21281 April 11, 2016 This supports the notion that the vented heater market is continuing to shrink, that product lines are mainly maintained as replacements for existing vented heaters units, and that new product lines generally are not being developed. In addition, the one new manufacturer of vented heaters that has entered the market since the October 2016 final determination only produces two models, neither of which have AFUE values outside of the range offered by other manufacturers, or any other characteristics that make them unique from other products already on the market and one small business manufacturer has left the market. As discussed in sections III.B.3.a. and III.B.3.d. of this document, DOE found that the available AFUE values have largely stayed the same or decreased, with more-efficient products being taken off the market or rerated to lower AFUE values.
As discussed in section III.B.3.f. of this document, an examination of how the inputs to the LCC and PBP analysis have changed since the April 2010 final rule indicates that the LCC and PBP
results from the April 2010 final rule would be comparable today. As discussed in section III.B.3.i. of this document, DOE did not receive any comments or data in response to the February 2019 RFI or December 2020
NOPD that suggested a change in the historical trends within this industry.
In the April 2010 final rule, DOE
rejected higher standards, finding that capital conversion costs would lead to a large reduction in INPV and that small businesses would be disproportionately impacted, which would outweigh any benefits from higher standard levels. 75
FR 20112, 2021720218 April 16, 2010
Upon reviewing the current market for vented heaters, DOE has determined that its prior determination regarding the impact on INPV remains valid i.e., standard levels above the current Federal energy conservation standard would require manufacturers to make significant capital investments of the magnitude initially projected in the April 2010 final rule. As shipments for vented heaters have continued to decrease, manufacturers would be required to make investments to update model lines and manufacturing facilities with fewer shipments over which to spread the cost. This would lead to even more difficulty in recovering their
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investment than was projected in the April 2010 final rule.
In addition, DOE has determined that its conclusions regarding small business impacts from the April 2010 final rule and the October 2016 final determination are still valid concerns i.e., small businesses would likely reduce product offerings or leave the vented heater market entirely if the standard were to be set above the level adopted in that rulemaking. Two of the four identified manufacturers of gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters are small businesses.
e. Standby Mode and Off Mode EPCA requires DOE to incorporate standby mode and off mode energy use into a single amended or new standard if feasible or prescribe a separate standard for standby mode and off mode energy consumption in any final rule establishing or revising a standard for a covered product, adopted after July 1, 2010. 42 U.S.C. 6295gg3AB
Because DOE is not amending standards for DHE in this rule, DOE is not required to adopt amended standards that include standby and off mode energy use. DOE notes that fossil fuel energy use in standby mode and off mode is already included in the AFUE metric, and DOE anticipates that electric standby and off mode energy use is small in comparison to fossil fuel energy use.
f. Summary For gas floor vented heaters, DOE
concludes that more-stringent standards for gas floor vented heaters are not technologically feasible. As such, DOE
also concludes that there is no conservation of energy possible from including gas floor vented heaters.
Therefore, DOE has determined that amended standards for gas floor vented heaters are not needed.
DOE has determined that, for gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters, the potential benefits from amended standards would be outweighed by burdens on manufacturers. As such, DOE has determined that new proposed standards would not be economically justified. Therefore, DOE has determined that amended standards for gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type heaters, and gas room vented heaters are not justified at this time.

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