U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Building Technologies Office – Appliance & Equipment Standards

Schedule Setting

This page describes the schedule of new appliance standards rulemakings; provides links to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports to Congress; and describes the 2005 public meeting on appliance standards scheduling, which resulted in a five-year plan.

Current Schedule

The current schedule of approximate rule initiation dates and final action dates contains rulemakings on those products listed in the Product(s) column. The rule type (determination analysis, test procedures, or standards) and the responsible team are indicated for each. The table also shows the source of the requirement to conduct each rulemaking: the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), or Backlog (before EPAct 2005).

• Download the Multi-Year Schedule

Reports to Congress

Section 141 of EPAct 2005 requires DOE to issue an initial report and semi-annual reports thereafter to describe its rulemaking schedule and plan for implementing the schedule. The report was first published on January 31, 2006, and has been updated semi-annually since. The initial and all subsequent reports are listed here with the most recent first.

• August 2012 – Twelfth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• February 2012 – Eleventh Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2011 – Tenth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2010 – Ninth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• February 2010 – Eighth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2009 – Seventh Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• February 2009 – Sixth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2008 – Fifth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• February 2008 – Fourth Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2007 – Third Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• February 2007 – Second Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• August 2006 – First Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings – Implementation Report: Energy Conservation Standards Activities
• January 2006 – Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings

Meeting on Appliance Standards Scheduling

DOE held a public meeting on November 15, 2005, in Washington, D.C., to discuss appliance standards scheduling issues. DOE received comments on the desire to bring all appliance rulemaking activities into compliance with the applicable statutory requirements. DOE based its standards scheduling plan on consideration of comments received during and following the public meeting.

On January 31, 2006, DOE released a schedule for setting new appliance efficiency standards that will save American consumers billions of dollars in energy costs (see Report to Congress on Appliance Energy-Efficiency Rulemakings, January 2006 above). The 5-year plan outlines how DOE plans to address the appliance standards rulemaking backlog and meet all the statutory requirements established in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and EPAct 2005.

The following is a list of documents related to agenda setting for appliance standards rulemakings:

• Preliminary agenda for the November 15, 2005, meeting
• Statement issued by DOE on November 15, 2005, stating that it will release a schedule for completing all affected rulemakings no later than January 31, 2006
• Federal Register Notice published on October 24, 2005, which contains more details about the public meeting and how to provide comments
• DOE Appliances & Commercial Equipment Standards Program – Rulemaking Activities summary tables, which contain a list of rulemaking cycles with statutory deadlines and data sheet page references
• 2006 Draft Rulemaking Activities Data Sheets, October 2005; Revised data sheets are labeled "revised for 2006"
• 2006 Schedule Setting Spreadsheets (ZIP 631 KB) – Provides estimates of national energy savings potential for 17 products Download WinZip
• Draft Technical Report – Analysis of Amended Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Refrigerator-Freezers, October, 2005 – Prepared in response to a petition by stakeholders to amend the standards.