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Rulemaking for Portable Air Conditioners

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has determined tentatively that portable air conditioners (ACs) qualify as a covered product under Part A of Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended. DOE has determined that portable ACs meet the criteria for covered products because classifying products of such type as covered products is necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of EPCA, and the average U.S. household energy use for portable ACs is likely to exceed 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year.

Recent Updates

The Department of Energy has published a Federal Register notice changing the comment period pertaining to energy conservation standards for portable air conditioners. The comment period closes on September 26, 2016. 81 FR 53961 (August 15, 2016).

DOE has published a Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to energy conservation standards for portable air conditioners. 81FR38398 (June 13, 2016). DOE will also host a public meeting Wednesday, July 20, 2016 in Washington, DC. The original meeting date has been rescheduled.

DOE has published a final determination pertaining to energy conservation standards for portable air conditioners. 81 FR 22514 (April 18, 2016)

Public Meeting Information

There are no public meetings scheduled.

Submitting Public Comments

Comment deadline is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Any comments submitted must identify docket number EERE-2013–BT–STD–0033 and/or regulatory information number (RIN) number 1904-AD02. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

• E-mail: PortableAC2013STD0033@ee.doe.gov. Include the docket number EERE-2013-BT-STD-0033 and/or RIN 1904-AD02 in the subject line of the message.

• Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on a compact disc (CD), in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies. [Please note that comments and CDs sent by mail are often delayed and may be damaged by mail screening processes.]

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, 950 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone (202) 586-2945. If possible, please submit all items on CD, in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies.

• Docket: The docket is available for review at www.regulations.gov, including Federal Register notices, comments, and other supporting documents/materials. All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure.

A link to the docket web page can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2013-BT-STD-0033. The regulations.gov web page contains instructions on how to access all documents in the docket, including public comments.

Milestones and Documents

The portable air conditioners determination rulemaking docket EERE-2013-BT-STD-0033 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents. For the latest information on the planned timing of future DOE regulatory milestones, see the current Office of Management and Budget Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. All planned dates are preliminary and subject to change.

Proposed Determination	Notice of Proposed Determination, Federal Register, 78 FR 40403 (July 5, 2013) Comment deadline: Closed
Notice of Public Meeting Final Determination Notice of Proposed Rulemaking	Notice of Public Meeting and Availability of the Technical Support Document, Federal Register, 80 FR 10628 (February 27, 2015) Public Meeting: 03/18/15 Public Meeting Presentation Preliminary Technical Support Document Comment deadline: April 28, 2015 Notice of Final Determination, Federal Register, 81 FR 22514 (April 18, 2016) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, pre-publication, Federal Register, April 27, 2016 Technical Support Document Government Regulatory Impact Model Life Cycle Cost National Impact Analysis Comment Deadline: 60 days after publication in the Federal Register Change of Comment Period: pre-publication, Federal Register, August 8, 2016

Related Rulemakings

There are no related rulemakings.

Statutory Authority

Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq.), sets forth various provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. Part A of Title III of EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309) established the "Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles," which covers consumer products and certain commercial products (hereafter referred to as "covered products").¹ In addition to specifying a list of covered residential and commercial products, EPCA contains provisions that enable the Secretary of Energy to classify additional types of consumer products as covered products.

Contact Information

For more information related to this rulemaking, please email:

portable_ACs@ee.doe.gov