DOE Publishes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Public Meeting and Request for Comment Pertaining to Standards for Computer Room Air Conditioners

DOE Publishes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Public Meeting and Request for Comment Pertaining to Standards for Computer Room Air Conditioners

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comment pertaining to energy conservation standards for computer room air conditioners (CRACs). The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), prescribes standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment, of which CRACs are a category. EPCA requires DOE to consider the need for amended standards each time the relevant industry standard is amended with respect to the standard levels or design requirements applicable to that equipment, or periodically under a six-year-lookback review provision. In this document, DOE is proposing amended standards for CRACs that rely on a new efficiency metric and are equivalent to those levels specified in the industry standard. DOE has preliminarily determined that it lacks the clear and convincing evidence required by the statute to adopt standards more stringent than the levels specified in the industry standard. This document also announces a public meeting webinar to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

• DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NOPR until May 6, 2022.
  Comments regarding the likely competitive impact of the proposed standard should be sent to the Department of Justice until April 6, 2022.
• Interested persons may submit comments identified by docket number EERE–2020–BT–STD-0008 and/or RIN 1904-AF01, by email (2019ASHRAE2020STD0008@ee.doe.gov.), Federal eRulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov).
• Interested persons may contact the Division at energy.standards@usdoj.gov. Please indicate in the “Subject” line of your email the title and Docket Number of this proposed rulemaking.
• DOE will hold a webinar on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Click here to register for the webinar.
• Foreign Nationals interested in participating in this webinar, must be screened by DOE Headquarters Security prior to being granted access. Please email Regina.Washington@ee.doe.gov to complete the necessary documentation at least two weeks prior to scheduled meeting date.
• Additional webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on DOE’s website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/public-meetings-and-comment-deadlines
• Find product information for Computer Room Air Conditioners including current standards and test procedures, statutory authority, waivers, exceptions and contact information.

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