83 FR 45052 - Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee: Notice of Public Meetings for the Variable Refrigerant Flow Multi-Split Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps Working Group To Negotiate a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Test Procedures and Energy Conservation Standards

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 172 (September 5, 2018)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) announces public meetings for the variable refrigerant flow multi-split air conditioners and heat pumps (VRF multi-split systems) working group. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requires that agencies publish notice of an advisory committee meeting in the Federal Register.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 5, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45052-45053]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19212]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 172 / Wednesday, September 5, 2018 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 45052]]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 431


Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee: 
Notice of Public Meetings for the Variable Refrigerant Flow Multi-Split 
Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps Working Group To Negotiate a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking for Test Procedures and Energy Conservation 
Standards

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notification of public meetings and webinar.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) 
announces public meetings for the variable refrigerant flow multi-split 
air conditioners and heat pumps (VRF multi-split systems) working 
group. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requires that agencies 
publish notice of an advisory committee meeting in the Federal 
Register.

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for meeting dates.

ADDRESSES: The next several rounds of public meetings will be held at 
multiple locations. Please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section to 
find the address for each date. Please see the Public Participation 
section of this notice for additional information on attending the 
public meeting, including webinar registration information, participant 
instructions, and information about the capabilities available to 
webinar participants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Building Technologies (EE-5B), 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW, 
Washington, DC 20024. Phone: 202-287-1692. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 10, 2018, the Appliance Standards 
and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (ASRAC) met and passed the 
recommendation to form a VRF multi-split systems working group to meet 
and discuss and, if possible, reach a consensus on proposed federal 
test procedures and standards for VRF multi-split systems. On 
Wednesday, April 11, 2018, DOE published a notification of intent to 
establish a working group for VRF multi-split systems to negotiate a 
notice of proposed rulemaking for test procedures and energy 
conservations standards. The notice also solicited nominations for 
membership to the working group. 83 FR 15514. This notice announces the 
next series of meetings for this working group.
    DOE will host a public meeting and webinar on the below dates.

 Monday, September 10, 2018 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory, 901 D St. SW, Suite 930, Washington, DC 
20024.
 Tuesday, September 11, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory, 901 D St. SW, Suite 930, Washington, DC 
20024.
 Monday, October 15, 2018 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at U.S. 
Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 6E-069, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121.
 Tuesday, October 16, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory, 901 D St. SW, Suite 930, Washington, DC 
20024.
 Thursday, November 1, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory, 901 D St. SW, Suite 930, Washington, DC 
20024.
 Friday, November 2, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Federal 
Mediation & Conciliation Services, 250 E St. SW, Washington, DC 20427.
 Thursday, November 15, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Federal 
Mediation & Conciliation Services, Room 7008, 250 E St. SW, Washington, 
DC 20427.
 Friday, November 16, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Federal 
Mediation & Conciliation Services, Room 7008, 250 E St. SW, Washington, 
DC 20427.
 Wednesday, December 5, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Federal 
Mediation & Conciliation Services, Room 7008, 250 E St. SW, Washington, 
DC 20427.
 Thursday, December 6, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Federal 
Mediation & Conciliation Services, Room 7008, 250 E St. SW, Washington, 
DC 20427.

    The purpose of these meetings will be to negotiate in an attempt to 
reach consensus on proposed federal test procedures and standards for 
VRF multi-split systems.

Public Participation

Attendance at Public Meeting

    The time, date and location of the public meeting are listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. If you plan to 
attend the public meeting, please notify the ASRAC staff at 
[email protected].
    Please note that foreign nationals participating in the public 
meeting are subject to advance security screening procedures which 
require advance notice prior to attendance at the public meeting. If a 
foreign national wishes to participate in the public meeting, please 
inform DOE as soon as possible by contacting Ms. Regina Washington at 
(202) 586-1214 or by email: [email protected] so that the 
necessary procedures can be completed.
    DOE requires visitors to have laptops and other devices, such as 
tablets, checked upon entry into the building. Any person wishing to 
bring these devices into the Forrestal Building will be required to 
obtain a property pass. Visitors should avoid bringing these devices, 
or allow an extra 45 minutes to check in. Please report to the 
visitor's desk to have devices checked before proceeding through 
security.
    Due to the REAL ID Act implemented by the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS), there have been recent changes regarding ID 
requirements for individuals wishing to enter Federal buildings from 
specific States and U.S. territories. DHS maintains an updated website 
identifying the State and territory driver's licenses that currently 
are acceptable for entry into DOE facilities at https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-enforcement-brief. A driver's license from a State or territory 
identified as not compliant by DHS will not be accepted for building 
entry and one of the alternate forms of ID listed below will be 
required. Acceptable alternate forms of Photo-ID include U.S. Passport 
or Passport Card; an Enhanced Driver's License or Enhanced ID-Card 
issued by States and territories as identified on the DHS website 
(Enhanced licenses issued by these States and territories are clearly 
marked Enhanced or Enhanced Driver's License); a military ID or other 
Federal government-issued Photo-ID card.

[[Page 45053]]

    In addition, you can attend the public meeting via webinar. 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/appliance-standards-and-rulemaking-federal-advisory-committee. 
Participants are responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible 
with the webinar software.

Procedure for Submitting Prepared General Statements for Distribution

    Any person who has plans to present a prepared general statement 
may request that copies of his or her statement be made available at 
the public meeting. Such persons may submit requests, along with an 
advance electronic copy of their statement in PDF (preferred), 
Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format, to 
the appropriate address shown in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this notice. The request and advance copy of statements must 
be received at least one week before the public meeting and may be 
emailed, hand-delivered, or sent by mail. DOE prefers to receive 
requests and advance copies via email. Please include a telephone 
number to enable DOE staff to make a follow-up contact, if needed.

Conduct of Public Meeting

    ASRAC's Designated Federal Officer will preside at the public 
meeting and may also use a professional facilitator to aid discussion. 
The meeting will not be a judicial or evidentiary-type public hearing, 
but DOE will conduct it in accordance with section 336 of EPCA (42 
U.S.C. 6306). A court reporter will be present to record the 
proceedings and prepare a transcript. A transcript of the public 
meeting will be included on DOE's website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/appliance-standards-and-rulemaking-federal-advisory-committee. In addition, any person may buy a copy of the transcript 
from the transcribing reporter. Public comment and statements will be 
allowed prior to the close of the meeting.

Docket

    The docket is available for review at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2018-BT-STD-0003, including Federal Register notices, 
public meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other 
supporting documents/materials. All documents in the docket are listed 
in the regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the 
index may be publically available, such as information that is exempt 
from public disclosure.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on August 29, 2018.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2018-19212 Filed 9-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P