ua14no94 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS)...

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)
Statement of Regulatory Priorities
Highlights of 1994 Regulatory Plan
The Department of Energy's (DOE's) 1994 Regulatory Plan reflects the 
fundamental changes that have occurred in the Department's mission, 
priorities and business practices. In keeping with the Department's new 
strategic plan and the President's initiatives, the following 
significant regulatory actions are highlighted:

<bullet> Energy efficiency appliance standards,
<bullet> Federal energy savings performance contracts,
<bullet> Radiation protection of the public and environment,
<bullet> Nuclear facilities safety management, and
<bullet> Contract reform.
The World Has Changed
DOE's challenge is to move away from the Cold War economy, invest in 
people and technology to strengthen the economy and protect the 
environment, and reinvent a government that is efficient, serves the 
American people, and provides more services with fewer resources.
These changes in the world, and our need to change with them, have led 
to the massive reshaping of DOE's missions, priorities, and business 
practices. Tinkering around the edges was not enough--DOE had to start 
anew. Through its strategic planning process, the Department has 
redirected its extraordinary scientific and technical talent and 
resources to new and more sharply focused goals: fueling a competitive 
economy, improving the environment through waste management and 
pollution prevention, and reducing the nuclear danger.
Our New Mission
The Department of Energy's mission is to advance our welfare as a 
Nation by providing the technical information and the scientific and 
educational foundation for the technology, policy, and institutional 
leadership necessary to achieve efficiency in energy use, diversity in 
energy sources, a more productive and competitive economy, improved 
environmental quality, and a secure national defense.
Enhancing Energy Efficiency
A strategic energy policy is essential to promoting economic growth, 
high-wage jobs, and energy security while protecting the environment. 
Improving the efficiency with which the Nation uses energy is essential 
to reconciling these goals. Enhancing energy efficiency is good for the 
economy, the environment, and the Nation's energy security, and is the 
number one energy priority of this Administration.
The Department's energy efficiency regulations will contribute 
significantly to meeting the goals of the President's Climate Change 
Action Plan, by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The 
Department's ongoing rulemakings would set higher energy efficiency 
standards for 15 major categories of appliances and equipment and make 
significant contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, the Federal Government can set an example for the Nation 
by improving energy management in its own buildings and facilities. The 
Department's rulemaking effort to establish procedures on use of energy 
savings performance contracts will contribute to this effort by 
increasing the use of ``shared energy savings'' contracts. These 
contracts will result in reduced energy bills to the Federal Government 
without the need for any up-front Federal investment.
A New Vision for Protecting the Environment, Safety and Health
The principal environmental quality objective--and the greatest 
challenge--for the Department of Energy is to eliminate the risks and 
imminent threats posed by the Department's former nuclear weapons 
activities. With the end of the Cold War, DOE has turned its focus to 
understanding and eliminating the enormous environmental problems 
created by the Department's historical mission of nuclear weapons 
production.
The Department is shifting from a reactive approach to environment, 
safety and health to one that emphasizes pollution prevention. All 
departmental businesses are proactively ensuring that there is no 
compromise in public and worker safety.
In support of this effort, the Department's Office of Environment, 
Safety and Health has initiated a comprehensive review of existing 
requirements and directives aimed at improving safety and health 
throughout the DOE complex. This process will allow the Department to 
eliminate redundant requirements, to identify gaps where new 
requirements may be needed, and to rationalize the existing body of 
requirements applicable to the Department's Federal and contractor work 
force.
Consistent with the Department's new commitment to openness and public 
participation, DOE intends to use notice and comment rulemakings and 
other appropriate means of soliciting public participation as it 
augments the existing body of environment, safety and health 
requirements.
The Department's rulemaking on radiation protection sets forth, inter 
alia, additional reporting, monitoring and discharge requirements and a 
dose limitation system for protecting the public. New nuclear safety 
regulations would strengthen requirements applicable to contractors and 
subcontractors with nuclear safety responsibilities at the Department's 
facilities.
Improving Contract Management Practices
The Department relies heavily on contractors to operate its extensive 
national network of research laboratories, operations offices and other 
facilities. Earlier this year, the Department's Contract Reform Team 
reported on its comprehensive review of the Department's contracting 
practices, recommending over 45 actions to increase contractor 
accountability and create a more equitable and rational allocation of 
the costs and risks of contract performance between the Department and 
its management and operating contractors. These recommendations, some 
of which will require rulemaking activity, will serve to fundamentally 
reform the Department's contracting and contract management techniques.
Consistent with the National Performance Review's objective to make 
government work better and cost less, the Contract Reform Team 
recommendations would revise traditional contracting practices to 
increase contractor accountability, enhance competition, improve 
contract administration and financial accountability, and provide 
appropriate incentives for contractors to meet and exceed performance 
criteria and achieve cost savings. A series of rulemakings will be 
initiated to incorporate these policies into the Department's 
procurement regulations. For example, amendments to the Department of 
Energy Acquisition Regulations will revise the current provisions on 
fines and penalties, third-party liabilities, and loss of or damage to 
Government property.
Innovations in Business Relationships
President Clinton's Climate Change Action Plan meets the twin 
challenges of responding to the threat of global warming and 
strengthening the economy. The Action Plan continues to break new 
ground in the relationship between government and the private sector--
fostering cooperative approaches and a forward looking agenda, rather 
than relying exclusively on command-and-control mandates that tend to 
lock technologies into place and stifle innovation.
Under the Climate Challenge, the Department has established a voluntary 
partnership with electric utilities who have committed to reducing 
their greenhouse gas emissions. Utilities choose from a wide range of 
options for reducing, avoiding or sequestering greenhouse gas 
emissions, and they may experiment with innovative ideas to achieve 
their emission reduction goals. In support of the Climate Challenge and 
other Climate Change Action Plan activities, the Department is 
developing nonregulatory guidelines for the voluntary reporting of 
greenhouse gases by participating utilities.
Certain of the innovations of the Action Plan are being applied to the 
Department's regulatory approaches. The Department has begun exploring 
ways to improve the process used to revise the energy efficiency 
standards for appliances. For example, prior to beginning the 
rulemaking process for revising the standards for residential air 
conditioners and heat pumps, the Department approached the Air-
Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute to solicit the support of 
industry in developing the revised standards. As a result, the industry 
established an engineering group which worked with the Department to 
improve the engineering model used in the energy analysis. The group 
also provided performance and cost data to be used as a basis for the 
standards analysis. Because of the close cooperation of the industry, 
the resulting analysis has been greatly improved and the confidence in 
the projected energy savings for the various design options being 
considered has been enhanced.
The Department has also supported informal negotiations among 
manufacturers, environmentalists, State energy offices and utilities to 
develop new energy efficiency standard levels for refrigerators. 
Department staff members attended the meetings as observers and 
provided technical support, legal guidance concerning the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act, and encouragement. The general acceptance of 
negotiated standard levels by the interested parties prior to the 
issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking could improve significantly 
the quality of public participation and the quality of the technical 
analysis, as well as accelerate the rule development process.
Regulatory Streamlining Efforts
The Department has undertaken a comprehensive initiative to improve and 
streamline its rulemaking process. The improvement recommendations 
developed by a cross-cutting team of DOE employees were recently 
approved by Secretary O'Leary and are in the process of being 
implemented. These improvements provide for:

<bullet> teamwork throughout the rulemaking process;
<bullet> mechanisms to promote management attention, responsibility and 
            accountability, including an effective management 
            information system; and
<bullet> realignment to provide more effective support to program 
            offices with rulemaking responsibilities.
The successful implementation of these improvements will provide for 
accelerated implementation of the Department's priority programs; 
dollar savings; improved transparency and public access to DOE 
rulemaking activities; and, ultimately, increased public trust and 
confidence in DOE regulatory efforts.
Review of Existing Regulations
In addition to improving the development of new regulations, the 
Department has undertaken an in-depth review of its existing 
regulations to determine if any should be modified or eliminated. On 
March 1, 1994, the Department published a notice of inquiry in the 
Federal Register (59 FR 9682) that requested public comments on areas 
of DOE's existing regulations that might be candidates for improvement. 
The Department also solicited recommendations from over 200 
stakeholders organizations and DOE Headquarters and Field Offices. 
Based on the comments received from the public and other stakeholders, 
DOE has prepared a second notice of inquiry targeting particular areas 
of its regulations for possible modification or elimination. This 
second notice will solicit public comments on specific regulatory 
improvements in the targeted areas of existing regulations. It is the 
Department's intention to make such a periodic review of existing 
regulations an ongoing feature of its regulatory improvement program.
_______________________________________________________________________
DOE--Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE)
            ___________________________________________________________
PRERULE STAGE
            ___________________________________________________________
29. ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR RESIDENTIAL APPLIANCES
Legal Authority:


 42 USC 6295


CFR Citation:


 10 CFR 430.32


Legal Deadline:


Final, Statutory, January 1, 1992, for Water Heaters, Pool Heaters, 
Direct Heating Equipment, Mobile Home Furnaces,Kitchen Ranges and 
Ovens, etc.


Final, Statutory, January 1, 1994, for Central Air Conditioners,Heat 
Pumps, and Furnaces.


Final, Statutory, November 17, 1994, for Refrigerators,Refrigerator-
Freezers, and Freezers.


Final, Statutory, May 14, 1996, for Dishwashers, ClothesWashers, and 
Clothes Dryers.


Abstract:





This is the initial review of the statutory standards for water 
heaters, pool heaters, direct heating equipment, mobile home furnaces, 
kitchen ranges and ovens, room air conditioners, fluorescent lamp 
ballasts, central air conditioners, heat pumps and furnaces to 
determine whether those levels need to be amended. This is the second 
reanalysis of the standards levels for refrigerators, refrigerator-
freezers and freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and clothes 
dryers. Television sets will be examined to determine whether 
conservation standards are justified. These actions are covered by RINs 
1904-AA38, 1904-AA47, and 1904-AA67.


Statement of Need:


Experience has shown that the choice of residential appliances being 
purchased by both builders and homeowners as replacement units is 
usually based on the first cost, not life-cycle costs. Thus it is 
necessary to establish minimum energy efficiency standards for 
appliances to eliminate inefficient products from the market and 
encourage industry to explore innovative ways to improve product 
performance.


Summary of the Legal Basis:





The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended, establishes 
initial energy-efficiency standard levels for most types of major 
residential appliances and generally requires DOE to undergo two 
subsequent rulemakings, at specified times, to determine whether the 
extant standard for a covered product should be amended.


Alternatives:





The statute requires the Department to revise the standards to achieve 
the maximum improvement in energy efficiency which the Secretary 
determines is technologically feasible and economically justified. In 
making this determination a large number of complex issues must be 
considered. Data and information are solicited from industry and the 
public at large. Engineering analysis to estimate the efficiency of 
various combinations of design options, using both calculations (e.g., 
computer simulation models) or experimental data, is conducted. 
Predictions of energy savings resulting from more stringent standards 
are determined using the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Residential 
Energy Model, which forecasts the appliance purchase choices that 
households make as well as their subsequent appliance usage behavior 
and energy consumption. The effect of revised standards on an 
industry's profitability and scale of operation is also evaluated. 
Proposed revisions to the energy efficiency standards are published in 
a notice of proposed rulemaking for public comment. Over 6,000 comments 
were received on the proposed standards for water heaters, pool 
heaters, direct heating equipment, mobile home furnaces, kitchen ranges 
and ovens, room air conditioners, fluorescent lamp ballasts and 
televisions (RIN 1904-AA38). The Department will consider all of these 
comments in deciding what level should be established for the revised 
energy efficiency standards for each product before the final rule is 
issued.


The above process requires a great deal of effort and time to 
accomplish. The Department has been exploring methods to reduce the 

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