Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee: Notification 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.

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:

DOE will hold a public meeting on Thursday, February 21, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Friday, February 22, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Washington, DC. The meetings will also be broadcast as a webinar.

ADDRESSES:

The public meetings will be held at Federal Mediation & Conciliation Services, Room 7008, 250 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20427. Please see the PUBLIC PARTICIPATION section of this notification 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. Telephone: (202) 287-1692. Email: ASRAC@ee.doe.gov.

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 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. That notification also solicited nominations for membership to the working group. (83 FR 15514) This notification announces the next round of meetings for this working group.

DOE will host a public meeting and webinar on Thursday, February 21, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Friday, February 22, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Washington, DC.

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

Public Participation

Attendance at the Public Meeting

The time, date, and location of the public meeting are listed in the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of this document. If you plan to attend the public meeting, please notify the ASRAC staff at asrac@ee.doe.gov.

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.

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 notification. 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 postal 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 the 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 https://regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publically available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure.