[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 51 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14209-14211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6484]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 305
Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and
Water Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ``Appliance Labeling Rule''
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') announces non-
substantive amendments to its Appliance Labeling Rule (``Rule'').
Specifically, the Commission is amending the Rule's water flow rates
disclosure requirements for showerheads and faucets to specify that the
metric disclosures ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle'' be
abbreviated as ``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' rather than ``Lpm'' and
``Lpc.''
EFFECTIVE DATE: May 16, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Terrence J. Boyle, Attorney, (202) 326-3016, Division of Enforcement,
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC
20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of
1975 (``EPCA'') directed the Commission to issue rules requiring
various categories of home appliances and other products to be labeled
with information about their energy consumption and efficiency.\1\
Pursuant to EPCA, the Commission on November 19, 1979, issued the
Appliance Labeling Rule requiring label disclosures of energy operating
costs and/or efficiency for seven categories of products.\2\
\1\42 U.S.C. 6291, 6294.
\2\44 FR 66466.
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The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (``EPA 92'') amended EPCA to add
showerheads, faucets, water closets and urinals as covered products. As
amended, EPCA establishes for showerheads and faucets a national
maximum water flow rate standard of 2.5 gallons per minute at 80 pounds
per square inch (``psi'') water pressure and, for those products,
adopted the testing methods of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (``ASME'') Standard A112.18.1M as ``the proper protocols for
measuring the water usage.''\3\ EPA 92 also directed the Commission to
issue rules requiring these plumbing products to be permanently marked
with their water flow rates and to bear disclosures ``consistent with
the marking and [[Page 14210]] labeling requirements'' of specified
national standards that have been published for such products by
ASME.\4\
\3\42 U.S.C. 6293(b) (7)(A) and (8)(A).
\4\Pub. L. 102-486, 106 Stat. 2778, 2817-2832 (1992).
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On October 25, 1993, the Commission amended the Rule to add four
categories of plumbing fixtures and fittings.\5\ The amended Rule
requires water closets, urinals and showerheads, as well as faucets and
the flow restricting devices (aerators) that are placed in faucets, to
be clearly and conspicuously labeled, and water closets, urinals and
showerheads to be permanently and legibly marked, with disclosures of
their water flow rates.\6\ The amended Rule also requires, in all
point-of-sale promotional materials for such plumbing products and in
all catalogs offering such products for sale, disclosure of the
products' water flow rates.\7\
\5\58 FR 54955.
\6\16 CFR part 305.11(e) (1) and (2).
\7\16 CFR part 305.13(a)(2) and .14(d).
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The amended EPCA provides that if ASME revises the marking and
labeling requirements contained in its Standard A112.18.1M for
showerheads and faucets, and if the American National Standards
Institute (``ANSI'') approves the revisions, the Commission shall amend
the Rule to be consistent with the revisions, unless the revisions are
inconsistent with the purposes of EPA 92 or with the requirement that
plumbing fittings be permanently marked with legible disclosures of
their water flow rates.\8\
\8\42 U.S.C. 6294(a)(2)(D)(ii).
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On July 8, 1994, ASME adopted, and on September 15, 1994, ANSI
approved and published, revisions to the ASME National Standard
A112.18.1M that governs showerheads and faucets. One of these revisions
pertains to the Commission's Rule because it changes the abbreviations
used by the ASME Standard in its marking and labeling requirements for
plumbing fittings.\9\ The first revision to the ASME Standard changed
the abbreviations for ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle''
from ``Lpm'' and ``Lpc'' to ``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' respectively. The
change was made to avoid confusion with the ``m'' that is
internationally recognized as the proper abbreviation for meter.\10\
\9\A second revision changed the Standard's protocols for
measuring faucet water flow rates. See discussion infra.
\10\The ``liters per cycle'' change was just for symmetry. For
English system disclosures, though, the revised ASME Standard
continues to use just the letter ``m'' to stand for minute. The use
of ``m'' there was not seen as confusing because, since gallons are
not metric units of measurement, readers would not likely think of
meters.
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The Commission is amending the Rule to adopt the ASME abbreviations
of ``liters per minute'' and ``liters per cycle'' for required
disclosure of the water flow rates of faucets (and aerators) and
showerheads.\11\ Because this rule amendment is technical in nature and
is not intended to modify the substantive legal requirements and
restrictions imposed by the Rule, the Commission finds that a comment
period is not necessary or warranted for purposes of the Administrative
Procedures Act. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
\11\For technical reasons the Commission has specified an
effective date of May 16, 1995, for this amendment. The Rule in
recent months has been amended on several occasions both to add new
product categories and to revise the disclosure requirements for
several existing categories. To ensure an orderly publication of all
these amendments in the Code of Federal Regulations, the Commission
is setting the effective date for this amendment to follow
immediately that of the Commission's previous amendment to the Rule,
which added lamps as covered products. The Commission, however, will
permit manufacturers to begin immediately using the abbreviations
``L/min'' and ``L/cycle'' in place of ``Lpm'' and ``Lpc,'' deeming
the use of the revised abbreviations prior to the effective date of
the amendment to be compliance with the Rule.
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ASME and ANSI also tentatively made a second revision to ASME
Standard A112.18.1M that would pertain to the marking and labeling
requirements of the Commission's Rule. This second revision changed the
Standard's protocols for measuring the water flow rates of faucets,
requiring measurements at 60 psi instead of the 80 psi specified in the
national standard. The Commission's Rule requires flow rate disclosures
to be based on measurements at 80 psi as specified in the national
standard established by EPA 92. ASME made this change in water
pressures in its September 15, 1994, revision of the existing ASME
Standard for faucets and showerheads. But, on December 19, 1994, the
ASME committee for these products voted to rescind the change and
return to using 80 psi. ASME and ANSI will soon act on the proposed
rescission. Under section 324(a)(2)(D)(ii) of EPCA, any change in the
water pressures used to test faucets would first have to be approved by
the Department of Energy (``DOE'') by rule before the Commission can
incorporate the change into the Appliance Labeling Rule.\12\ Therefore,
even if ASME and ANSI ultimately decide to retain the change to 60 psi,
prior action by DOE is needed before the Commission can act on the
change.
\12\42 U.S.C. 6294(a)(2)(D)(ii).
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List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 305
Advertising, Water conservation, Household appliances,
Incorporation by reference, Labeling, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Text of Amendments
Accordingly, 16 CFR part 305 is amended as follows:
Rule Concerning Disclosures Regarding Energy Consumption and Water
Use of Certain Home Appliances and Other Products Required Under
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``Appliance Labeling
Rule'')
1. The authority citation for part 305 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6294.
2. Section 305.8 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(4)(v) to read
as follows:
Sec. 305.8 Submission of data.
(a) * * *
(a) * * *
(v) The product's water use, expressed in gallons and liters per
flush (gpf and Lpf) or gallons and liters per minute (gpm and L/min) or
per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) as determined in accordance with
Sec. 305.5.
* * * * *
3. Section 305.11 is amended by revising subparagraph (f) to read
as follows:
Sec. 305.11 Labeling for covered products.
* * * * *
(f) Plumbing Products--
(1) * * *
(i) Each showerhead and flow restricting or controlling spout end
device shall bear a permanent legible marking indicating the flow rate,
expressed in gallons per minute (gpm) or gallons per cycle (gpc), and
the flow rate value shall be the actual flow rate or the maximum flow
rate specified by the standards established in subsection (j) of
section 325 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 6295(j). Except where impractical due
to the size of the fitting, each flow rate disclosure shall also be
given in liters per minute (L/min) or liters per cycle (L/cycle). For
purposes of this section, the marking indicating the flow rate will be
deemed ``legible,'' in terms of placement, if it is located in close
proximity to the manufacturer's identification marking.
* * * * *
(v) The package or any label attached to the package for each
showerhead or faucet shall contain at least the following:
``A112.18.1M'' and the flow rate expressed in gallons per minute (gpm)
or gallons per cycle (gpc), and the flow rate value shall be the actual
flow rate or the maximum flow rate specified by the standards
established in [[Page 14211]] subsection (j) of section 325 of the Act,
42 U.S.C. 6295(j). Each flow rate disclosure shall also be given in
liters per minute (L/min) or liters per cycle (L/cycle).
* * * * *
4. Section 305.13 is amended by revising subparagraph (a)(4) to
read as follows:
Sec. 305.13 Promotional material displayed or distributed at point of
sale.
(a) * * *
(4) Any manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or private labeler who
prepares printed material for display or distribution at point-of-sale
concerning a covered product that is a showerhead, faucet, water
closet, or urinal shall clearly and conspicuously include in such
printed material the product's water use, expressed in gallons and
liters per minute (gpm and L/min) or per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) or
gallons and liters per flush (gpf and Lpf) as specified in
Sec. 305.11(f).
* * * * *
5. Section 305.14 is amended by revising subparagraph (d) to read
as follows:
Sec. 305.14 Catalogs.
* * * * *
(d) Any manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or private labeler who
advertises a covered product that is a showerhead, faucet, water
closet, or urinal in a catalog, from which it may be purchased, shall
include in such catalog, on each page that lists the covered product,
the product's water use, expressed in gallons and liters per minute
(gpm and L/min) or per cycle (gpc and L/cycle) or gallons and liters
per flush (gpf and Lpf) as specified in Sec. 305.11(f).
* * * * *
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-6484 Filed 3-15-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M
