EPA to Align Energy Star Battery Charger Spec Development with DOE Rulemaking
Responding to stakeholder concerns, the EPA said it’s “adjusting” the proposed timeline of the Energy Star specification for battery charger systems to align it more closely with the Department of Energy’s standard for consumer battery chargers. Stakeholders had urged the EPA to delay its specification development until DOE completed parts of its standard development work, the agency said.
The EPA said it’s delaying development of parts of the Energy Star battery charger specification that would be “impacted by the DOE test procedure and standard for consumer” battery charger systems. But development of specification elements relating to “definitions, scope, nonactive power allowance, additional environmental benefits, and industrial” battery charger systems will “continue as scheduled,” it said. Comments on those aspects of the specification are due Jan. 15, it said.
The agency has delayed the development of “unit energy consumption” requirements for systems with battery energy of 3-10 kilowatt hours. Also being put on hold is the development of test methods for these systems. The proposed effective dates of June 2011 for battery chargers used in industrial gear and golf carts and March 2012 for products covered under version 1.1 of the Energy Star specification have been suspended, too.
The agency released a tentative timeline calling for testing to start within a week of the release of the final DOE test procedure. Manufacturers will be asked to complete testing in four weeks, it said. The final draft Energy Star specification will be out within four weeks of DOE’s notice of proposed rulemaking, it said, and the final specification will be issued within a week of DOE’s final rule, the EPA said. The Energy Star specification for systems used in industrial equipment and golf cars -- minivehicles for the links and beyond -- will take effect when the spec is completed and for other products nine months after the final spec is issued, the agency said.
"At a minimum, EPA’s alignment with DOE’s process is important,” said a CE executive who asked not to be identified because of involvement in the stakeholder specification development process. But the EPA’s work on a new Energy Star specification for battery chargers is a “waste of time and resources given the upcoming mandatory federal standards for battery chargers,” he said. “EPA should instead focus on other product categories and new opportunities for Energy Star.”