The Government of Canada is committed to improving energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment, taking action on climate change, and reducing regulatory burden through alignment with the United States given the integrated nature of the markets. Natural Resources Canada is proposing to implement changes to the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016. Amendment 14 has been published in the Canada Gazette, Part I Vol 152 and will come into force six months after the date of publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.
Interested parties and stakeholders can provide comments, views and input on the pre-publication via mail or email to: nrcan.equipment-equipment.rncan@canada.ca. Deadline for submission is June 14, 2018.
The proposed amendment to the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016 would:
(a) introduce minimum energy performance standards (MEPS), labelling and reporting requirements for 6 new product categories;
(b) introduce more stringent minimum energy performance for 11 currently regulated product categories;
(c) make minor changes to existing standards, test procedures or reporting requirements for currently regulated product categories; and
(d) provide flexibility for testing requirements and remove import reporting requirements in limited instances where products are a component of another regulated product.
List of new products subject to MEPS, labeling and reporting requirements: Battery chargers, commercial pre-rinse spray valves, metal halide lamp ballasts, microwave ovens, small electric motors, walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers components.
The MEPS established by the Amendment will apply to products that are manufactured after particular dates generally aligned with those of the United States. Only products that have been manufactured after those dates and that are being imported into Canada or shipped between provinces after the coming-into-force date of the Amendment would be impacted. Consumers would still be able to purchase products that were imported or shipped inter-provincially before the Amendment has come into force.
The Amendment would provide a limited exception to import reporting for energy-using products that are incorporated in other regulated products. Natural Resources Canada has determined that import reporting is not the most effective monitoring option, and other means of monitoring compliance are available for these products. To that end, the Amendment would remove import reporting for external power supplies, motors and fluorescent lamp ballasts that are imported as a component of another product. Battery chargers and small electric motors are being added in this Amendment and will follow the same approach. Following the coming-into-force of the Amendment, Natural Resources Canada would ask the Canada Border Services Agency to remove the harmonization system codes that have been flagged.
The updated Forward Regulatory Plan provides a list of products to be considered for future amendments as well as timelines. It should be noted that Amendment 15 which was initiated based on the Notice of intent published on March 4, 2017, has now been split into two amendments, renumbered to Amendments 15 and Amendment 16. The scope of the original proposal remains the same and details can be found in the Forward Regulatory Plan.
Visit Natural Resources Canada’s website for the guide to the Energy Efficiency Regulations. For information on requirements in the Regulations for each product, consult Natural Resources Canada’s Requirements for energy-using products.
For more information contact:
Debbie Scharf
Director, Equipment Division
Office of Energy Efficiency
Natural Resources Canada
930 Carling Ave, Building 3, 1st Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0Y3
Email: nrcan.equipment-equipement.rncan@canada.ca