The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) for proposed energy conservation standards for manufactured housing.
Background
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) directs DOE to establish energy conservation standards for manufactured housing based on the most recent version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). EERE issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNOPR) on August 26, 2021, that proposed energy conservation standards for manufactured housing based on the 2021 IECC. DOE’s proposed standards relate to the building thermal envelope; air sealing; installation of insulation; duct sealing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); service hot water systems; mechanical ventilation fan efficacy; and heating and cooling equipment sizing.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) for DOE’s proposed energy conservation standards for manufactured housing (DOE/EIS-0550).
Public Comment Opportunity
There are no public comment opportunities at this time.
Record of Decision (ROD)
The ROD presents DOE’s decision to establish energy conservation standards for manufactured housing based on the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (“IECC”) using a tiered approach based on the size of the manufactured home, as described in Alternative B2 in the final EIS. The ROD also presents DOE’s commitments to certain mitigation measures that would reduce adverse impacts to indoor air quality, health and safety, socioeconomics, and environmental justice.
Final EIS
The notice of availability (NOA) for the final EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 8, 2022. The final EIS includes the information presented in the draft EIS as well as further analyses developed in response to public comments on the draft EIS. In addition, the final EIS identifies DOE's preferred alternative for establishing the energy conservation standards. The final EIS also includes a summary of relevant public comments on the draft EIS, together with DOE responses. The final EIS is being used to inform DOE's decision on the energy conservation standards for manufactured housing.
Draft EIS
DOE invited input from interested stakeholders on the draft EIS for 45 days after the notice of availability (NOA) for the draft EIS was published in the Federal Register (January 14, 2022 through February 28, 2022).
In January 2022, DOE held two public meetings for the draft EIS on proposed energy conservation standards for manufactured housing and invited oral comments. Each meeting included a public hearing segment during which DOE received oral comments on the draft EIS from participants. The recordings of these meetings are available on YouTube via the links below.
- January 26, 2022 Draft EIS Public Meeting Recording
- January 27, 2022 Draft EIS Public Meeting Recording
Relevant comments on the draft EIS were considered by DOE in preparing the final EIS, to help inform DOE's decision-making process for establishing energy conservation standards for manufactured housing. (At the time the draft EIS was issued on January 14, 2022, DOE reopened the public comment period on the SNOPR through February 28, 2022, to invite public comments under the rulemaking process on how the draft EIS should inform the final standards.)
Scoping Period
DOE invited input from interested stakeholders on the scope of the EIS for 30 days after the notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal Register (July 7, 2021 through August 6, 2021). Comments directly relevant to the scope of the EIS were invited, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
In July 2021, DOE held two public scoping meetings at which DOE presented preliminary information on the scope of the EIS and invited oral comments. The recordings of these meetings are available on YouTube via the links below.
EIS contact:
Kristin Kerwin, NEPA Division Director
DOE Golden Field Office
15013 Denver West Parkway
Golden, CO 80401
