New regs for Monday: auto recalls, Peruvian fruit and gas furnaces

Monday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules from the Department of Transportation for auto and auto part recalls, a new rule from the Agriculture Department to allow citrus fruit to be imported from across Peru and a request for more data on how proposed energy standards for gas-fired furnaces will impact the economy.

Here’s what to look for.

Auto recalls: The Department of Transportation is issuing a final rule that will require manufacturers of motor vehicles and replacement equipment to notify owners and purchasers when a vehicle or piece of equipment they’ve produced has a defect or does not comply with federal safety standards.

Under the rule, manufacturers will be allowed to give owners and purchasers a refund of the product’s purchase price to remedy the defect or noncompliance.

The rule will take effect in 60 days. Petitions for the DOT to reconsider the rule are due within 45 days. 

Peruvian fruit: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is amending its regulations for fruits and vegetables to allow citrus fruit from the entire country of Peru to be imported into the U.S.

The regulations now only allow citrus fruit to be imported from five producing zones in Peru. The agency said its systems approach to prohibit the dissemination of plant pests is sufficient enough to mitigate any risks from fruit produced in other areas.

The rule will take effect immediately. 

Furnaces The Department of Energy is moving forward with energy conservations standards for residential gas-fired furnaces. The agency has completed its provisional analysis of the economic impacts of issuing a rule and is looking for industry groups to provide additional data and information to improve their findings.

If adopted, the proposed standards would apply to non-weatherized gas-fired furnaces and mobile home gas-fired furnaces. Both classes would need to meet an annual fuel utilization efficiency standard of 92 percent.

The public has 30 days to submit information to the agency.