[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 2, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 7799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02036]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 1061

RIN 1990-AA50


Procedures for the Issuance of Guidance Documents

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document delays the effective date of a recently 
published final rule establishing procedures for the issuance of 
Department of Energy guidance documents. DOE also seeks comment on any 
further delay of the effective date, including the impacts of such 
delay, as well comment on the legal, factual, or policy issues raised 
by the rule.

DATES: The effective date of the final rule published January 6, 2021, 
at 86 FR 451, is delayed to March 21, 2021. Written comments and 
information will be accepted on or before March 4, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Matthew Ring, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of the General Counsel, Forrestal Building, GC-33, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-2555, Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 20, 2021, the Assistant to the 
President and Chief of Staff (``Chief of Staff'') issued a memorandum 
outlining the President's plan for managing the Federal regulatory 
process at the outset of the new Administration. In implementation of 
one of the measures directed by that memorandum, the United States 
Department of Energy (``DOE'') hereby temporarily postpones the 
effective date of its final rule establishing procedures for the 
issuance of DOE guidance documents published in the Federal Register on 
January 6, 2021 (86 FR 451). The January 6, 2021 rule implemented 
Executive Order 13891, ``Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved 
Agency Guidance Documents'' (84 FR 55235), which, among other things, 
required agencies to provide more transparency for their guidance 
documents by creating a searchable online database for current guidance 
documents, and by establishing procedures to allow the public to 
comment on significant guidance documents and to petition the agency to 
withdraw or modify guidance documents. Consistent with the memorandum, 
DOE is temporarily postponing the effective date of the final rule by 
60 days, starting from January 20, 2021. The temporary 60-day delay in 
the effective date is necessary to give DOE officials the opportunity 
for further review and consideration of new regulations, consistent 
with the Chief of Staff's memorandum of January 20, 2021.
    To the extent that 5 U.S.C. 553 applies to this action, it is 
exempt from notice and comment because it constitutes a rule of 
procedure under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). Alternatively, DOE's implementation 
of this action without opportunity for public comment, effective 
immediately upon publication in the Federal Register, is based on the 
good cause exceptions in 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), DOE has determined that good cause 
exists to forego the requirement to provide prior notice and an 
opportunity for public comment thereon for this rule as such procedures 
would be impracticable, unnecessary and contrary to the public 
interest. DOE is temporarily postponing for 60 days the effective date 
of this regulation pursuant to the previously-noted memorandum of the 
Chief of Staff and is exercising no discretion in implementing this 
specific provision of the memorandum. As a result, seeking public 
comment on this delay is unnecessary and contrary to the public 
interest. For these same reasons, DOE finds good cause to waive the 30-
day delay in effective date provided for in 5 U.S.C. 553(d). DOE is, 
however, seeking comment on any further delay of the effective date, 
including the impacts of such delay, as well comment on the legal, 
factual, or policy issues raised by the rule.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on January 26, 
2021, by John T. Lucas, Acting General Counsel, Office of the General 
Counsel, pursuant to delegated authority from the Acting Secretary of 
Energy. That document with the original signature and date is 
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance 
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-02036 Filed 2-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P