[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 33 (Thursday, February 20, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9951-9952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02851]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 431
[EERE-2017-BT-STD-009]
RIN 1904-AD79
Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for
Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.
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SUMMARY: This document delays the effective date of a recently
published final rule adopting amended energy conservation standards for
walk-in coolers and freezers. 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 rule amending 10 CFR part 431
published at
[[Page 9952]]
89 FR 104616 on December 23, 2024, is delayed until March 21, 2025.
Written comments and information will be accepted on or before March
13, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Troy Watson, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE-5B,
1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone:
(202) 449-9387. Email: ApplianceStandards [email protected].
Ms. Ani Esenyan, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General
Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121.
Telephone: (202) 586-4798. Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued
the ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' memorandum, published in the
Federal Register on January 28, 2025 (90 FR 8249). This presidential
action ordered all executive departments and agencies to consider
postponing for 60 days the effective date of certain rules published in
the Federal Register for the purpose of reviewing any questions of
fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise. Additionally, executive
departments and agencies were to consider opening a comment period to
allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law,
and policy raised by the rules postponed under the memorandum.
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 adopting
amended energy conservation standards for walk-in coolers and freezers
(``walk-ins'' or ``WICFs'') published in the Federal Register on
December 23, 2024 (89 FR 104616) and an accompanying correction
document published in the Federal Register on January 7, 2025 (90 FR
1029).
Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025,
DOE is temporarily postponing the effective date of the final rule to
March 21, 2025. The temporary delay in effective date is necessary to
give DOE officials the opportunity for further review and consideration
of new regulations, consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of
January 20, 2025.
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) and for which no notice or hearing
is required by statute. The delay of the effective date to March 21,
2025, does not affect the compliance date for this rule, which remains
December 23, 2027, for walk-in non-display doors and December 31, 2028,
for walk-in refrigeration systems. DOE is, however, seeking comment on
any further delay of the effective date, including the impacts of such
delay, as well as comment on the legal, factual, or policy issues
raised by the rule.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February
13, 2025, by Jocelyn Richards, Acting General Counsel, Office of the
General Counsel, pursuant to delegated authority from the 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 February 14, 2025.
Jennifer Hartzell,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-02851 Filed 2-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P