[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 44 (Friday, March 7, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11466-11468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03465]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 431
[EERE-2017-BT-TP-0007]
RIN 1904-AD82
Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for
Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-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 new and amended energy conservation
standards for commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-
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: As of March 7, 2025, the effective date of the rule amending 10
CFR part 431 published at 90 FR 7464 on January 21, 2025, is delayed
until May 20, 2025. Written comments and information will be accepted
on or before March 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov, under docket
number EERE-2017-BT-STD-0007. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments. Alternatively, interested persons may submit comments,
identified by docket number EERE-2017-BT-STD-0007, by any of the
following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include the docket number EERE-
2017-BT-STD-0007 in the subject line of the message.
Postal Mail: Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, U.S.
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, Mailstop EE-5B,
1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121.
[[Page 11467]]
Telephone: (202) 287-1445. If possible, please submit all items on a
compact disc (``CD''), in which case it is not necessary to include
printed copies.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Appliance and Equipment Standards Program,
U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 950 L'Enfant
Plaza SW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 287-1445.
If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case it is not
necessary to include printed copies.
No telefacsimiles (``faxes'') will be accepted. For detailed
instructions on submitting comments and additional information on this
process, see the public participation section of this document.
Docket: The docket for this rulemaking, which includes Federal
Register notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts,
comments, and other supporting documents/materials, is available for
review at www.regulations.gov. All documents in the docket are listed
in the www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in
the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt
from public disclosure.
The docket web page can be found at www.regulations.gov/docket/EERE-2017-BT-STD-0007. The docket web page contains instructions on how
to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket.
For further information on how to review the docket, contact the
Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at (202) 287-1445 or by
email: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Jeremy Dommu, 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) 586-9870. Email: [email protected].
Ms. Kristin Koernig, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the
General Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Ave. 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 to executive
departments and agencies, 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 new
and amended energy conservation standards for commercial refrigerators,
freezers, and refrigerator-freezers published in the Federal Register
on January 21, 2025 (90 FR 7464). Consistent with the January 20, 2025,
Presidential Memorandum, DOE is temporarily postponing the effective
date of the final rule to May 20, 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 of hearing
is required by statute. The delay of the effective date to May 20,
2025, does not affect the compliance date for this rule, which remains
January 22, 2029. 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.
Public Participation
DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this
document no later than the date provided in the DATES section at the
beginning of this document. Interested parties may submit comments,
data, and other information using any of the methods described in the
ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this document.
Submitting comments via www.regulations.gov. The
www.regulations.gov web page will require you to provide your name and
contact information. Your contact information will be viewable to DOE
Building Technologies staff only. Your contact information will not be
publicly viewable except for your first and last names, organization
name (if any), and submitter representative name (if any). If your
comment is not processed properly because of technical difficulties,
DOE will use this information to contact you. If DOE cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, DOE may not be able to consider your comment.
However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you
include it in the comment itself or in any documents attached to your
comment. Any information that you do not want to be publicly viewable
should not be included in your comment, nor in any document attached to
your comment. Otherwise, persons viewing comments will see only first
and last names, organization names, correspondence containing comments,
and any documents submitted with the comments.
Do not submit to www.regulations.gov information for which
disclosure is restricted by statute, such as trade secrets and
commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as
Confidential Business Information (``CBI'')). Comments submitted
through www.regulations.gov cannot be claimed as CBI. Comments received
through the website will waive any CBI claims for the information
submitted. For information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential
Business Information section.
DOE processes submissions made through www.regulations.gov before
posting. Normally, comments will be posted within a few days of being
submitted. However, if large volumes of comments are being processed
simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to several
weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that www.regulations.gov
provides after you have successfully uploaded your comment.
Submitting comments via email, hand delivery/courier, or postal
mail. Comments and documents submitted via email, hand delivery/
courier, or postal mail also will be posted to www.regulations.gov. If
you do not want your personal contact information to be publicly
viewable, do not include it in your comment or any accompanying
documents. Instead, provide your contact information in a cover letter.
Include your first and last names, email address, telephone number, and
optional mailing address. The cover letter will not be publicly
viewable as long as it does not include any comments.
Include contact information each time you submit comments, data,
documents, and other information to DOE. If you submit via postal mail
or hand delivery/
[[Page 11468]]
courier, please provide all items on a CD, if feasible, in which case
it is not necessary to submit printed copies. No telefacsimiles
(``faxes'') will be accepted.
Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE
electronically should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or
Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that
are not secured, that are written in English, and that are free of any
defects or viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or
any form of encryption and, if possible, they should carry the
electronic signature of the author.
Campaign form letters. Please submit campaign form letters by the
originating organization in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters
per PDF or as one form letter with a list of supporters' names compiled
into one or more PDFs. This reduces comment processing and posting
time.
Confidential Business Information. Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any
person submitting information that he or she believes to be
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via
email two well-marked copies: one copy of the document marked
``confidential'' including all the information believed to be
confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-confidential''
with the information believed to be confidential deleted. DOE will make
its own determination about the confidential status of the information
and treat it according to its determination.
It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public
docket, without change and as received, including any personal
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be
exempt from public disclosure).
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February
26, 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 27, 2025.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-03465 Filed 3-6-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P