[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 132 (Monday, July 14, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31131-31132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13136]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 207
[EERE-2025-OT-0033]
RIN 1904-AG04
Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and
Environmental Coordination Act of 1974
AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Direct final rule; delay of effective date; response to
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing this document to
respond to comments received on the direct final rule ``Collection of
Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act
of 1974,'' published on May 16, 2025. As a result, DOE delays the
effective date of the direct final rule.
DATES: As of July 14, 2025, the effective date of the direct final rule
published May 16, 2025, at 90 FR 20755, is delayed until August 13,
2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Novak, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of the General Counsel, Acting General Counsel, 1000
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121; (202) 586-5281 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. May 2025 Direct Final Rule
On May 16, 205, DOE published a direct final rule that amended the
Code of Federal Regulations by rescinding the provisions directed to
the Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental
Coordination Act of 1974 (ESECA), codified in 10 CFR part 207, subpart
A. 90 FR 20755 (``May 2025 DFR'') ESECA, as codified, aimed to meet the
Nation's then growing energy crisis and includes detailed provisions as
to the collection of energy information and the development of
corresponding reports. Aside from obvious and unnecessary additions as
to the format of reports in 10 CFR part 207, the provisions of the
ESECA in 15 U.S.C. 796 are largely recycled and repeated in 10 CFR part
207, subpart A, at least in Sec. Sec. 207.2 and 207.3. Therefore,
these superfluous sections are unnecessary and merely enlarge an
already bloated CFR.
II. Response to Comments
DOE received two substantive comments, in response to its May 2025
DFR: one from Professor Bridget C.E. Dooling, and one from the Center
for Biological Diversity.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This rule also corrects an error in the May 2025 DFR that
identified the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy as
the relevant DOE element. To address that error, this document
correctly identifies the U.S. Energy Information Administration as
the relevant DOE element.
[[Page 31132]]
Table II.1--List of Commenters From the May 2025 DFR
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment No. in
Commenter Reference in this rule the docket Commenter type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Biological Diversity........ CBD....................... 2 Conservation Organization.
Bridget Dooling........................ Dooling................... 3 Individual.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Response to Administrative Procedure Act Procedural Comments
DOE received two comments that raised several procedural matters
for DOE's consideration and also incorporated another comment by
reference. (EERE-2025-OT-0033-0002; EERE-2025-OT-0033-0003).
In response, DOE notes that the APA requires that agencies provide
all interested persons with fair notice and an opportunity to comment
on the rulemaking. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b) & (c). The May 2025 DFR provided
the public with fair notice of the Department's actions to amend the
provisions governing the collection of information under ESECA. See 90
FR 20755. DOE also requested comments on the May 2025 DFR, and stated,
if the Department received significant adverse comments, the Department
would withdraw the rule or issue a new final rule which responds to
such comments. 90 FR 20756. Thus, DOE provided interested persons with
fair notice and an opportunity to comment as required by the APA. As a
result, there was no need for a good cause exemption from notice-and-
comment rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
Finally, contrary to the comments, Dooling cannot argue they were
denied fair notice and an opportunity to comment solely based on how
the notice was labeled. See Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter &
Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 2367, 2384 (2020) (holding that
``[f]ormal labels aside, the [interim final rules] contained all of the
elements of a notice of proposed rulemaking as required by the APA'').
Irrespective of its title, the May 2025 DFR contained the required
elements of a proposed rulemaking under the APA
B. Response to Other Comments
Responding to the Center for Biological Diversity's comment
concerning differences between the ESECA and current supplementary
regulatory requirement, the Department maintains that it has the right
to amend and rescind regulations pursuant to changing policy so long as
such changes are permissible under the applicable statute, there are
good reasons for change, and the agency believes that the change would
have a better result than the existing policy. In the present matter,
removing duplicative regulations and additional requirements not
mandated by statute both ease regulatory burden and serve to reduce
potential points of conflict and confusion. As such, DOE believes that
this change does not run afoul of applicable statutes, and the
Department believes that the change is in the public's best interest.
Additionally, concerning internal consistency within the
regulations under this section, the Department would like to note that
by amending the language of Sec. 207.5 to adopt the statute by
reference, Sec. Sec. 207.3 and 207.4 become entirely superfluous. Any
violation of the statute could still reasonably result in notices of
violations, enforcement, appeals, penalties and exemptions, all
repeatedly refer to companies' compliance as detailed by Sec. Sec.
207.7 through 207.9.
III. Conclusion
For the reasons discussed in the May 2025 DFR and reiterated in the
preceding sections of this document, DOE is not withdrawing the May
2025 DFR, which amends regulations regarding the collection of
information under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act
of 1974.
DOE also notes, to the extent that 5 U.S.C. 553 applies to the
delay of effective date, 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. Additionally, this
action is not a ``substantive rule'' for which a 30-day delay in
effective date is required under 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on July 9,
2025, by Chris Wright, 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 July 10, 2025.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-13136 Filed 7-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P