This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

28518 

Vol. 77, No. 94 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

5 CFR Chapter XXII 

10 CFR Chapters II, III, X 

Reducing Regulatory Burden 

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: As part of its implementation 

of Executive Order 13563, ‘‘Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review,’’ 

issued by the President on January 18, 

2011, the Department of Energy 

(Department or DOE) is seeking 

comments and information from 

interested parties to assist DOE in 

reviewing its existing regulations to 

determine whether any such regulations 

should be modified, streamlined, 

expanded, or repealed. The purpose of 

DOE’s review is to make the agency’s 

regulatory program more effective and 

less burdensome in achieving its 

regulatory objectives. 

DATES: Written comments and 

information are requested on or before 

May 29, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

encouraged to submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘Regulatory Burden RFI,’’ 

by any of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Email: 

Regulatory.Review@hq.doe.gov. Include 

‘‘Regulatory Burden RFI’’ in the subject 

line of the message. 

Mail: U.S. Department of Energy, 

Office of the General Counsel, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., Room 

6A245, Washington, DC 20585. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents, or 

comments received, go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

That Department’s plan for 

retrospective review of its regulations 

can be accessed at http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/ 

actions/21st-century-regulatory-system. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Cohen, Assistant General 

Counsel for Legislation, Regulation, and 

Energy Efficiency, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585. Email: 

Regulatory.Review@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 18, 2011, the President issued 

Executive Order 13563, ‘‘Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review,’’ to 

ensure that Federal regulations seek 

more affordable, less intrusive means to 

achieve policy goals, and that agencies 

give careful consideration to the benefits 

and costs of those regulations. To that 

end, the Executive Order requires, 

among other things, that: 

• Agencies propose or adopt a 

regulation only upon a reasoned 

determination that its benefits justify its 

costs; and that agencies tailor 

regulations to impose the least burden 

on society, consistent with obtaining the 

regulatory objectives, taking into 

account, among other things, and to the 

extent practicable, the costs of 

cumulative regulations; and that, 

consistent with applicable law, agencies 

select, in choosing among alternative 

regulatory approaches, those approaches 

that maximize net benefits (including 

potential economic, environmental, 

public health and safety, and other 

advantages; distributive impacts; and 

equity). 

• The regulatory process encourages 

public participation and an open 

exchange of views, with an opportunity 

for the public to comment. 

• Agencies coordinate, simplify, and 

harmonize regulations to reduce costs 

and promote certainty for businesses 

and the public. 

• Agencies consider low-cost 

approaches that reduce burdens and 

maintain flexibility. 

• Regulations be guided by objective 

scientific evidence. 

Additionally, the Executive Order 

directs agencies to consider how best to 

promote retrospective analyses of 

existing rules. Specifically, agencies 

were required to develop a plan under 

which the agency will periodically 

review existing regulations to determine 

which should be maintained, modified, 

strengthened, or repealed to increase the 

effectiveness and decrease the burdens 

of the agency’s regulatory program. 

DOE’s plan can be accessed at http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/ 

actions/21st-century-regulatory-system. 

The Department is committed to 

maintaining a consistent culture of 

retrospective review and analysis. DOE 

will continually engage in review of its 

rules to determine whether there are 

burdens on the public that can be 

avoided by amending or rescinding 

existing requirements. To that end, DOE 

is publishing today’s RFI to again 

explicitly solicit public input. In 

addition, DOE is always open to 

receiving information about the impact 

of its regulations. To facilitate both this 

RFI and the ongoing submission of 

comments, DOE has created a link on 

the Web page of DOE’s Office of the 

General Counsel to an email in-box at 

Regulatory.Review@hq.doe.gov, which 

interested parties can use to identify to 

DOE regulations that may be in need of 

review. 

While the Department promulgates 

rules in accordance with the law and to 

the best of its analytic capability, it is 

difficult to be certain of the 

consequences of a rule, including its 

costs and benefits, until it has been 

tested. Because knowledge about the 

full effects of a rule is widely dispersed 

in society, members of the public are 

likely to have useful information and 

perspectives on the benefits and 

burdens of existing requirements and 

how regulatory obligations may be 

updated, streamlined, revised, or 

repealed to better achieve regulatory 

objectives, while minimizing regulatory 

burdens. Interested parties may also be 

well-positioned to identify those rules 

that are most in need of review and, 

thus, assist the Department in 

prioritizing and properly tailoring its 

retrospective review process. In short, 

engaging the public in an open, 

transparent process is a crucial step in 

DOE’s review of its existing regulations. 

List of Questions for Commenters 

The following list of questions is 

intended to assist in the formulation of 

comments and not to restrict the issues 

that may be addressed. In addressing 

these questions or others, DOE requests 

that commenters identify with 

specificity the regulation or reporting 

requirement at issue, providing legal 

citation where available. The 

Department also requests that the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules 28519 

1For editorial reasons, upon codification in the 

U.S. Code, Part B was re-designated Part A. 

submitter provide, in as much detail as 

possible, an explanation why a 

regulation or reporting requirement 

should be modified, streamlined, 

expanded, or repealed, as well as 

specific suggestions of ways the 

Department can better achieve its 

regulatory objectives. 

(1) How can the Department best 

promote meaningful periodic reviews of 

its existing rules and how can it best 

identify those rules that might be 

modified, streamlined, expanded, or 

repealed? 

(2) What factors should the agency 

consider in selecting and prioritizing 

rules and reporting requirements for 

review? 

(3) Are there regulations that are or 

have become unnecessary, ineffective, 

or ill advised and, if so, what are they? 

Are there rules that can simply be 

repealed without impairing the 

Department’s regulatory programs and, 

if so, what are they? 

(4) Are there rules or reporting 

requirements that have become outdated 

and, if so, how can they be modernized 

to accomplish their regulatory objectives 

better? 

(5) Are there rules that are still 

necessary, but have not operated as well 

as expected such that a modified, 

stronger, or slightly different approach 

is justified? 

(6) Does the Department currently 

collect information that it does not need 

or use effectively to achieve regulatory 

objectives? 

(7) Are there regulations, reporting 

requirements, or regulatory processes 

that are unnecessarily complicated or 

could be streamlined to achieve 

regulatory objectives in more efficient 

ways? 

(8) Are there rules or reporting 

requirements that have been overtaken 

by technological developments? Can 

new technologies be leveraged to 

modify, streamline, or do away with 

existing regulatory or reporting 

requirements? 

(9) How can the Department best 

obtain and consider accurate, objective 

information and data about the costs, 

burdens, and benefits of existing 

regulations? Are there existing sources 

of data the Department can use to 

evaluate the post-promulgation effects 

of regulations over time? We invite 

interested parties to provide data that 

may be in their possession that 

documents the costs, burdens, and 

benefits of existing requirements. 

(10) Are there regulations that are 

working well that can be expanded or 

used as a model to fill gaps in other 

DOE regulatory programs? 

The Department notes that this RFI is 

issued solely for information and 

program-planning purposes. Responses 

to this RFI do not bind DOE to any 

further actions related to the response. 

All submissions will be made publically 

available on. http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2012. 

Gregory H. Woods, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–11450 Filed 5–14–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 429 and 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2012–BT–TP–0017] 

Test Procedure Guidance for Room Air 

Conditioners, Residential 

Dishwashers, and Residential Clothes 

Washers: Public Meeting 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) is holding a public 

meeting to provide a forum for 

manufacturers and test laboratories to 

discuss their respective interpretations 

of existing DOE test procedures, where 

they believe that the test procedures 

lack clarity, and to provide information 

for DOE to consider prior to publishing 

any proposed guidance to clarify the 

current test procedures for room air 

conditioners, residential dishwashers, 

and residential clothes washers. 

DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting 

on June 1, 2012, beginning at 9:00 a.m. 

in Washington, DC. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held at the U.S. Department of Energy, 

Forrestal Building, Room 8E–089, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. To attend, 

please notify Ms. Brenda Edwards at 

(202) 586–2945. Please note that foreign 

nationals visiting DOE Headquarters are 

subject to advance security screening 

procedures. Any foreign national 

wishing to participate in the public 

meeting should advise DOE as soon as 

possible by contacting Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945 to initiate 

the necessary procedures. 

Additionally, DOE plans to conduct 

the public meeting via webinar. To 

participate via webinar, participants 

must sign up by following the 

instructions at https://www1.goto

meeting.com/register/350255376. 

Participants are responsible for ensuring 

that their systems are compatible with 

the webinar software. 

Docket: The docket 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 in the 

index may be publicly available, such as 

information that is exempt from public 

disclosure. A link to the docket web 

page can be found at 

www.regulations.gov. The 

www.regulations.gov web page contains 

a link to the docket for this notice, along 

with simple instructions on how to 

access all documents, including public 

comments, in the docket. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ashley Armstrong, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Phone: 

(202) 586–6590. Email: 

Ashley.Armstrong@ee.doe.gov or Abigail 

Chingos, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Office of General Counsel, GC–32, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20585–0121. Phone: (202) 586–5060. 

Email: Abigail.Chingos@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III, 

Part B of the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the 

Act), Public Law 94–163 (42 U.S.C. 

6291¥6309, as codified), established 

the Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer Products Other Than 

Automobiles, a program covering most 

major household appliances, including 

the residential room air conditioners, 

residential dishwashers, and residential 

clothes washers that are the focus of this 

notice.1 (42 U.S.C. 6292(2), (6) and (8)) 

Under EPCA, the program consists of 

four activities: (1) Testing; (2) labeling; 

(3) Federal energy conservation 

standards, and (4) certification, 

compliance, and enforcement. The 

testing requirements consist of test 

procedures that manufacturers of 

covered products must use as the basis 

for certifying to DOE that their products 

comply with applicable energy 

conservation standards adopted 

pursuant to EPCA and for representing 

the efficiency of those products. (42 

U.S.C. 6293(c); 42 U.S.C. 6295(s)) 

Similarly, DOE must use these test 

procedures in any enforcement action to 

determine whether covered products 

comply with these energy conservation 

standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s)) 

DOE’s existing test procedures for 

residential room air conditioners, 

residential dishwashers, and residential 

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