14186 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

1ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is titled ‘‘Energy 

Standards for Buildings Except Low-Rise 

Residential Buildings.’’ 

announce this Federal Register 

publication on-line through the FSIS 

web page located at: https://

www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register. 

FSIS will also announce and provide 

a link to it through the FSIS Constituent 

Update, which is used to provide 

information regarding FSIS policies, 

procedures, regulations, Federal 

Register notices, FSIS public meetings, 

and other types of information that 

could affect or would be of interest to 

our constituents and stakeholders. The 

Constituent Update is available on the 

FSIS web page. Through the web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader, more diverse audience. 

In addition, FSIS offers an email 

subscription service which provides 

automatic and customized access to 

selected food safety news and 

information. This service is available at: 

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. 

Options range from recalls to export 

information, regulations, directives, and 

notices. Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 381 

Poultry inspection, Poultry and 

poultry products, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, FSIS is proposing to amend 9 

CFR part 381 as follows: 

PART 381—POULTRY PRODUCTS 

INSPECTIONS REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 381 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 1901–1906; 21 

U.S.C. 451–472; 7 CFR 2.7, 2.18, 2.53. 

§ 381.36 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend Section 381.36 by removing 

and reserving paragraph (f)(3). 

§ 381.76 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend section 381.76 by removing 

paragraph (b)(6)(iv). 

§ 381.82 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 4. Remove and reserve § 381.82. 

■ 5. Revise § 381.87 to read as follows: 

§ 381.87 Tumors. 

(a) Tumors, including those possibly 

caused by avian leukosis complex, may 

be trimmed from any affected organ or 

other part of a carcass where there is no 

evidence of metastasis or that the 

general condition of the bird has been 

affected by the size, position, or nature 

of the tumor. Trimmed carcasses 

otherwise found to be not adulterated 

shall be passed as human food. 

(b) Any organ or other part of a 

carcass which is affected by a tumor 

where there is evidence of metastasis or 

that the general condition of the bird 

has been affected by the size, position, 

or nature of the tumor, shall be 

condemned. 

Paul Kiecker, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05294 Filed 3–11–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 431 

[EERE–2018–BT–STD–0003] 

RIN 1904–AE42 

Energy Conservation Program: Energy 

Conservation Standards for Variable 

Refrigerant Flow Multi-Split Air 

Conditioners and Heat Pumps; 

Clarification 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

and request for comment; clarification. 

SUMMARY: On February 10, 2022, the 

U.S. Department of Energy (‘‘DOE’’ or 

‘‘the Department’’) submitted a notice of 

proposed rulemaking (‘‘NOPR’’) to the 

Federal Register proposing amended 

energy conservation standards for 

variable refrigerant flow (‘‘VRF’’) multisplit air conditioners and VRF multisplit heat pumps, collectively referred to 

as ‘‘VRF multi-split systems’’ (‘‘2022 

VRF NOPR’’). After submission of the 

NOPR to the Office of the Federal 

Register for publication, the U.S. District 

Court for the Western District of 

Louisiana issued a preliminary 

injunction on February 11, 2022, in the 

case of State of Louisiana v. Biden, 

which prohibits certain actions relating 

to the monetization of benefits 

associated with greenhouse gas 

emissions reductions. Through this 

clarification document, DOE is 

clarifying its response to a public 

comment in the 2022 VRF NOPR so as 

to avoid any confusion or ambiguity of 

DOE’s response in light of the court’s 

preliminary injunction and to reiterate 

that no emissions analysis (or related 

monetization) was conducted for this 

proposed rulemaking. 

DATES: This clarification goes into effect 

on March 14, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Catherine Rivest, 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– 

7335. Email: 

ApplianceStandardsQuestions@

ee.doe.gov. 

Mr. Eric Stas, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

GC–33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–5827. Email: 

Eric.Stas@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Pursuant to the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6291 et 

seq.), DOE must periodically review its 

energy conservation standards for 

covered consumer products and certain 

industrial equipment, including VRF 

multi-split systems (see specifically 42 

U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)–(C)). DOE initiated 

a review of its existing standards for 

VRF multi-split systems through a 

notice of data availability and request 

for information (‘‘NODA/RFI’’) 

published in the Federal Register on 

July 8, 2019 (‘‘2019 VRF NODA/RFI’’). 

84 FR 32328. The 2022 VRF NOPR was 

issued (signed) on February 9, 2022, see 

87 FR 11335, 11354 (noting the 

document’s signature date), after which 

DOE forwarded it to the Office of the 

Federal Register on February 10, 2022, 

for publication, and then the Office of 

the Federal Register placed it for public 

inspection on February 28, 2022, before 

ultimately publishing it in the Federal 

Register on March 1, 2022. 87 FR 11335. 

In the 2022 VRF NOPR, DOE 

explained that because it lacks clear and 

convincing evidence to support 

adoption of standard levels more 

stringent than those contained in the 

American Society of Heating, 

Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers (‘‘ASHRAE’’) Standard 90.1,1

the Department is proposing to adopt 

the ASHRAE levels, as required by 

statute. DOE concluded that it did not 

need to prepare an emissions analysis or 

monetization of emissions for this 

rulemaking in order to support the 

adoption of the ASHRAE levels. 

In this NOPR, DOE also responded to 

a number of public comments submitted 

on the 2019 VRF NODA/RFI. One such 

comment was submitted by the Institute 

for Policy Integrity at New York 

University (‘‘NYU’’) School of Law 

(hereafter ‘‘Policy Integrity’’), in which 

it commented that DOE should 

monetize the full benefits of emissions 

reductions and use the global estimate 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2022 / Proposed Rules 14187 

of the social cost of greenhouse gases 

(‘‘GHG’’). In responding to that 

comment, in the 2022 VRF NOPR, DOE 

noted generally DOE’s practice to that 

point had been to use the social cost of 

greenhouse gases from the most recent 

update of the United States 

Government’s Interagency Working 

Group (‘‘IWG’’) on Social Cost of 

Greenhouse Gases, which recommends 

global values be used for regulatory 

analysis, when DOE analyzes efficiency 

levels (i.e., referencing its then-current 

practice). DOE continued its response 

by stating: ‘‘Because DOE is not 

conducting an economic analysis of 

levels more stringent than the ASHRAE 

Standard 90.1 levels in this notice, there 

is no corresponding consideration of 

emission reductions or the associated 

monetary benefits. As DOE is required 

by EPCA to adopt the levels set forth in 

ASHRAE Standard 90.1, DOE did not 

conduct an economic analysis or 

corresponding emissions analysis for 

the levels in ASHRAE Standard 90.1– 

2019.’’ 87 FR 11335, 11348. 

The purpose of DOE’s discussion of 

the IWG was simply to explain in the 

context of responding to Policy 

Integrity’s comment how, at the time of 

the signing of the 2022 VFR NOPR 

(namely, on February 9, 2022), DOE 

routinely analyzed emissions reductions 

in those circumstances where DOE was 

analyzing efficiency levels more 

stringent than those contained in 

ASHRAE Standard 90.1. But, as noted, 

DOE’s 2022 VRF NOPR simply made 

clear DOE’s position that because the 

Department is proposing to adopt the 

standard levels in ASHRAE Standard 

90.1, no emissions analysis or related 

monetization of emissions was being 

performed for this proposed rulemaking. 

Consequently, Policy Integrity’s 

comment recommending how to 

appropriately monetize GHG emissions 

had no direct application or other effect 

in this proposed rulemaking. 

The previous excerpt from the 2022 

VRF NOPR was an accurate statement at 

the time the document was signed. After 

that document was signed and 

transmitted to the Federal Register, but 

before publication in the Federal 

Register, however, the U.S. District 

Court for the Western District of 

Louisiana in Louisiana v. Biden, No. 

21–cv–1074–JDC–KK (Feb. 11, 2022) 

issued a preliminary injunction 

enjoining Federal agencies from 

utilizing the social cost of greenhouse 

gases values developed by the IWG for 

monetization of emissions impacts. 

Since that preliminary injunction was 

issued, out of an abundance of caution, 

DOE has ceased using greenhouse gas 

emissions monetization across its 

rulemakings. To avoid confusion, DOE 

concludes that clarification of the 2022 

VRF NOPR comment response may 

therefore be necessary. 

As stated in the 2022 VRF NOPR, 

DOE has not conducted any 

monetization of emission reduction in 

this rulemaking. Should circumstances 

arise in this or other rulemaking records 

where DOE would need to analyze 

standards more stringent than the levels 

in ASHRAE Standard 90.1, DOE 

acknowledges that any such analysis 

necessarily would comply with the 

prohibitions of the injunction issued in 

Louisiana v. Biden as long as that 

injunction remains in effect. 

Accordingly, DOE clarifies its 

comment response in the 2022 VRF 

NOPR by noting that DOE is adhering to 

the prohibitions in the preliminary 

injunction issued on February 11, 2022, 

in Louisiana v. Biden, and reiterates that 

DOE did not monetize the benefits of 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions as 

part of the 2022 VRF NOPR. This 

clarification does not affect any of the 

proposed energy conservation 

standards, related analyses, and 

tentative conclusions contained in the 

2022 VRF NOPR. 

II. Need for Clarification 

As published, a response to a 

comment in the 2022 VRF NOPR may 

result in ambiguity or confusion as to 

DOE’s compliance with the preliminary 

injunction issued on February 11, 2022, 

in Louisiana v. Biden. Because this 

document simply clarifies the response 

to a public comment without making 

any substantive changes to the proposed 

energy conservation standards or related 

analyses, DOE finds that there is good 

cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to not 

issue prior notice to solicit public 

comment on the changes contained in 

this document. Issuing a separate 

document to solicit public comment 

would be unnecessary and contrary to 

the public interest. 

III. Procedural Issues and Regulatory 

Review 

DOE has concluded that the 

determinations made pursuant to the 

various procedural requirements 

applicable to the 2022 VRF NOPR 

remain unchanged for this proposed 

rule technical clarification. These 

determinations are set forth in the 2022 

VRF NOPR. 87 FR 11335, 11349–11352. 

Signing Authority 

This document of the Department of 

Energy was signed on March 9, 2022, by 

Kelly J. Speakes-Backman, Principal 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

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 March 9, 

2022. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05292 Filed 3–11–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2022–0153; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2021–01051–A] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Pilatus 

Aircraft Ltd. Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to 

supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 

2016–26–08, which applies to all Pilatus 

Aircraft Ltd. Model PC–12, PC–12/45, 

PC–12/47, and PC–12/47E airplanes. AD 

2016–26–08 requires incorporating 

revisions into the airworthiness 

limitations section (ALS) of the 

maintenance program and inspecting 

the main landing gear (MLG) attachment 

bolts for cracks and corrosion. Since the 

FAA issued AD 2016–26–08, the 

European Union Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA) superseded its mandatory 

continuing airworthiness information 

(MCAI) to add a new life limit for 

certain MLG actuator bottom attachment 

bolts and then superseded it again to 

add new life limits for the rudder 

bellcrank. This proposed AD would 

require incorporating new revisions to 

the ALS of the existing airplane 

maintenance manual (AMM) or 

Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness (ICA) to establish a 5-year 

life limit for certain MLG actuator 

bottom attachment bolts and new life 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1