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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 5, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9002-9003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02237]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 430

[EERE-2024-BT-TP-0009]
RIN 1904-AF68

Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Residential and 
Commercial Clothes Washers and Consumer Clothes Dryers

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document delays the effective date of a recently 
published final rule amending the test procedures for residential and 
commercial clothes washers and consumer clothes dryers. DOE also seeks 
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.

DATES: The effective date of the rule amending 10 CFR part 430 
published at 90 FR 5519 on January 17, 2025, is delayed until March 21, 
2025. Written comments and information will be accepted on or before 
March 7, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Dr. Carl Shapiro, 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) 287-5649. Email: [email protected].
    Mr. Uchechukwu ``Emeka'' Eze, 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, the Assistant to the 
President and Chief of Staff (``Chief of Staff'') issued a memorandum 
outlining the President's plan for managing the Federal regulatory 
process at the outset of the new Administration. 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 amending the test procedures for 
residential and commercial clothes washers and consumer clothes dryers 
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2025 (90 FR 5519). The 
January 17, 2025, rule amended the test procedures for residential and 
commercial clothes washers and consumer clothes dryers to: (1) update 
the test cloth specifications and allow for an alternate test cloth; 
and (2) reorganize the test procedures for improved readability. 
Consistent with the Chief of Staff's 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 Chief of Staff's 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 
July 16, 2025. 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 January 30, 
2025, by Jocelyn Richards, Acting General Counsel, Office of the 
General Counsel, pursuant to delegated authority from the Acting 
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

[[Page 9003]]

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 January 31, 2025.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-02237 Filed 2-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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