Department of Energy March 14, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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'') multi- split air conditioners and VRF multi-split 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.